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How illustration inspires my cross stitch design.
I've always been drawn to illustration. I have picked out some of my favourite illustrators, all of which have inspired the journey of my cross stitch design style in some way, and I'll tell you why.
I love the bold shapes of Ekaterina Trukhan, and the colours and playful nature of Elena Dardik's work, it's amazing watching her process videos. Stephanie Cole's murals are adorable and joyful, and her colours are perfection - does it matter if a hare is navy? No. Mal Fisher has a talent for conveying relationships and positivity, among many other talents! I had the pleasure of working with Mal when he kindly agreed to me embroidering a version of one of his plant designs.
Bea Muller's digital illustrations have a consistent, stunning colour palette, and the most magical style. Mani Parkes captures joyful everyday interactions and situations in beautiful settings, often villages, countryside and coastal. The colour palettes used by Jennifer Bouron bring me a great deal of happiness! I love everything about her work, especially that her lines aren't straight!
I was lucky enough to work alongside the lovely Becky at Tulip House Studio to complete a collaboration, which involved transforming two of her beautiful scandi prints into cross stitch, both of which are available. These are two of the prettiest pieces I've ever worked on.
Fingers crossed I will get to do a lot more collaboration work in the future!
So, why am I am a cross stitcher, not illustrator? Well, first of all, I have none of the skills required to be an illustrator!!!! Secondly, I find the process of cross stitching extremely therapuetic, and I just don't think you can beat the texture created with this kind of craft.