The World of Cross Stitching - UK (2020-04)

88 The World of Cross Stitching http://www.gathered.how/woxs

Time to Chat

In the spotlight

We chat with Carol about her design inspirations and her cross-stitching journey

Carol Thornton

H

ow did you begin cross

stitching?

My mother introduced me

to knitting, sewing and embroidery.

Later, one of the art-related jobs

I went on to do in industry was

working as a carpet designer for a

major company. As it turns out, cross

stitching design is a very similar way

of working and I went from there.

How did you begin designing?

I attained my degree later in life and

decided to use my love of painting and

artistic experience to work for myself.

I was designing and selling print

designs for most of the major textile,

wallcovering and surface pattern

companies in the UK (and some

abroad as well). After a while I started

working as a cross stitch designer, too.

Nowadays, I mainly focus on cross

stitch design as I love the permanence

and the more three-dimensional,

textural effect that it gives.

How would you describe your

design style?

I think I have a very varied style,

ranging from big splashy vibrant

artworks to those in minute botanical

detail. Throughout all of them I take

really great care to get the colours

right and, where possible, I include

hidden symbolism or meanings in all

my work.

What’s your favourite subject

to illustrate? Least favourite?

I find that all subjects can be

interesting when you get into

them. Doing things that you might

not choose initially to do and then

enjoying it is really the only difference

I think between working as a designer

or more freely as an artist.

What’s your most memorable

cross stitch design?

It’s hard to choose from them all, but

I am quite proud of two religious icon

designs with a Byzantine influence

that I created for the millennium. The

backgrounds of the portraits were

mosaics in rich jewelled colours and

used a lot of metallic thread. They

were really eye-catching.

What are your favourite type

of commissions?

I really enjoy creating designs using

old vernacular buildings, crumbling

cottages and overgrown gardens for

ideas. Also, seascapes! Overall, nature

is a theme that really appeals to me.

What do you love most about

being a cross stitch designer?

During the 22 years that I’ve been a

cross stitch designer, I would have to

say that one of the best things is being

able to convert into pattern some of

my favourite paintings or one of my

original ideas for a design, without

having to change it, and then see it

translated into stitching.

Be inspired: Carol draws

inspiration from the natural world

around her. Here we can see her

designing in her happy place.

Secret message: Did you know that Carol likes

to hide special symbolism and meanings in her

work? Have you been able to spot any?