WIP Introduction – HAED #3

Happy 4th of July to all of you who are celebrating! In the spirit of the red, white and blue here’s a WIP that has a LOT of blue in it!

Today I’d like to share with you the third and final (for now!) HAED that I purchased. The piece is by the artist Brigid Ashwood. Her subjects are diverse and range from fantasy and religious to women and insects! Her art, although quite dark at times (and I mean that literally) is bursting with vibrant color, rich depth and fine detail. Check out these stunning examples.

Brigid Ashwood masterpieces (Pictures courtesy : HAED website)

There were two pieces of hers that grabbed my attention. Oddly enough both were crosses. And although both depict the same subject, they are treated in diametrically opposite ways. While one is dark, metallic and gothic in its color scheme, the other is bright and floral.

The crosses that had me at a crossroads (Pictures courtesy : HAED website)

I knew I wanted one of the two and I’ll admit it took me a while to decide between them. But in the end there was a clear winner.

Butterfly Rose Cross (Picture Courtesy : HAED website)

From the battered and broken cross bloom the tender, fragrant blossoms that hold an irresistible appeal to life-seeking butterflies near and far.

Need I say more?

Of all the HAED’s I own this is the one I have made the most progress on. This is the piece which gifted me my first page finish on a HAED. This piece also introduced me to my current favorite DMC shade – 597.

DMC597 – The best-est color ever!

The background has hardly any confetti which makes it an easy and quick stitch. I can make pretty good progress when working on this one simply because of the large blocks of color. I am stitching this on 18 count Fiddlers aida, full cross, 2 over 1. I love love LOVE working on this WIP. Here is my current progress.

Progress as of 04 July 2015

I’ll admit the stitching turned out much darker than I expected. But I’ve only finished a little over one page so far and that means I’m still in the darker top left corner of the picture. And what with DMC 597 starting to make more prominent appearances (you can see the bright pop of 597 in the bottom right corner) I’m hoping the palette will lighten up soon. So far it definitely looks more greenish to me than blue. Fingers crossed that the finished piece will look like the artwork!

So to those of you celebrating the 4th of July, what are your plans for the day?