My portfolio statement for 2021-2022 is to expand on my portfolio statement of last year which was to embroider nature elements by using other things outside of embroidery thread in my pieces as well. This year however, I have changed my theme to center more around creating realistic animals, which will help improve my embroidery techniques and skills but still keeping that idea of adding other materials into my works. I want these materials I have been using to help enhance the piece and bring detail and texture to the work, as well as help it stand out and bring a 3D element into the piece.
I have used items such as fake fur, fabrics, as well as fake grass in my works this year. Whether these objects are part of the animal I am stitching or part of its surroundings, all were added with the intent of enhancing the piece and making it more unique. I have been using many different colors of threads in my works, as well as making them go in a pattern/direction to help create fur-like textures on my pieces. I feel as if this gives them a more realistic feel, especially once I add on other objects like fake fur to help bring out the other textures. I start from a simple photo of the animal I want to picture in my piece, sketch a rough draft out of it and color it in the colors I plan to work with (trying to get as close to color accuracy as possible, usually includes many different shades of a color), and then start working on sewing the animal into the fabric. As I just said, to try and get more realistic results, I end up using many different colors and shades of browns, whites, blues, etc in my piece.
The realistic animal part of my portfolio was inspired by the artist Cloe Giordano, who is another embroidery artist who specializes in making realistic animal portraits. I loved her use of small thin lines and many different colors that she used in her works to make her animals seem more life-like, and I wanted to try and capture the same thing in my works. I thought her work stood out, especially because she tended to use brighter colors and add things such as flowers and grass in her pieces, as well as very high-quality embroidery thread. The brighter colors caught my eye because they helped make her works pop, but I didn’t want to copy her so I tried to find more neutral and toned down colors to make my works even more realistic.
I’ve got to learn and practice my techniques throughout the year and improve how I work with these materials. I’m going to continue working on improving my skills and the flow of my pieces to help create even better textures of fur in the future. I also want to try and think of new materials and stitches I can include in my pieces so they further stand out, as well as help me improve my skills and craftsmanship when it comes to embroidery.