The Embroidered Art of Chloe Giordano

Oh, what a feast for the eyes this book is!I'm sure some will wish that the designs were just there for them to copy but that is not the idea behind the book. It is an inspiration to those who have drawing skills of their own (which I lack completely), but I knew this when I bought it.My desire is to see the work of needle artists such as the author, in order to remind myself of the sheer beauty of 'painting with thread' as I have lost the use of my dominant hand and am struggle back to needlework using the wrong hand.It is a feast for the eyes and I have found the visual impact of seeing how Chloe Giordano uses line of stitching to indicate direction of fur/hair on her wonderfuly drawn creatures especially interesting and potentially helpful - if I ever manage to rebuild lost skill in embroidery. Certainly, it has inspired me to keep trying to move on from my current reduction to 7 year-old level of embroidery! Chloe Giordano is first and foremost an artist, but one who happens to have taken the unusual step of using needle and thread to great effect. This is about her art. It is a beautiful book in itself and of value to experienced embroiderers who wish to see and read about the importance of direction of stich and use of varying shades of colour to represent life in animals. A book for those who love to see the potential of embroidery, rather than a 'how to' book, of which there are many. One of a kind, it is beautiful and well worth the investment for me.

This book is an absolute delight for an embroidery enthusiast. Full of close up pictures of the various stages of Chloe's work, this is not a book of patterns, but a glimpse inside an artist's method of working. It is inspiring, encouraging and full of advice and tips for anyone keen to start their own project. There are no rigid rules to follow; Chloe talks about experimenting, trial and error and how a piece can change slightly as she works on it.What I particularly liked is how clear the amount of thought and work that goes into each piece of work. These are pieces to be treasured for years to come, and so is this book.

For those claiming this book doesn't teach you how to make the pieces: it's not called 'How to Sew Like Chloe Giordano'. It's an art book, where the artist shows her work step by step - common in the art world, less so in sewing.However, if you read it thoroughly, it does explain how to imitate her pieces and do it well. Of course it's not a beginners manual and doesn't profess to be - there are plenty of those about! But beginners could still get so much inspiration from this book.It is just stunning!Her pieces are incredible &, for those of us who love to design from start to finish, this book is perfect. Like many creatives, I have so many ideas in my head that it can be overwhelming: this book helps me see how to focus and how to bring together by drawings with my sewing.I love the freshness of Chloe's work - the focus on botanicals, on realistic portrayals of the animals, whilst still always retaining their beauty.I also love her unique approach: intoroducing fabric dying as part of embroidery, using sewing thread instead of embroidery thread, etc.It's an art book, a coffee table book, an inspirational book, and a teaching book - all in one. All of that makes it worth the price!

A nice book with some lovely pictures. I didn't get much more from it though. I had hoped for more detailed information on how to create the embroidered animals, with hints and tips, maybe suggestions for creating ones own. This book shows step by step how the author has done her own creations. It became a little bit repetitive as each creation was not too dissimilar to the previous one.So a pleasant browse through but not terribly helpful for myself.

Beautiful book great photos of how the work is done not a project book but would make you want to pick up your embroidery needles again.