LA LLORONA (The Crying Woman)
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| La Llorona (full view) |
4" x 9" excluding
frame
Embroidery with glass beads
Best of Show, Bead International 2004
Featured in 500 Beaded Objects, Lark Books
and The Beader's Guide to Color, by Margie Deeb
La Llorona is the wailing woman who wanders the
irrigation canals in search of her lost children.
irrigation canals in search of her lost children.
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| La Llorona (detail) |
Notes: Simple running stitch with a bit of extra couching, on Ultrasuede, using Czech and Japanese glass seed beads. The bronzes and coppers of the cottonwood trees are rare metallic Czech true cuts and charlottes.
❧ After I started this piece, I was inspired to change some of the design details mid-stream (such as the way the moon is cut off at the top), after a visit to the exhibit of One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, of works by the illustrious Japanese woodblock artist Yoshitoshi.
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KENNETH PATCHEN PEACE MISSILE
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| Kenneth Patchen Peace Missile (full view) |
"Peace now for all men or amen to all things" -- K. Patchen
2-1/4" x 7" including base
Peyote stitch
glass beads, 20mm dummy missile, wood, sterling silver, acrylic paint
Photos by Pat Berrett
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| Kenneth Patchen Peace Missile (detail) |
Notes: Peyote stitch with size 14 Japanese seed beads. Based on an illustrated poem by Kenneth Patchen. You can bet this was extremely challenging to chart... I created a chart for the lettering only, but had to abandon it during the extreme decreases. I sketched the outlines for the creatures directly onto the missile. I didn't have enough yellow for the background, so I combined all my yellows together. This fairly small-scale project required thousands and thousands of beads!
❧ The poem comes from the book, What Shall We Do Without Us: The Voice and Vision of Kenneth Patchen.
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ROAD TRIP
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| Road Trip (full view) |
9" x 12" excluding frame
Bead embroidery with halftone photograph,
linocut, glass beads, vintage sequins and nailheads
Based on a colored pencil drawing made after a glorious road trip
from Albuquerque to Mexico and back again
from Albuquerque to Mexico and back again
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| Road Trip (detail) |
Notes: In the detail photo you can just see the top of the laminated linocut/halftone collage, beaded rope edging, Iroquois style embroidered sun rays, nailheads, seed beads, sequins, and vintage metal sequins.
❧ I talk a lot about the techniques I used in this piece in my webinar for Interweave Press, Bead Embroidery: Techniques and Inspiration.
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MAIDENHAIR FERN PURSE
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| Maidenhair Fern Purse |
about 12" x 30", including strap
Embroidery with glass beads, ostrich shell disks, deer antler, bone, leather
Leatherwork by Mark Bondy, Rollinsville, Colorado
featured in The Beader's Guide to Color, by Margie Deeb
Notes: Bead embroidered with size 11 true cut beads and ostrich shell sequins on Ultrasuede, using hand sketched design on 100% rag paper, tacked to the back of the ultrasuede, then removed after the stitching was complete. The completed beadwork was then stitched to the purse flap.
UNITY MANDALA
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| Unity Mandala |
6" x 8" excluding frame
Embroidery with glass beads, vintage sequins, nailheads, gemstones,
found objects, gemstone beads, silver, vintage sari silk, matboard
Featured in Beading for the Soul, by Deborah Canarella, 2005
Second Prize, Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta, 2005
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| Unity Mandala (detail) |
Notes: The circular mandala was stitched onto white bead backing, then edged with a triangular bead edging and stitched onto more bead backing, which I had wrapped with sage vintage sari silk. The found object fringe was added before stitch-mounting the piece onto red matboard, which I decorated with a stamped floral pattern. (The bronze nailheads in the corners of the silk serve as anchors for stitching.)
❧ Deborah's book also features a project by my polymer clay teacher Tory Hughes.
❧ Deborah's book also features a project by my polymer clay teacher Tory Hughes.
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