| Christine Manes | |
"I grew up in the mid-west, got married and moved to Germany. While living in Germany we traveled quite a lot to other countries. My exposure to different styles of art was unlimited! I studied many different forms of art from private instructors while I was in Germany. It was while I was there that I was introduced to chalk pastels, which soon became my medium of choice. I am currently working on a series of 'paintings' which I hope to get published.
I have been fond of beads as far back as my great grandmother's hair net (how many of you remember those beaded hairnets?!). I was making daisy rings and earrings in Junior High to sell to classmates, doing loom work, and other stitches, and beading on clothing. During High School I continued collecting different beads but didn't really do any more beading except for stringing an occasional necklace for myself. Artwork had taken over all other interests. When we moved to Rapid City, South Dakota I was reintroduced to beadwork all over again. I had not planned on beadwork becoming such a big part of my life but as we all know, it just takes on a life of it's own!
My work is not as surrealistic as some people's work but then I'm more of a graphic artist by nature and by experience. I have not worked from photographs or any one else's artwork. I prefer to work from my imagination. The real challenge for me is to sit down with paper and pencil and just be inspired by music that is playing or perhaps something that someone has said. I never know when inspiration will hit. Sometimes my sketches will wind up on the back of a restaurant place mat or a napkin until I get home to my desk. Many a waitress has given me funny looks when I carefully fold a pile of napkins or a place mat and put them into my purse! Once I get home I re-sketch my napkin scribbles onto a piece of beaded graph paper that is approximately the same scale as the actual piece. I may do this in colored pencil or just graphite pencil. When this is accomplished I move up to a larger scale graph paper (2X) where I may make a few more changes to the picture. After all of this I sit down to my computer and 'translate' the work onto a beaded graph that was constructed in Corel Draw.
I don't have a real bead program as of yet. I heard so many other people complaining about the drawbacks of other programs out there that I didn't buy one and have just been designing my works manually in Corel. My husband is working on his Master's in Computer Science and I asked him if he could write a program for me to use in my bead designing. As luck would have it his professors agreed that writing a designing program would meet the requirements for his thesis! In a few months I hope to have my own personal bead design program for a personal Computer! Hopefully this will make the final design process much quicker and easier.
I don't feel it's necessary to list all of my accomplishments and awards. I do have a large box full of ribbons and plaques, but as an art teacher of mine once said, "Let your work speak for itself, and keep your mouth shut!" I think that the best award I can receive is when someone like you loves my work!"
Thank you, Chris. And don't forget to go check out the incredible work at Chris' website for even more terrific inspiration.
One more thing! Chris has generously offered a new pattern from her collection to us. It is a gorgeous Amulet bag, done in gold and white, and it's just gorgeous. Hope you enjoy!
In closing, Christine would like to dedicate this feature to the memory of her beloved Tiger, who was with her for over 16 years and will always be remembered.
