RALONDA PATTERSON
from Decatur, Texas
Season of Night
Doll named Nite
[Please be patient - These pages are graphics intensive and will load slowly]

Land of Odds, Be Dazzled Beads,
The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts, and
The Open Window Gallery present…

The Season of Night

I explore my beadwork with my fingers and all my senses. I feel my doll's creative aura -- "One hundred years from now," I say, "when someone picks you up and holds you, they, too, will be at one with the Season of Night. A season that comes by wing silently in the evening, standing alone and passes at dawn. This has always been so, for even on the very first day, he was separated from the light and given his name. He was called Nite.

Look at him as you are looking into the darkness. His wings are the scenery before you blending in, his body like camouflage. Do you indeed see him as you open your front door and look into the dusk. Or do you stare into the night with something looking at you from the water, wanting to embrace you, and you not knowing what it is? You feel the presence of something looking at you and you retreat to safety. When dawn comes and you look back, all you see is the allure and beauty of Nite. He is no longer standing in front of you, confronting you with the unknown perils hidden in his embrace. No. The sun continues to rise and man goes about his work until evening.

      

Wings

Nite comes again. He found you looking into the encroaching darkness pondering your choices of the day. This time he is looking at you with the wise old face of your ancestors, beckoning you to come. You may notice the wolf and the lion at his heels with their green eyes shining like crystal as they come seeking meat from Him. You may even see the bat flying on his side for he, too, is a creature belonging to him.

Wolf at his heels

There is more, before you move into the night, notice the snake crawling, wrapped around his leg, slithering up his body, with his head resting on the shoulder of darkness, hissing in his ear, waiting to strike. Oh that snake, he is waiting to steal you from your family and to kill you and destroy all you have! Listen, even in your trembling, listen to the small, still voice that speaks to your heart. It says, "Walk while you have the light, before the darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you still have it, so that you may become sons of light. The light has the power to turn your night into day."

Snake

Side Image

Back Image

Detailed Image

Nite
(rotation)

LIST OF MATERIALS

3/4 inch wooden dowel
wire coat hanger
muslin
poly-fill (polyester fiber fill)
cotton sewing thread
curtain cord trim (snake)
curved tapestry needle (sewing tight spots)
large embroidery needle (guide for needle)
memory wire (war-bonnet)
black satin ribbon
black marabou feathers
E-527 glue
fimo (faces)
apple barrel acrylic paint (black)
delta ceramacoat satin varnish
Nymo size B black
Nymo size D ivory
11/13 beading needles

Beads:
5 variegated glass 16x12 ovals
Czech jet pressed opaque glass - 7mm coins
Czech Jet pressed opaque glass - 10x6 teardrops
Czech Jet pressed opaque glass - 8.5mm cone flowers
Czech Jet pressed opaque glass - 14x9mm curved leaves
2 hematite 7mm coins
4 sew on Swarovsky crystals (peridot)
1/2 inch hematite twisted glass bugles
1/2 inche matte black twisted glass bugles
1/8 inch black bugles
6/0 black opaque
8/0 black hex cut
4x4 black cubes
11/0 various shades of gray and black
14/0 matte black
14/0 silver lined gray
14/0 hematite

Cabochons:
2 onyx 22x8mm ovals
2 hemalyke 16mm rounds
2 blue goldstone leaves 25mm (approx)
2 glass 20mm rounds
2 stone 40x30 ovals (belived to be Indian agate)
1 black snowflake obsidian 30x22mm oval

Doll Form:
The doll structure was designed to present the figure without a stand to obstruct the observers view. This was achieved with a 3/4 inch dowel in the torso. The dowel has holes drilled in the top and bottom. The wire hanger is threaded through these holes to give the piece its structural integrity. The wire runs from hand to hand through the top hole. Another wire runs from foot to foot through the bottom hole. Yet another wire runs from the bottom tip of one wing up to and across the shoulders and back down to the bottom tip of the opposite wing tip. The doll design and patterning are completely original works. His figure was intended to look like and was inspired by the figure of my 87 year old grandfather, who is still strong and ambulatory. He is a tall man with a distinctly Native American face. He has a robust body with thin long legs that end in small ankles and one in a club foot.

Dimensions:
Height - 15 inches with war-bonnet
Width - 12 inches
Depth - 7-8 inches

Techniques:
Body/Wings - sewing and pattern design
Faces - molding and sculpture; crystal inlay
Body - various peyote stitches (tubular, sculptural, and flat); brick stitch
Head - beaded bezel (sculptural peyote)
Hair - basic fringe
Wings - beaded backstitch; RAW applique; beaded bezels; basic fringe
War-bonnet - square stitch; feather working; bead applique