Lucy Rose Smith

Embroidery Designer

My practice stems from the natural world, in which the organic forms, colour and cycles of nature inspire me. This research influences my digitally embroidered designs, where I meticulously translate the details into stitch. Inspired by the Japanese celebration of spring, Hanami, my final project is about appreciating the beauty of the bud form of a flower before it blossoms. I have also used the symbolism of flowers to convey the importance of appreciating our environment, for example daffodils which represent respect.

My aims are to push the boundaries of digital stitch, generating stitches with hand-embroidered qualities and designs with an essence of realism. One way I have achieved is through cross-stitch in colour-changing threads to create a more fluid transition between colours, like in nature. When contextualising my embroideries, I compliment them with insertions and finishings, using traditional machines (121 Cornely and Fagotter), and with large-scale screen-printing, where the embroideries are distributed across the design, to ensure no detail is lost when up-scaling for interiors.

My ambition is to become an Embroidery Designer and continue to improve my skills on the Wilcom and Ethos softwares, utilising skills from my internship at the London Embroidery Studio.