Cross Stitch Art

I first encountered cross-stitching while at school during my home economics class and have not lifted a needle until a decade later when I met my friend's mum. I visited their home and almost lost my breath as her house walls were all covered by a vast amount of cross stitch designs she has done over the years. That's when I thought to try cross-stitching again.

I started with a couple of generic cross-stitch designs, including various small scenic designs like a cottage house. I also picked a design of a nineteenth century French Impressionist artist, Claude Monet, called "Poppies near Argenteuil", 1875.

I thought to myself "why don't I stick to works of art?" I could not have thought of a better starting point other than choosing to recreate the art works of another French Impressionist, Edgar Degas, who is known for his obsession of depicting ballet dancers and their everyday day lives. This way I would be able to combine my two passions for art history and ballet.

Since then, I have cross-stitched two of his works, “The Ballet Rehearsal on Stage”, 1874 and “The Dancing class”, 1870, and I am currently finishing up the third work, The Dance Foyer at the Opera on the rue Le Peletier, 1872.