Spotlight: Rita Gaspar, Thread Painter

Rita Gaspar tried her hand at crochet and cross-stitch and wanted to try something different. She now creates detailed portraits with thread (and sometimes beads) on unique fabric backgrounds. Inspired by acrylic paintings of portraits, she recreates the paint strokes with thread.

How long have you been doing embroidery art? How did you get started?

I started embroidery when I was in college, about 8 years ago, totally influenced by the videos and photos recommended to me on various social media platforms. By that time, I had already learned how to crochet and cross-stitch, but I was a little bored with both and wanted to try something different.

Do you feel that you chose your “passion,” or did it choose you?

We met halfway. I always admired crafts and love things that involve a lot of details made by hand, but I never thought I would specialize in thread painting, especially in portraits.

Funny enough, I had decided to stop doing embroidery about a month or two before COVID started because I wanted to spend more time outside – I even made a post on my Instagram saying I would keep the page online but would not be posting anything else. But then we were all forced to stay home, and I invested the time to learn about portraits and needle painting. So I guess COVID pushed me to it!

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

What inspires me the most are acrylic paintings of portraits, mostly seen in museums. I’ve been really lucky in the past few years and had the chance to visit many museums and galleries in different cities, where I always find myself appreciating acrylic paintings of faces, especially when they are in large scales. I think there are a lot of similarities in the way the painters did the strokes with the brushes and the way I do my stitches in embroidery.

Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?

I tried to plan ahead of time, but I would always abandon the process midway, so I just gave up on it and now I wing it! The only thing I try to plan is the direction of the stitches because I honestly think that is the most important part of the embroidery and can really make or break a good embroidery. But in terms of choosing the fabric and the color of the thread, I do it along the way. I always choose 4 different colors to start with based on the color of the fabric, but the rest is chosen during the process.

How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?

Unfortunately, not as often as I would like. I try to balance having a full-time job plus doing embroidery and having time to do other things that bring me joy. I try to do at least 3 a year, depending on their size and how busy the rest of my life is, but sometimes I go for 3 months without doing any project.

I tried to create a schedule so I wouldn’t spend so much time without doing embroidery, but it made me feel like I had 2 jobs at the same time and took away the relaxation that I get from doing embroidery, so now I don’t put much pressure on it.

I try to do only one project at a time for a very simple reason: every project I started and then abandoned to do another project is still yet to be finished!

Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?

Of course! My last embroidery, called “Stay Close” (https://www.ritagaspar.com/portfolio/stay-close-embroideryonfabric) was inspired by something I’ve wanted to create for a really long time, which is the representation of the connection between 2 bodies: people kissing, holding hands, hugging, etc. I wanted to differentiate the 2 figures with 2 different main colors (green and blue) – usually, my pieces have multiple colors, but in this case, I decided to use one color for each of the faces. I also wanted to have a different texture in the embroidery, so I ended up using beads instead of a plain background or with multiple colors. I actually undid the background multiple times, putting and taking off the beads multiple times because I was not happy with how they were turning out.

What is your favorite tip for organizing your stash of creative supplies?

Organize things as if you are about to go away every week. I don’t have an atelier I work in my bedroom, and I’m almost always on the move, either visiting my parents, my friends, or exploring new places. So, I try to keep all my supplies in a way that they are easy to move and use on trips.

What inspires you to create?

Seeing other people’s art or people who inspire me. I have a lot of embroideries of well-known people, and the reason behind it is that at some point, they inspired me in some way, and embroidery is the way I can show admiration for someone.

How has your creativity evolved over the years?

When I’m beginning something, I always try to find a formula for how it works, breaking it down into small parts and then using a formula that works all the time (it’s the logical part of me thinking). But right now, I feel like there is no longer a formula in my brain; things come more naturally to me, and it keeps getting harder to explain to people how my process works because now it’s more heart than brain (does that make sense?). I also draw a lot of inspiration from art that is not exclusively textile. In the beginning, I was always searching for inspiration from work that would be close to what I did.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work?

Most of the time, I do embroidery because I feel the need to create something different. Other times, I do it because it helps me relax and, in a way, shut down my mind – I can spend a lot of hours in silence just doing embroidery and focusing on stitching. But when I feel unmotivated, I know that going to galleries, museums, or just walking around the city helps me get in the mood to get back to it. Even though it’s pretty rare for me to see textile art in museums/galleries, I always look for the most varied representations of portraits and human figures and different ways to use color.

How do you know when a piece or project is finished and needs no additional work?

I never feel like they are 100% finished; I think one stitch or another could always be added. But once I put one embroidery down, I never pick it back up, and I always do that when the four main colors I started with can no longer be evidently separated from the rest. I always start with 3 or 4 main colors, and then I start adding more colors to blend the main ones and create different details. But what happens a lot of times is that I’m forced to stop because there are parts of the fabric where the needle can no longer go through because I’ve done too many stitches there, and it doesn’t allow me to do any more.

Where can people see your work?

They can check out my website or my Instagram page:
Website: www.ritagaspar.com
Instagram: ritagaspart