beaded object class
unit 3
lesson in patience
The reason I call unit 3 a lesson in patience is because you will need plenty of it. It takes time to glue and sew beads and components on an object. Sometimes you will need to allow yourself to take a step back, work on something else, come back to the work at a later time. I don't expect you to finish this piece in 5 weeks, some do many don't. I find when working on a larger piece that a good book on tape or podcast can help, maybe some music or maybe just the quiet is all you need. I find the older I get the more time I allow myself to make my art I am not in a hurry anymore, been there done that. Please enjoy the journey, because bead work is a journey, a meditation, a healing.
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The Story of free bird
As a bead artist you know that every bead placed and every stitch taken it a labor of love. There is nothing quick about it, so to is this unit. You now have a foundation, an idea of how you want your beaded object to perhaps look. You know that things may change as you work on your piece, as things always do.
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You may think that the hard part is over but actually it has just begun. So goes the story of Free Bird, a piece I envisioned for over a year. I spent much time researching birds in flight, looking at photos, skeletons, drawing. But it wasn't till a flicker hit my studio window and died that I was able to fully understand how a birds wing works.
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And so that sad day with permission from the flicker I cut the wings off and spread them out in full flight and waited for them to dry. It was a gift, I realize that, a private showing into exactly what I needed to know.
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Free Bird has 29 beaded feathers much less than a real bird. But understanding how they actually fit into the shoulder was the key. I used a foam taxidermy body of a blue Jay. I ordered a Bone Clone blue Jay skull and attached it to the body. I wanted it to look as thought it was gliding in air.
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The skin or foundation was made using the masking tape procedure. I used metal rods that were inserted into the body to serve as the shoulder or first feather. Each wing was made separate with each individual feather placed into a leather and suede shoulder that wrapped around the metal rod. Each feather also had a copper center running through it. This allowed me to bend them as needed.
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So you see, this unit is a lesson in patience. Because as you sew each bead down to your foundation, as you glue another component you realize there are many more to come. Allow the process to take you away from the labor of the work and replace it with the healing, gratitude, peace, and joy of making something beautiful and the gift of creating.
Stitches and techniques
Material needed
• Beading thread
• Beading needle
• Scissors
• components
• beads
• glues
• trust
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With the knowledge of the back-stitch in bead embroidery anything can be achieved. You can adapt it to work for you or the situation. You may need to add more beads or less one size bead or another. I find using different size beads can really bring a feeling of texture to a piece. You can play with different color beads. Blending them so they they either oppose one another, such as black and white or using similar shades to make them blend together.
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When beading upon a foundation to cover an object you want to cover as much of the foundation you can. Unless your design is purposely allowing some of the object to show. This can be very complimentary to the design, as shown in the old sardine can below. The rusty can was to beautiful to cover up completely and so adds to the design. You can also bring in other fabric components to help cover the foundation such as metal lace, ribbon, leather, fur, or felt.
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When you have sections of foundation that are beaded separately but will be eventually reconnected, imagine how those sections will fit back together seamlessly. Will your beads be horizontal to one another, so you can weave them together, or will they lay vertically next to each other so no stitching or weaving is necessary. Another thing to consider is if you have a seam in a deep crevices, you may need to leave one seam or both seams vacant of beads, so they fit together nicely and happily.
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The PDF for this unit has some different stitches you can play with. Many of you play with different forms of beading so please use all and many. My knowledge is bead embroidery so I am limited in what I can share. This doesn't mean you shouldn't use the gifts you have. I encourage you to explore, investigate, challenge yourself into figuring out what you want to express. Like Free Bird was for me, embrace the engineer in yourself and make it happen.
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This horse was done using the back stitch. You can trace your design on tracing paper than use rubber cement to glue it to your foundation. You than stitch right over the paper. Layering the beads on top of beads gives your piece a 3 dimensional look.
By adding other elements to your beaded object can give life to the piece. Here I used wool for the bison's mane.
This vase is a good example of allowing the background metal to show, it compliments the bead work so they dance together.
A great example of the rusty can complimenting the bead work.
This is a piece I made for Celestial Seasoning tea company. It adorned one of their tea boxes back in 2007.
Video below
Componenets
Material needed
• jewelry saw
• utility knife
• Dremel or drill
• components
• two part epoxy or e60000
• trust
• ideas
Lets take a moment and talk about components. They can be anything, metal, fur, fabric, buttons, grandma's brooch, bone, stones. porcelain, clay. Unfortunately not everything is going to fit the way you want, or where you want it.
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That's where drills and saws come in handy. Can you drill holes to hold the component in-place, can you saw it to the correct size. Sometimes you can just lasso it in place with the thread and needle. In the photo below, I used a drill to put holes in the polymer clay face. This made it possible for me to bead a beard that came right out of the face.
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If there is a will there is a way, don't be afraid to use a power tools, just be careful. Tie your hair back if your using a drill or dremel, I learned the hard way. Sometimes you need to hold the component with pliers or in a vise, as they can get hot from drilling or sawing. A vise can really come in handy to help hold things in place while you are trying to manipulate them.
In this piece I stitched around the claw to help secure it in place. The bone was anchored by drilling and adding rivets.
Polymer clay is easy to cut and drill and there are many components available by some amazing artist.
I love adding fur and natural components to my work. In this piece a very old piece of bone was not only glued down but all stitched down using holes I drilled.
Video below
