Saturday, February 15, 2014

Freeform Peyote :: The Color Red Challenge

Karen from Baublicious is hosting one of her freeform peyote challenges. I would never have known about this form of bead weaving without Karen's blog, and I most certainly would not have tried it without the amazing encouragement she offers.

I have come to really enjoy freeform beading. In fact, getting comfortable with freeform has done two surprising (at least to me) things for my bead weaving. First it got me to relax and not be so afraid of making every stitch absolutely perfect. This fear can sometimes paralyze you to a point where you spend more time ripping things out, or simply giving up instead of pushing through and practicing the stitch. The second thing it has taught me is to think more creatively about designing a piece. I was constantly looking for a specific pattern, and trying to 'color within the lines.' But I find that the more comfortable I have become with freeform, the more comfortable I am with branching out to try new stitches and designs. So for this, I thank you Karen!

Now, on to the current challenge at hand, which is to use red in one of our pieces. Karen says that it can be anything from a wash of red to a single drop. And, of course, the piece needs to include freeform peyote, but we can also include a mix of bead stitches or techniques.

I really wanted to use a beaded bezel as the focal to a bracelet and then freeform the band. I had this large evil eye bead in my stash that a friend gifted me. It's one of several that she brought back from Turkey for me. I do really love the meaning of these. She will tell you that it is a way to ward off evil, and deflect it back at the person who might wish you harm. When you walk into her house you'll see them hanging from the door handles, in the window ... she even put a few into the mortar of the tiles in her kitchen. The most common place to put them in Turkey is right over the door so that it will deflect evil from entering the house. 

I used my red in the focal, and a few more smaller accent beads .... then the rest is black for a little drama in the bracelet. I used predominately freeform peyote, but you'll see a little stringing in there and even a little bit of ladder around the closure. Isn't that closure cool? I picked this one up from Melinda Orr (her shop is Orrtec on Etsy). It is a magnetic belt buckle! I had a lot of fun with this challenge, and can't wait to see what everyone else created: Baublicious, Beadsong Jewelry, Saturday Sequins, Antiquity Travelers (that's me), All in Beads, A little of this a little of that

22 comments:

  1. Hi;
    Very beautiful design with the red color.
    The variety of beads shapes,the nice cabochon,as well as the free form stitch make the piece very unique.
    Warm Greetings
    -Halinka-

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  2. Love your freeform! It's beautiful and the black and red is very dramatic. Freeform is great because you can take any bead and incorporate it into a project and just take off from there. It's one of my favorite ways to bead because I get bored following patterns!!

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  3. Wow, what a dramatic and wonderful bracelet! I love that you limited the color palette to really give the red even more spectacular impact. The way you approach and embrace any challenge is a real inspiration.

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  4. Love it!!!
    Have to try the freeform stitching, seems so interesting to make and look terrific!!
    Alenka

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  5. Wow~the larger beads themselves are powerful and really cool, but your weaving is sensational! It really lends body to the eye! Great work...Bead On!

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  6. This is stunning! Truly one of a kind and so beautiful!

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  7. I love the color drama and that is so clever about the clasp!

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  8. Serious case of cuff love here! Freeform was the perfect complement to those graphic beads. And that closure just elevates your piece to a whole 'nother level of creative!!

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  9. Thank you Cynthia! Your freeform is so polished that I'd imagined you'd been doing it for years. I love what you shared about your experiences with the medium as it echoes the way I feel.

    I think of freeform peyote as a form of abstract painting and you really rocked that with your bracelet! So bold and contemporary.

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  10. What an interesting and exciting design! I love the dramatic edge to it! A fabulous piece!

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  11. Hi Cynthia,
    I love your bracelet! Having an evil eye to ward off an evil eye is a good thing.
    Therese

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  12. Super cool bracelet, stunning design, love everything about it!

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  13. Wow! An interesting departure from your more usual carefully coordinated style! Beautifully done ! I like the bracelet and the focal especially ;)

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  14. Wow! An interesting departure from your more usual carefully coordinated style! Beautifully done ! I like the bracelet and the focal especially ;)

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  15. Yes I remember those eyes when I was in Turkey except they were blue, what an interesting piece this is!

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  16. A masterpiece Cynthia! I love the creativity that comes out in your freeform stitching. The evil eye is such a cool concept. It's a great idea working it into jewelry.

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  17. Wow - this is awesome! Love the red and black and the way it all flows together. I was totally unprepared for Istanbul's bead shops and they have some fantastic ones. Since I didn't want my husband in there to help me with the currency conversion I just stared through the windows. I wish I'd brought home some of those eye beads!

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  18. Good luck to you and your endeavours.

    Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

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  19. What a fun design...I can see why you're enjoying the freeform style!

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  20. Beautiful bracelet! I love the freeform style of beading, and it sounds like it has been fun learning and create with this style of bead work. I look forward to seeing your future creations.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  21. Wow, stunning piece! The freeform peyote sounds like my kind of bead weaving - I like to work intuitively :)

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