Juanita Finger
On Beading As An Artform: Juanita found her love for beading in 1991. Each piece is designed with complete and unrestricted freedom for movement, size and color. Handcrafting each one in her studio in Roswell, NM. She gives complete focus to each piece, making the pieces limited and a true one of a kind collector’s item.
Juanita is a gifted and talented artist, which is being recognized by the art world. She has entered competitions, winning in many different categories, including Best of Show at several of them. Recently her “Medusa” was a finalist in BeadDream 2014 sponsored by Bead and Button Magazine.
Wave, by Juanita Finger. This cuff was designed on Beadcreator for a class I was teaching. The focus of the class was to notice the difference in colors using the different finishes on the beads. This piece is done free hand in square stitch.
Beadwork as an Art form is Juanita’s passion. Her initial interest was in the study of beaded jewelry. As her knowledge improved, she began to translate different techniques of beads and knots into three dimensional sculptures and tapestries. Inspiration comes from the world around her. Creatures of nature, landscapes, painted ceiling of churches are all ideas waiting for the translation into a beaded piece. Her mother, a flower show judge for the state of Illinois, taught her that colors have relationships, inspiring emotion in her beaded sculptures.
For her, color is an important and fun aspect of her creations, often putting together color that shouldn’t go together and somehow making them work together. Inspiration also comes with the involvement with other artists of all Medias. In retirement, she sponsors a weekly group of artists getting together to share by encouragement, thoughts and knowledge of different medias. Being involved with other artists is an important element, which encourages each other to a higher level. She also teaches bead-weaving in her community, and travels to other parts of the country to teach, welcoming the opportunity to show her beadwork as an Art form. It can be fun, intricate and interesting. Hoping bead-weaving will ignite others to express their creativity. In 2014 Juanita published a book of her work called “Beaded Inspirations” available at Amazon.com.
Wave, by Juanita Finger. Wave is done in Peyote stitch and is fashioned after the famous “Great Wave”. I have actually done this several times in different sizes. I was able to create the pattern on Beadcreator in one size bead and then change the bead size to create a different size piece.
On Using BeadCreator: I purchased my Beadcreator program when it first came out. I am now a proud owner of the Pro 6 version, and a founding member of the Beadcreator family. I have found that the entire staff is friendly and helpful whenever there is a problem, which isn’t often. I find the program easy to use and user friendly. I have recommended the purchase of this program to my students and other beaders I know, and several of them have already become Beadcreator family members.
See more of Juanita’s work at www.beadedfinger.com.