Samplers of Sincerity

For this collection, I have illustrated three of my own ‘embroidered’ samplers, hand-drawn stitch-by-stitch. I have used the techniques described above to add a feeling of naivety, but the real sense of unease comes from the only ‘un-stitched’ features: the animals themselves. Every creature depicted in this collection, from mammal to insect, is classed as endangered, their species in drastic decline, while Victorian and Georgian mourning jewellery features species already lost. The verses I have written and attributed within each illustration are an overly simplified moral warning for us all to heed.

Samplers have long been seen not only as decoration but also as an educative tool; my hope is that these artworks do the same.