Yesterday, Anne, one of the students, brought along some beautiful framed art works. Anne calls these pieces 'painting with a needle' as they are very fine cross stitch compositions. We started with a beautiful spring posy of daffodils against a dark background on an upright panoramic portrait frame. So many shades of yellow in those daffodil heads. Many moons ago I used to fiddle with cross stitch myself and I really can appreciate how difficult it can be to select the correct colour thread when they are all so close in tones - and don't even get me started on the amount of time it can take to complete a square inch. Anne showed us all several completed cross stitch 'paintings', all so neat, flat, clean and fresh. But, the piece that has us all in awe was the beautiful full portrait of Santa, with angels, by a fully decorated Christmas Tree. Started some 6 years ago and finished recently in Canada, this work is an absolute family heirloom. Costing well over £100 to frame alone it was simply stunning, decorated with beads and gold thread. I knew Anne had a photo of this lovely work on her facebook profile and I am sure she won't mind me sharing it with you all. The photo doesn't do the work justice - but you get the idea.
Art Instructor