BEADWORK

The Beginning of BEADS THAT SPEAK

The written word has always fascinated me. Since high school I have collected quotations that in some way resonate with my own thoughts. I copy them down separately on slips of scrap paper, keep them in boxes, tape them to mirrors and walls and doors, glue them into my sketchbooks, and periodically go through them to see if a quote suddenly needs to become a beaded work.

Brooches with just a few words are relatively quick to design and make. Sometimes I design them around a vintage pin. Neckpiece designs can be simple or very complex, depending on how important the quote is to me.

I bead the words of the quotation one at a time, averaging at least 1 to 2 hours per word, depending on length. Words are then connected side-by-side (the long way) to create narrow beaded scarves. These will lay around your neck quite gracefully. Poems or multiple-sentence quotes make beautiful shawls.

Word designs are relatively easy to make. Simply bead-weave (I’m a peyote stitch girl) each word one at a time, then connect them all into a long strand, Decorate with interesting edges or where the words connect, add a fancy decorative fringe at each end… It’s completely your design, so do anything you want. If you have more than four or five rows, it’s important to have some kind of supporting backing. Nothing heavy, because it needs to drape. I sometimes stitch beaded shawls directly onto jackets or a length of fabric that is strong enough. If the piece is meant to be worn fairly often, remember to reinforce your word and your connecting stitches. Better safe than sorry. I use Fireline braided thread (usually 6 pound, occasionally heavier) exclusively for every bead I stitch. I have never had any unravelling or breaking with Fireline.

When I was halfway through the work “I AM I,” which is shown in another section of this website, I realized that the finished piece was going to be VERY heavy. (The overall piece weighs more than 40 pounds.)I phoned my husband, Tom, and said it seemed that I might have to enlist the services of a structural engineer. His engineering degree from Vanderbilt isn’t structural, but he came up with a great solution. Basically the piece is four separate panels that hang individually. This lessens the need for the upper part of the design to support everything below it. “I AM I” is 6 ½ feet wide at the top, 3 ½ feet wide at the bottom, and 7 feet tall. It is built on elver netting (used in Maine to capture baby eels in the spring, a fine-gauge netting which is very strong.) On top of that, I glued many colors and patterns of Indian sari silks. The completed beadwork itself is sewn directly on top of this very strong support. The back of the work also involved safety pins, drapery rods, duct tape, and sailboat halyard. Other than that, all you need is time. Lots and lots of time. And commitment. “I AM I’ took me exactly 3 years.