Tipsy Tuesday, 10/05/10: Challenging Beadwork

Today's Tipsy Tuesday question is from Sarah in Vermont. She earns a free pattern for her question.

Keep sending in the questions! We LOVE them!!

What is the most challenging piece you ever made?

I think most people think of my charted designs when they think of my work. But that is not all that I do. It’s just what I offer for sale for other beaders to use. I also like to create 3D figures. Unlike many 3D figural work you see, my figures are not beaded over a form. They are strictly beadwork (peyote) and they are hollow.

I have made many 3D pieces. Most of them are fairly small. I used to make a whole series of goddess pins and other figures that are about 3 inches tall. They sold like crazy at shows. I have also made various animals. The most challenging piece I ever made was a racehorse and rider. I first made the horse and then the rider. To get it all to work out in the correct proportions was a challenge! It is totally a matter of creating as you go. Eyeballing the length of the neck to see if it fit the body size for example. Getting the horse’s head to match the body and have it look like a horse head was tough. The jockey had challenges too. Increasing/decreasing the peyote stitch to form the body’s angles in the crouched riding position was not an easy thing to do.

It took a lot of experimentation, a lot of ripping out to get it all to work. In the end, I was quite happy with the piece. You learn a lot about peyote by challenging yourself to make it grow one way or the other all on it’s own instead if making it fit over a form.

I think that it is good to challenge yourself once in a while. Get away from what is comfortable. Try something new. It may be difficult at first, but eventually, that too will become comfortable!

Norm the Gnome in the Know's Response:

The most challenging thing I do, is to try to fool my lovely wife Olga. She is a tough one to fool. I have to tell her I am inspecting the garden for the snails that come out at night when I want a night out with the boys. She doesn’t like it when I go out to play a rousing game of checkers with the boys. She is afraid that I will gamble away a week’s worth of my vegetable harvest.

That did happen once! I lost a whole basket of tomatoes and peaches. Luckily, we had a bumper crop of zucchini and corn that year, so we didn’t go without.

Barney the Brainy Bruin's Response:

The only challenging thing I like to do is to stand in the river to fish. I stand in one spot and wait for the fish to come to me. It is a challenge to stand on the slippery rocks, and be in the cold water for a long time. It makes my legs numb.