The Art of Embroidered Butterflies (paperback edition)

In this gorgeous book, Jane E. Hall combines her love of butterflies with her outstanding talent as a textile artist to produce three-dimensional renditions of exquisitely worked butterflies that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Using the finest of silk threads and needles, Jane lovingly creates her butterflies using the tiniest of stitches worked on to silk. The butterflies are then placed within a setting of silk leaves and flowers, all made with the same painstaking attention to detail and expert skill as the butterflies themselves.

There is a fascinating introduction to butterflies in nature, reflecting Jane's love and admiration for these exquisite creatures. This is followed by twelve studies, including the Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and the Brimstone, each presented as a finished piece along with the materials used to create them, and the photographs, swatches, drawings and paintings that inspired them. One of the most striking features of this book is the amazing photography of Jane's work, including detailed close-ups. This, together with Jane's poetic and inspiring text, make this a book that anyone who is a nature lover, embroiderer, textile artist or simply a lover of beautiful books will want to own.

Book Contents

Foreword 8

Introduction 10

Butterflies in nature 14

Materials 18

My studio 22

My butterfly collections 26

Artistic technique 28

Butterfly Studies
Peacock Butterfly - Summer Reverie 40, Red Admiral - Field Study 46, Red Admiral - Wishes 52, Holly Blue - Silent as Light 58, Large Blue - A spell amongst the wild Thyme 66, Large Blue - Très Fragile 74, Speckled Wood - Spirit of the Woodlands 78, Orange Tip - Sunrise 86, Brimstone Butterfly - Periwinkle Wood 94, Small Tortoiseshell - Sleeping Beauty 102, Peacock Butterfly - Dreaming 110, Painted Lady - Thistledown Summer 116, Aurelian Butterfly - Collection 124

Index 128