The curvy trees and darkness of this scene get their inspiration from a French Gobelin tapestry. In this piece, I played with light and dark, and near and far, to create a forest scene with these three mysterious owls. To differentiate foreground and background objects, I used a variety of threads in related color values, as well as layers of tulle under the stitches. The watchful owl that is the focal point of the design uses an appliqué of Penelope18/36 canvas to the ground canvas. I have included a variety of traditional canvas stitches, as well as those more typically found in surface embroidery. The tree on the left is made with Bokhara Couching, and the one on the right is Raised Stem Stitch over Padding. Designed for NAN Teacher Certification.