Motif: after Claude Monet
Type: embroidered painting
Technique: mixed embroidery
Year: 2018
Edition: Limited (99)
Size: medium
Dimension: 70 x 70 cm | 27.6 x 27.6 in
Number of stitches: over 1.5 million
Thread length: over 18 km | over 11.2 mi
Thread colors: 60
Development: over 500 person hours
Monet for a long while enjoyed painting and exhibiting series of paintings depicting the same subject and perspective. Water Lilies are among his most prolific series in this regard, as he painted approximately 250 pieces with this motif, depicting his flower garden at home in Giverny.
Monet famously planted the water lilies himself despite the local authorities demanding that he uproot the rare species he imported from Egypt and South America. This small act of defiance gave to the world a series of impressionist paintings that became revered and priceless.
Whether the impressionist style of Monet is based on his failing eyesight, as the critics claimed, or by his genius and mastery, is still a matter of debate, but none can deny that the paintings are beautiful in their imperfections.
This was the biggest challenge in recreating the motif as an embroidered piece of art: impressionist imperfections bring colour transitions to a miniature scale, with each stroke of the painter's brush becoming several strokes of embroidered layers. The motif required an extraordinary number of colours to bring it to life correctly, and attention was given to every single stitch in the art piece.
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