Bead Boy Sidekicks Gallery

Day of the Dead

Kudos to those who participated in the Day of the Dead challenge! If you are up for the challenge, view the latest deadlines and then send photos of your creation to Bead Boy, Interweave Press, 201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655; send digital images to dustinw@interweave.com.

See more readers' work in the Bead Boy Sidekicks Gallery.

Memorial Candle
by Esther Liberman of Portland, Oregon

This candle is to be burned for 24 hours on each anniversary of a loved one’s death. The Hebrew word on the back side, seen in the mirror, is yizkor, which means memorial. The beadwork cover can be removed and placed over a new candle-in-a-glass each year.

Celebration Shadow Box by Joelle Watson of Gold Hill, Oregon.

I did a little research and decided to do a shadow box inspired by those seen decorating homes during the Day of the Dead holiday (They are a popular decoration in Mexican restaurants, too). The entire background is seed beads that I glued on one at a time creating a Marigold, which is the fleur de muerto (flower of the dead), a guitar for the music that is so important to the holiday, and the red candles that are a favorite to light. Dangling from the top of the shadow box are two skeletons, which are the main symbol of the holiday, who jiggle and dance. One is holding a guitar and the other a tiny skull representing the skulls people make out of sugar as a treat during this celebration.


“Here is my Day of the Dead submission. I tried real hard to make it as bright and tacky as I could, I hope you like it!” Thanks, Sheli Janik of Dallas, Texas.	Green Skull by Andrea Bowns Fewkes of Glendale, California.

Nest of Skulls bracelet by Dot Lewallen.


*Calaveras Bracelet.* Hand-colored image transfer on polymer beads by Celine Thomasson of San Antonio, Texas.	Dia de los Muertos necklace with lampworked bones and beaded ojo de dios by Mel Jonassen of Norwich, Connecticut.


*Bailemos (They Dance)* and Sea Witch earrings by Janine Wood Bokman, whose house near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, has big Day of the Dead and Halloween celebrations.

Calaveritas earrings by Janalyn Martinez of Queens, New York, inspired by sugar skulls decorated with colored icing.


*Day of the Dead Necklace* with branch fringe off a right-angle base. Lots of fun, by Pat Sohns of Burlington, Wisconsin.	Shrunken Skullheads by Dawn Boukari of Johnston, Rhode Island.

Memento Mori 2006 by Lynn Davy
of Dorset, England.

Attached is a picture of my Day of the Dead challenge piece: Memento Mori 2006. This was the most tremendous fun to make even though it didn't turn out a bit like I thought it would, except in its rather Scooby-Doo character. I went back to my wearable jewelry roots (even-count peyote with fringe) and pulled in all sorts of influences, from tribal masks with inlaid shell teeth (mine are inlaid into a section of rubber strapping) to the uneven lettering on old embroidery samplers (the effect was helped by the fact that my white beads were smaller than my black ones and so had to be doubled up in places to keep the width of the band even). I have been hoarding found objects from our local roadsides and parks for some months now, and this seemed an ideal opportunity to use them, like fetishes, or tattered prayer flags, or the remnants of wreaths in a graveyard. A round bottle top suggested an eyeball, encased in lurid purple wire ‘veins.’

The decayed worm-eaten shell looks like a tear; the dinosaur of course is dead; the autumn leaves are a symbol of mortality; the red seeds are deadly poisonous ones; most of the fringes have thirteen beads in them; a piece of cord is knotted into a hangman’s noose; the toggle fastener is like a bone; the large white beads are made of real bone; and the foam snowman at the back, innocently fallen from some piece of Xmas craft in the school playground, has sprouted glowing orange and green eyes and started a new career as a not-terribly scary ghost . . . so as you can see my imagination has been in overdrive and this apparently somber subject has given rise to a joyous experience, as I hoped it would. I just wish the picture conveyed the sonic aspects of the piece, too: it clinks, clanks, rustles, and tinkles in a suitably creepy way! It also has a peculiar smell all its own, as the previous owner of the rubber strapping must have been a heavy smoker who also wore strong aftershave, and, despite much washing, the seashell still has an aura of the sea. Can’t wait for Halloween and a chance to wear it to lots of parties. And the creepiest thing of all? I realized when I tried it on that the spacing of the eyes and mouth of the central ‘face’ has turned out to be identical to my own. How weird is that?
Thanks once again for taking me into new creative territory.
All the best,
Lynn Davy of Dorset, England