Beginning the process

Beginning the process

The thing I love about Freestyle Needlework is that I am continually inspired to play with color and experiment with textures as I work the project. In this series of blogs I thought it might be fun to show you how I get started and some of my thought process along the way.

My newest project is called “The Big Bang”.

You might guess by now, I love to combine the structure of geometric shapes with seeming randomness and wild motion. I sense that viewers of my finished pieces enjoy the craziness because they can feel a “safe zone” in the structure that satisfies their sense of order.

So I started with an idea and a blank 22″ square of canvas. With a Sharpie pen I laid out the image area and found my center. To keep things balanced I charted out a 10-stitch grid – that took care of the “order” of this design.

Then I had a lot of fun creating the motion of the piece. I just drew lines round, and round, and round until I had enough scribbles to provide a multitude of options to follow – or not! The scribbles don’t necessarily dictate the exact path I will take  but offers great opportunities to play, while providing a sense of direction.

So I encourage you to try connecting your blank canvas with your imagination and just enjoy the process!

Next article in this series: The Big Bang: Plan for Spontaneity!