I'm constantly amazed by the versatility of beads. They can be manipulated into any look that your mind can devise and your hands can create. They can be uniform, or they can be organic...they can be precise, or they can be natural.
I find the natural, organic look of freeform beadweaving so appealing, but it is not something which comes naturally to me. In fact, it makes me feel rather uneasy. My brain seems to skip the 'free' and instead focus on the 'form'. How can something that looks so natural, feel so UNnatural?
Having recently acquired the informative, inspiring and visually stunning 'Beaded Colorways' by Beverly Ash Gilbert, I set off on a journey of free-spirited discovery. I enjoy pushing my creative buttons whenever possible, and this exercise pushed them unmercilessly! My orderly brain fought the randomness every step of the way, but I got there in the end.
I began with a pile of warm, earthy bead soup:
And ended up with a bracelet...'Whisper of Autumn':
Hmmm...
