My
obsession with beads started in 1996, when I walked into a bead store
for the first time looking for beads for a polymer clay project I was
working on. I couldn't believe all the beads there were. I took a class
on peyote stitch and my obsession grew from there.
When I began to
bead I became interested in loom beading. I purchased a Mirrix loom and
then took a lesson from the owner of the company.
I
enjoy working with seed beads and take my inspiration from animals and
nature. While I enjoyed doing two dimensional beadwork, I really wanted to
do 3-dimensional sculptures. It took a lot of trial and error, but I
finally mastered it.
I
am currently working on two projects, one is an under the sea 3D
sculpture in peyote and brick stitch. I have made most of the pieces for
this piece. I bought a decorative aquarium insert and modified and
painted it. Now I just have to finish beading the base. It is
approximately 12” by 18”.
I am also working on a red-tailed hawk,
which is beaded over a metal sculpture. I chose to do bead embroidery
for this piece. I traced the shapes of the bird and then cut out cotton
material for the outer layer, and layers of felt for the inside layer,
backed with ultrasuede. I drew my own patterns for this piece. I hope to
have it completed in the next few months.
After
I complete the hawk, I plan on making a metal cat sculpture and soon
after that, I hope to bead a life-size 3D owl in flight.
I have
won several contests from Fire Mountain Gems. As a result of winning
this contest, my work has been featured on the back covers of Bead &
Button magazine. I was contacted by Miyuki Beads in Japan who bought
one of my pieces (Zebra) for their museum.
I haven’t taught any classes lately, but would eventually like to write some tutorials on how to do three dimensional beading.
