Jessica Beels: Beaded Circles

While most of my recent work has been with paper shrunk over wire, I still make the occasional piece of beaded jewelry.  I used to make a very wide range of forms, many of them inspired by flowers and leaves, but recently, I mostly make groups of circles.  They are very satisfying, and by limiting myself somewhat to the repetitive shapes, I have a lot of fun exploring different formations and relationships. 

 

Varying the rate of decrease of the number of beads within each round can create a flat or a domed element.  By playing with the bead colors, you can subdivide circles into sections to emphasize their own form and/or draw attention to elements of the overall form.  Also, depending on how many points of contact you make between elements, the final shape can be flat, cupped, or encompass a full sphere or other enclosed form.  

Here are some examples:

I like the rhythm of sewing concentric circles or ovals of beads.  Simple connected circles with a concentric pattern make a dramatic collar necklace.

By emphasizing lines between connections, the effect is one of pie slices and the eye doesn’t see the distinct circles as much. Regularly interconnected, same-sized domed circles form this pin – connecting the circles at six even points makes the form stay flat. 

If the circles are all connected at five evenly spaced points, instead of six, the form curves in on itself and you can build a sphere – in this case twelve even circles form a dodecahedron that can be worn as a pendant if you put the neckwire through the central holes.

If you start to build the framework of a regular dodecahedral sphere, but then vary the rates of decrease or leave some circles as tubes instead of closed domes, you can get some elegant variations on the theme. This beaded bead started with the same 12 circles as the sphere above, but turned into a flatter, ruffled, trifolate shape.

Finally, often, I just want to make a freeform piece and see where the distorted circular forms end up as they squeeze past each other, as in this pin.  

I keep adding to these pins until I am happy with the composition.  Sometimes they turn into necklaces.