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o, wow! congratulations on an awesome finish!!! looking forward to seeing your new projects come to life in stitches!

The portrait is stunning.

Beautiful finish. Lovely work and so effective on the black background

Finally got it framed.


The framer seemed to think it was out of the common run of cross stitch he has to frame, and insisted on calling it 'embroidery' rather than cross stitch. He seems to have done a good job - much better job than I have of photographing it. Now all we have to do is decide where to hang it. The stair well seems a likely candidate, or maybe the upstairs landing instead of a somewhat foxed print we have of a square rig sailing ship running before a storm.

Regards,

Richard

This beats a foxed print of a square-rigged sailing ship any time - in fact it beats pretty much anything I can imagine hanging on walls! Lovely job on the framing, it really sets ooff your wonderful design and stitching

My, oh my, oh my, what a stupendous portrait of your wife this is with the great framing done, suits it completely & finishes it superbly. I agree, your wife's portrait deserves to be up there instead of the ship, as wonderful as ships are, as this is a truly spectacular work of art in your deftly crafted cross stitch

This turned out beautifully! What a tribute to your wife. Very nice heirloom for the family. Definitely deserves a place of honor.

Richard, it's gorgeous!! It deserves to be hung in a very special place where it can be admired on a daily basis. You did a magnificent job on this work of art and love.

Wow!!! Just WOW!!! perfection in both the stitching AND the framing!!! A truly wonderful piece of art!!

karen4bells wrote:Wow!!! Just WOW!!! perfection in both the stitching AND the framing!!! A truly wonderful piece of art!!

I'll second that! WOW!!!

Carole

Wow! That is stunning! The frame is perfect for it too

Thank you so much for your comments.

I do think it looks even better in the frame. My one concern is that the fabric surface has a slight cellulite/orange peel look about it with low angle of incidence light, and on our upstairs landing that is the main angle of lighting. It may end up with it in the living room - which I would approve of, even if my wife doesn't. For some reason, I'd be happy with pictures of her as the main decoration in the house.

Not sure why the fabric has the orange peel effect. It came on when washed, and the undulations do not relate to the thickness of the mat behind in any way. It has left me wondering if the fabric stretched in the frame and shrank back under washing, and due to the compression on the stitching from the fabric, ironing wasn't able to smooth it out.

Ah well, a mystery, but with lighting mostly from the front it's invisible.

Regards,

Richard.

I think you are correct, Richard. This deserves being SEEN! It's lovely. (Although the foxy ship probably still needs to go...)

[quote="richardandtracy" For some reason, I'd be happy with pictures of her as the main decoration in the house. [/quote]

That's sweet - she's a lucky lady.

It's fabulous. It needs to be placed where everyone can see it.

Richard, it's gorgeous! I really like the double mat and that's exactly the frame I pictured it in while you were stitching it. Either you did a fabulous job of snapping the picture or the framer used non-reflective glass (not non-glare flass, that's something different) because the pic is just fine.

I think that "orange peel" effect becomes less noticeable over time. I know what you're talking about; I've seen it with black fabric and I seem to recall seeing it with navy blue. Either the fabric gradually 'relaxes' or I just stopped seeing it after a while, I couldn't say.

What an absolutely lovely portrait, Richard!!

(If you're worried about light levels, you can get a little lamp that will attach to the top of the frame and add more ambient light to it--my mom has one on her antique map of Ireland, and it adds a lot to it.)

Thank you for your comments. I showed them to the boss & she went a bit pink.

The glass in the picture is normal high gloss finish glass. I just photographed it at an angle in a fairly dark room. That way the flash wasn't visible as a reflection and the rest of the room wasn't bright enough to reflect in the glass either.

Regards,

Richard.

Love the framing and I still can't get over how lifelike it looks. It feels as if you could reach out and feel real hair. Amazing job of both charting and stitching

Excellent Job Richard...