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Mariage
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Jewelry-Making Contest 2011 featuring Crystal
Bronze Medal Winner - Tie
Category: Wedding |
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Meet the Designer-Artist
Where do you live?
Victoria, Australia
Describe your artistic style.
A free-style beadweaver. I like to push the boundaries when creating jewellery and other decorative pieces. I prefer to make my necklaces asymmetric and try the unusual.
What inspires you as a designer-artist?
Nature, colour, mixtures of colours. I am mainly inspired by the colours and shapes of crystals.
What materials do you most enjoy working with?
I very much enjoy using crystal. I prefer to use 2mm round crystals for my weaving. There was one piece recently that used approximately 2000 crystals just for one butterfly.
What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
Mariage
What inspired this design?
Nature and the thoughts for a friend for her wedding and the keepsake it would provide.
How did it come together?
Like a lot of my pieces once it got going it really defined itself.
Share Your Background
When and how did you begin making jewelry/beading?
I started about 12 years ago. I was fascinated by the colours used in a piece in "Bead and Button" magazine. I had to investigate what this was all about. I was at the time working away from home and living alone while away and started beading to fill in the quiet hours after work and quickly became hooked, I was visiting the local bead store at least twice a week. On one of these visits, I was blown away by the array of colours and depth of crystals. These quickly became my favorites. I use mainly crystals in my work now, although seed beads have a smaller fascination.
Who introduced you to beading?
No one in particular. My skills were all self taught after looking through American beading magazines and then local magazines when they became available. I continue to buy a regular array of magazines to see what is being developed and as a resource for materials.
Do you have an artistic background?
Yes, I was a keen artist as a young person and in fact won an adult art competition when I was in my young teens. After an introduction by my grandmother, I pursue most crafts including sewing, felting, knitting, scrapbooking. I have a fascination to attempt most new ideas.
How did you discover Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®?
A long time ago while looking for elements for a project and became a customer.
What other hobbies do you have?
My grandchildren, overseas travel, a watcher of most sports, movies.
Do you belong to any beading societies or beading groups?
I belong to the Bead Society of Victoria, Textile Group in Ballarat. I used to be a member of the Ballarat Craft Cottage but I had to give that away due to family pressures.
Beading Success
What role does jewelry-making play in your life?
I call myself a recreational beader but it does take up a lot of my time. It is actually my retirement employment.
If you used jewelry-making as a way to bring in income, how are you selling yourself and your jewelry?
Because it is recreational, I do not sell my product very much except privately. I have attended craft markets in the past but I do not have the patience for them. I have a blog at www.noelwyres.blogspot.com, which has a small portfolio of my work.
Do you participate in any charity fundraisers?
Yes, as a member of Textile Group, our main aim is to support a charity each year.
Any advice for aspiring jewelry-artists?
It can be frustrating but keep working at it. Remember if a piece does not work out you can always recycle the material into something else. Tried it many times. |
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