It was a lovely coincidence that I happened to be working on a new sea glass piece when Jody posted this. The last time I had chance to do a bit of beachcombing on the East Anglian coast it was slim pickings, so this beach filled me with envy!
First I got out all my sea glass and played around with a number of layouts, before I finally settled for this one, another one of my meanders, with the sea glass gradually decreasing in size from the bottom to the top.
This piece is hopefully going to be a commission and at 9″ by 12″ is substantially bigger than I normally work. The background is dark natural coloured silk matka, which has a lovely linen look, but is much softer and more forgiving in terms of creasing. The nuggets of glass are simply stuck on with an all purpose glue.
The room it’s going into is turquoise, which led me to the first thread choice. No label on this one, but I think it’s variegated stranded silk and the feather stitch is stitched with two strands to give enough weight to the lines.
Quite a challenge to work something this large in my hand with the added weight of the glass pebbles, but the glass makes it impossible to put in a hoop and I don’t have a frame.
It’s a good job that the meandering feather stitch doesn’t have to be too exact!
A third line of the stranded silk feather stitch completes the foreground.
Next the background layer.
A good start, and the lighter shade in the thread is a good echo of the glass.
Another stunning piece in the making! Can’t wait to see it unfold! ~Thanks so much for sharing our post!
This is going to be beautiful — love the colors. I can imagine how difficult it is to work with- which makes it even that much more special!
…it’s going to be quite lovely Alex!!
(Thanks so much for calling around my blog …to right about the education policies…that’s why wild horses wouldn’t drag me back into a classroom!! PS…can you mail me your e-mail addy when you’ve got a minute? x C)
I love it already.
I can’t resist beach combing either. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes. Thank you for your comments on my Delft cushion.
Another beautiful piece coming together!
This is a very interesting work. You’ve only shown how the sea glass adds. By the way, is this work finished already? I want to see the rest of the pillows. Thanks!
Absolutely stunning! Found you through Penny’s Art Journey. Congratulations, and although I didn’t win, I found you! There’s a reason for everything! 🙂