LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Beadwork
built 656 days ago
Beadwork is an art form that has a long tradition in Native American cultures. The use of glass beads by Native Americans began after contact with Europeans. It has been suggested exposure to glass beads first occurred with Christopher Columbus.1 Known as trade beads, pony beads and seed beads, glass beads were first manufactured in and around Venice. Glass beads come in a myriad of colors, with popular colors being blue, green, red, white, and black, and are used in weaving and applique techniques, although some larger beads can be strung on the ends of fringes or necklaces. All manners of items, from clothing and containers to ceremonial pieces, are decorated using beads. Beadwork continues to be created today by Native Americans using traditional methods.
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During the 18th century Beadwork was delicate and floral in design, minute cut steel beads were widely used. By the mid 19th century the Victorians of Britain and other Europeans were using beads on everything from fire-screens to tea cosy's. The popular and versatile technique was to apply the beads to a canvas ground and work as a needlepoint. The widely available Berlin work designs could be used for this method. Accomplished and highly decorative results were achieved, these items do not fade or alter with age.
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To celebrate Beadwork Magazine’s love affair with bags, Beadwork announces their fifth international juried exhibition: The Beaded Bag! For some, a stylish handbag is the epitome of bags. Others may conjure bags as diverse as an amulet bag, a shopping bag, or a doctor’s bag. From glamour to utility, bags tell many stories! Beadwork looks forward to seeing where your skill and imagination will take you! The winning new designs will be featured in a gallery in Beadwork magazine and the bags will be exhibited at Bead Expo in 2007.
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Beadwork in the shape of boots and shoes have been made for over a century. They are made to hang on the wall. A large boot like this one has a pocket in the top. Was it meant to hold a comb, shears, hat pins, or what? This gaudy piece has hot pink cloth with green, blue, red, yellow, and pink beads.
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Beadwork may be found in all Native American culture, but never had it evolved as an art form in such a way as it did in the Plains of Native America. Native Americans made their own beads from native materials for centuries, but the painstaking process made beads scarce and hard to come by. With the introduction of trade sources through the French via Canada came a surplus of glass beads that soon came to ornament nearly every functional item of the Plains culture literally from head to toe. Sewn with sinew thread on hand-tanned hides, elaborate and colourful designs began to evolve, the style and symbolism of which became an important means of tribal identity and intertribal trade. The organic nature of the hides and the utilitarian use to which they were put means few samples prior to the 1930’s survive making those pieces still existing rare indeed. Early designs in Plains beadwork were usually simple stripes and geometrics, the colours and designs of which were prescribed by ceremonial stricture.
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This Beadwork is made to last! Created by Paula Yablonski, from the forested foothills of SW Oregon, her beaded jewelry reflects the inspiration of nature's influence. Beadwork is done with a combination of seed beads, semi-precious stone beads and/or cabochons, using a variety of stitches with natural & geometric themes. Decorate yourself with Bead Art jewelry!
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