Friday, July 10, 2009

"Becoming Unsaddled"






Appliqued Seed Beads on Canvas
9.25"x5.25" beads; 18"x14" framed
NFS

I started a new painting today for my show and didn't really feel like posting it yet; and yesterday I was mentioning beadwork I'd done to a very dear longtime friend and it made me think to put up a picture of it for today's post. This piece was created for a show with the theme of "shoes". The first thought that came to mind when I began thinking of what to do for this show was a memory from childhood. You see, I always had pretty, cute, girlie stuff as a little girl and I remember when I was in 5th grade my mother bought me a pair of saddle shoes to wear. And NOT white saddle shoes or even tan and brown, but the ugliest things I'd ever worn---brown and black!! To say I disliked them is putting it mildly. So this beaded painting is my fantasy of letting go of ugliness!

I absolutely love beading like this. There is something about the weight of the piece as you hold it, something very tactile about the process, and the beads themselves shimmer in the light and just are a delight to look at. I used glass beads from size 20-11 for this piece and stitched them onto interfaced lightweight cotton canvas.

2 comments:

Terry said...

Its been too long since I visited! Absolutely love this piece - the texture, the humor, everything! My mom made us wear saddle shoes too - black and white - and I hated them! She thought they were so cute...

Shirley Peters said...

Great work. The only beading I have done was on my daughters ice skating dresses! This looks a lot more creative.
(btw... I love the security words we have to type in to post these comments: my word (below) is 'restini'. They are almost English... I think I might start collecting them.)