Painted Canvas with Beads II: By Mindy

This lovely Asian canvas by Mindy is the second one I purchased at the trunk show a long time ago, and just didn't quite know what to do with it. As with the Art Nouveau piece, I'm glad I waited, as I've found other threads I wasn't aware of at the time.

One I am enjoying now is the beautiful and subtle Kreinik Vintage - the gold #002V. A shinier one wouldn't do on this.

The design is a gorgeous abstract of a stream with water plants, I think - and the main beauty is the color. The turquoise "stream" certainly needs to be jazzed up a bit, but textured stitches would totally ruin the effect of the lovely Asian fretwork and subtle shading. Nothing should be added that would compete with it.

As with the Art Nouveau canvas, I believe just the clear beads will add what it needs. Plain basketkweave would be boring with all that gold diaper pattern.

When I first chose threads and beads for the Art Nouveau, the beads were a great match for the threads (DMC floss), but as I got started, I realized that the colored beads would be a further distraction;, so simply opted for using my favorite effect - the clear Sundance #250 beads. By applying them with the same floss as each background patch, they appear to be the same color.

You can see where I placed the ink dots for the beads - they are, on the diagonal, two stitches apart, and on the weft threads (the dips). Basketweave is worked around them, and then the beads are added.

ADDENDUM: The evening I did this post, Blogger was having a major problem, and only dogged determination kept me going to almost finish it. What I failed to tell was that I used #5 perle cotton in white for the outlining on the border, as the little "ropy" effect makes a shine that causes the white to show up well.

Also, I used dark green beads in the dark green areas on the border, as I used my "beaded solid" technique, and I like the irridescent-but-not-sparkly look of these beads.

I will do a better close-up as it progresses, as this picture of the clear beads in place on the cream and the green patches doesn't show the total effect. In person, it is subtle, and looks great!