Tuesday 20 October 2009

Maid Marian's Quiver


I got back from another lovely trip to Spain this weekend and one of the messages that was waiting for me was the exciting news that my entry to the British Bead Awards won joint second place in the seed bead category!





I have often felt a little frustrated when I have seen beadweaving being labelled as a 'craft' rather than 'art' as though it is somehow inferior. I have had two galleries turn my work down for this reason and up until now, I haven't really had the confidence to challenge this attitude. I never used to consider myself an artist as I haven't had any training on colour theory, design or all the things I used to think were necessary to be a 'proper' artist. However, I have recently been thinking about trying to inject a little more meaning into some of my work and this is one of my first attempts. I am still feeling my way of course, so I wasn't sure whether I had gone too far or not far enough with my piece 'Maid Marian's Quiver'.


I live in Robin Hood county, near what is left of Sherwood Forest and I often visit the little village of Edwinstowe which as legend has it, is where Robin Hood married Maid Marian. There is a beautiful bronze statue of Robin and Marian in the village centre and the last time I visited, I started thinking about Marian. My mind wandered fancifully to an image of her carrying a delicate silver quiver and shooting rosebuds of love rather than arrows of death. This is obviously a rather naive and impractical idea, but still, I like it and the judges obviously did too - let me know what you think!

9 comments:

  1. Oh Kerrie, you know I love this!

    As for the galleries, their loss! I don't think they know what "art" is! In my mind a piece of Art is a thing of beauty and your certainly qualifies!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is just so beautiful and creative. What an awesome tribute to Maid Marion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kerrie, your work is so graceful and delicate. I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is beautiful. You are a patient character indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks like a wonderful work of art to me! Congratulations! Some people prefer art that's weird, but I prefer the beautiful kind. Those other galleries don't know what they're missing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kerry, I love your Maid Marion's Quiver! How creative and beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with you completely about the work you do being an art form and often I think it's only a naive perspective which keeps others from understanding the depth behind the work.

    Your work is outstanding so keep believing and expressing the artist within!
    ♥Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations Kerrie, it's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for all the great comments and reassurance, my beady friends ♥

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.