My beadwork flows through my fingers with the greatest of ease. Each bead is sewn down using bead embroidery techniques, knowing exactly where to rest. I allow spirit or perhaps the universe to express itself through me. I can’t take credit for the results, as it is deeper than myself.
I started working with beads in 1975 and remember making jewelry even as a young child. Like my Chippewa Great Grandmother, I listen to their hearts and the beadwork just seems to flow. My Great Grandmother Nora did bead work for vaudeville, I did not know this till after I had been beading for many years.
My beaded works have been displayed all across the globe. My pieces have been finalists or award winners in the prestigious Bead Dreams competition, by Bead & Button magazine, every year since 2002. In 2003 I won first place for Beadwork in the Saul Bell Awards Competition, put on by the Rio Grande Gems and Finding Catalog. I've also had my beadwork on the cover of the Fire Mountain Gems catalog.
I teach private workshops and also spiritual bead classes at my mountain home in the summers. I have been a teacher, along with my good friend Sherry Serafini, at the Colorado Bead Retreat since it started in 2013.
I live on 16 acres in the Indian Peaks Wilderness in Colorado at 9000 ft. elevation, with my husband Gregg, and two dogs. Our home is built off the grid, meaning we use the sun and a back up generator for our power. I've spent most of my life in quietude and solitude learning from that place deep within. Living among the forests and mountain spirits, whom have given many lessons throughout my life.
I have been a spiritual person most of my life, and in 2011 I came across an online course called Shamanism 101, where I now teach the same course. Shamanism is a spiritual practice which brings healing into the world. It is about being connected to the Earth and all the diversity around us. Paying attention to the omens in our everyday lives. When we surround ourselves with this beautiful spiritual connection, honoring it through ceremony, ritual, and practice, we ourselves can become whole and thus reflect it back into the world.
I feel that same way about my beadwork, I hope that each piece I make brings a sense of healing and peace into the world. My work has always been a reflection of my surroundings. By using animals and natural stones in my work I feel in some way I am passing along that connection that sadly so many of us have forgotten.
To learn more about Heidi's work and classes visit:
www.heidikummlidesigns.com
www.etsy.com/shop/HeidiKummliDesigns
www.etsy.com/shop/WhiteWolfTradingCo
www.facebook.com/Heidi-Kummli-Designs
www.shamancollege.com/blog/creativity-and-sacred-imagination