Sunday Times 2
Stitching together a love for needlework and the wilds
View(s):The joy of needlework as a hobby never left Samanthi Gamage. She also loves wildlife and so she began stitching images of birds, bears, trees and much more.
Samanthi will now showcase her work at ‘Sonduru Soba’, an exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Gallery on December 10 and 11.
Samanthi is the wife of Rajika Gamage who has done several guide books on Birds and Butterflies. With the assistance of her husband, Samanthi previously held an exhibition named ‘Siyoth Ru’ on 2009 and 2012. Birds were the main subject of this exhibition, but ‘Sonduru Soba’ will contain needlework featuring other wildlife as well.
Needle painting also known as thread painting or painting with a needle, is a hand embroidery technique blending long and short stitches to create realistic images on cloth.
Samanthi works mainly on ‘Amu redi’ and first makes a sketch of the picture and background. She says it is mostly a family affair with Rajika helping to draw the images on the cloth and her sons – Sakuna and Vihanga assisting in different ways.