Beading for the Soul - Inspired Designs from 23 Contemporary Artists

Many of us bead for beauty; for beautiful beadwork or with beautiful beads. But how many of us bead from, or more importantly, for, the soul? Have we ever beaded good? Protection? Healing, remembrance, bonding? Perhaps we do. If not, then it likely is not because we cannot, but because we do not know how to expand our boundaries and use our beads to express from the heart, from the soul.

This groundbreaking book shows us how 23 accomplished and respected contemporary bead artists do just that.

Learn to Bead From and For Your Soul

To bead something just for fun or beauty is a joy. But, once you learn to express feeling and purpose with your beadwork, you may find youself seeking that partucular gratification with your beads more and more.

You may begin to look at the beadwork of othrs with a diffeent eye - the "inner eye"; the one that sees the depth, message and bit of the artist's soul in each new piece of beadwork.

I have always had a sense that many bead artists were offering something more, something deep, clear and true. I have not always understood the "meaning" of each piece of bead art I've seen, but have at least been able to translate a basic message from much of it. The message of a "soul piece" rings clear.

In this book, Bead for the Soul, Inspired designs from 23 Contemporaty Artists, editor Deborha Cannarella shows us how to cultivate the inner eye, to see the meaning in the beadwork of others, so that we can begin to translate our own message into the bead art we create.

The Message and the Madness

Beads have carried a message since time immemorial. Representing a desire or carrying a wish to the wearer, beads have been used to gain fertility, wealth, happiness, marriage and joy. In this wonderful book, you'll find way to express your won desires through beads. There are patterns for protection, prayer, bonding, remembrance, strength healing good and a gallery of beaded items with a deep and resonant meaning.

Some of my favorite projects include the charming (and powerful) Milagros Bracelet by Stephanie Sersich, the Broadcollar Variation and the Heirloom Cube by julia pretl, the powerful Beaded Mandala by Mary Tafoya and the Personal Symbols Neckband by Diane Fitzgerald. Other bead artists featured in this book are Mary Walker, Eleanor Wiley, Sonya Clark, Chelle Mayer, Judith Bennet and her wonderful Scarab Brooches, Helen Banes, Mary Hicklin and many others.

This book is a wonderful addition to any beading library and would make a perfect gift for any beader whio is ready to go a bit beyond the basics of beading basic jewelry pieces and who wants to take their beading to a more personal place.