Kate Boyan's Gallery: January 2014

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

FINALLY DONE!

I'm so glad to have finished this bag. These suitcase bags are so much work and then the last thing you do too finish it is a massive amount of whip stitch! It really is my least favorite part of doing beadwork but it is the only way to add the final spectacular look. The side hummingbirds have lots of personality and I decided on columbine as the flower. I have so many of these in the yard and they are one of my favorites.

So the bag is in the mail. I hope you love it Diana!

THE BLUE BEAD

Can an old trade bead find new life in print? Could the saga of an 18th century blue Bohemiam bead be a book that will hold interest for children and artist alike? This book "The Blue Bead" is a fictional account of a young beadworkers experience with the gift of an old trade bead and how it finds its way into her life in present day Alaska. It is based in part on historical fact. Where a bead has been and who its previous owner was often remains a mystery. The 25 illustrations were laboriously beaded, each taking over 200 hours to complete, some much more than that. "The Blue Bead" has taken 10 years to finish and is an exquisite labor of love by author/illustrator Kate Boyan.