500 Beaded Objects: New Dimensions in Contemporary Beadwork

500 Series

by Katherine Amacher Korff, Sage Zering (Contributor), Laura Willits (Contributor)

Celebrate the amazing evolution of beadwork from a simple craft to expressive art. Every stunning sculpture, vessel, figure, loomed and woven work, free-form installation, and piece of jewelry shown here in glorious color photos is gallery-quality and thoroughly unique. Jennifer Maestre’s intricate, swooping pencil-point bead sculptures explore form, motion, and space. A. Kimberlin Blackburn has fashioned lush Hawaiian Island scenes out of glass beads and hand-carved wood. The ever-innovative David K. Chatt has entries ranging from the pointed commentary, White Men in Suits, to vivid jewelry. For a little humor, try Valeria Harlow’s masterful Toe Mangler, a testament to every woman who has ever suffered in uncomfortable shoes. This amazing collection is truly state-of-the-art.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Beading, Art

420 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

1/2014 I finally own this book. It's just as great as I remembered it being, only maybe more so.

5/2007 Astonishing. Enough to make a person feel completely inadequate, besides. There are some jaw-droppingly exquisite pieces in this book. I keep hitting the renew button at the library and going through again and again, marveling at how artists given the same basic building blocks can come up with entirely different, entirely wondrous creations.

[Edie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of the book’s sheer variety l passionately loved some of these beaded pieces and violently hated others. I suspect people will have different opinions when they see these works of art and thankfully there are more than enough choices to please everyone’s taste. From page to page the viewer will find objects that are beautiful, clever, moving, revolting, cloying, embarrassingly unfunny. and perhaps 494 additional adjectives. But the quality of effort and the skill that the artists put into these glorious yet time consuming works cannot be denied. They’re definitely worth a look.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

500 Beaded Objects: New Dimensions in Contemporary Beadwork (Paperback)
by Carol Wilcox Wells

Highly illustrated.

[Mortira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though a little flawed, this is by far my favorite in the 500 series. It is filled with inspiration and incredible designs. Although the title would suggest that all of the pieces featured would be non-wearable, there are many jewelry designs mixed in with the sculptures and objects. Many of them are elaborate, but there are a few very ordinary pieces that seem to suggest the editors couldn't find enough designs to meet the quota.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I'm secretly (or not) a craft geek. I loved this book. The pieces in here are gorgeous, and well photographed. If you're looking for crafty inspiration, this is the place to look.

[Zoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous selection of beaded works. Eye-candy

[Dana * · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful inspirations photos