Saturday, November 08, 2008

Swimming with Mermaids Again!

That is wishful thinking! It is finally cool in Austin - too cool for mermaids, and no clear blue/green water here anyway. But the mermaid puts me in a fine frame of mind, as her colors are beautiful to work with.


Some progress has been made - but needlepoint is slow, and this is on 18 mesh canvas, which is my preference. Gail put the beads on, and they furnish enough sparkle - like little colorful droplets of water - so I don't think she needs anything else sparkly. Instead, I have chosen to use Ribbon Floss for shine, as on her scales. The patterned green areas were stitched with Splendor silk for the grid, and Neon Rays for the Scotch stitch, as it has a lovely shine.


I put "bump" stitches on her mermaid "dress" to differentiate texture between that and the green areas. The close-up illustrates the little smyrna crosses I like to use on this sort of design, as it gives a bit of extra texture without overwhelming the whole picture.

The lines point to the "bumps" and to the areas where there are configurations of four stitches square - perfect for inserting Smyrnas. I haven't figured out how to put arrows where I want them, so these lines also point to her "shells" and her yellow hair. Disregard that, and look at the other end of the line.

This canvas is so pretty in it's entirety as a two dimensional painting, it's almost a shame to use it as a rollie - but the rollie will look sooo fine on a stand, as does the peacock! (see this on Gail's blog) Also, for another treat, see her web page here!

6 comments:

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Fascinating! Thanks for the great photos and explanation, Judy. This is a lovely piece and I think I'd frame it instead of making it a cylinder just to show off the design.

Possibilities, Etc. said...

I agree with Jane - only my thought was maybe a small purse. Something to show the whole thing!

NickiLee said...

I just love your mermaid! She is so vibrant and full of life and I would love to see her as a purse too.

NCPat said...

Nice! Oooohhhhh, a purse would be gorgeous!!!

Cyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cyn said...

Hi Judy,

Great explanations and I'm enjoying seeing the photos. Especially since it is no longer beach weather here in Windy Meadow! :-)

The deleted post was mine. Typos!

As far as the purse idea... Hmmm... The challenge with cylinder designs as they often don't look right when finished flat. They are designed so that you see parts of the design or so that it looks correct when it's rolled.

This design might work on a purse but I would vote to finish it as a cylinder. Otherwise she is a fairly flat and wide Mermaid. :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow