Bead Society of Orange County

Art is art. Rotting lemon made entirely of beads.

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Skye Paul, Dene
Toronto
Skye Paul, of Running Fox Beads, does beadwork via an unexpected medium: in addition to designing earrings, the Toronto-based artist specializes in sewn-on beaded patches, which can be applied onto denim or leather jackets.

Though her work is a more youthful take on the art of beadwork, Paul does reference traditional motifs from her Dene heritage. “I’m inspired by [our] traditional medicines—sage, sweetgrass, cedar—as well as tattoo flashes,” she says.

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk
For Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk, the construction of American art history lies at the core of her multidisciplinary practice.
Mirroring the meditative labor and incredible attention to detail required to create traditional Lakota artworks—from elaborately beaded garments to abstract paintings—White Hawk creates energetic installations that are bold and confrontational.

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Sherry Serafini - bead artist for the stars!
Sherry has dabbled with nearly every medium available - none of which compare to the emotions she evokes from her beadwork.
Her off the hook jewelry pieces have been featured on the covers of trade magazines and catalogs. Sherry is the co-author of the Art of Bead Embroidery with artist & friend Heidi Kummli and Sensational Bead Embroidery by Sherry Serafini. Her beaded art is known internationally and has been worn by Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, pro golfer Michelle Wie and singer Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. You go girl!

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Liza Lou – the immaculate construction of “Kitchen”
Some of you may have seen images of "Kitchen" by bead artist Liza Lou. We found it worth revisiting. It's an incredible life-sized model of a suburban kitchen that demanded the precise application of millions of glass beads. The space includes a sink full of dirty dishes, a pie on an oven rack, and cereal boxes on the breakfast table. Each item is the result of carefully placed, individual glass beads on wood or papier-mâché bases. The work also nods to the invisible work performed by women. Kitchen is now part of the Whitney Museum, New York. Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it and see some of the wonderful detail work!

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Floor Kaspers, pushing beadwork to the next level
The Day and Night Bead Hat
Bead artist Floor Kaspers has designed this magnificent beaded hat for the Glass Fashion Show at this year's Glass Art Society Conference. It is a dome shape made from 120 beadwork triangles, which encapsulate peanut shaped lampwork pieces. For the math people: the final shape is half a pentakis dodecahedron. It has 30 sides, each made up from 4 triangles.
The end result is a weird and wonderful object. The color goes from the bright mixed colors of the day to the dark blues of the night, illuminated by the optical effects of the clear class globules.
To quote the artist: "It was a challenge to design, but a joy to explore."

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Cherice Harrison-Nelson – in the spirit of Mardi Gras

Cherice Harrison-Nelson is an educator, author, and co-founder/curator of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame. She’s also a third-generation Mardi Gras Indian and Big Queen of her tribe, Guardians of the Flame. (Mardi Gras Indians are organized groups of black Mardi Gras participants, whose beaded and feathered suits appropriate Native American ceremonial aesthetics—a tradition that dates to the 19th century.)

Harrison-Nelson’s suits do indeed address social issues, in keeping with her father’s expectations. Her designs frequently refer to her West African ancestry and to black culture and achievements—a sankofa bird inside an outline of the African continent, a phoenix rising, even a beaded President Obama with the U.S. flag rippling below him. Further adorned with fringe, ruching, and coronas of feathers, her suits and headdresses are only worn once, yet they can take up to a year to construct by hand.

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Mila Textiles Reimagines the Balaclava in Vibrant Beadwork

Masks have long been associated with myriad cultural functions from ceremonial rites and dramatic performances to defense and protection from disease or inclement weather. For London-based designer Kamila, who works under the name Mila Textiles, ski masks—also known as balaclavas—provide a fitting canvas for elaborately embroidered, wearable compositions.

The practical knitwear item takes its name from the Ukrainian port town of Balaclava, a key battle site during the Crimean War of 1854. In the 20th century, the garment became a trope in movies and television depicting burglaries and heists. Kamila’s colorful reinterpretation of the mask relaxes these associations. “I want my work to make my audience feel happy, forget about their stresses for a bit, and chill.”

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts
David Chatt - meaningful objects

David Chatt has drawn specifically from his personal and family history, selecting meaningful objects like a boombox from the early 1980s, the contents of his late parents’ nightstand, and the tools his mother used to create innumerable meals. Using glass beads and thread, the artist carefully covers each object, and he describes the act of covering as a means of both sealing off and protecting his memories. The work also encourages the viewer to reflect on their own experiences and story.

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts
Welcome to the first of many weekly posts dedicated to giving your beading skills inspiration for out-of-the-box creativity.
Today, we're featuring the work of Liza Lou that incorporates beaded brushstrokes with paint. The artist constantly asks in her work "When does a painting become not a painting? Can a brushstroke be more than a brushstroke?" Enjoy Enjambment, Lou's recent work (2025). Be sure to enlarge the image to see the intricate bead work!