Those who love to fly know that there’s nothing better than peering out of an airplane window to see the landscape below as a patchwork of abstract shapes and colors. Inspired by aerial views, textile artist Victoria Rose Richards creates colorful, 3D embroidery designs based on the rural landscape of her hometown of Plymouth, England. Each highly-detailed piece looks like a textile snapshot taken from the sky.
Richards has an academic background in biology, so it’s only natural that her love of nature comes through in her artistic practice, too. The talented textile artist—who is on the autism spectrum—first picked up a needle and thread when she discovered that stitching helped her feel calm. “I pulled some nice blues and greens out of my grandmother’s old embroidery tin,” she recalls, “and had my first go at an embroidery landscape in October 2018.” Today, Richards is an expert in her chosen craft, and her impressive textile scenes are becoming increasingly elaborate.
Richards uses a variety of embroidery techniques to achieve her multi-textured works. Trees and foliage are rendered in clusters of French knots while fields and lakes are recreated in long, straight satin stitches. The self-taught artist has recently taken her three-dimensional details to the next level with the addition of raised hills. And in one piece, she’s even stitched tiny swimmers dotted around a coastline scene. Each hoop is sure to make you long for the outdoors.
Check out some of Richards’ embroidery designs below and find more from her portfolio on Instagram and Etsy.
Victoria Rose Richards creates colorful, 3D embroidery art based on the aerial landscapes of her hometown of Plymouth, England.
Each piece is rendered with a variety of stitches to achieve a realistic texture.
Fields, lakes, forests, rivers, and roads are meticulously hand-stitched with colorful threads.
In some pieces, Richards has even created 3D hills.
Victoria Rose Richards: Etsy | Instagram | Twitter
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Victoria Rose Richards.
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