done farming

A bit delayed, but now finished! All the holidays have have taken away from my studio time... luckily this client wasn't in a rush.

Here I present The Farm home portrait! Ta da!

a bit of grass grows by the porch...

pine branches hang over the roof...

a photo of the barn graces the sky....

The Farm © Natalya Aikens

Now back to the costumes, and then starting on the next home portrait! Phew....

farming..

I have been hand-stitching every free minute during this busy season. Here is a short update on my farm home portrait. I have chosen to keep my stitches simple and straight...

roof lines

witches window

front window

porch

Wish me speedy fingers to get it done this week!

PS: last days to answer the question posed in my newsletter and put yourself in the running for a gift for you!

back on the farm

I have been dithering... Shall I do this? Shall I do that? Couldn't make up my mind for quite a while. I am talking about the progress on the latest home portrait commission that I have been working on. Which picture should I use? I printed out two versions and made tracings of both. I put ephemera out in different combinations and put it all away. And took it back out again.

playing with tracings of layouts

And then... it happened.

I decided on the witches window layout

I started in with the scissors, there was no stopping now

an actual collage at the top for the sky

seeing how it works with the tracing on top

That was it, I made a commitment and stitched my outlines in white silk thread.

a bit of the sky view

the front porch view

Now I have to decide how to hand stitch it... I think I'll let it rest over the weekend....

 

this is the picture I decided to use

the farm

I am starting on my newest home portrait commission this week. I think I am really being challenged here... The subject is a wonderful old (really old) farm house in Vermont.

Here are my ingredients:

the farm house

pictures of the farm house through the seasons

some lovely old linens which will be delightful to stitch on

some modern lace that depicts farm houses

remnants of a dream catcher, will be dealing with some dry rot here, must find a solution!

old buttons, fake leaves and flowers

wall paper remnants and seasonal napkins

And then which image should I choose? I am enamored of them all!

the side view with the barn buildings visible?

the other side view with the witches window?

and that fabulous texture of the barn!

Where o where do I begin??? Stay tuned!