At the same time she picked up a book that really gave her the inspiration for how she wanted to stitch her piece. The book is called The Liberated Canvas by Penny Cornell. Roberta also picked up another book called Gardens In Embroidery by Val Holmes. Both of these books sparked something in her to want to experiment with texture, color, and light. After taking a picture of the screen Roberta decided on the count of the canvas and began to air brush her canvas.

She got a kit from a craft store that is used to airbrush model cars and such and went back to an old issue of Needle Pointers and read up on painting her canvas. After she painted the canvas Roberta drew her design using the screen as a guide. She then tried to attain as much texture in the piece as she could. It was most important to her for the stitches she used to imitate the leaves, branches, etc. as closely as possible. She spent many hours looking at books, stitches, other artists' pieces until she found the perfect stitch.

Roberta wanted to have the viewer feel as though she was painting with her fibers! Light was a very important issue for her -- she wanted the colors to reflect light coming in from the side of the canvas so she would sit with a flashlight in hand and shine it on the canvas to simulate sunlight for accurate placement of color.

Roberta's other big inspiration was that she wanted a third dimension to her needlepoint. She used floral wire wrapped with the fibers, Veloura which was couched, French knots, and bullions. The most challenging aspect of using a third dimension is getting it successfully attached to the canvas without ruining the integrity of how the piece is stitched. It was a learning experience to say the least.

Roberta wanted to stitch an Oriental piece that no one else has stitched and she wanted to do it with texture, light and a third dimension. Needlepoint is such a wonderful form of expression, and so often people are afraid to let go a little and experiment. You can't be afraid of the fibers, canvas or your idea. She likes to think of herself as a painter who paints with fibers on the needlepoint canvas. Roberta's hope is that others might also enjoy what she does with this media.

Roberta has been stitching for about 18 years now and she feels that she is always learning. She feels that you must be passionate about your work. Believe in what you are stitching, whether others agree with you or not and stitch it well. There is nothing more beautiful than a well stitched piece -- whether you agree with the subject or not. She would also advise all serious stitchers to get their hands on all of the books they can. Roberta has what she considers her own library comprised of stitching books, books on photography, flowers, art, jewelry, birds, kimonos and the list goes on. Inspiration is everywhere!