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Ellygator — Stormbringer
Published: 2011-01-08 21:20:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 8205; Favourites: 168; Downloads: 125
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Description
(2011), 6"x7" for the panel, 5.5" each for the necklace components. Seed beads (size 15 glossy black, matte slate, silver-lined gray, silver-lined white, size 11 matte slate), faceted labradorite coin beads and briolettes, black shell beads, Laura Mears raven porcelain bead, nylon thread, ultrasuede, cardboard.A raven traverses storm clouds as lightning cleaves the sky and the the first rain drops start to fall from the roiling skies...
My first foray into bead embroidery inspired by the terrific "The Art of Bead Embroidery" written by the mavens of this technique: Heidi Kummli and Sherry Serafini. The book was a Christmas present to myself, and I think I am hooked.
I will still work in Peyote, my all-time favorite, but this is so much fun, you can definitely expect more projects like this in the future.
I also love Laura Mears' porcelain beads for their elegant design and beautiful detail. They don't come cheap, but they make such wonderful centerpieces for a bead-work that tells a story. [link]
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Comments: 136
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Thank you! I really enjoyed making it.
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Wow, I see this indeed can work well even hung on a wall. Though I myself had this vision of a... dress maybe? With this as a chest part somehow. Well, that should be one fantastic hell of a dress, something asymmetric and inspiring a storm in colors and tailoring. Now THAT's something I wouls sure love to see!
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Wow! That WOULD be cool! I need someone to collab with in a big way. I do suck at sewing!
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Hehe, one would never say that looking at your marvellous bead works.
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What a wonderfully dramatic piece! Dramatic without being garish in any way. I love the earth-tone colours you've used with the labradorite accents, I can't see much shimmer in the photo but I can imagine how much magic the lab must give it in real life.
Before I read the description I saw it as a night landscape seen from high above, the birds perspective, the lightning as a moonlit river and tributaries.
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Oh, I love the idea of a bird's eye view - that never occurred to me! The labs and shell beads have a lot of fire when the piece is moving. The only beef I have with it is that it's definitely more a piece of concept jewelry than wearable - it's just a tad too big. Still as an exercise in embroidery it was a lot of fun to make, and these days I've transformed it into a wall-hanging in my study...
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Thank you! I just had to do something dramatic with that raven bead...
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Thank you, just left a comment there.
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This.... Has got to be, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most powerful pieces of jewelry that I have seen in my life. It tells a story, magnificently so, visually captivating and breath-taking. May not be something I would choose to wear, but it's beauty speaks for itself. You have outdone yourself again!
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Thanks so much! It was one of those pieces where I saw a truly vivid image in my mind as soon as I touched the little raven cab. The rest just came together as if by magic.
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Magic it is... The way you create :3
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Out of curiosity: Are these bigger "pendants" heavy? If so, do you ever need to worry about the thread breaking?
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I guess with ultrasuede and cardboard backing they look more massive than they feel, but a lot of glass beads will bring some weight to the party. I strung this one with fireline for the necklace straps. The material is made to pull an 8 pound struggling salmon out of the water, so it can cope with the pendant okay.
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Thank you! Embroidery really is fun!
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Right here:[link] look under "Beads".
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This piece just really flummoxes me--I don't know what to say! I love the swirled design and the contrast of the raven against the silver lightning, with the stones scattered around. Were it done in metal--as the bright silver lightning boldly suggests--it would be a true jaw-dropper. If the edges followed the inner swirls instead of being one big one, that too, would work. As it is, it is striking--it's just so darn big! The beautifully delicate labradorite and shell beads you chose are almost lost amidst that big swirl. I wish you had included a photograph of it on your display mannequin, as it might wear totally different and much more lightly than first impressions suggest, making me butter my words and eat them!
Again, the embroidery and design itself are both superb. It is a pleasure to watch you be excited about new techniques and materials, about which you're obviously excited, and to watch where your muse and beading book take you. It's also kind of you to share your resources. I went to Ms. Mears site, and her beads are definitely inspirations waiting to happen!
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I definitely hear you - I was more keen on making the picture in my head work - which included the raven, the swirls and the lightning - and the rest be damned. For wearing I may even have to make some adjustments: right now with the choker length, you really need to have a bare neckline, and unfortunately with the size of the piece, this is either an evening gown or something that plunges so low you need a license for it.
Alternatively with a longer necklace fastening you could wear the piece over a monochrome sweater that came up to the neck, but for a wearable piece right now as it stands it's a tad awkward. In fact it hangs on my wall right now as a wall-hanging rather than being used as a necklace. I am not sure whether I will make any adjustments for now, because it's almost better as a wall-hanging.
For my next piece I've actually given up on wearability altogether and am stitching a beaded clutch - more space to fill, but I can go as big, bold and crazy as I please...
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A clutch would indeed be lovely and would certainly give you more space to work with. Another thought would be a wide beaded belt or scarf, though the beads would make the latter rather heavy. As for the former, I've often thought it a shame that girdles went out of fashion (the Hippolyta kind, not the "contain the tummy" variety), as they can be both bold and feminine. How awesome your "Stormbringer" would be encircling a waist or resting on one's hips! (Granted, not all hips or waists are made for girdles, so that might not be the best of suggestions!)
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Well, with low-slung broader leather belts having been all the rage last summer, if the trend continues, one could pick up a plain and unadorned one from Target and then use it as the "carrier" for the embroidery or embroidered panels...
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Indeed! The belt's loose fit should also make it easy to sell--unless, of course, your treating yourself!
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This is fantastic! I have no idea what you're talking about, technically ;o), but this is a really, really wonderful piece. I love the raven, and the lightnings, and the spiraling pattern... ♥
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Thanks so much! The technique is a bit hard to describe without pictures, but so far I have always stitched beads to themselves, no other materials involved. This technique sews beads onto a cloth background, so the necklaces are not reversible, but you can make the beads go different directions and create all those meandering and swirling patterns...
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Thanks, now I understand as well! *g*
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How did I miss this? This is AMAZING! Striking, full of movement, the imagery works with the story but it's also fanciful--not so literal.
I've been foraying into bead embroidery, and so far have not found it terribly freeing.
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Thank you! Same here - I had been given a couple of cool glass slabs a few years ago and tried my hand at embroidery to give them a setting - I used real suede and didn't really know what I was doing - it was very frustrating and I gave it up. The book that I mentioned in the comments really made a big difference for me. I now know a bunch of stitches, know NOT to use real leather and the pictures really gave me great ideas, including pointing me to the porcelain beads. Now I want to do a four elements series and I am currently stitching on an evening bag (which will be madness in size with probably millions 
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Oh yes--I have real leather, and no way is it suitable for bead embroidery. Gotta get some ultrasuede.
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Thanks so much! This is totally addictive. I am already stitching on my second project.
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This is absolutely marvelous! The raven bead is so striking and I love the backdrop you built for it.
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Thank you! Having a starter piece like that raven really gives you a great push!
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You found THE book for the technique 
This is quite extraordinary for a first foray into bead embroidery. Brava! Wonderful design with the perfect strong contrast in the lightning beads. I bet this is something when the light starts playing with it.
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Thanks so much! I would agree with you, even though I cannot compare against much other literatur, but it seemed so easy to just read through the entertaining narrative pages and almost picking up the technique by osmosis. It was like sharing a cup of tea in the women's parlor and going through some beadwork and chatting, thoroughly enjoyable
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Wow, like the lightning. Very striking... no pun intended...
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Thank you! I am pleased how versatile this technique is - almost like painting with beads...
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Wow! This looks so intricate and complicated. How long did it take for you to make this? It's mindblowing.
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Thanks so much! I think it was probably 40 hours, on and off...
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