Ink Plum Blossoms

The inspiration for this embroidery piece came from the painting by Wang Shishen (1686-1759 AD), the painter regarded as “master plum-blossom painter”, and also a member of the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou”. Besides the elegant artistic charm, what makes the painting special is that its inscription lies in the center of the image.
By use of various techniques including long and short stitches (tao zhen, 套针), broken-line-making stitches (xu zhen, 虚针) and outline stitch (gunzhen, 滚针), the embroiderer successfully transferred the layers of ink from painting onto the embroidery, giving a vivid illustration of the gesture of plum trees in snow based on combination of thick and thin, ingenious and simple needlework, revealing the noble and pure characters of plum.