Natalia Vasilyeva
Tell us about your creative career.
I started drawing in early childhood. All school notebooks had drawings of horses in the back. Later I engaged in the horseback riding, trained at the hippodrome in Bitsa. Love of horses and other animals lead to graduation from Agricultural Academy.
In 2003, after the birth of my second son, unexpectedly, as a kind of revelation, I discovered a passion for embroidery, before that I did only knitting. I remember I wanted to give a special New Year gift for my husband made with my own hands. So I chose a cross-stitch. And since then my life is continuously connected to this occupation. After I finished the third or fourth kit I started to dream of my own storylines, there was an overwhelming desire to create my own "picture". This had a lot of work to do, first I drew in pencil and brush, and then my husband helped me to learn graphic programs and more.
In my designs I use the cross, half-cross, French knots and beads, backstitch, metalized threads, and generally anything that helps to reveal the brightness and texture of the spirit of my work.
How did you start your collaboration with PANNA®?
Absolutely spontaneously, inspiredly. In 2007, I had accumulated several works, and I decided to offer my designs to the firms involved in the creation of cross stitch kits. PANNA® was one of the first to send my works to; and I also liked the terms of cooperation. I am very glad that it all happened this way.
What do you have in mind to please the fans of PANNA® kits?
I have many ideas and designs of different readiness on the themes of "animals", home spirits of well-being and peace, mythological and astrological storylines with secret meaning (from my husband who is esoteric), as well as traditional designs with landscapes, flowers, etc.
In the nearest future I’d like to dive into a horse theme, but honestly, most of the works are born spontaneously, so we cannot say what, when and how is exactly going to happen.
I love coming up with genre scenes, I like it when there is some action or interaction in the picture.
Which of the works for PANNA® do you consider the most successful?
Of those that bring satisfaction to me personally, I would call round works on a historical theme, brownies and some others. And my dream work is yet to come.
What tips and recommendations can you give to all those who like to embroider?
To beginners: you have to choose your first kit yourselves, and you really have to love it! Let embroidery be simple, but favorable to you. Bring your embroidery to perfection - do not economize on passé partout and picture frame.
And to everyone: don’t be afraid to realize your boldest and most cherished dreams, improve your technique, search your way to creativity
How would you describe PANNA® kits?
Kits of this company are one of the best at the Russian market. Canvas is of excellent quality, quite hard to embroider even without the hoop. "Gamma" mouline thread has a broad color range; threads shine, do not twist, and most importantly, are affordable and available in almost all stores. I have been embroidering only with "Gamma" for a long time already, and I see no reason to overpay for the imported analogues.
