My name is Inga Sampoeva, I live in Belorussia in the city of Vitebsk. Recently I was convinced that everything in life is interconnected. This understanding was confirmed when after three years of beading I accidentally found beaded cross in my mom's jewelry box and remembered it.
That was a beadwork I made when I studied in the 5th grade! In those early years, when it was almost impossible to buy beads in my country in Lithuania, I discovered a torn beaded necklace, and I got first experience with beads.
As I understood the thrust to create something beautiful and tiny was in my blood. I learned that my great-grandmother was a seamstress, and she had fed an entire family for some time embroidering beautiful shirts and underwear for the upper class of the city. I also always had combinations of colors before my eyes because my father was a painter.
Anyways, as to the beads, my life has led me to "making beauties" at my very serious age. The beginning was funny - once I came across a wonderful book by Margie Deeb "The Beader's Guide to Color". The most interesting is that the first thing I noticed were not experiments with colors but beadworks presented in the book, such that in general all around me ceased to exist. Yes, that's right! It was a revelation, as if a star had fallen into my hands!
My first reaction was - I ran to the nearest crafts shop and about a kilogram of beads was neatly stacked in my bag; I got home very quickly. And then it began! It turned out that I needed special needles. Oh, yes, and thread! And we do not really have all this in one shop, and I had to look for that stuff. In a couple of days the materials and tools were collected, and the solemn moment of the first try came.
I don't know why it was a circular peyote stitch item. Unfortunately, then I suffered a complete fiasco, which has been difficult to survive! As it turned out, I bought Chinese beads. Crooked and bumpy they didn't fit the technique I selected for the debut. My very first beads remained in fairly large quantities, only later I learned how to use a very remarkable quality of Chinese beads.
And yet the fire that jewelry of different artists represented in the Margie's book ignited in me, didn't fade away after my first unsuccessful attempts, but actively inflamed after buying my first Czech beads. They just fascinated me with its evenness, it was fun, and it was a delight! And of course, it seemed that everything was behind and I could do everything since everything was clear and so easy! - At my first sight.
Certainly, the Internet helped me, and I plunged into a wonderful world of beading. I found on the Internet such works of beads that I could admire for hours. In my opinion, many of them were superior to all the masterpieces of the jeweler's art and became for me a valuable source of inspiration. And, of course, my first works were likeness of what I saw - a peculiar stage of learning.
Alas, I didn't have a mentor next to me who could strictly point to my errors or clarify my design decisions. So, almost every beadwork brought a fraction of frustration and embarrassment besides joy. My creations didn't look as elegant and beautiful, and most importantly, carefully done like those that I admired...
And I couldn't get sketching that is my permanent headache so far. I now have a large folder with sketches and designs, but I have always suffered because the main thing for me is the form, and "filling" the form is difficult for me. I think the road to the high level - the way of growth - is endless.
Now I have already gained some experience in many types of techniques, and I note with great pleasure that I don't have a favorite one! To me, it's a joy, because when I design a new item, I don't have any limits on its execution. Moreover, lately I just got carried away by mixing different techniques.
My passion for beads instilled a love for the gemstones in me; I bought books on gemology and learn to understand the gems. In addition to that, I started to collect interesting cabochons. I didn't feel such passion of collecting for very long time, ever since, when I wanted to collect everything: stamps, badges, stickers, candy wrappers - a common passion for children.
Now my "hunt" for the beautiful cabochons brings the same sense of delight as possession of "treasures" in childhood. But indeed, for some pieces a nice cabochon becomes its "star", which determines the wealth of jewelry - not in the sense of money, of course, but beauty.
In 2011 I was invited to hold a solo exhibition in the city of Polotsk. It was pretty hard when you're not ready for this morally yet and could not even think that you are perceived as a mature master, and people believe that you are capable to arrange your personal exhibition. Jim-jams - this word best described my condition when I was given 4 months to prepare and I agreed though I didn't have any such experience.
As to the organization, I was rescued by my old "friend" - Internet, as to beadworks, I'd worked very much and hard. The result pleased; and I was suggested to move my exposition immediately after the end of exhibition to the city of Vitebsk to the Museum of Private Collections; it said about success. So, in Vitebsk my second solo exhibition took place.
Then there were the exhibition "Christmas Ornaments" in Minsk and the festival "Secrets of Craftsmanship", the Viner Diploma of the Ninth Republican Festival of National Cultures in 2012. Every year for 5 years in a row I am pleased to participate in the International festival "Slavic Bazaar" in Vitebsk.
In 2011, I was accepted to the Belorussian Union of Folk Artists, and it puts a very serious responsibility on me. Besides purely artistic work I'm doing a lot of items in the ethnic style and then I watch with great pleasure how many people, especially young ones, are actively interested in such craft works. This, of course, is very important for preservation and development of folk traditions.
In 2014, in the former town hall where the city museum is located now, my third solo exhibition was held, it occupied two rooms of the museum. I guess only when preparing for this exhibition, I knew and felt that I could show people something interesting and unusual for them.
By that time I already had good materials, and it was easier to turn my ideas into beadworks. As a rule, beads of limited color palette and size, as well as lack of accessories forced me to make jewelry out of what was available, and in part dictated the outcome. Sometimes even an interesting feeling arose that I was doing the task defined by my beads.
Even now, I do not have a set of beads, which would allow me to accurately convey the desired color scheme to make my dreams and designs true - I plan a very interesting series of jewelry based on the paintings of famous Lithuanian artist Ciurlionis and his student Simonis. Amazing color transitions in their paintings are so harmonious that they can be compared with the beautiful melodies. So far, my sketches are waiting in the wings!
I have never participated in any bead contests, probably I'm afraid of that a little bit. Does it make sense to try? Well-known artists say it spurs and inspires the creation of highly valued beadwork - and this again is as to catch your star!
My gallery on MyLovelyBeads.com
About author:
| Inga Sampoeva, Vitebsk, Belorussia | |
| Email: | ingaes@mail.ru |
| Facebook (personal): | www.facebook.com/inga.kjon?fref=nf |
| Facebook (business): | www.facebook.com/Kjon44 |
