Ingrid Lee Art

During my recent trip to St Petersburg, Russia, I studied a masterclass with the wonderful ribbon embroidery artist Valentina Razenkova.  Valentina’s work is intricately detailed and combined handpainting and ribbon embroidery, and hand embroidery to create the most amazing landscapes and still life compositions.  I was fortunate to learn her own technique for roses…and we went shopping for shoes, jewellery, and ribbons of course!

Some of Valentina’s works are double layered, where she does a layer of ribbon work and embroidery with handpainting, then covers this with a layer of organza, and then embroiders ontop of that layer…it creates a multi dimensional effect.  You can’t see this in photos very clearly, but in real life her works are breathtaking!!  I love her technique of creating each petal individually to sculpt the flowers, and then handpaint to create definition.

In this artwork, there is a tree and birds on one layer of fabric, then the organza is placed over the top and embroidered onto, to give a sense of depth.

I can’t wait to practice the new techniques I have learned, so that I can start my project based on a rococco style roses still life :)

Thanks so much to Valentina, and my friend Kristina who was our interpreter   Valentina is a gracious and hospitable hostess, and beautiful woman who made my stay very comfortable, and the learning a pleasure.