ARTIST STATEMENT:
The pomegranate's flower is pretty, and a fully mature pomegranate has a lovely sculptural form: generously round, with a gently flattened crown. But to me, the most visually exciting stage is when several young pomegranates are maturing together on a branch, hanging at angles to each other, with their calyxes already well-developed but the fruit itself still far from maturity. The shapes they form are beautiful, and the growth suggests hope.

TECHNIQUE:
Canvas embroidery. The main forms were lightly painted on the canvas. Objects in the foreground were then embroidered in tent stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch, and French knots. More distant elements and outlines were darned into the remaining space. Afterwards, the canvas was raveled to the edge of the image, and the threads were darned back towards the image to form the edge.

MATERIALS:
Silk, cotton, linen threads, paint, linen canvas.

PHOTO CREDIT:
Artist