Artist Focus: The Lone Beader

The Lone Beader (Massachusetts, USA) is a beadwork artist who creates objects from real life using beads as a primary medium. Over the last 2 years, several of her pieces have been published in Bead & Button Magazine. And, this year, two of her pieces were juried into the 2007 Bead Dreams competition. One of them was awarded 2nd place in the NonWearable category, and was exhibited at the 2007 Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI.
The Lone Beader presents her work as pop art, while entertaining the world with pop culture. She likes to be referred to as The Lone Beader.

(Lone Beader (n) 1. one who creates beadwork without the assistance or company of others. 2. one who prefers solitude while creating beadwork.)

Visit her website at http://thelonebeader.com/ and her blog at http://thelonebeader.blogspot.com/ to view the progress of her latest beadwork piece. Check out her beadwork that is available for sale. You can also stop by her CafePress shop, The Lone Beader's Boutique for cool merchandise featuring her beaded images.
I’ve been reading her inspiring blog for about 1,5 years now, and, finally, I decided to ask her some questions to deeply understand her relationship with beads.

How/When did you start beading?
As a child, I was always fascinated with anything that sparkled, and I was often found looking through my mother's jewelry box. It was then that I began beading and making jewelry with my sister. But, it wasn't until many years later that I began to pursue beadwork as an art form...

Where do you usually bead and how many hours a day do you usually spend beading?
I have a small work table where I do most of my beadwork, but lately my work has been slowly making its way to the kitchen table, as well. It's just a matter of time before I'll require an actual art studio. And, I can bead anywhere from 2-8 hours per day, depending on my schedule. But, of course, this does not include the time spent designing and constructing the foundations for my pieces. That is the most time consuming part of each piece.

What inspires you as a beader?
Beads present many challenges that perhaps other mediums do not, and this inspires me to create extremely dimensional beaded replicas of automobiles, animals, and other images that I love.

I've noticed you usually plan and think a lot before making a new beadwork piece. Have you ever started to bead without a plan? What did you get in the end?
I have attempted improvisational bead embroidery a couple of times. This resulted in a beaded doll, and a cuff which was actually bead embroidery on top of right-angle weave.

Do you have a strong aversion to any colors? Colors that are hard for you to design with? A strong preference? I don't believe I lean towards certain colours. I merely choose colours according to each subject as it exists in reality. It seems that I have a strong preference for hot colours, such as red & orange, but I think this is coincidental.

What are your favorite beadwork links?
Oddly enough, I don't spend a lot of time looking at other beading sites.

Who is your favorite beadwork artist?
Sherry Serafini becuase she designs pieces for rock stars :)

Which beading book is your personal favorite and why?
500 Beaded Objects for inspiration.

I know that you blog. Is this a time-consuming activity? What do you like in blogging? Is there any thing you don't like?
Blogging is sometimes a very time-consuming activity for me, but I love to do it because:

• It allows me to share my ideas and visions with the world.
• I love to entertain people with my art, as well as teach them new things.
• It is helping me to create my own style in the art world.
• I also love the sense of community in the blogging world.
• And, I hope to inspire others to create art.
• But, the real reason I blog is to show the world that anything is possible with beads :)

What are your other hobbies?
Listening to music & traveling the world.

I really liked to talk to The Lone Beader. I hope this article, her beadworks and her blog will inspire your future beadwork designs.. Happy beading! :)