Embroidery, once the leisurely activity of proper women in Victorian times, is gaining a presence in galleries thanks to stitchers like Marie Palmer, the Lafayette-based artist behind Artemis-Unravelled. She is one of the modern embroiderers who is updating and enlivening the traditional women’s craft as a means of expression and taking it to a level of fine art.Taking in the detail of Marie’s artwork is a two-part process: First, the surprise realization that her work is embroidery and not a painting, and then that it’s “hand” embroidery and not the work of a machine.

She has come a very long way from the iron-on patterns she stitched on pillow cases as a 7-year-old. She learned basic stitching at the side of her mother and godmother, Sister Gabriella Bertrand, who Marie describes as having been a very “artsy” nun and a perfectionist at quilting and reupholstering furniture. Over the years, Marie’s stitching needle was put down and picked up several times. About eight years ago, after some life interruptions – working as an ER nurse, having three children and homeschooling them – she retaught herself the finer points of embroidery.

Loaded with meaning, her embroidery is a means of expression, remembering and repairing. “It’s therapeutic; I’ve worked through whatever emotion I’m going through,” she adds. Her fingers have created some unexpected scenes: two celestial women floating in water, a nude woman looking at a snake dangling from a branch; a group of synchronized swimmers; A father holding his baby, and a heart with wings and unraveled pieces. With no artistic background, she has an amazing eye for color and blends different shades of the same hue masterfully so that they transition smoothly into one another rendering realistic-looking hair, complexion and clothing of her subjects.

From concept to completion, it may take 100 hours or more to finish a project, stitching hours a day for a month. Her most difficult piece to date is that of her grandparents standing at their kitchen sink. “The 16” x 20” size presented a challenge in making them look like themselves,” she remembers, happy with the outcome. Most of her work is on smaller canvases – a series she calls the Common Threads Oracle Deck. “They allow me to express my emotions while exploring a different archetype – and, I like to look at my work in groupings,” she smiles. The 47 oracle cards, each about the size of a Galaxy phone, started off as printed versions of her embroidery work. In February, she introduced cards with embroidery mixed with textiles, and, in time, she hopes to eventually offer cards that are strictly embroidery.

Drawn to the versatility of embroidery Marie says, “I like that it lends a creative way to repair or embellish clothing. It’s also a portable, dry medium that you can pack up in a second’s notice, so you can work in the car line at school or at a coffee shop – as I often do.”

Early morning, around 5 a.m., is the most productive time for this mother of three who also works in several areas of her husband’s company. “It’s a quiet time of day,” she says “I’m fresh in the morning and I’m inspired by dreams I may have had. My ‘Tree of Life’ was conceptualized from a dream I had a few days after my godmother passed away.”

Inspiration also comes from family life, children, empowered women and her interest in mythology. Her oracle cards depict the classic tales of a Hero’s Journey where the wanderer sets out with a need, faces conflict, becomes self-empowered, and then overcomes adversity and experiences enlightenment.

Since her first pop up art show in Lafayette in 2017, Marie has sold to clients around the U.S. as well as in England and Spain. While on her “thread” journey, she has earned what many in the field consider badges of honor when she was accepted into The Society for Embroidered Work and The Louisiana Crafters Guild. Memberships are chosen based on jury selection of work presented by applicants, only during call for submissions. Marie is not just someone who embroiders, she is definitely an artist whose work is helping embroidery gain recognition as an art form.