The first place to look for inspiration is your own home. Is there a pillow, ceramic plate, or rug that you really love and could serve as your first adaptation project? If you love the rug in the living room, design a pillow based on the same colors and pattern to put on the couch. Maybe a painting could inspire you to create some coasters. Inspiration can come from anywhere. I have a small pad of paper in my purse and if I see something I really like when we’re away from home, I make a quick sketch of the motif that caught my eye.

The needlepoint to the right was inspired by a very large brass wall sculpture I saw in a restaurant when we went to Colorado for my son’s wedding in 2006. The background is an overdyed silk. The leaf-shaped unstitched areas allow the sage green canvas to show through. Then I added a few simple lines to hint at the veins of the leaves.

If you want to learn more about adapting other items to needlepoint, there is one book I can recommend. It’s an old book that is out of print, but you might be able to find at the library or find a copy through one of the online used book sites (Amazon, Alibris, or Abebooks). It’s called Designing for Needlepoint and Embroidery from Ancient and Primitive Sources by Jan Messent. Messent shows you how to look at a piece of art and find the motifs and illustrates this by including sketches of her own. She also gives examples of how to use the motifs to create a design: repeat the motifs, vary the size of the motif, juxtaposition, etc.). She includes examples of these as well.

Another place to look for inspiration online is to search for museum exhibitions for the country that interests you. The list below is just the beginning of a list of links you can use for this purpose.

General Sites

http://www.mfashop.com/arttiles.html Art tiles from many cultures

http://palestinianembroider.tripod.com/ They show patterns and finished pieces

http://www.textilemuseum.com/   Check the exhibits and the Museum Shop

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/DLDecArts/  Digitized design books from the 1700s - early 1900s

http://www.marlamallett.com/      Textiles and Tribal Rugs from all over the world    NEW

Asian Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/asian_art

http://Traditions.cultural-china.com/16two.html  Be sure to scroll down the list on the top right for lots of beautiful things

http://www.asiantextileart.com/   India, Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos

http://www.marlamallett.com/uzbek.htm    Textiles from Uzbek, Kirghiz, and Turkmen

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/cockerell/pigstytopalace/orientalceramics.html   Chinese ceramics

Morocco and Berber Art

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/fabric/index.html   A museum exhibit

http://www.stitchamaze.com/gallery-guest/isabelleaubry.aspx  Artist who lives and works in Marrakesh, Morocco

http://www.textilemuseum.org/fsg/gallery/stitch_glossary_frmset.html  Stitches used in Ottoman embroideries

http://dodona.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=racesoc&action=print&thread=10476   Berber symbols

Henna Designs

http://www.hennapage.com/   Cathrine’s site is where I got the pattern I adapted for my Henna Start pattern. She has free design booklets you can download.

http://www.hennamuse.com   Jennifer’s blog. It has links to her work and her shop as well.

Peruvian Textiles

http://www.elcoquigifts.com/peruviantext.asp

http://museum.archanth.cam.ac.uk/textiles/collection/samerica/peru/  Other countries are included on this site

http://www.cuscotextiles.com/

http://www.culturalexpeditions.com/history_peru_textiles.html

African Art

http://www.weaversnest.com/html/animals.htm  Namibia woven rugs, Zulu baskets

http://www.adire.clara.net/afgallery.htm   African handmade cloth

Pottery

http://www.acomapottery.net/  Native American pottery from New Mexico

http://www.treasureartgallery.com/   Turkish pottery

Guatemala

http://fiberfocus.blogspot.com/2008/06/yolanda-lifetime-of-embroidery-in.html

http://www.fairtradequilts.com/textiles.htm

http://ethnicarts.com/greeting-cards-guatemalan-textiles-cards-c-8_105

Back to:

Adapting Art to Needlepoint

Please Note

I want to add to this list.

If you have specific cultures or countries you would like to see listed here, please email me that information. I’ll do my best to find a few good sites for each of them.

Send email to:

jan@threadmedley.com

My son was part of a medical mission to Guatemala the end of June 2009. He brought back an embroidered tote bag for me and small purses for his nieces. I went searching for websites and have added 3 with art from Guatemala.