Liliane Lear was born and raised in rural Manitoba and studied Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba. She has been a full-time practicing artist for the past 40 years and is a prolific producer of work in a variety of media. In her early years she concentrated on photography. Pencil drawings and oils on canvas, exploring a wide range of styles from the highly realistic to the abstract and fantastical. More recently she has shifted her focus to embroidery, perfecting a method she calls ‘vraifil’ mixed strands of real sewing thread, closely and expressively stitched. Working from small to very large scale, her highly stylized and wildly colourful compositions are made up of recognizable subjects complicated by surreal abstractions. Liliane Lear is a nationally recognized exhibiting artist living and working in Mississauga, Ontario.

The computer has become indispensable to me in the designing of my subject matter. I begin by scanning a simple drawing, watercolour or photo. I superimpose layer upon layer of wallpaper or fabric designs, things I find on the internet, and go on from there. Ok, I’m simplifying, but it’s just to give an idea. It’s such a pleasure to watch an image evolve to the point where it really pleases my eye and I wish to render it. I should point out that most of my efforts with computer images are total failures. Just the odd one winds up being suitable, but that’s all I need. And pleasing my eye is my main objective.

The images represented in thread (vraifil) are sometimes interpretations of works I have already rendered in oil paint. But this happens less and less because at this point I use the needle much more often than the paint brush. I can work in any room of the house, or outside, while travelling. Thread smells good, no need to wash needles, thread does no harm if it gets in my hair oron my clothes, and no matter how large the work, my actual work area is never larger than my hoop, which can be as small as my hand From the beginning I was gold that my embroideries look like paintings. It’s true, they do. Now, if I do hazard a painting, it appears to have the aspect of an embroidery! I hear that this is not surprising, it is even to be expected. But in spite of its many advantages, embroidery has one drawback. It is painfully slow to execute. A 24 by 36 inch work that was completed recently took six months to the day!