Chrisila Maida

The Garden

2024 | Colored Pencil & Embroidery

May in Her Garden

2023 | Gouache, Pastel, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

A sample piece from my picture book dummy, Petals of Thread, which tells of the life and work of the artist, May Morris.

Library Moths

2024 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Pastel

Grandpa Studied Sea Monsters

2024 | Procreate

Grandpa's Violin

2022 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

An image of my Grandpa, his violin, and me. This is pretty much what every day in our house was like. He played the violin from when he was 13 to 97 (sometimes at Carnegie Hall), and I always had a front row seat at home.

Encyclopedias

31 Bond Street

2025 | Procreate

Flowers & Swords

2025 | Embroidery

Disillusion

2025 | Disillusion by C. Everett Rose

A mock book cover I illustrated, embroidered, and hand-lettered.

Melancholy

2025 | Melancholy by C. Everett Rose

A mock book cover I illustrated, embroidered, and hand-lettered.

Blue Thread Period

2024 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

Bookstore Chaos

2024 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery, Procreate

Raccoon Moms

2024 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

A Kid and their Coat

2021 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

The Poison Cup

2023 | Embroidery

Sweet Jane

2022 | Gouache, Embroidery

A self-motivated project to honor one of my favorite bands, The Velvet Underground. Embroidered lettering is a medium I love expanding on, and this song is just packed with lyrics to stitch. Plus it’s fun to me to imagine Lou Reed’s raspy voice paired with delicately embroidered flowers.

The Pisces

2024 | Gouache, Paste, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

New Tricks

2022 | Gouache, Colored Pencil

Pearl and the Scientific Method (1/13)

2024 | Pencil

A series I wrote and illustrated about a 19th century woman getting lost in her research.

Jack & Ozzie

2023 | Pencil, Procreate

A short series I wrote and illustrated about Jack and Ozzie, who are the best of friends. Jack found Ozzie one day when he was digging out in his garden, and since then, life has never been the same.

The Morris's

2023 | Gouache, Embroidery

A sample piece from my picture book dummy, Petals of Thread, which tells of the life and work of the artist, May Morris (the young one in blue).

May Morris came from a family of artists. Her biographies are filled with accounts of days like this, where the whole family would gather to stitch a piece together. On top of the gouache, it felt only right to embroider the piece as well.

Bird Lover

2023 | Embroidered Bookmark

Springtime Skull

2023 | Pencil, Embroidery

An embroidered take on an age old skull after the frost has gone and something grew in its place.

Peonies

2023 | Embroidered Bookmark

Oh! You Pretty Things

2023 | Embroidered Bookmark

Humphrey's Nemesis

2022 | Pencil, Procreate

A short series I wrote and illustrated about a dog called Humphrey, and his sworn enemy.

Embroidered Hair

2023 | Embroidered Bookmark

Embroidered Hair

Remedy to Stolen Books

2022 | Pencil, Procreate

A short series I wrote and illustrated that ruminates on the question of how to pass time while you wait for your books to be returned from someone who borrows them.

How to Embroider

2022 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

May Morris was a fiery, headstrong embroidery artist who I will forever be inspired by. After illustrating a scene of May as a child embroidering with her father, i wanted to try out something like this! A progression of all the small details of the embroidery process - threading the needle, outlining shapes, and taking a step back to see all the work that’s been done.

Still Reading

2023 | Embroidered Bookmark

William & May Morris

2021 | Gouache, Colored Pencil, Embroidery

Here we see May Morris (1862-1938), one of my favorite embroidery artists, before she went on to create her legendary tapestries and was just a kid tangled in embroidery thread with her dad, the talented William Morris.

And what did this tangled kid go on to do? She directed the Embroidery Department of Morris & Co. where she designed so many of those luscious, leafy embroidery patterns (many of which are still credited to her father instead of her). She designed jewelry, she was an ardent socialist and advocate of workers’ rights, she divorced her husband and took back her maiden name when that was pretty unheard of. THEN she employed and trained tons of women at Morris & Co. who went on to teach embroidery at universities. AND THEN she established the Women’s Guild of Art since the Art Workers Guild prohibited women from joining.