1st Place, Professional Original; The Dolores Andrew Award

La Misión – Conception evolved from a previous design of a cathedral window, however, this time I wanted to portray an entire wall of stained glass, not just a single element. I started with the borders in order to get the scale that I wanted; next I added the larger motifs inside each column. Each column has its own stitch variations and, except for the center column, may be stitched as is or rotated 180 degrees to add variety. When stitching the Conception colorway, I painted the canvas gold and chose a selection of threads that ranged from white to dark bronze in color, with a variety of textures, in order to capture the opulence of many cathedrals. Once the stitching was completed, hundreds of beads and crystals were added to enhance the stained glass effect.