Ann's Rusty Sewer Grate...

I've been working on the next GOE challenge piece, which required us to use the inspiration of a rusty sewer grate that is on a golf course in Mexico.  My friend Ann was busy taking photos of the grate while golfing...is this why she never made the Women's PGA tour???

I started by manipulating the photo in Photoshop Elements so that I could create a unique collage of the many rusty lines in the grate.

 I used machine stitch to create some of the grass, using long free motion stitches.  I also thread sketched in all of the black areas between the grate lines to make them recede further back.







Hand stitch was used to create bolder grass lines in some areas and then I used French knots and some simple straight stitches to further encrust the rusty grate lines.  I intentionally let the rusty areas rise up from the surface to create the 'bubbling' texture that rust creates on metal.

It has been framed in a 12" x 12" frame.