What's new at the Vernissage, Lviv

 Beaded pysanky eggs by Luba Frankevych

It's been a long while since I've shown beadwork, so it's appropriate to follow up the ANPT 'pysanky' article with new sources of beaded eggs. In my short visit to the Vernissage on Aug 26th, I found a lot of fresh new directions for gerdany beadwork. A few craftspeople had beaded pysanky.

I liked Luba Frankevych's display because she meticulously beadweaves intricately-patterned nets around wooden eggs. She's holding the largest egg whose detail can seen in the top left corner above. I purchased the next size down and one more for a keepsake.

Luba shows her largest pysanka

There were several new stands with beadwork. The new trend was three-dimensional florals or mosaic (Peyote) leaves formed into 'kalyna' bunches. The beaded flowers were added onto netted collars, bracelets or used for pendants and brooches. They came in all shapes and sizes with the poppy as the most favorite flower. I purchased the "Kalyna" creation in red on a matte black net in the center of the display board.

Display of Gerdany by Nadia Emelyanova 

Poppy brooches by Valentyna Konkolowskaya

"Embellishing Your World" show

Maria and Naomi Smith with a printout of the opening slide

It was great sharing my "Embellishing Your World: Beading & Surface Designs" with fellow beadmates on Nov 10th at the Toronto Bead Society. This was an inspirational seminar with beadwork examples and stories from around the world.

What was special that evening was that Naomi, a fellow TBS member, brought her collection of First Nations Beadwork. I featured photographs of her collection in the first five slides of my PowerPoint. We combined the best of two worlds for the benefit of our members. I projected images and pointed out interesting details about the unique artifacts of the Mohawk and Tuscarora Nations. Naomi brought the genuine articles so people could then see them up close. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for TBS members.

For my half of the display, I brought my collection of beaded "Pysanky" eggs. Several were beaded by Vira Pavlova Witkovska plus other bead artists from Ukraine. The beaded "Lilacs" were made by Oksana, a young student of an after-school Craft Program in Kolomyya. They're so life-like it's hard to believe they're just beads on twisted wires! Amazing... Love it!

Maria's collection of beaded 'pysanky' eggs, ornaments and bead wire "Lilacs"

I'll be presenting "Embellishing Your World..." to the new West Toronto Beading Guild on Mar 8, 2011 at their regular monthy meeting. We're going to combine it with a hands-on beading workshop on learning how to do the versatile Diagonal Weave. I'm looking forward to inspiring the new beaders!

If you'd like an inspirational program by a passionate speaker, just let me know.... I'll be happy to share this and other beadwork presentations.

Beaded Eggs & Greeting Cards

Beaded Eggs by Vira Pavlova-Witkowska, Lviv, Ukraine

as seen in "A Conversation on Ukrainian-Style Beadwork with Maria Rypan",

BEADWORK, Oct/Nov 2009

Best wishes for a Happy and Blessed Easter full of peace, health and God's blessings. May you enjoy a springtime full of creativity.

Last week I created a greeting card with the above image as an Easter/note card. There were a lot of people to thank in the past two months of travel and presentations, bead shows and workshops. Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts (ACUA), Edmonton and all the museums; Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta, Grand River Beads and Gift Gallery, OH; Beads N'More and Hall of Fame Bead Guild, OH; GLBG, MI; Canadian Oasis Shows to name a few.

If you'd like to purchased beaded eggs or cards, please let me know. I have a few of Vira's eggs, as well as cards for sale. This just could be a start of a new line...

Happy Easter,

Maria