12" x 13"

The story of "My Battle with a Samurai Warrior"

From the moment that I first saw the Samurai Warrior, I knew that I wanted to stitch this piece. If I'd known how advanced this piece was, I probably wouldn't have taken him on. However, to my advantage, ignorance is bliss and I signed up for the workshop trusting that if I could thread a needle, I could stitch the piece.

The Samurai Warrior wore a black robe. Tradition or not, I felt that my Warrior must wear red which was my colour of choice for power, rage, anger.

To give spirit and character to the warrior, we began by stitching the face on silk gauze, then padding it and attaching it to the congress cloth backing. Although everyone in the group began with the same instructions for stitching the face, every face looked different, just as human faces differ from one another. We all laughed when someone noticed that my Warrior had a "Mulroney" chin (our then current Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, had a very prominent chin).

I battled with this Warrior every step of the way. All of the exquisite details were a challenge for me. I was sure that the meticulous stitching of his robe and the counted stitches of his trousers would do me in!

I wouldn't have missed the lessons of the Samurai Warrior. This design, by Judy Souliotis is truly a work of art. Completing this piece gave me a sense of confidence that I could tackle anything on canvas.

The Samurai Warrior and I parted as good friends and I now get immense pleasure from bringing life to human figures on canvas.

>Click within the stitchings to see the detail images: