Beading--The Creative Spirit: Finding Your Sacred Center through the Art of Beadwork

by Rev. Wendy Ellsworth

Overview

Find Your Creative Self in the Kaleidoscope of Beads & Color

"Beading and my spiritual path are intricately interwoven. It would be difficult for me to separate the two because they are so completely intertwined with one another. As I sit and weave with my beads, I allow the Creative Spirit to flow through me, and though my hands are doing the work, another force is actively participating in the process. This force is a transmission of Spirit that fills me with deep inner peace and joy as I bead. As a result, the practice of my art form has become a creative path to my sacred center."
—from the Introduction

Believing that beading is a form of meditation through which we can access the Creative Spirit that is always present in us, master bead artist Rev. Wendy Ellsworth offers multiple ways to explore beading as a spiritual journey of self-discovery. Each of the seven chapters is rich with personal stories, exercises, and beading projects, and each project has a meditative experience to encourage a contemplative spirit and creative play. The project results are beautiful, meaningful symbols designed by a master bead artist for both novice and experienced beaders alike.

Original projects include:

• Geometric Mandala
• Personal Mandala
• Personal Prayer Beads
• Beaded Prayer Pouch
• Goddess Archetype Necklace
• Beaded Stick Figure Goddess
• Chakra Necklace
• Chakra Flower Sculpture
• Free-form Gourd Stitch Bracelet
• Ruffled Cabochon Brooch
• Dutch Spiral Necklace
• Spiral Vessel
• Song Beads
• Herringbone Stitch Cuff with Freshwater Pearls

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594733901
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	02/25/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	240
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Rev. Wendy Ellsworth is an internationally recognized professional bead artist, whose works are represented in the permanent collections at the Museum of Art and Design, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A frequent contributor to Beadwork and Bead & Button, she also teaches classes at leading craft centers, bead shops, major bead shows, and at gatherings of state bead societies nationwide. Ellsworth is also an ordained interfaith minister.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1

1 Find Your Center
For Equilibrium and Balance 7
Exercise: Creating a Comfortable Space 17
Project 1: Geometric Mandala 19
Meditation: Asking for Personal Symbols 26
Project 2: Personal Mandala 28

2 Knock on Spirit's Door
Using Beads to Pray 35
Exercise: Blessing the Materials 47
Meditation: Accessing Your Right-Brain Creative Spirit 49
Project 3: Personal Prayer Beads 52
Project 4: Beaded Prayer Pouch 55

3 Stir the Pot
In Search of the Authentic Self 63
Exercise: Focusing—The Sacred Triangle 76
Beginning Meditation 78
Project 5: Goddess Archetype Necklace 80
Project 6: Beaded Stick Figure Goddess 86
Ending Meditation 90

4 Spin the Wheels of Life
For Integration and Wholeness 93
Exercise: Visualizing the Vertical Currents of Core Energy 105
Project 7: Chakra Necklace 108
Meditation: Bringing In the Light 113
Project 8: Chakra Flower Sculpture 117

5 Shake Up Your Palette
Playing with Light and Color 123
Exercise: Shake Up Your Palette 138
Project 9: Free-form Gourd Stitch Bracelet 141
Meditation: Color 147
Project 10: Ruffled Cabochon Brooch 149

6 Dance with the Rhythm
Ten Tools of Creative Expression 157
Exercise: Drawing Spirals 174
Project 11: Dutch Spiral Necklace 176
Meditation: Spirals 180
Project 12: Spiral Vessel 182

7 Bead Your Bliss
Sing Your Song 189
Exercise: Discovering Your Song 202
Project 13: Song Beads 204
Meditation: Beauty 208
Project 14: Herringbone Stitch Cuff with
Freshwater Pearls 210
Inspiration for the Future: Creating a Bead Challenge 217

Resources 219
Bibliography 221
Project Index 225

Editorial Reviews

"Combines the joy for and the appreciation of the spirit as a life force in beading…. Will serve the reader as more than a primer, it's a roadmap for the curious and a balm for the initiate."
—Joyce J. Scott, visual/performance artist and author, Fearless Beadwork

“A remarkably insightful and personal account of the intimate relationship between spirituality and creativity. Whether you do beading, pursue other artistic activities, or are interested in devotional practices, you will find this a powerful and engaging work.”
—Robert Wuthnow, author, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist

“A spirit trek with beads…. This is no coffee-table book or straight-out instruction manual [but] a great read I’d recommend to anyone—especially beaders—who is hungry for a connection with the Divine.”
—Jean Campbell, beadwork artist and author, The Art of Beaded Beads

“A significant work that puts into words the spiritual awareness that comes from the art of beading. It is a guide to understanding where creativity comes from and how to get there.”
—Carol Wilcox Wells, artist and author, Creative Bead Weaving

“Includes fascinating information about the use of beads and sacred symbols in both ancient and modern religious belief systems. I highly recommend [it] to anyone who wants to develop an awareness and a deeper understanding of the spiritual/creative connection.”
—Nancy Eha, beading instructor and author, Off the Beadin’ Path

“Exquisite—in its message and in the projects chosen. Artists in every medium can benefit from Beading—The Creative Spirit.”
—Loretta Radeschi, basketmaker and author, The Business Guide Series for Artists and Craftspeople

From the Publisher

"Beads have been my best friend, partner, muse, therapist, and, on rare occasions, my antagonist. They have provided me with direction in life, a way of reconnecting with the center of my soul, and great joy and bliss," writes Wendy Ellsworth, an interfaith minister and professional bead artist whose works are represented in permanent art collections in New York and Boston. She has written a down-to-earth handbook that reflects her enthusiasm, cross-cultural perspective, and fascination with the history of this widely practiced craft.

Ellsworth is convinced that beading is a meditative exercise that gives many pleasures and inner exploration. In seven chapters, she presents personal stories, exercises, and projects such as mandalas, prayer beads, chakra necklace, song beads, and more. We were impressed by her observations on asking for personal symbols, blessing the materials, the place of color, spirals, and beauty.

Spirituality and Practice - Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

In Beading the Creative Spirit, author Wendy Ellsworth shares her experience of feeling most spiritually connected while she is being creative doing her beadwork. This unique book combines 14 beading projects with spiritual exercises and meditations. Each of the seven chapters has a focus such as finding your center (beading mandalas), using beads to pray (making prayer beads), wholeness (chakra necklace), and creative expression (spiral necklace).

There are two beading projects in each chapter. The first project is geared toward beginners; the second is for more advanced beaders. The spiritual exercises and meditations relate to the subject matter for that particular chapter. These two activities help draw forth the creative spirit to prepare the beader for beginning the project. The exercise called Shake Up Your Palette sounded like a lot of fun. Ellsworth writes about how people often use the same color palette when they bead, so this exercise is designed to expand one's comfort with using different colors of beads. Several friends who bead can be invited to participate in this exercise; everyone sits around a table and begins a project. After about a half an hour, everyone moves to the seat to the right and begins to work on that person’s project using their beads and color choices. This continues until everyone has worked on everyone else’s project. She encourages the beaders to see how they feel when working with different colors of beads. It is also interesting to see how the other beaders used your colors of beads to create patterns that are different from your usual ones.

The projects are illustrated with color photographs, clear diagrams showing the placement of the beads for that particular pattern, and step-by-step instructions.

To encourage creativity, Ellsworth has a section about 10 tools for creative expression such as love, compassion, trust, self-confidence, imagination, and play. She then writes about the cripplers of creative expression such as guilt, fear, self-doubt, inner critic, and judgment. She has another section where she writes about the 10 aspects of our creative voice, such as passion, persistence, commitment, wholeness, vision, intuition, and happiness.

Ellsworth also provides ideas that she calls "bead challenges" to help one break out of a rut to get the creativity flowing again.

New Age Retailer Magazine - Susan LosCalzo

Beading as therapy is common among beaders. The Rev. Wendy Ellsworth has now written Beading- Finding Your Sacred Center through the Art of Beadwork to help beaders focus more intentionally on craft as a healing practice. Wendy's workbook explores symbolism, bead and materials, and color in seven chapters that include complete step-by-step projects and other resources such as meditation mantras.

Bead & Button Magazine - Ann Dee

Explore beading as a spiritual journey of self-discovery. Personal stories, history, exercises, and beading projects. The Queen Mother was honored to review the manuscript prior to publication and write an endorsement inside the front cover of the book. "Includes fascinating information about the use of beads and sacred symbols in both ancient and modern religious belief systems. I highly recommend it to anyone who want to develop and awareness and deeper understanding of the spiritual/creative connection."

Bead Creative with Nancy Eha

I'd worked with the Rev. Wendy Ellsworth's beautiful beadwork and the words that went along with it for a long time before I'd actually met her. When I did finally meet her in person (I think it was in about 2002 at a bead conference?), I discovered what a truly special person she is. She just emanates calm and joy. Wendy's special demeanor comes shining through in her brand-new book, Beading—the Creative Spirit. In it, Wendy puts into words what most beaders know already: that beading is a meditative, healing activity that can be wholly transformative. It feeds us creatively and brings beauty to our sometimes not-so-beautiful lives. She writes, very clearly, about how to hone in on those spiritual qualities even more keenly, through working with personal and archetypal symbols, using color in a purposeful way, envisioning the core power of a design, and 'singing your own song' through your craft.

Wendy gives helpful, specific advice on how to make easy access of the Creative Spirit through beadwork. One of my favorite sections is called "10 Tools of Creative Expression." One of the tools she lists is Wildness. Wendy writes, "All creative people need to have a little wildness inside them. The Wild Woman is our creative fire and what drives us to make art; we cannot live without her....Invite her to come and dance with you while you bead; throw back your head and howl with her to really get her creative energy moving through you. Reconnecting with your wildness can set you free to be your innate creative self. Your beading will never be the same again!" Now ain't that the truth?

If you're considering purchasing this book, you should be forewarned that it's a little different than most beaders are used to. There are only a few color photos, for one thing. There are 14 very nice projects, but they really aren't the stars of the book. The best part is the way Wendy takes your hand and leads you through the creative process with completely new eyes. This is a beading book, yes, but it really could be a manual for anyone looking for a deeper connection with the Divine.

Jean Campbell Ramblings on jewelry-making and life - Jean Campbell

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