Abstract Embroidery - by Emily Botelho (Hardcover)

About the Book

Get inspiration from Emily Botelho - the genius behind @salt_stitches - and learn to create highly detailed abstract works of embroidered art. From mini hoops to larger fabric canvas work, ideas to capture your natural surroundings abound in this stunning book. Drawing on her love of nature, Emily Botelho creates highly textured and incredibly detailed embroidery pieces. Her work is organic, intuitive and celebrates patterns found in the natural world. She uses 3 environments - coastal, mountain and urban - to illustrate her creative process, describing how to find inspiration and where to look for interesting textures, color palettes and items to use as embellishments. Emily is a firm believer that you don't need to go far to be inspired and she encourages you to engage in close observation of the natural world on your doorstep, whether you have stitched before or not. Due to the abstract nature of the craft, there are no patterns to follow or step-by-step instructions. You decide when a piece is finished, which gives you complete freedom to explore the textures that you're working with. Every single piece will be unique, and that's the beauty of it!

Book Synopsis

From mini hoops to larger fabric canvas work, ideas to capture your natural surroundings abound in this stunning embroidery book. Get inspiration from Emily Botelho - the genius behind @salt_stitches

Winner of the People's Choice Award Art Comp 2023 100 Kellogg Lane!

Drawing on her love of nature, Emily Botelho creates highly textured and incredibly detailed embroidery pieces that have earned her a worldwide following. Her work is organic, intuitive and celebrates patterns found in the natural world. She showcases 12 beautiful projects inspired by 3 distinct environments - coastal, mountain and urban - to illustrate her creative process, describing how to find inspiration and where to look for interesting textures, color palettes and items to use as embellishments.

• Each piece is constructed of fabric printed with a source image that Emily photographs, based on her knowledge of which textures will translate well into stitches.

• She then layers stitching and embellishments over the fabric to approximate the textures and colors that inspired the work. Her wide catalog of embroidery stitches allows her to create visual and tactile interest in each piece.

Emily (@salt_stitches) is a firm believer that you don't need to go far to be inspired and she encourages you to engage in close observation of the natural world on your doorstep, whether you have stitched before or not. Due to the abstract nature of the craft, there are no patterns to follow or step-by-step instructions. You decide when a piece is finished, which gives you complete freedom to explore the textures that you're working with. Every single piece will be unique, and that's the beauty of it!

Review Quotes

Booklist (American Library Association)
Combine the notion of "slow" crafting with aesthetic freedom, and you have Botelho's embrace of abstract embroidery. Essentially, it's free-form stitching that takes inspiration from natural and human-made art. Her dozen projects here are divided into three groups: four with roots in the rock, sand, and greenery configurations of North Wales, four inspired by Swiss alpine mountain scenes, and the final four drawn from graffiti and other urban features. Though each pattern is accompanied by directions (of a sort), along with designated materials and equipment, none includes templates. (The author refers to a website for downloadable textures if crafters can't find them in their own corners of the world. Much of Botelho's striking work relies on individual visual interpretation and a willingness to bring forth colors (purple and pink, for instance) beyond what appears in reality. For experienced needleworkers who have the courage to experiment. -- Barbara Jacobs

About the Author

Emily Botelho, who works under the name Salt Stitches, formerly had a career in the fashion industry, and turned to embroidery in 2018. She has built a substantial following, sharing and selling her hoop-based works on Instagram and via her website www.saltstitches.com. She teaches at workshops all over the world, including the UK, US and Spain. Emily emigrated to Canada where she stitches full-time. Emily Botelho is the winner of the People's Choice Award at the 100 Kellogg Lane Art Comp 2023. 100 Kellogg Lane is Canada's largest entertainment complex, located in London, Ontario.