Imaginary FriendsYou may not know this, but there is a robust radical stitching community out there.  I've been stitching for ages. Developing my own style of the past few years, I would show new work to artist friends who were encouraging and crafty friends who found it unique, but I didn't know anyone else who loved stitching as much as I do.

Thank goodness for the Internet!  One day last year, I was playing around and typed in "artistic embroidery" and a whole new world opened up.  I found people working with fibre in new ways, pushing the boundaries of subject and medium to redefine "arts and crafts."  One my first (and favorite) finds was Mimilove. 

Mimilove combines not only paint and stitching, but also realism and whimsy, in animal portraits.  Each piece she creates is completely different in personality.  Each one contains so much detail, you will find something new each time you look at her pieces.  You will remark her creative talent and also giggle just a little bit.  The giggles continue when reading her blog where she shares her process and her favorite details in each piece.

Last December, I commissioned a portrait of my beloved Ollie.  Working with her, I found that the whimsy infused in her portraits comes from the woman herself.  She is bubbling over with it.  In a few emails, it became clear that she loves what she does.  Curious about her work and the woman herself, I had to learn more.

Henry

Your mix of embroidery and painting is completely unique. How did you develop your technique?

OOOOO... there were all sorts of factors and inspirational folks that led to it really; years of painting on canvas (large scale acrylics), a love of embroidery but never actually doing it, the yen to explore watercolours again and a complete inability to stick with one thing for more than ten minutes without being distracted and moving onto the next thing....next question! ;0)

To be honest it was the materials I had to hand at the time that kick started it.

Plop the TurtleI set out with the intention of exploring embroidery and after a bit of internet action came across the work of Aimee Ray and Tilleke Schwarz. Their work really opened my eyes, I had embroidery in my head as being all satin stitch shading, complicated stitches and totally unapproachable without taking a course etc.

So their work and encouraging words (after a bit of email pestering!) spurred me on and I initially started with just stitching onto canvas, not a whiff of a watercolour in sight...that was the next project

I then had a chance meeting with British artist Jake Sutton who very generously gave me a copy of his book The Importance of Drawing from Life, along with some very wise words and a huge amount of inspiration which kick started the painting

The two came together because I felt the stitching was lacking something. I initially collaged some of my watercolour efforts onto the canvas and stitched them, which I kind of liked but it just wasn't quite "there"... it just seemed the next logical step to try the watercolours direct on to the canvas and Bob's y' uncle! It's just grown from there really! :)

How do you describe your style?

Fluffy with a lump of mixed media!

I've been painting pet portraits for as long as I can remember so it's been a natural continuation of that really...I do people and other stuff too though...I just think I've got a better understanding/more of an affinity with animals! 

I've shared my life with furry, spikey, feathery chums as far back as I can remember and I'm still surrounded by them! As I answer this, there's 2 flavours of kitty sprawled out with legs in the air, a frankly weird guinea pig scuffling around and a snoring hedgehog!

It just feels right.

ElephantsAnd look at them; colours, textures, character, they've got it all going on and they're less likely to complain that I've made them look too old etc :)

Cor blimey, can't choose!

Love the painting; you can't beat the feeling of sloshing a bit of colour around!

I paint quite quickly (hence some of the dribbly/splashy bits!) otherwise I get caught up in minor details, over work and ultimately ruin it...Mr. Mimi knows the signs now, so I rely on him and tea/cake/nap breaks to stop that happening

Love the stitching; that's the bit where I can sit quietly and really go for it on the details! It's the most time consuming part of the process, although that is partly because it takes me so long to thread a needle these days

Love commission pieces; I cannot explain how much I enjoy working on these. I love every part of it and I try to incorporate everything I know/been told about the subject to make it extra special for the recipient

Blimey that's a toughy!

I would have to say all the commissions or works that have featured somebody's loved one (as opposed to, say, a random kitty or dog etc).

They can be quite stressy because I want to get it right, especially if the subject in question is no longer with us, but it's such a lovely feeling when you do.

I try and go the extra mile and to know you've made someone happy, laugh or cry (in a good way!!), that all the research, getting to know the you or the subject etc has worked, you can't get better than that!

You can see more Mimilove on her website.  You can also buy her work and commission your own pet portrait (which I highly recommend) on her Etsy shop.