Inspirational Beading: Inspired Beaders: Mortira Plus Seven

Friday, July 31, 2009

Inspired Beaders: Mortira Plus Seven

Japanese Garden Lariat

I was doubly humbled and honored to receive the Premio Meme award this month from Jennie The Bead Doodler and Emma of Glitter Glow Beading. We beaders and jewelry designers are such a generous and tight-knit group. It seems that no matter where we’re from, or what we create, we always find a way to compliment and encourage each other.

The Premio Meme Award

The rules are simple. List seven facts about yourself and pass the award to seven worthy bloggers. I thought it would be fun to use some of my favorite Inspired Beader questions and do an autobiographical interview.

Seven Things About Mortira:

1. How did you first discover beading?

Tut's Jewels Part One

When I was younger, my mother filled up her free time with different crafty and creative hobbies. Every year or so she would find something new, such as stained glass or doll making. When she gave up doing Native American style leatherworking and bead embroidery, I inherited her entire stash. I only made a few seed bead strung necklaces and bracelets, but something inside of me had clicked.

Since then, I have always gravitated towards crafts with beads, until one day I discovered bead weaving. I picked up a beading calendar just for fun, and I’ve been completely hooked ever since.

2. What is your favorite source for ideas or techniques?

I really love to see what other artists are doing. I’m always watching the newsstand for the latest issue of my favorite beading magazines, and I try to visit blogs and forums whenever I’m not totally swamped. When I see an amazing project with a stitch, color or material I haven’t used in awhile, or that is new to me, I think about how to adapt it to my own style.

Ice Garden Lariat

3. Do you have a favorite type of bead?

I have always been completely crazy about color-lined crystal 11/o seed beads. There’s something about their shine that really captures everything I love about beads. A few years ago I also discovered tinted color-lined seed beads, and found that there are endless possibilities for color and beauty with these little treasures. I think my all time favorite is black-lined red.

4. What is your favorite bead color combination?

I love to match black with green and/or coppery browns. I think the combination looks so elegant and regal. If I have an idea for a piece of jewelry that doesn’t require a special color palette to come together, chances are it will be black and green.

Hippopotamus Marsh Necklace

5. Where do you find the most inspiration?

I used to be obsessed with Ancient Egypt, and did a lot of beadwork in typical Egyptian color schemes and patterns. Now I find myself doing a lot of ocean-themed pieces. Living on the West Coast makes finding inspiration easy - there’s aquatic life and art everywhere. Not only are there so many gorgeous and wonderful sea creatures to imitate, it’s really easy to express the ideas and themes with beads. Even abstract work can easily be recognized for it’s aquatic undertones.

6. What is your favorite technique?

Whenever I’m inspired by color, the first thing I think of doing is spiral rope. I love it’s simplicity, and how easy it is to embellish, adapt, connect and stitch. If peyote stitch is a beader’s bread and butter, spiral rope is like salt and pepper - it goes with everything.

7. Who do you hope to inspire with your work?

I’ve made it my mission in life to help change the way people think about jewelry. The amount of value that is placed on gold and diamonds - with little thought to how they make it to our jewelry boxes - doesn’t exactly fit in with 21st century thinking. I hope that by making, wearing and selling handmade glass jewelry, that I can help to inspire more eco-friendly fashion trends.

Golden Cross Cuff