Interview with Artist Olga Ezova-Denisova

I'm not sure how I first stumbled on the beautiful work of artist Olga Ezova-Denisova on Flickr, but her embroidery immediately captivated me. There's something so serene and lovely and composed in her work, and the her stitchwork is just gorgeous. It's an honor to introduce her to you today - I hope you all enjoy this brief interview with Olga!


How long have you been embroidering?

My first embroidery I made about six months ago. I found very old silk threads my mom bought them in the 80s, and I wanted to make something beautiful with them. I embroidered my first brooches with dogs. One, two, three ... I was very fascinated by the process, and I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful. Since then, embroidery began to appear in my illustrations in combination with collage, and as an independent work.




What is it about wolves and dogs that inspires you?

I have long been thinking about it, trying to understand what is that inspires me about these animals. But I don't get it yet. Maybe I'm living with an image that itself has come up with. The image of the animal that defies to be somebody. That is - to be the master of the dog is a challenge for a man. A wolf… The wolf is a dog too, just wild. And this defiance excites me, and awakens something inside me. Although in my pictures there is no defiance, my dogs and wolves are kind, loving, and sometimes melancholic.




Did you attend art school? If not, would you like to?

No, I didn’t. As a child, I attended art school for children, but, unfortunately, I didn't finish and that is why I couldn’t get a degree in art education.

But I would like to learn, I am open to new knowledge. Most of all I like to study in hands-on workshops with the artists. In Russia I regularly attend creative workshops for illustration and art techniques. My dream is to meet and attend a workshop with some cool artists from America or Europe.




I love your process shots - so many different tools and artforms! What other types of art do you enjoy?

I enjoy to work in collage-techniques. I love to mix and match different materials: paper, fabric, cutting, embroidery. I like hand-printing techniques like linocut and stamps. I am experimenting with this, and admiring the work of other authors.

In addition to visual arts I like to take pictures. I have an old Soviet film camera Kiev-19. I take it with me on my trips.




What is your favorite piece you’ve created, and why?

It's not a very simple question. Every new work as soon as it is finished becomes the most favorite. But maybe most of all I love my collage work, those in which there are mix of textures, fabrics and embroidery, because they are hard work and take so long to create and I get the greatest satisfaction from the result.





Do you have a favorite color? A favorite thread?

Yes, I have a favorite color. It's blue and its shades. My favorite thread is Iris. Though of course for different tasks I choose different thread.

***

Thank you, Olga, for sharing a little bit about yourself and your inspiring work with our readers!

To see more of Olga's work, visit:
Her blog: http://www.ezovadenisova.blogspot.com
Her Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ezovadenisova/

Guest Tutorial: Paris and Poodles, an Embroidered Affair

I'd like you all to meet Cassie, who we are lucky to have here doing a special guest post! I was super-impressed by her hand-embroidered Sailor Girl skirt and her Cowgirl skirt.

I love that Cassie embroiders on clothes, and her adorable vintage style. Today Cassie is sharing 2 of her most recent embroidered wardrobe pieces with us, as well as her doodles, if you'd like to stitch them, too! 

Everyone, meet Cassie! :)




I have this habit of getting on a kick. If it’s a favorite CD, I will wear that thing out, memorizing all the songs and working out all the dance moves. In my head, of course. I have the same addictive personality when it comes to candy. And coffee drinks. And crafts. Oh, and, strangely, wearing a bumpit countless days in a row. But I digress.


So my addictive habit led me down what I call the Paris and Poodles Path. It began with this oh-so-short thrifted dress (can I get an ohhh-lala?). I love breathing new life into thrift shop garb and this dress was just asking for a redo.

I began by letting out the hem and removing the pockets. I found this formerly-a-curtain vintage floral fabric in my stash and decided it would look lovely at the bottom of my dress. I had this idea that I wanted it to look like I was walking through a flower garden. Or being eaten alive by vintage fabric. Which, with my hoarder ways, the latter is more likely the case.

Before adding the vintage fabric to the skirt, I hemmed it and created a circle of fabric that was the same circumference as the bottom of the dress. Then I pinned it to the dress and applique stitched around the edge of the flowers. Once that was complete, I had the super duper fun pleasure of trimming all of the excess fabric off the top. I managed to cut into the skirt accidentally only once... which I promptly patched after saying a few naughty words and throwing a couple of things.

My favorite part was embroidering the Eiffel Tower. I began by drawing the tower out
and tracing that drawing onto the dress with a white pencil. I used thick embroidery floss for the outline of the tower and two strands of floss for the detailing. Once complete, I channeled my Parisian habit to French Poodles…

This prissy pooch actually took longer to embroider because of the size. She’s very small and detailed. I decided to use just one strand of floss and the tiniest of stitches for this embroidery.

The inspiration for the poodle actually came courtesy of Elvis Presley’s mother Gladys. I snapped this photo of the wallpaper from her bathroom on a recent trip to Graceland.

To Parisian-ize my poodle, I added the beret. And the hoity toity attitude.

I sewed the dress from a vintage 1960’s pattern including some of the most adorable Tammis Keefe fabric. I’d like to be able to say I’ve moved on from Paris and Poodles but I’m currently embroidering the Eiffel Tower onto a pair of shoes and whipping up another French-themed dress. See, I told you I have a problem. And until they make meds to cure this kind of crazy, you can see more of creations on my blog: cassiestephens.blogspot.com, if you like. Au revoir!

Robotic first attempt

robot and dog, originally uploaded by daisymae_cs.

Would you believe it, this is daisymae_cs' first attempt at embroidery!

Not bad I think!

Both the 'bot and dog are super cute!

. . . . . . . . . .

Here's an idea: if you are new, like brand new, to embroidery, please add that very first attempt to the FS group and tag it with first_embroidery_attempt and I'll post some of them here on FS. We all start somewhere, right!? Go on, stitch something for the very first time! :-)

Embroidered animation

Stitched by Aubrey Longley Cook

Penny just shared this on our Facebook page but I had to share it here, too. Seriously, click on this. You will not be disappointed. A-mazing.

Under the mistletoe

Stitched by woundupladybug

Oh how I'd love to encounter one of these cuties under the mistletoe! I just hope they've had a nice minty Milkbone first.

Puggy

Stitched by Claudia Marchán

Yup, you knew I had to share this with you. Stitched from a Sublime Stitching freebie Jenny posted last week. Claudia altered hers to say "Puggy" instead of "Pugly". Still extremely pug-worthy, I must say!

Nautical cuteness

Stitched by MatildaRoseTrevan

All I can say is eep!

Man's Best Friend

A loving tribute to our furry four legged friend

1. Puppy Forget Me Not by Apple and Eve (center)
2. Scottie with flower by Sewicalbutterfly 3.ella2008 by nanceejoo, 4. lil puppy. by lovely little deer, 5.Just Because... by sewsew-a-gogo, 6.puppy by doe-c-doe, 7.Lottie, the Dog Face Girl, embroidery by bad bird, 8.Beaded Irish Jack Russell Terrier dog pin (brown) by the lone beader, 9.Scooter embroidery by georgiemcdonald, 10.Zosia by kaparoff magda, 11.Circus Dog Embroidery by Iamsusie, 12.dog napkins by sewitsforyou, 13.Two in the bathroom makes for an angry household by amanda panda pants

All of these wonderful amazingly talented people are on flickr and can be found in the embroidery group.

Ode on a French Bulldog

crafted by Kaparoff (magda)

OK, I didn't write an actual ode. But I'm sure you'll agree that this embroidery is poetry itself. Great work, Magda!