Persistence Is Fruitful v1 | Hand embroidery on 19th Century still life painting

Stitched by: Amy Freeborn

Pattern designed by: @amyfreeborn_wmt

In February 2017 I saw a print by Anthony Burrill – bold black text on a bright yellow background – that said ‘Persistence Is Fruitful’. It was not long after the first women’s marches (at which the ‘resist’ slogan was very prominent), and shortly after the time US Senator Elizabeth Warren was rebuked for carrying on giving a long speech despite warnings to stop, and one of the comments made about her was, “nevertheless, she persisted”.

So Anthony’s piece really resonated with me as a perfect coalescence of two very powerful events.

I contacted Anthony in April 2020, and he very generously agreed to allow me to use his phrase on this artwork, which utilises a painting from The Rijksmuseum – ‘Still Life with Flowers and Fruit’ by Eelke Jelles Eelkema, 1824.

My piece represents putting in the work and staying the course in order to achieve the important things.