My name is Christina Neit, but most people know me as Good Quill Hunting, and some even refer to me as "Quilly". I am originally from Maine, but moved to Colorado 4 years ago. I have been beading for nearly 10 years and started out by beading up a pair of brick stitch earrings with porcupine quills on them, my childhood influence. I had dabbled with a loom when I was much younger and beads came back into my life while I was cross stitching. I am a self-taught beader and have yet to take a class.
Inspiration comes in many forms for me and often in an unusual way. I can be anywhere, doing anything and suddenly an idea is upon me. It can be a color, hardware, clothing... anything goes. I often say, I am genetically creative, I come from a blood line of creatives and schooled artists; it is a curse and a blessing. My husband hates it when I say, "I have an idea!" That will probably be my epitaph on my tombstone.
Since I range in my work equally from bead weaving to bead embroideries, how I start a project is dependent on a few things. If I am sitting down to create a new pattern/tutorial, I will generally have beads in front of me and just "play". Most times, I will have a certain type of bead to work with, usually a new bead that has just come to market, or is on its way to market and ideas will proceed from there.
If I am planning an embroidery, I usually have inspiration in front of me, a cabochon, button, brass stamping, Swarovski crystal or all of the above, something larger I will use as a focal, those are my guides. Occasionally, it will be a predetermined shape of the piece I have drawn out. I never draw out the thoughts in my head, just the occasional shape is all I ever use a pencil for.
The question I have been asked the most is: "How long does it take you to do a piece?" I have yet to give a straight answer to the question. There really are too many variables to answer precisely with a number. My questions back would be: "Bead weaving or bead embroidery?" - "From the initial thought of the idea or just from start to finish?"
This is how I usually answer the question, first with a long blank stare, while I rack my mind to try and come up with a number for a specific piece they may be looking at. I usually end up saying, "It depends..." Since I started beading a mere 10 years ago, things have changed vastly. There are lots more brick and mortar and online shops, lots more tutorials, videos and learning instruments, forums have changed to Facebook from actual forums and chat rooms like Yahoo.
My beginning influences were: Glenda Payseno in Yahoo group "Bead Chat", Vampi aka Bev Choy, Cassandra Graham, Beki Haley's Forum "All About Beads", and Ruby's Beadwork. I would do Yahoo searches for French and Russian beading blogs and ponder the beadwork for hours gathering info and inspiration. Seems like forever ago now.
I was asked to teach with only 6 months of beading under my belt. I had to pull my self-esteem and self-confidence up and accept the offer. I taught all over New England, New York and even Pennsylvania once for 4 1/2 years, more recently in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. To this day, I thank my friends back in Massachusetts for the opportunity. I wouldn't be here without them! Truth!
My gallery on MyLovelyBeads.com
About author:
| Christina Neit, Denver, Colorado, USA | |
| Email: | christina@goodquillhunting.com |
| Website: | goodquillhunting.com |
| Blog: | goodquillhunting.wordpress.com |
| Facebook: | facebook.com/pages/Good-Quill-Hunting/62337081150?ref=hl |
