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The Beaded Sculptures of Natasha St. Michael

Join us at Maker Festivals Colorado, the ultimate crafting extravaganza in Loveland from April 10-13, 2024, where the beloved Yarn Fest evolves with an exciting addition of beads and jewelry artists!

Meet Bead Artist Natasha St. Michael 

I first learned about Natasha St. Michael's three-dimensional beaded sculptures when looking through back issues of Fiberarts magazine. For those of you not familiar with Fiberarts, this internationally focused magazine covers contemporary textile art, with artist profiles, beautiful photos, competition listings, art collecting, show reviews, and insight into the creative process in every issue. I was blown away by the photos of Natasha's work–I can't imagine how exciting her beaded sculptures must be in person!–Michelle Mach, Beading Daily editor

 Michelle: What have you been working on since the Fiberarts profile in 2004?

Natasha: In 2005, I left Montreal to go traveling, only to return the summer of 2007! I was away for nearly two years, spending most of the time in Australia. I also traveled a few months to Indonesia, Japan, and Hong Kong.

"Sprouting" was started right before I left and I stocked up on enough beads to complete the piece during my travels. I have been working full-time as a professional artist making beadwoven sculptures since 1999, and it came to a point where I needed a change, needed to expand and refresh myself. From the beginning of my career, I had specifically chosen to work with beads because of the portability of the materials–you can beadweave anywhere, and in 2005, I wanted to do it. And I did. "Sprouting" was created everywhere from the rural countryside of South Western Australia to the beaches of Bali. It's a very special piece.

Sprouting by Natasha St. Michael. Glass beads and nylon thread. 2007. 75 x 42 x 12 cm. Photo by Paul Literhland.

Michelle: How did your travels affect your work?

Natasha: Upon my return to Montreal, not only did I have a completed piece, but also fresh ideas and renewed inspiration. In many ways, I felt like my time away enabled me to develop the courage to creatively do things differently and take my ideas and approaches a step further. While I continue to create works that are inspired by organic elements found in nature, I have been trying to further emphasize a physical transformation within the pieces.

At left: A close-up of Sprouting by Natasha St. Michael.

All of my work basically consists of a three-dimensional form that is multiplied over again hundreds of times and then interwoven into a sculptural formation. Earlier works were made up of hundreds of multiplied forms that were always consistent in shape, color, and size. Slowly I was trying to make the transition of changing these multiplied forms within the piece to make it appear as if it is continuing to grow, transform, or even decay, but it always was very subtle, until very recently. My approach to the overall assembly of the pieces has changed as well.  I've been using it as a means to further emphasis an appearance that it is still continuing to exist, grow, or spread.

Transitional by Natasha St. Michael. Glass beads and nylon thread. 2007. 30 x 20 x 11 cm. Photo by Paul Litherland.

Michelle: Tell me about "Transitional." How long did it take?

Natasha: "Transitional" took three months to complete. I actually find doing tubular beadweaving to be the most laborious and quite painstaking. One tube can take over two hours to complete!

Michelle: Why did you choose to name it that?

Natasha: It is titled "Transitional" because it has a living, specimen quality, representing a mid-phase, as if still alive, but not sure if it's going to continue growing upward, multiply outward, or just shrivel back up. "Transitional" is the first piece I completed upon my return to Canada.

Special Beading Daily Bonus! Natasha finished a new piece ("Thriving") this week and we are among the first to see it!

Thriving by Natasha St. Michael. Glass beads and nylon thread. 2007. 51 x 33 x 14 cm. Photo by Paul Litherland.


Natasha St. Michael will be exhibiting at SOFA Chicago 2007 (booth #226), November 1-4, 2007. See more examples of her work at: www.natashastmichael.com. You can also read the original profile of Natasha that first appeared in Fiberarts.

 


 

Halloween Zipper Pull: A Last-Minute Beading Project 

It always snows in Colorado on Halloween. You can't see any costumes as the kids trick-or-treat around the neighborhood, just winter coats, hats, scarves. That is, when the weather is nice enough that their parents let them outside at all!

One quick way to add some Halloween fun to your jacket is to create a beaded zipper pull. I used a ceramic pumpkin bead from Earthenwood Studio, but the sky (and maybe your wallet) is the limit! Think sparkly crystals for The Princess, maybe a futuristic dichroic bead for The Robot. Just string beads on a head pin and use a wrapped loop to attach the beads to a lobster clasp. Or even easier–use a split ring to attach a charm to the clasp. I've also seen variations that use the cell phone lanyards or cords as zipper pulls.

If you don't celebrate Halloween, this is an easy project to modify with the beads of your choice. And for those of you lucky enough to live in tropical places that don't require anything warmer than a T-shirt, consider adding some sparkle to your purse, shoes, or anything else with a zipper.


Michelle Mach is the editor of Beading Daily. She is not giving out beads to trick-or-treaters tonight, but believe me, she thought about it!


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