June 11, 2010

Blue Category Winner - Rainbow of Stitches Contest



Hi there! I was tasked with the challenge of choosing a winner in the blue category, and let me tell you, there was a lot of really amazing stuff to choose from! Ultimately, though, there's only one winner - and it's meaganileana!

Describe yourself in 10 words or less.
'exploring a body of lines one stitch at a time'

What inspired your entry?
I was alone in a hotel room in Ahmedabad, Gujurat (India) feeling hot and sweaty...thinking of a project to fill a few lonely hours and focusing on my body (as usual!) which was feeling especially private during a time filled with modest Indian clothes and behavior. The desire to experiment with shading to, at some point, create more complex pieces birthed this piece.

What is your favourite stitch?
How can I pick one? I love back stitch, chain stitch, seed stitch, running stitch and the occasional french knot. I feel like these stitches would fill every stitching need.

Who or what inspires you to stitch?
I draw from true moments in relationships and also from bodies. Things I return to: plants, babies, nudity/anatomy, queer relationships, friendships, private moments and sweet nothings. The most recently finished piece is the one that inspires me to keep going, It's like an addiction. Sometimes even the stitches themselves are what excite me about starting a new piece.

How long have you been stitching and how did you get started?
My mama taught me when I was tiny (3 years) and my family is one full of sewers and embroiderers, but I fell into what is available on flickr in 2008, when I was out of college and looking around for fun new ways to make art. Since then it's been experimentation with a few successes.

Are there any stitchers in the Feeling Stitchy Flickr pool you have noticed?
There are many, but a few entries that particularly caught my eye are SewLovelyEmbroidery's white, Lady Hazard's purple, evilsarah's blue, and many black pieces: Elizabeth J. Smith, Spider's Paw, goodcanary, distracted muse. So many lovely pieces!

14 comments:

  1. Totally not surprised at this win. It's AMAZING!!!! I love her work. It's sensitive, contemplative, beautiful, skillfully crafted and unique. I'm so happy she won the blue category!
    (Also, thanks, Meganilleana for mentioning my black rooster piece:)

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  2. I am completely in awe of this piece. I love zooming in to examine all the beautiful stitching, and then moving back to reveal the amazing image created by those tiny stitches -- a little like the feeling I get when looking at an Impressionist painting. It's brilliant!

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  3. And HOW, exactly, have I never seen this before?! What precision...what care...what...talent!
    And I have never been more flattered to be mentioned with such amazing artists. I'm so inspired right now!
    Congratulations and thanks.

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  4. this is breathtakingly beautiful & inspiring...congratulations!

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  5. very deserving piece... gorgeous

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  6. I am in love with this piece! I am so glad this won ;) I love looking at Meganilleana's photo stream and swooning over all of the fabulous creations <3
    Thanks for mentioning my white kraken, made my day!

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  7. Oh how I adore this piece! And wow, I'm so flattered by the shout out. Meaganileana is not only one of the people that continues to completely awe me with her stitching, she was one of my main inspirations to pick up embroidery again!

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  8. This piece is stunning! Bravo! Very beautifully stitched. I can't wait to look at more of her pieces. What an artistic mind to be able to execute such precision and draw people in beyond the big picture.

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  9. An amazing piece of art - the pointilism is breathtaking and the subject so beautiful and serene.

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  10. So glad she won! Her work is so technically amazing and has this quiet thoughtful personality to it. I'm always excited when she shares her latest work, it's consistently mindblowing. So much thought and ability, she is a true artist, and I'm so psyched for her winning!

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  11. This is such a beautiful, captivating piece.

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  12. This is so beautiful, and what fantastic inspiration

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