Poland-based embroiderer Paulina Bartnik describes herself as an artist, a traveler, and a nature lover. Her passion for both art and the outdoors is expressed through her incredibly detailed bird embroideries, known online as “embirderies.”
Inspired by the very richness of nature, in all its colors, shapes, and textures, Bartnik ‘s work is usually based on images rather than sketches. “I have plenty ideas in my head (sometimes too much) which isn’t always good because I forget to realize lots of them,” she admitted in an interview with the Paperfolk blog.
Growin up in an artistic family, Bartnik was surrounded by all forms of art and took to painting, drawing, and other forms of handicraft. “I finished art school but I learned a lot of things by myself, including embroidery,” she explains. “I discovered embroidery as a teenager when I found a book about folk embroidery. I really liked it so I decided to try it myself. It came naturally to me because I had a background in various other fields of art.”
“Embroidery is very time-consuming so I had to postpone it for a while and got back to it after a few years,” she adds. “I started to play around with felt and I discovered how good it looks when it’s combined with embroidery. Soft painterly effects can be achieved by using the felting technique and look perfect in combination with an acute line of threads.”
Judging by the finished product, her time is very well spent.
