Bead embellishment of natural objects

 Here is my piece called 'Nature Table' in response to a fantastically inspiring workshop delivered by Kate Tume.

We were encouraged to experiment with beads and sequins to pile them up randomly to create new textures and given the themes of 'rocks' and 'biodiversity' to explore. I found a great piece of eucalyptus bark hanging off a local tree on one of my walks and that inspired the idea for the piece based on the Biodiversity theme.

I went off with my rucksack and found lots of other interesting natural finds in the hedgerows and also in my back garden. I also inadvertently bought home a few beetles and spiders!

I then prepared a background. Because the tutor had stressed the importance of having fabric stretched in a hoop to make it easier to handle for beading, the size of my finished piece was limited by the size of my hoop. I used heavy calico for the background fabric and cut out a piece of my eco-printed silk organza to A5 size to define the stitching area. I stitched this down with small stab stitches all the way round before adding a scrap of painted silk organza from a previous project and some purple/orange coloured scrim.

I started with the bark. Some of the silver birch bark could be peeled apart so that is was thin enough to stitch through and some had to be secured with long straight stitches. I also managed to stitch through the eucalyptus bark to hold that in place. The whole point of this challenge was to experiment with beads so I wanted to find ways to add beads in ways which were sympathetic to the natural objects or enhance their beauty. I wanted to use beads to make the viewer look more closely at the piece and therefore more closely at nature.

In and around the bark I used various different sized wooden beads and these small disc beads, possibly coral or bone - both were from broken necklaces that I had inherited. I also used a line of orange bugle beads, couched down at intervals, just because I liked the colour. In the bottom right hand corner I have arranged ash keys held down with gold bugle beads. The beech leaves at bottom left are simply stitched with small straight stitches over the central rib of the leaf, where it is the strongest. 

I carried on adding bits to my composition until it was covered. In the close up above I have piled up large seed beads randomly to create this effect - usually threading 5 or 7 on the thread before stitching back down and twisting the loop of beads before pulling the thread tight. This loop can then be secured by coming back up through the fabric through one of the beads before adding another group of beads to make another clump. I love the effect of this - it looks a bit like insect eggs or dried sap.

To secure the beads in the acorn cups and in the centre of the dried sedum flowers I used PVA glue. It was the only practical way to do it. I stitched the stems of both items down in the normal way and added clumps of beads as above to fill in any gaps. The photo above also shows a skeltonised Nigella seed pod, which was so fragile that it had broken into 2 parts already. I gently rubbed on some gold wax to highlight its structure and glued it down - I thought it would disintegrate if I tried to stitch it.

The hardest items to secure were the pieces of bracken in the centre and the dried catkins in the top right corner. If I pulled the thread too tight or let it get caught around something then the tension would guillotine off the end of the item I was stitching. The sticky burrs in the photo above were a different challenge! They are so effective at gripping everything that they stuck to my bare finger tips and of course wouldn't let go of the thread if it got caught. Inside each burr are 3 teardrop shaped beads which I threaded onto my thread in a loop and then stitched right through from the top to get the beads to sink into the burr.

The most fiddly beads to attach were these tiny black ones to the dried agapanthus seed heads. I threaded a string of 4 beads, looped back down the bottom 3 leaving long tails of thread from both ends. I used the tails to tie the beads onto the seed head and then stitch it down to the calico. On a couple of occasions I got the thread caught and it broke off a 'wing' so I repaired it with a dab of PVA. The pheasant feathers were simply stitched with tiny stitches over the central rib.

I am very pleased with the overall outcome of this piece. I plan to mount it on a shop-bought artist canvas over a layer of wadding to cushion all the knots on the back or possibly in a shadow box frame. I would be possible to scale this up to make a larger piece and I am interesting in doing this at some point in the future.