After about 4 months of work the beaded box is finally DONE! This is by far my largest finished piece to date, and I could not be more proud of it. It began with a simple wooden box, I was attracted to the shape of it and I knew I wanted to cover it in beads!
Soon after I found the box, I saw these wonderful metal bird and branch cabinet pulls and I thought it would make a lovely topper for the box. I screwed the cabinet pull to the lid of the box and covered the ends with large beads on the inside of the box lid.
I started designing the flowers and leaves after a trip to Japantown in San Francisco. I fell in love with all of the cherry blossom art I saw and knew I wanted to cover the box in the lovely pink blooms. Just like the rest of my work I wanted the majority of the box to be covered in small size 11 and size 8 glass seed beads. I love the detail I can achieve by using the smallest beads possible. Each bead is glued in place one at a time with tweezers.
I added brass, and copper charms of birds, bees, flowers and butterflies along with some larger glass beads to add some interest and texture. I also placed glass and crystal rhinestones here and there to give it extra sparkle.
The inside of the box is covered in a deep maroon fabric. The bottom of the box is painted and sealed then finished with felt rounds on the feet. This one of a kind piece is signed by me on the bottom with my signature silver tag.
The "In Bloom" box measures
8 1/2 inches Long
7 inches Wide
6 inches Tall
The inside of the box is about 3 1/2 inches deep
I am pleased to say this piece has been accepted and will be for sale in the OJAI CELEBRATES ART IV Juried exhibition of Fine Arts with an open theme held at the Ojai Valley Museum
The show will be up from
October 13 - December 31, 2011 with an Awards Ceremony, Ojai Day, Sat., Oct 15, 4-5pm
If you happen to be in the Ojai area during that time stop by the Museum and check it out!
