Brown Paper Bag’s 15 Most Popular Posts of 2016

I think we can all agree… it’s time for 2016 to get out­ta here! But first, let’s take a look back on 15 of the most pop­u­lar posts on Brown Paper Bag this year. Sim­ply, it was two cat­e­gories: embroi­dery and illustration—two things I love and will con­tin­ue to share into 2017.

15. The letter “R” never looked better

Illus­tra­tor Eleono­ra Koly­che­va reimag­ines the let­ter “R” in a series of beau­ti­ful paint­ings. She calls it an “exper­i­ment” which you could total­ly try at home. Pick your favorite let­ter and imag­ine its pic­to­r­i­al possibilities.

14. Paper cacti you can hold in the palm of your hand

Kim Siel­beck cre­at­ed a series of papi­er-mache cac­ti that I was (still am) obsessed with over the course of 2016. These tiny sculp­tures were even part of the show I curat­ed, Inside / Out­side at the Flower Pep­per Gallery this year.

13. Colorful bouquets of imaginary flowers 

Jess Phoenix cre­ates beau­ti­ful bou­quets that live in her imag­i­na­tion. Doing this “act[s] as a vehi­cle for her to cre­ate vibrant col­or relationships.”

12. Intricate hoop embroidery that loves moss

Did you know there are 12,000 species of moss? Emma Matt­son pays homage to this hearty organ­ism through embroi­dery—the amount of French knots in her hoops is amazing.

11. Cinder & Honey

Tat­toos and florals—two things I love—are main­stays in Cin­der & Hon­ey’s hoop art. Inter­est­ed in try­ing her pat­terns on your own? She sells them as PDFs.

10. Watercolor dioramas resembling film stills

Mar Cerdá has a back­ground in film, so it’s no sur­prise that her 3D envi­ron­ments resem­ble scenes from a movie. “I firm­ly believe that a char­ac­ter can be defined by a space,” she says, “even if is not present at all.”

9. Illustrations that capture beauty… and horror

This year, illus­tra­tor Aster Hung pro­duced a series called Gar­den in the Dark—the com­pelling com­bi­na­tion of splen­dor and destruction.

8. Two-dimensional animals adorned with sculptural stitching

Embroi­der­er Maria Arse­niuk fus­es 2D print­ing with 3D thread. The col­or­ful, geo­met­ric por­traits wear del­i­cate wreathes that drape the ani­mals in blooms.

7. Playful embroidered collars that are ready to party!

Señori­ta Lylo cre­ates cloth­ing acces­sories that are the per­fect state­ment-mak­ing pieces for your New Years out­fit. Using a vari­ety of flat and three-dimen­sion­al stitch­es, the col­lars are uncon­ven­tion­al can­vas for her works of art.

6. Quirky illusions transform the iPhone into an imaginative world

When is an iPhone also a flower pot? When Anshu­man Ghosh (@moography) is in charge! He cre­ates illus­tra­tions that blur the line between fan­ta­sy and reality.

5. Beautiful watercolor blooms on Instagram

Insta­gram is one of my favorite online haunts. Car­olyn Gavin cap­tures the care­free flu­id­i­ty in water­col­or blooms she reg­u­lar­ly shares on her account, @carolynj.

4. Six months of stitches through one embroiderer’s eyes

This one is a recent post, but it’s quick­ly become one of my most pop­u­lar this year. It’s easy to see why—Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Mor­gan’s 1 Year of Stitch­es project is only halfway done, but it’s spec­tac­u­lar.

3. Beautiful blooms and hand-lettered embroideries

Is Marigold + Mars’ embroi­dery awe­some? Hell yes!

2. Everyday clothing given a new life with stitches

Tes­sa Per­low turns ordi­nary tank tops and t‑shirts into one-of-a-kind pieces. The style, which fol­lows a long tra­di­tion of cloth­ing adorn­ment, recall beau­ti­ful Oax­a­ca dresses.

1. Illustrations celebrating the splendor of nature

Svab­hu Kohli cre­ates col­or­ful, mul­ti-lay­ered images depict­ing the oceans and cos­mos. Using a vari­ety of tex­tures, his work feels hand­craft­ed despite being made digitally.

Want more 2016? For Illusion Magazine, I also picked 10 of the best illustrators of this year. And for My Modern Met, I wrote about 17 amazing embroiderers!