I admit to having been bitten by the bead embroidery bug, so I’m going to try an ambitious March project. This month’s doll will be embroidered on a yoke necklace, amidst beaded cabochons. I’m sticking to my desert colors, and merging them with my penchant for collage and assemblage. A while ago I created an Isadora Duncan shrine — I wasn’t quite happy with how it turned out, so I disassembled it. I’m going to try again this month and see if I can do a better job. Because it’s a complex piece, I’m going to map it out with photoshop, the same way I do a lot of my assemblages — first scanning and sketching, then placing object images and only executing once the design is complete.
Robin Atkins has me fired up about using text, too, so I’m going to give it a try. Haven’t figured out what word I’m going to use yet, but I do already see it beaded in a Mucha-style font, on the left side of the piece to balance all that flying hair and robe on the right side. Here’s the first sketch:
Yoke is about 5.75" at the broadest point.
I have it in mind that her hand will reach up and circle the beaded rope on which the yoke will be suspended — I like breaking the frame whenever I can. Next, I’m going to scan the objects I’d like to incorporate in the bead embroidery, and then I’ll play with the images until everything is where I want it.
Here’s the color palette for March:
View of the Escalante region, Utah.
Wow! That really is ambitious, and it will certainly be beautiful. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress with this.
Oh, wow – this looks very ambitious! And I bet it’s going to be spectacular! I love your color choices, and your color inspiration picture makes me want to do some domestic traveling. It’s been ages since I’ve been in desert country…
I’m really looking forward to seeing your progress on this piece. It really helps me when I see how someone goes from initial sketches to completion. I have so much to learn about bead embroidery – thanks for sharing!!
I LOVE taking a color palette from a painting or photograph!!! It’s so much fun and challenging to see if I can capture the color essence and transfer it into beading. I look forward to seeing how this develops!
Robin A.
As someone who yearns for their home in Southern NM I love that you are using the NM landscape for your color palatte. I enjoyed your February doll and I can tell by the sketch that I will love March’s also!