I was going to do a little entry about Ernst Haeckel and feature some pics of other artist's interpretations of him. Then I got to talking with Penny Nickels and well, this is just going to be about her!

I saw her work below on Flickr and just about shat myself. Not only is it of one of my favorite E. Haeckel pieces (Siphonophorae) but it's just so...impressively large!

What a long way we've come from the days of only having needlework patterns that involved eagles or kittens or winter snow scenes. Now we have brilliance such as this:

Penny Nickels -- work in progress, 200 hours in and barely halfway done (dear lord it's...amazing!)

A close up

What I loved most after chatting with Penny is that she was looking to challenge herself (and hopefully other artists will take a cue from her) by not doing the 'usual' needlework patterns.

"I just felt like, if we're going to stitch someone else's work, let's pick something that's beautiful and unusual." -- Penny

I agree, Penny, I totally agree! Keep on going - you're doing great!

Visit her blog that she writes alongside Johnny Murder -- Donkeywolf, their Etsy shop and enjoy!