Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry: Photographs of Beautiful Contemporary Beadwork by Ray Hemachandra

Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry: Photographs of Beautiful Contemporary Beadwork Reviews

• 
  JayeL

  This is another gorgeous '500' title from Lark Books. More eye candy and inspiration for all kinds of creative people.
  
  This book starts off with an introduction by author
  Ray Hemachandra. The introduction is interesting, because Ray mentions that beading is one of the oldest forms of creative expression and then moves on to mention changes to the art form's professionalism in the last 20 years. He mentions social media, Etsy, copyright and online connections. While this is not the first time, I have read something about online communities and social media in a print publication, I notice that the conversation is becoming more prominent.
  
  Mr. Hemachandra gives an excellent description of the book, which I could not write more eloquently. He says "The book includes so many beaders with wonderful personal stories to share and that I'd like to share...but this isn't that book. That's another book to come soon, I hope. This book instead tells its stories through its photographs of jewelry....". This book, as I said, is a feast for the eyes and will provide so much inspiration you will go to bed at night with your head spinning. You will have to make up your own stories about the artists and artworks, however.
  
  The majority of the photos depict necklaces and bracelets. And in this department extreme beading is not an overstatement. I thought
  Kissy Fish was pretty extreme beading, and, perhaps, it is on a quilt, but I scattered a few beads across the surface in comparison to some of the amazing works in this book.
  
  Neutrals such as bronze, grey, black, gold, pearl and silver dominate the colors in this book, as jewelry tends to be made predominantly with those colors. There are a few glimmers of color on each page. Susan Blessinger's Impending Bloom necklace looks very neutral in color in the full photo, but the detail shot shows dragonfly-esque pearlescent colors that are not visible in the full photo. Jamie Cloud Eakin's Bling, pg.76, sparkles with prisms and crytals reflecting magenta and purples, evne on the book page. Of course, the pieces with pure beads and no metallic parts have more color.
  
  There is a pretty, but serious necklace with very realistic looking eyes. I am not a big fan of fake eyes, because they often look freaky. The eyes in this piece look very real. I kept looking at the photo waiting for one to blink. The necklace is more of a collar done in pure white with the eyes embedded in the surface beading (You & Eye by Rachel Nelson-Smith, pg.116)
  
  One piece I noticed that was not a necklace or bracelet was a kind of long sleeved shrug (for those of you who knit), pg.118. It is called Dragon Lady and is a garment. I never thought of using beads to make a wearable accessory.
  
  One of my favorite pieces is Jennifer Cameron's Carnival (pg.75), because of the lovely combination of blues, greens and purples.
  
  Look at the shapes, materials and colors and be inspired.
  
  Thanks to Lark Books for sending this book to me to review!
• 
  Lucy

  This book features pictures & descriptions of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, ranging from simple strings of beads to overly complex combinations. The descriptions consist only of the artist's name, the name of the object, and a list of items used & techniques of construction. It could use a glossary; several terms that were used numerous times were unfamiliar to me, both describing types of beads & methods of construction. There is an index of artists.
  This is a very interesting collection of quite varied jewelry. Some I would love to have, others I wouldn't take as a gift (especially the one that incorporated razor blades).
  Some don't seem to be meant to be actually wearable, but perhaps as an artwork for display. I wouldn't trust the bracelets that incorporate cones or other things that stick out more than an inch, especially if the wearer uses her hands as she talks. With some items, I wasn't sure if it was a bracelet or thick necklace and the centimeter measurements don't help me much.
  There seems to be no method to the organization, if there is one, though usually the pictures on any double-page spread have some connection of theme or color. I can't say I liked the several pieces that used doll eyes or taxidermy eyes as centerpieces. To me that's just creepy, though maybe that's the point.
  
• 
  Anna

  A big, beautiful showcase collection of a lot of different artists, techniques, and plenty of ideas for making your own (eve n if just getting started).
  Each piece has shown has a beautiful picture, and details about the artist and the piece. And the techniques used. It would be be awesome if there was a bit more details and stories about what inspired a particular piece, or something randomly interesting about the artists. And a glossary would be useful. (As perhaps the sizes also for the metrically impaired).
• 
  Kel

  Gorgeous items. Excellent photos.
• 
  Aleta

  Beautiful, ugly, silly, poignant. There are all kinds of beaded works pictured in this volume.
  
• 
  Angela Blood

  This book has some of the most absurd and hideous "jewelry" I have ever seen in it! it would be a good coffee table book or a book to glance at while waiting for something, but if you are hoping for tips or patterns or anything other than pictures of ridiculous jewelry, this is not the book for you.