Many months ago I saw a post from Karen Williams over on her blog Baublicious. She was looking for beaders to work on freeform projects, including taking pictures through the process so she could featuring them in her new book Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading.
I am pretty new to freeform beading, having only created a handful of designs. I thought, "sure I could work on a bracelet." But then after talking to Karen she asked if I would be willing to create a necklace since so many people submit bracelets for freeform designs.
I had never done a necklace, and I was just so unsure of how I would design something with such a large canvas in a freeform style.
But then inspiration hit. I had been home visiting family in Oregon and stopped into a local glass blowing studio called Fern Hill Studio that I've mentioned a few times now on the blog. The pieces of glass I bought were cast offs from large glass pieces made at the studio like vases and bowls. But the little snips of glass I thought were perfect for cabochons. The owner let me buy a bag full of them!
What I wanted to do with my little pieces of glass was to create a piece inspired by the bubbles that form in the surf along the Oregon coast. The waves there are rough and crashing creates a bit of foam along the shore. I love how the water swirls in the surf around the bubbles floating right next to the water's edge.
I did share a lot of photos with Karen as this design was very organic to say the least. I had an entirely different final piece in my head. I thought I'd create a short collar necklace, but it just didn't hang the way I wanted and I ripped it out. I switched to beading around brass rings, which also overwhelmed the pattern. In the end I went with a simple braiding of sari silk in a fishtail pattern. It felt more like the sea to me.
There are lots of other artists in Karen's book, and full of ideas, designs and instruction on freeform beading. It is a beautiful book that does not disappoint; including some of Karen's signature beaded sculpture pieces that are truly stunning. Be sure to check it out!
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
