A Needlepoint Collaboration, No. 2

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012

Last year I featured a design of mine that was lovingly needlepointed by my mother (you can see it here). My mother loved to work on needlepoints, but she didn't like kits, and because there were artists in the family, she had a steady supply of original designs. After she completed the rabbit tapestry, I asked for another needlepoint, this one a simpler statement, but no less complicated in design.

I was inspired by this 19th century engraving of a fleur-de-lis, which I found in one of my Dover books. It looks as though it was designed to be cast in metal, and I envision it in gold or brass.

 

While I'm not a huge fan of purple for interior designs, I have become fond of the combination of purple, green and gold, which has a very rich effect.

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012

Here's the design that I made for my mother to work from (the framing came later, of course). I painted this in acrylics, and then had the design photostatted directly onto canvas. Because the two greens of the background design were difficult to read on the canvas, my mother required a second copy of the background in a light color and black, a valuable lesson for me in needlepoint designing!

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012

And here's a photo of my mother's finished product. I treasure this, not only because it is the handiwork of my mother, but also because it is the last needlepoint that she worked on.
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