Jade the Beaded Mannequin (Commission)
Jade is a life-sized mannequin that was commissioned by John Bead Company. The tropical embeaded design was a collaboration between myself and John Bead’s Creative Director Fernando DaSilva. Fernando presented the tropical theme, and gave me the specific motifs to use. We worked together to refine the design as I worked down Jade’s body.
“Represent the lusciousness of a tropical land,” he said. “After you submitted several sketches, I was impressed on how well you captured my vision and make it into reality.” It took more than a year to fully complete this project, thousands of seed beads, and hundreds of hours doing the beading. Jade the beaded mannequin has already seen more of the world than I have, I think!
It was a real pleasure to work with Fernando and the staff at John Bead and I hope to do it again! If you are in Toronto and you have never been to their warehouse or the Outlet Store, it’s a beader’s paradise, at 20 Bertrand Avenue, Toronto. Visit www.johnbead.com for hours/directions. The warehouse is wholesale only, but their Outlet Shop is open to the public, and if you are a bead fanatic like me, you will love it.
Let me know what you think, and please feel free to share this link if you like my work: http://blog.johnbead.com/?p=9493
Chords of Hera (Sold)
Chords of Hera was my first beaded guitar. The design features the profile of the goddess Hera, whose hair is rendered in peacock feathers. The peacock was Hera’s sacred animal. She represents loyalty and fidelity, and was considered the goddess of marriage and childbirth by the Greeks, despite her turbulent and dysfunctional marriage with Zeus.
Antahkarana (Commission)
The Antahkarana is an ancient healing and meditation symbol that has been used in Tibet and China for thousands of years. It is believed that having an Antahkarana in your presence will create a positive affect on the chakras and aura. The Antahkarana is used in by many Reiki Practitioners in modern times to enhance the effectiveness of their energy healing work.
This piece was commissioned by two Reiki partners based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tibetan Mandala in Beads (Sold)
A mandala is a circular symbol used in many different cultures for purification, meditation and healing. The Tibetan Buddhists have perfected the art of sand painting, and their mandalas are usually temporary installations that are later destroyed, and wiped away, to be disposed of in water as a form of ritual prayer or sacrifice. This beaded painting is inspired by a number of different Tibetan mandalas. This particular mandala is a based on a number of Tibetan mandalas that focused particularly on healing and abundant life. The outer ring symbolizes wisdom, the four points, the four elements, and the rainbow inner square, the colors of the chakras.
This Tibetan Mandala is 20 inches square, and is mounted on a 1.5 inch deep stretched canvas. It is designed to be displayed without a frame. It contains 22 Swarovski Crystal Rhinestones, 4 moon-shaped crystals, 8 Swarovski Rivoli crystals, 32 Opalite beads, 114 Red Coral beads, 130 Hematite beads and thousands of glass seed beads.
This piece is in a private collection in Panama City, Panama.
Shri Yantra (Sold)
The Shri Yantra is a form of mystical diagram, known as a yantra, found in the Shri Vidya school of Hindu tantra. The central diagram is formed by nine interlocking triangles that surround and radiate out from the central (bindu) point. In the center circle, nine triangles are interlaced in such a way as to form 43 smaller triangles in a web, symbolic of the cosmos or a womb symbolic of creation.
This fine art beaded Shri Yantra is 20 inches square, and is mounted on a 1.5 inch deep stretched canvas. It is designed to be displayed without a frame. It contains four round turquoise accent pieces, dozens of square shell tiles, and thousands of glass seed beads.
This piece is in a private collection in Panama City, Panama.
StarBurst (Sold)
In this unique work of fine art, hundreds of tiny glass seed and long glass bugle beads are individually glued to a stretched round canvas to represent the mid-day sun and it’s powerful corona. This stunning embeaded piece is approximately 16″ round with curved edges and is meant to be displayed without a frame.
The Sun is one of my favorite art themes. It represents the individual, idealism, inspiration and is the ultimate source of life on our planet.
This piece is in a private collection in Panama City, Panama.
Toucan (Sold)
This cheeky toucan has stolen a Swarovski Rivoli stone and is showing it off! This beaded piece features two Swarovski Rivoli stones and a large number of bugle beads in the background.
This piece is in a private collection in Panama City, Panama.