Stitchery paintings by Julie Crabtree Pfannes
Born and raised in the UK, Julie Crabtree-Pfannes studied textiles, fashion and embroidery in College of Art in Nottinghamshire. And then she taught until she moved first to Canada and then to the U.S. Julie doesn’t like when viewers call her work embroidery. According to Julie herself, it is “embroidered art,”or stitchery art, because “I want people to think of it as a new way to paint with stitches”. Thus, Julie paints landscapes with fabric and embroidery. In particular, the first phase of the landscape – a hand-dyeing fabrics and threads. Then, Julie forms the landscape with the texture of various textile. Meanwhile, in her work the artist uses beads, material for felting, and even real tree branches.

As a rule, Julie Crabtree Pfannes “draws” these landscapes from life. For example, Bayfield, Wisconsin; Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills; Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore; South Dakota’s Badlands and other places.

Besides, for inspiration Julie attends all places. She states: “You never know where you find inspiration. Even close to the rusty granary can meet the beauty that is asking to be embroidered. And it’s amazing.”

In the traditional question how long Julie makes her work, the artist frankly says “Years.” After all, these landscapes are created by nature, but Julie just moved them to the canvas.

Stitchery paintings by Julie Crabtree Pfannes

Julie tries to convey the tiniest details: the snow and icicles in the winter landscape, fallen leaves, bark at the foot of trees. More surprising to realize that all this is done with the fabrics and threads.

Recently, the artist was fascinated by the urban landscape: “Embroidery buildings are not very different from their actual construction, because I embroider each brick individually, until they become a wall.”

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