February 2018 Challenge Winners
Congratulations to the February 2018 "Black Elegance" Challenge winners Raven Pena of tatooedraven who won the team vote with her entry A Drift in the Black Abyss and Évi Csizmadia of Vicus, she won the public vote with her bead embroidered collar necklace. These elegant necklaces are available for purchase in their respective online shops.
Interview with Raven Pena:
Find more of Raven's creations:
ETSY:
PT: What about this challenge appealed to you? RP: This was easy, I either go all out with as much color as I can incorporate into my work or I fall back on Black. Because it's true, Black goes with everything. I know there are folks out there who nay say black because black is sometimes associated with bad things, or unlucky things (like Black Cats, which I have. His name is Artemis and he has no teeth. I mean how unlucky can that be? How scary can a toothless cat be. He's pretty funny and very loving.) So Yeah, I like to bust apart old wives tales. Black can be the base for a lot of creativity. It can make even the simplest things elegant and stunning. PT: How many times did you rework the piece before deciding on the final design? RP: I honestly don't know how designers draw out their creations, I really don't. I simply start and work as I go a long. Although in this challenge it took me about a week to come up with an idea since the challenge was limited to only necklaces. That alone was a big deterrent in my thought process, it seriously threw me for a loop. I perused my local bead store for ideas, I even bought a black jade piece but when I got home, I couldn't think of an idea that I liked. Everything I wanted to do, wasn't coming out as a necklace. So I finally dug through my "stone box" and found an onyx doughnut I'd bought about four years ago and simply started beading a bezel for it because I really hate covering up stones with backing of any sorts and besides, this is a beadweaving challenge really, not an embroidery challenge so I took it to heart to leave as much of the stone exposed and yet still be self supporting as a pendant. Some doughnuts are thick enough that bezeling them are easy but of course, this was thin so weaving the bezel so it wouldn't fold or pucker took me a few days to get just right. The stone is held in place by sheer thread tension and bead sizes alone. The 27mm black rivoli was the easiest part and again while bezeling it I thought, hey the back of the rivoli was really cool looking and someone might like to wear it facing outwards so I made sure the necklace could be worn either side out. PT: Did you employ a different design process for the challenge? RP: When I bead, I have to take my glasses off since I'm nearsighted so I listen to a lot of TV shows and the Discovery is one of my favorites and they were airing a show on deep underwater creatures which gave me the idea of adding the highlights of color and the style of picots around the edge of the doughnut because seriously, some of those deep water critters are super... strange looking, and yet still elegant on their own because they are so different looking. If it hadn't been for the show, my piece would have been very boring and plain. PT: How has this challenge helped you to grow as a beadwork artist? RP: Bezeling a self supporting form (that doesn't employ a gluing agent) is always a challenge for me. To get the tension right without busting beads in the process because I have no idea how many times I've had to start over because the beads can't take the tension/pressure put on them and they simply crumble and I have to start over. To adjust the design of bezels so they lay flat and still hold what they are suppose to hold AND keep their form when adding fringe or other elements which can distort their form and the stones slip free. It's always a challenge to me, but I really enjoy it. PT: What words of encouragement can you offer team members who struggle with the process of creating a challenge piece? RP: Don't over think things. Just start. Once you start, the ideas will come. Don't give up either. I've taught beading classes and I had a lady walk in, take a look at everyone beading and announce, "I can't do this" before she even tried. Before she even took her coat off, she'd given up. I managed to talk her into staying for half an hour and at least try and low and behold, she finished the class and was happy with her piece. So yeah, don't give up just because you think other people are faster beaders or you think they are more creative. Chances are, you are just as creative, give your self a chance. Don't be so hard on yourself. Allow your ideas to grow, don't get stuck on one idea and one vision alone, let it blossom and change as you go along. I tell people who say, I can't do that! You know it took me over five years to finally 'get' bead crochet. I'm still not that great at it, it probably takes me a obscene amount of time to finish a simple piece, but I can do it now. So yeah, don't let your own head get in the way. Don't be afraid to try, to be different and believe in yourself.
Interview with Éva Csizmadia:
Find more of Éva's creations:
ETSY:
Pinterest:
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Twitter:
PT: What appealed to you about this challenge? EC: I love making more elegant jewels. I felt that this topic was for me. PT: How many times did you rework the piece before deciding on the final design? EC: This was very easy because I did not want to make too much or too simple jewelry. The point immediately assembled the picture in my head. PT: Did you employ a different design process for the challenge? EC: Yes, I always plan on paper. I'm drawing it out, designing the main elements. I copy it to the bead embroidery base.
PT: How has this challenge helped you to grow as a beadwork artist? EC: I always like to put something special in jewelry. Soft crumpled lambskin makes up one half of the necklace.
PT: What words of encouragement can you offer team members who struggle with the process of creating a challenge piece? EC: It's a great adventure to create challenge jewelry. They can use their imagination. Create something unique to themselves. Show everyone their style.
Thank you to our team members Raven and Éva for sharing their creative processes.
Patrice T~