Box Frame Art

Beaded Beasties is the name I gave to my mixed media box frame art range. I create dragonflies and other insects using beads, wire and other materials which are mounted within the frame. Each frame is a unique artwork.

I gather pre-loved jewellery items either from charity shops or from generous friends. These are then separated into individual components and I aim to re-use as much as possible including cords and fastenings. Look closely and you’ll see elements of all these in my work.

Dragonflies and damselflies are such colourful creatures that almost any bead can be suitable. From the rather dull-sounding Brown Hawker (below left, photo by Nick Fewings) to the vivid Scarlet Darter (centre, photo by Sensei Minimal) or the turquoise vibrancy of the Banded Demoiselle damselfly (below right, photo by James Wainscoat – all courtesy of unsplash.com) the variety is endless.

I also try to use other recycled materials wherever possible and it’s amazing how a greeting card or gift bag can be repurposed.

In the example opposite, I used an old Christmas card. I realised that the folds in the Madonna’s cloak could become bulrush leaves if they were upturned. Recycled wooden beads and some cocktail sticks became the bulrushes.

I cut up a wine bottle gift bag to produce dark hillsides for two of my frames. Please take a look at Mysterious Moonlight and Night Flight in the Beaded Beasties gallery to see how they turned out.

Blue stems of umbellifer flowers were cut from another bag and hand punched pink polka dots became the flower heads for Riverside Ramble. It’s both intriguing and rewarding to find new uses for such materials.

Please take a look in my shop for all the latest additions.