While the studio’s practice often explores large-scale botanical topographies and ocean-inspired series, select private commissions offer an intimate canvas to translate fine art embroidery into highly personal, meaningful gifts.
This case study features a bespoke private commission created for a client gifting a one-of-a-kind artwork to a close friend. Beginning with a defined budget and a clear aesthetic direction centered on a love for violas and impressionist pastel tones, the creative dialogue evolved into an intricate, tactile interpretation of Claude Monet’s iconic water garden palettes.
Translating impressionist oil paintings into three-dimensional textile art presents a unique structural challenge: capturing the soft, light-dappled fluidity of paint using the physical density of stitchwork, beads, and raised textures.
To bridge Monet’s delicate color transitions with the studio’s signature tactile depth, the piece was developed through a layered, material-led approach:
Fluid Alcohol Ink Base: The canvas was first prepared with soft alcohol ink washes in blush pinks, tender greens, and sky blues, creating a luminous, impressionist atmosphere that shifts beneath the needlework.
Tactile Topography Building: Layers of raised French knots, dense seed beads, and freshwater pearls were hand-embroidered to build structural viola blooms that catch light from every angle.
The Golden Thread Motif: Signature couched golden threads were woven across the composition - a unifying studio element representing the interconnectedness found throughout nature, history, and life.
Inspired By: The Water Lily Series & Impressionist Palettes by Claude Monet
The Brief: The client approached the studio with a clear vision: craft a 20x20cm artwork for a friend whose favorite floral and colour preferences span lilacs, deep purples, blush pinks, soft greens, and Monet-inspired pastels.
Drawing from Monet’s light-filled canvases, the studio curated a custom moodboard blending purples, pastel pinks, moss green and beautiful blues. This color story provided the foundation for balancing rich, saturated floral centers with delicate, ethereal background washes.
Moodboard & color palette compilation showing Monet’s water lily studies alongside the initial color swatches and textile direction.
Inspired By: Structural Botanical Topographies & Viola Odorata
The Composition: Executed on a $20 \times 20\text{ cm}$ canvas, the finished piece features two central viola forms bursting into organic, flowing tendrils. High-density violet and plum stitching forms the heart of the blooms, while radiating lines of glass seed beads, freshwater pearls, and golden French knots stretch outward across the painted background.
The signature golden thread wraps fluidly through the composition like root networks sharing life and energy, connecting the dense floral center to the soft pastels surrounding it.
Detailed studio view of the completed 'Monet Viola' fine art embroidery, highlighting dense French knots, seed bead clusters, freshwater pearls, and alcohol ink background washes.
The Brief: Designed to stand out as a focal piece in a home, the artwork was formatted specifically to suit modern, clean display standards.
The Presentation: Framed inside a crisp white box frame with a wide, deep mount, the 20x20cm canvas is given ample breathing space. The clean white border frames the soft pastel washes and allows the raised three-dimensional beadwork to cast natural shadows across the mount.
Framed artwork displays showing the piece inside the wide white mount and box frame.
The Inspiration: Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, impressionist pastel gardens, and natural botanical root networks.
The Technique: Hand embroidery, raised French knot clusters, high-density glass seed beadwork, freshwater pearls, alcohol ink wash, and couched golden threadwork.
The Format: 20x20cm fine art canvas presented in a 30x30cm white box frame with wide mount.
The Location: Private commission created in the London studio.
Bespoke art commissions are accepted on a limited basis throughout the year to ensure dedicated studio time for moodboard development, custom painting, and intricate hand-stitching.
Whether creating a meaningful gift, reinterpreting a favorite color palette, or developing a custom size for a specific interior, every piece is built through direct, thoughtful dialogue between the client and the studio.
