Beatha
I explore
my beadwork with my fingers and all my senses. I feel my doll's creative
aura -- "One hundred years from now, " I
say,
"when someone picks you up and holds you, they, too, will be at one
with the Season of Autumn, as personified by Beatha whose name is Gaelic
for life.
Autumn is a very powerful time of change as things reach their peek of growth
and and the world moves towards the dark days of winter. It is a time of
harvesting as well as time of freeze. It is also a time in a person's life
when they begin to truly evaluate all that has taken place in their life
thus far. We think of the people we have known, the choices we have made,
and the harvests we have reaped. For all life it is a time when the most
lush and wonderous of things begin to take on a more aged appearance, yet
a richer appearance as well.
When I first imagined who Beatha would be, I believed it
would be a piece about life. Her face stated the whole design. Half of
her face is aged and wrinkled.
Her Young Face | 
Her Old Face |
Beatha,
a woman, has a youthful, full blossoming side, which is firm and smooth.
Her other side has aged, and sags, but she has gained
the rich depth of color and wisdom. At her center is her uterus represented
by a sculpted triangular bead, primitive in design, yet subtle. It reminds
me of a timeless, all inclusive, fetus that could be any creature, ancient
or modern.
Her Uterus
All of
the molded face beads are my originals. They present images of people
in my life. The largest face, and fragmented face on the
right leg, is another inspirational piece for this work. The face is made
from a mold that I sculpted of my brother's face as he lay dying a year
ago. It is the first time I have used this sculpt of his face, and felt
he was truly part of my own journey as I explore my own understanding of
autumn. For me it is rich with remembering loved ones who have helped
me grow to a new level of harvest. Throughout the figure I have also placed
my hand made polymer leaf beads.
Her Brother's Face and Another Face
Hand-Made Polymer Leaf Beads
Beatha possesses many colors that many people will not necessarily
always associate with autumn. The rich gray of a cloudy sky and the white
of a new frost. But autumn ranges from the beginning of the season with
harvesting (represented by the bright red bead where her overy would be)
to the frost and the freeze, symbolized the amount of gray in the doll
and the crystal colored white beads in her hair. The composition of her
body under the beads has also been constructed with the thought of growth
and change and life, elements which are a part of autumn. Her body is made
from silk, with the cocoons of worms indicating preparation for sleep like
hibernation, and the body has been stuffed with different types of raw
sheep's wool, another preparation for winter.
The actual
process of beading was very much an ongoing process. I have learned that
no matter how much I envision a finished product, they
will always take on a life of their own and in the end will be separate
from me and be nothing like I had originally planned. She grew and developed
and changed everytime I picked her up. Most of her beading is freeform
with couching. She also possesses a great deal of peyote work. Essentially,
I let her grow and develop on her own and I tried to listen, much like
listening to the leaves rustling in the trees. In the end she chose to
hang from her stand much like a child playing in a tree when the autumn
days are here, and also much like a leaf herself, swinging and flying with
the changes.
She is
a playful sculpt and it is my desire that she be placed with and held
and draped in many ways, on or off her stand. I also think
that she brings a sense of playfulness to those who interact with her.
Hopefully they will understand that autumn is clearly a time of change
but not a time to be feared, whether that fear comes from fearing the dark
of winter as our primitive ancestors did, or from a fear of growing older
in a society that seems to insist only the young are beautiful. Beatha
does not fear such change. She embraces life: "herself."
|
Side Image
Back Image
Detailed Image
Beatha
(rotation)
|
List of Materials and Techniques Employed The Form:
Raw sheep's wool
Silk gauze hand sewn into a doll form and then stuffed with the raw sheeps
wool.
The Materials and Techniques
Various sizes and colors of glass seed beads
Various other glass and other beads of different shapes and sizes
Handmade polymer leaf beads (made by me using a cookie cutter device I
made)
Various polymer face beads (made from molds of some of my original face
sculpts)
Face and hands are one of a kind sculpted polymer beads
Face is a one of a kind polymer bead sculpture
Wooden beads
The techniques used were primarily free form and stringing, with couching
throughout
There is also a great deal of peyote stitching as well
The stand is a metal stand that I have covered with hand dyed cheesecloth
and then covered with grave vine wrapped wire. She can hang from the top
or taken off and put in a variety of positions.
Measurements:
Beatha, the doll, measures 9 1/2 inches tall from her feet to the top of
her head, approximately 3 inches wide, and approximately 2 inches deep.
The stand measures approximately 12 inches high and the circular base
is 6 inches in diameter. The whole piece (with doll hanging from the
top) fits within the 6 inch diameter.
|
|
