Showing posts with label portraits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portraits. Show all posts

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Custom Dog Portraits


If you aren't familiar with Deborah's work, explore her website (below) as well as her Etsy shop (above).

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 9, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Portraits of Iris Apfel

This new portrait of Iris Apfel is from Kate Dickerson.  Miss Apfel just turned 100, by the way.

So Gayla Elliott of Alice Peterson has a portrait of Iris, too.

This Iris portrait from KCN isn't new but it's lovely.

Portraits of real people in needlepoint are very interesting as they showcase not only the salient features of a person, but they show each designer's style very well.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 9, 2022 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Ruth Miller's Tapestry Portraits

This Biloxi newspaper profiles the amazing embroidery portraits of Ruth Miller, who has been honored by the State of Mississippi's Arts Commission for her creations.
http://www.wlox.com/2019/02/09/hancock-county-artist-receives-state-honor/?fbclid=IwAR3i3pEvqUezCiDAcPEKP3db79t8n5Vf4ozwZ5bP7wEye5EcCCy7TfI6c0U

It appears she often uses crewel wool or Paternayan wool on linen and works from photographs.
http://www.ruthmillerembroidery.com/gallery.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 16, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

More Needlepoint Portraits from Maria E. Pineres

Maria Pineres does elaborate portraits of people from photographs on needlepoint canvas.
https://mymodernmet.com/maria-e-pineres-intricate-stitched-portraits-people/

If you are intrigued you can see more on her website.  Some of the pieces are all in tent stitches, some are more elaborate.
http://www.mariapineres.com

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 27, 2018 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Jazz Musicians Portraits on Display in Atlanta UPDATED

If you are in the Atlanta area, you will be interested in the exhibit of Leanna Leithauser-Lesley's needlepoint portraits of jazz musicians.  If you aren't in the area and can't see the exhibit or participate in the group stitching at the Cobb Galleria, you can still listen to an interview in the link below.  Just click on Listen at the top of the page under the slide show.
http://news.wabe.org/post/needlepoint-artist-brings-jazz-portraits-theatrical-outfit

Many thanks to Sandy for pointing this out on Facebook.

UPDATE:  Her jazz and blues portraits will be on display in Selma, Alabama starting in October 2019.  If you can't be there, watch the video.
https://www.cbs42.com/good-news/birmingham-artist-immortalizes-jazz-and-blues-musicians-through-needlepoint-portraits/?fbclid=IwAR1YRLKRJz8NTSnIQAk-wZ8lcSc1kRUofB3Y2ty5kZTfJGw1rBS2NxWe33E

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 20, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Custom Pet Portraits UPDATED

Those of us with companion animals in our families sometimes need a custom portrait of our cat and dog (or parrot or whatever) friends.  I thought I'd compile a listing of folks who will paint a portrait of your pet from a photograph.  Here they are, in alphabetical order.  (By the way, most of the examples are of dogs.  Apparently most customers want dog portraits.)

Alice Twiggs Van Trease, Needles and Threads of Ruxton, is said to do lovely dog portraits. I haven't found any examples to show you.  Sorry.
http://needlesandthreadsofruxton.com

Barbara's Needlepoint has a painter (Cindy) who does lovely dogs.  Contact Barbara's Needlepoint via their Facebook page to arrange this at the second link below.
https://www.facebook.com/107558659287177/photos/a.471227749586931.100490.107558659287177/1082334315142935/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/Barbaras-Needlepoint-107558659287177/

https://www.facebook.com/107558659287177/photos/pcb.1369658023077228/1369657099743987/?type=3&theater

Heidi does very nice dog portraits.  You can view Heidi's designs on Flickr by searching Heidi Stanley or heididesigns. She can be reached by email at jonrheidir@gmail.com.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1622699111329011&set=pcb.933002363443589&type=3&theater

She also has an Instagram page.
https://www.instagram.com/heidistanleydesigns/

Labors of Love does a series of very nice cat and dog canvases but they will also do a custom portrait for you.
https://www.facebook.com/laborsofloveneedlepoint/photos/a.163225933826831.39001.163219983827426/692426104240142/?type=3&theater

Some of their customs are at the bottom of this page.
http://www.laborsofloveneedlepoint.com/cats-and-dogs.html

Lisa Ferguson does nice dog portraits that are like the animals but not too complicated to stitch.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206643238509378&set=pcb.1094417757302048&type=3&theater

Contact her via her FB page (second link below).
https://www.facebook.com/lisa.ferguson.710

Sandra Gilmore/Blue Moon Studio will do custom dog portraits.  Contact her via her distributor, Fleur de Paris.
https://www.facebook.com/needlehearts18900/photos/pcb.512520835601438/512519772268211/?type=3&theater

Jackie at Smiling Cat Studios does a lovely dog that doesn't appear too complex to stitch.  The only contact information I have for her is via Needlepoint Breeze (second link below).
https://www.facebook.com/Needlepointbreeze6/photos/a.487770404613196.113970.487766711280232/1195481983842031/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/Needlepointbreeze6/

Gail Hendrix at Squiggee does nice dog portraits.
http://squiggeedesigns.com

My Pink Sugar Life does pop art style portraits.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/253390010/hand-painted-pop-art-pet-portrait-of?ref=shop_home_active_4

Tammy Syrigos Irrera does fabulous dog and cat portraits.  Contact her via her Facebook page.  You can see a lot of examples of her work there, too.  UPDATE:  Tammy is temporarily closing her custom painting business as she needs to concentrate on her ill parents right now.  (January 2019)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207366421909027&set=pb.1540727335.-2207520000.1474036636.&type=3&theater

UPDATE:  As Mary Agnes reminds us, many local shops have painters who will do custom pet portraits.  Just ask if you are lucky enough to have a shop nearby.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 16, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Needlepoint Portrait

Melissa Shirley's Red Geisha

I've been thinking about needlepoint portraits a bit lately, spurred by this counted canvaswork image of Catherine the Great from Gay Ann Rogers. Gay Ann's been posting finished versions of her design on her website home page. She also has photos of her Queen Elizabeth I, as well as Bess of Hardwick and Mary, Queen of Scots still on her website, too.  Click on "Elizabethean" to see them.
http://www.gayannrogers.com

It's interesting how each portrait is a tad different, even though they were all stitched from the same counted canvaswork set of instructions.  Each has a bit of their own personality added by their stitcher.  In needlepoint faces, one stitch can make a huge difference.  You can see this in Penny MacLeod's painted canvas portraits, too.  Look at all the women on The Collection's website (The Collection is Penny's distributor).  Each has a different expression--wary, inquisitive, bold, puzzled, friendly.
http://www.thecollectiondesigns.com/penny-macleod.html

Even stylized faces of geishas can have their expression changed with just one stitch.  Above is Melissa Shirley's Red Geisha which I stitched for her.  Look at her lips.  The expression could be very different if I hadn't left the tiny red stitch between her parted lips visible.  Now to me she looks like she is about to speak.

Maybe we'll talk about faces later this week.

By the way, Red Geisha is being discontinued so if you fall in love, act before Melissa runs out of stock.
http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/?col=171

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 12, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Needlepoint Portraits from Maria E. Peneres UPDATED

Thanks to Amy's sharp eyes, I have an interesting article on the needlepoint portraitist Maria E. Pineres to share this morning. She takes photos of her subjects, adjusts and manipulates the photograph using PhotoShop, and then stitches the piece on needlepoint canvas.   Her website, second link below, shows more portraits and her gallery schedule.
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/maria-e-pineres-intricate-stitched-portraits-people#.VUOIOlKEP3Q.facebook

http://www.mariaepineres.com

UPDATE: Orna is stunned.
http://ornadesign.blogspot.com/2015/07/humbled-speechless-and-in-complete-awe.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 1, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Portraits in Needlepoint

This week NeedlePaint.com posted photographs of custom Portrait Pillows they've done for various clients. I've seen quite a few cross stitch portraits worked from photos that were turned into charts but never silk screened versions. They look great, although I know all that tent stitch with so many color changes isn't easy to stitch.  Nice job, people.
http://www.needlepaint.com/blog/2015/02/27/needlepoint-photo-pillows-look-amazing-stitched/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 27, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

The Do It Yourself Stitch People Book

I stumbled across a mention of this cross stitch design book on Facebook. It's a mix and match faces, skins, hairstyles, etc. book intended for cross stitch but if you don't mind the pixelated style, this would be a fun way to create personalized people in Christmas ornaments or to teach kids to stitch their families.  There are also cats and dogs in many breeds to add your pets to the family portrait and there is an alphabet to use to label everything or add your family name or catch phrase.  You can get a glimpse inside the book by clicking on the various photos.
http://stitchpeople.com/products/cross-stitch-pattern-design-book

The StitchPeople company also does custom portraits and kits for those who want some of the work taken out of the process.
http://stitchpeople.com/collections/all

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 3, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Gay Ann Rogers' Hearts Sale is TOMORROW

Gay Ann Rogers has retired from teaching but not designing counted canvaswork pieces. This year she is working on a portrait of Catherine the Great of Russia that will be offered later in the year (May?  Her annual October sale?).  Gay Ann also does a mini sale in February of charted heart designs.   This sale starts TOMORROW.  Some items are one-of-a-kind and the charts sold as kits are often limited in number so pay attention to the times the sales will occur.  I never remember because her starting time is most inconvenient for me so I miss out very often.  Don't be like me!
http://www.gayannrogers.com/hearts-2015.html

http://gayannrogers.blogspot.com/2015/02/among-my-hearts-this-february-is.html

This year there will be four new heart designs (including the magnificent Imperial Emeralds Heart which is based on one of Catherine the Great's crowns), special antique awls, special scissors fobs and tool sets, etc.  There will be items for the Sweet Tooth box of stitching goodies, which is actually a repurposed See's Candy Valentine box that is used for stitching tools and supplies.
http://www.gayannrogers.com/catherine.html

If you have not seen her portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and the smaller portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, you can see them here.  I don't believe these kits will be offered for sale again as GAR can't get the special tiny pearls and other beads used for them any more.  She says the Catherine the Great portrait will be much more opulent.  Hard to believe, right?
http://vimeo.com/31689238

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 10, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Pet Portraits

Ridgewood Needlepoint is having a Valentina Heishmann trunk show, so today on their blog they showed off her dog and cat designs, which are amazing!   If you like realistic animal portraits, don't miss this.
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2014/09/valentina-heishmann-designs-trunk-show_6.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 6, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Portraits in Thread UPDATED

Trish Burr has posted more information on Cayce Zavaglia's incredibly realistic portraits.   Although stitched on linen using one ply of embroidery floss, they are not traditional needle painting such as Trish uses for her bird portraits.  Instead, Ms. Zavaglia seems to substitute a needle and thread for paint brush and paint to lay down short lines of color.  It is amazing work!
http://trishburr.com/2013/08/13/realistic-embroidered-portraits/

The earlier interview Trish posted talks about using crewel wool on a cotton/linen, so the new link above is a slightly different look.  If you missed the interview I posted here in 2011, here it is again.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2011/06/crewel-like-youve-never-seen-it-before.html

UPDATE:  Another interview, this time about miniature portraits which is Cayce's current interest.
http://trishburr.com/2013/09/12/cayce-zavaglia-miniature-embroidery/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Mical Aloni

Trish Burr profiled Mical Aloni on her blog this morning.  Mical does amazing embroidered portraits.  Follow the links to a biography and more embroidery.  If anyone lives near Taos, you might see if you can find the gallery Mical and her husband opened there in 2003.  I hope she is still stitching but we know life gets in the way occasionally.
http://trishburr.com/2013/07/29/the-embroideries-of-mical-aloni/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Stitching Portraits

A lot of folks find stitching faces hard, so when I saw this posting by Quail Run of a tribute to the stitcher's mother, I had to put it here for everyone to see.
http://sonorandesertstitching.blogspot.com/2013/05/happy-mothers-day.html

I've also got an interesting article about how to make stitched eyes look more realistic.  It illustrates just how much impact one stitch has on facial expression.
http://www.funkandweber.com/create-eye-sparkles-in-cross-stitch/

I encourage you to go slowly with faces and rip out until you get it just right, especially since it probably is just a few stitches that are giving you the effect you don't want.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

That Special Someone

Ever think about stitching a portrait of the cat or dog or bird or whatever who lives under your roof? Rittenhouse shows how they create painted canvas custom portraits.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2013/03/custom-painted-pet-portraits.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Odds and Ends and Bangs


Last night I worked on Luna's hair and started the cloak trim. Although the purple Empress wool from Pure Palette I have is too heavy for the cloak lining, it makes beautiful tiny French knots as you see in the photos.

You probably won't see Luna again until I finish the cloak trim, lining and her hair.  I need to cut down on the number of redundant photos I post here, so we'll talk about other things until I am able to show you these items finished.  


Speaking of other things, Judy Harper continues very ill.  Apparently her family has turned off any eBook purchases on her Elegant Whimsies website but the website and her two blogs are still there for now.  It distresses me to know Judy is seriously ill since we carried on a lively correspondence and a running debate over just how much embellishment is too much on a canvas.  Judy always argued for restraint although she was a big believer in beading a canvas using the "use skip tent stitch then fill in the empty holes with beads" approach.  Here's Judy's Blogger profile which says what Judy is in just two sentences.  Keep those good wishes coming!

If you are curious about the tiny colored sequins that Needlepoint Tool Time has in stock, Tisha has posted a bit more information about them as well as listing shops that stock them.

ABS Designs has posted all of the Nutcracker Ballet ornament series that Anne blog stitched here so we can see the set together.


Rittenhouse has posted an interesting article about NP portraits on their website.  It's a good read with plenty of eye candy illustrations.

If animal portraits are more your style, check out the dog and wolf examples from Barbara Russell at Nimble Needle's blog. (Feb. 22 and 23, 2011 if you are late to the party.)

Are you a NP book collector?  If so, you'll want to take a peek at the books PFOS profiles on their blog.  Many are Julia Snyder's but not all.

Finally, these are for bargain hunters.  Ruth Schmuff has a Groupon (Groupon is a group coupon) deal going. 

Amy Bunger is doing a sale of the week for each Friday-Sunday.  Keep an eye out tomorrow to see the limited sale items for this weekend.
http://www.amybunger.com/online_3day_special.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com