Something I worked on last year was a large scale mixed media piece, well textile piece, of a sakura (or cherry blossom) branch. This was part of a larger project, but was one of the parts I really enjoyed and gave amazing results. I started off with a large piece of blank canvas, I then began freehand printing petal shapes in various shades of pink and white (just like the colours of the real tree). I could have just as easily stenciled these, too! I layered the printing up until the printwork resembled something of a tumbling cherry blossom branch.
The next stage of this piece involved appliquéing transluscent fabric that I'd cut into petal shapes. To do this, I first loosely glued the petals randomly on top of the printed image. I then began freehand machine embroidering. With this, I went around the petal shapes, but also kind of drew flowers into the print work.
I switched between a few different colour threads to give more depth. One thing I did want to do was give a better impression of the cherry blossom, rather than just a reproduction. For this reason, I let the loose threads from the embroidery just dangle, as if they were in the wind or something... makes it look more realistic I think! The last stage of embroidery was the stamens and inner bits of the flowers. Again, I used freehand machine embroidery and just drew as I went. I think I used 2 or 3 different shades of green to give the effect of depth.
I don't really know what I'll do with the completed piece, I think I'd like to have it as a wall hanging at some point, it's just finding some place to put it!!!!
