Cross-stitcher sews mini-gallery of famous masterpieces

A cross-stitch expert has sewn a mini-gallery of some of the world’s most famous masterpieces.

Elcin Ozcan, 44, from Ankara Turkey has recreated artwork including Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

“I was always hugely fascinated by paintings and painters. I used to watch my grandfather paint for hours,” she told the PA news agency.

“I would visit all art museums on trips abroad, so I already knew quite a lot about the paintings I produced so far.

“As I made these miniatures and posted them online, people started suggesting more paintings and I checked them out [by reading] about the painter and the painting and turned some of them into miniatures too.

“So this has been a learning opportunity as well as a creative journey.

“I always [have a] hugely positive response to them, especially when they are displayed all together. I am really proud of my personal mini-museum.”

Mrs Ozcan said it takes roughly a week to create each mini-artwork, although some may take longer.

She said the design process behind The Starry Night took 10 to 12 days and the stitching process took a week.

Mrs Ozcan uses software to make the initial designs, but added: “The software does a very poor job when the scale is so small.

“I end up changing the design stitch by stitch, adjusting the colours as I go. I also make a lot of changes during stitching.

“Softwares are never better than the human eye. So a lot of changes come up during stitching. I stitch and frog (term for ripping out a stitch), stitch and frog until it satisfies me.”

Mrs Ozcan added that she came from a “very artistic and creative family”.

She said: “My mother creates all kind of things – paintings, clay ornaments, cross-stitch, knitting, jewellery-making, to name a few – and my grandfather was a fabulous oil painter.

“I was always surrounded by art and craft materials growing up so I tried everything my household can offer.

“I knew how to cross-stitch from a very young age. However it wasn’t my first choice for crafting until my 30s.”

She is currently designing Sir Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June and her creations can be found via her Instagram: instagram.com/xstitchobsession.