Technology, talent lead to success for cross-stitch artist

By Sue Fenwick

Sue Fenwick

All through the 1980s, Michael Vickery of White, Georgia, worked as a computer technician. But he kept getting laid off and had four jobs in five years.

Finally, he talked to his wife, Amy, about making a change. He really wanted a career that had something to do with his art.

Michael had been a fine artist for years, and he did a lot of painting, mainly with acrylics and some oil. He also did some pencil drawing.

“Why don’t you look in the want ads in the paper?” Amy asked.

Michael said he thought: “What’s it going to say? ‘Artist Wanted?’ ”

Michael Vickery

He looked in the newspaper that day. In the first column of the classified ads was one that said: “ARTIST WANTED.”

Michael called the number in the ad, got an interview right away and was immediately hired. The cross-stitch and crafts publisher converted art into cross-stitch charts.

Michael had to ask what cross stitch was.

He quickly picked up on the process of converting art into cross-stitch charts. Within a month, he was creating his own designs. A few months later, the company relocated to San Diego. Michael and Amy didn’t want to move to California, so he started his own company.

“For years, all I did was freelance for magazines,” he said.

Cross-stitch magazines were huge at that time. Michael sold hundreds of designs to magazines. He didn’t want to be typecast, so he did a variety of designs.

“I love the contemporary stuff,” he said. “For years, in the industry it was only little red barns, samplers and little birdies. I wanted to try to do something more contemporary to see how that would work in the industry, and apparently people liked it.”

In 1998, Michael and Amy decided to publish his designs. Vickery Designs became Vickery Collections, which sold chart packs and kits.

“My business plan was that I would get a high resolution printer and work at home,” he said. “I literally design at my kitchen table. I use a laptop, and I have a high yield printer. Whenever I get an order, I print exactly how many I need, and that’s it. I keep my costs down.”

Michael thinks this is why he has been able to stay in business so long.

“I do it all by myself,” he said. “I design, I put the charts together – I do everything on computer. I print out the designs, pack, sort and ship. I do it all. I order supplies for kits and put them together. I do everything from beginning to end.”

Cross-stitch designing was Michael’s full-time job until 13 years ago, when the kids, Justin, now 27, and Meagan, now 23, got to the age where they just had to have medical benefits. So Michael began working for the state of Georgia, teaching mentally handicapped adults.

Meagan and Justin Vickery

Michael’s designs include themes of nature with birds, butterflies, animals and seasons. He uses rich, intense colors, and his designs have a kaleidoscopic quality to them.  They are complex, dimensional designs that reflect his attention to detail and his true artistry.

“I love, love, love Celtic designs,” he said. “I find the basic art principle behind the Celts very interesting. They would worship animals and nature – they would worship God through animals and nature.”

He also loves Moorish, Egyptian and Renaissance styles but tries to put his own contemporary twist on these ancient styles.

His art also is inspired by realism.

“I was a fine artist and illustrator for years,” he said. “I am very much a realistic painter. I like photo-realism. You can’t do that as much in cross stitch as you can in painting or drawing, but you can get pretty close.”

Surprisingly, Michael does not stitch at all.

“I can’t stitch a lick,” he said. “I’ve got these big old thumbs. I’ve even tried. But I thought I just better stick with designing. I am strictly a designer.”

To be accurate, Michael is a prodigious designer. He tries to put out at least two or three designs a week. With this ambitious production goal, he had a hard time getting his model stitchers to keep up with him.  He knew he had to find another way to get his models completed.

“I have found a way to have my work look like it’s stitched,” he said. “I work with a graphic artist who will take a flat image and change it into a three-dimensional image by adding the computer-generated texture of fabric.”

It is a technology that has eliminated the need for Michael to have model stitchers and thus keep to his rigorous production schedule. He has been using the technology to produce his models for three years. He doesn’t have all his designs texturized, but if a catalog company decides to run a design, he will have that texturized.

“That’s been a godsend, because now I can keep designing what I want to and not have to worry about waiting for a stitcher to get it done,” Michael said. “As a matter of fact, I’m wondering why the rest of the industry hasn’t caught on to that.”

When asked why he designs, Michael has a simple answer.

“I have to,” he said. “If it doesn’t come out, it just keeps building up. I see all these things in my head constantly. If I don’t get them out, I can’t make room for the next batch of ideas that come into my head. I think that makes me very prolific and fast at what I do.

“I just love being creative. This is my talent, and I try to do the best I can with it.”

Michael and Amy Vickery

Owning his own business has been liberating.

“Early on, when I was just doing freelance, when I first got into the business, I thought I had to do teddy bears and birdhouses,” he said. “I did a lot of conversions for people, which was good because I got a lot of experience.”

It was good, but it wasn’t his style. This is his chance to show his design style.

Michael wants people to know two things about him:

“I’m just a regular guy who really enjoys what I do, and most importantly, I couldn’t have done any of it without the support of my wonderful wife, Amy. She has worked two jobs so I could be an artist, and I just want everyone to know that without her, I couldn’t do any of it.”

Sue Fenwick is a freelance writer who lives in Springfield, Mo. She writes every Tuesday.