The Illustrative Beader: Beaded Tapestry Competition FAQ and Commentary

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THE ILLUSTRATIVE BEADER:
BEADED TAPESTRY COMPETITION

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) & COMMENTARY

1. What is a "Tapestry"

Here we use the concept of "Tapestry" in its broadest sense as a stitched, sewn and/or woven wall hanging. Your tapestry may be woven, loomed, stitched, quilted, cross-stitched, crocheted, knitted, sewn, braided, knotted, macramed, embroidered, beaded and the like. Your tapestry will combine fibers/threads/and/or cloth and beads in some way, and the surface area must consist of at least 70% beads. Beads may form the background canvas of your piece, and/or may be used to embellish your canvas, and/or as fringe, and/or as stitchery covering parts of your piece. Your piece should be mounted or framed in some way, ready for hanging on a wall. Your tapestry may utilize many different techniques.

In our The Illustrative Beader: Beaded Tapestry Competition, we define the idea of a "Tapestry" very broadly, to include any stitched, sewn and/or woven wall hanging which combines some kind of fiber and beads. Fiber might consist only of the threads used to stitch the beads, or it might include quilted materials, yarn, cord, or anything that might broadly be called Fiber. The Tapestry might be loomed with fibers and embellished with beads. It might be loomed with all beads. The Tapestry does NOT necessarily have to be loomed in the traditional sense. It might also be knitted and embellished with beads, or quilted or cross-stitched or crocheted or braided or knotted and somehow combined with beads. The Tapestry canvas might begin with stretched, appliqued, or quilted cloth. The surface area of the finished Tapestry must be 70% made from beads.

2. What does "3-Dimensionality" Mean?

One characteristic of contemporary design is one of dimensionality. There are many ways to achieve dimensionality in a piece.

What is it? Length, width, and height

Points have zero dimension
Lines have one dimension
Squares and other polygon-type flat shapes have two dimensions
Cubes and other solid shapes have three dimensions

How Do You Achieve It?

– color tricks – matte and glossy; warm and cold, receding/approaching
– optical illusions – 2-D drawings that appear 3-D; think M.C. Escher drawings
– perspective/vanishing point/gestalts – fool viewer to expect 3 dimensions
- embellishment
- create tubular shapes and round spherical shapes (in effect, puffed out tubes)
- layering
- Buckminster Fuller Geodesic structural/constructive strategies

How do people sense “dimensionality”? How do they know when something is flat, or something is more than flat?

– when lit, can see differences in shaded and lighted areas
– variations in surface textures, colors, patterns
– when move light around piece, will see changes in appearance
– casts a shadow
– sense of great visual depth
– object alone, or as part of composition
– curved glass bends light
- inclusions in transparent glass cast shadow patterns as light moves through glass, and is blocked by these inclusions
- penumbra (core darker-sharper shadow and outer lighter-blurrier shadow)/halo/cat’s eye effects, such as light hitting glass crystal beads
- past experience with certain shapes, objects, forms, images

Where do they view it from?

– The front? (embellishment, relief, layering)
– Front and side?
– Front, side, back, top, bottom?

Be clever with your approach or approaches to achieving dimensionality in your Tapestry.

3. The "Font"

The book's title is an important element on the Tapestry. You have several choices here:

a. The Font - the typeface or letter-structure you use. There are many sites on line to find creative letter-fonts.

search for websites having to do with fonts

b. The layout of the title on the page, and the relationship of this layout to the other elements on the page, can be very critical to your successful Tapestry.

While you have to include the Title in your tapestry, the title may be beaded or not. The Title will take up "real estate" on your tapestry, and this real estate will be included when assessing whether a minimum of 70% of the surface area must use beads.

4. Mix of Beads and Fibers

The surface area of your Tapestry needs to be at least 70% covered with beads.

It can be all beads, like in a loomed beadwork tapestry.

Or beads could be used to decorate or embellish some other canvas.

Fibers may be "strings" or "cloths".

5. "Mystery" book cover

The "Mystery" book must be a published book about solving a crime. The crime could be murder or theft. It can be fictional or non-fictional.

Art Gallery Worldwide -
A lot of artworks in different styles and media.
Website offers a wide variety of features and
services that enable customers to buy and sell their art.
Many sections pertinent to multimedia art and sculpture.

Absolute Arts
The largest marketplace for contemporary art, art news, research, art gallery and artist portfolios.
Click on "Browse The Arts" and search on "Jewelry".

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Return to The Illustrative Beader: Beaded Tapestry Competition

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