…that is the question, isn’t it?

I’ve spent most of the last few days working up some embellishment samples. Here’s a photo of what I’ve done so far (click for the larger photo):

And here’s a closeup:

The embroidery is feather stitch using three threads. The bottom one is a sheer knitted tube (orange) with a gold cord running through it. The middle one is a silk embroidery floss, and the top one is a metallic blending filament.

The beading is mostly experiments with size 14 seed beads – varying the color along the length of the “feathers” in the wing. I also experimented with density a bit in the top sample – denser beads near the front edge of the wing, becoming gradually more spaced as they flutter out to the ends of the feathers.

The photo unfortunately really doesn’t do the sample justice. The embellishments are much nicer than they appear in the photo. I’ve been showing them to people to collect opinions – most people like the thicker thread combined with the beads on the feathers, as in the bottom of the sample. The thicker thread gives some three-dimensionality and texture, the beads add glitter. Using both gives definition to the different parts of the wing, and provides variety in texture. Compared with the beads-only version near the top, you can see that it’s more interesting.

But do the embellishments actually add anything to the design? They are pretty, but what is the central focus of the design? What is the piece about?

I’m still on the fence about whether to use embellishments at all. At the scale of the sample, it almost seems like gilding the lily. The power of the piece is in the evocative phoenix and the feathering around the edges, reminiscent of flame.  Do the embellishments add to this? I’m not sure. I talked about this at length with my critique partner last night – he felt that the piece didn’t really need embellishment, and I am leaning that way as well. But since the actual piece will be at a different scale, I’ll need to re-evaluate once it’s woven and dyed.

Meanwhile, I was watching Ana Lisa Hedstrom’s DVD “Stitch Resist Reconsidered” over the weekend, but I only got eight minutes into it before the rest of the theater-goers arrived:

Shouting “Down in front!”, had no visible effect, so I retired to work on other things.

Up until now, I’ve been using a symmetric design for the phoenix, a holdover from the original weaving draft. That had to be symmetric because I had only 24 shafts to play with, and needed the symmetry to make a wider design on a point threading.

But since I’ve shifted to using surface design, symmetry is no longer necessary – and too much symmetry comes across as boring and rigid. So I decided to design an asymmetrical phoenix. Not easy since my drawing skills are rudimentary at best. (Not to mention my 3-D spatial visualization, which is awful.)

However, with patience and pigheaded determination, many things are possible. I started by sketching a few preliminary ideas:

Because of the very long aspect ratio, I thought two birds might fill the space better than one. But after seeing them, I decided I wanted to stick with a single phoenix – the two-ness of the birds bothered me, because now the “story” in the photo was about two birds and their interactions, rather than the single phoenix.

So I decided to work with the single bird. I felt the tail was still a bit boring, so I tried a sketch with two curves in the tail instead of one:

This looked much better, to me at least – it filled the space nicely, gave the impression of a flaming trail, and was more interesting than a single curve.

However, some things still needed tweaking. The tail didn’t feel realistic – parts of it were flat, parts three-dimensional. I wasn’t drawing things with enough three-dimensional awareness. And the body felt too short in comparison to the tail. Back to the drawing board for some minor changes:

This one I liked, so I put it into Photoshop to see how it would work in the simulated version:

This works!! I like it a lot, and will start carving some stencils today.

Compare it with the version I started with:

While both have their pros and cons, the new version is much more dynamic and interesting (I think) than the old one.

Not bad for a day’s work!

Meanwhile, feline paws have not been idle. Fritz, for example, has discovered the joy of window screens:

Tigress, on the other hand, seems to be mellowing out from her tear-around-the-house rambunctiousness. Here she is on the bed, showing off her regal beauty.