As soon as
Karen Williams (who is a
rock star, by the way) announced a chance to make some fabulous fish from her tutorial, I jumped at the chance. I love Karen's instructions, her generosity, and really wanted to do her proud.
Here's the beautiful assortment of beads Karen sent.
This was going to be a challenge, because even though I am a beadweaver, right angle weave is not a go-to stitch for me, and sculptural RAW was new territory.
Apparently, I have been suffering from a several-week long bout of brain spasms (or to use the medical term, brain farts), because despite gorgeous photographs and fabulously detailed instructions, once I got to the construction of the body, I could not wrap my head around it and make my fish look as beautiful as Karen's examples.
I started, and I ripped out, to start again. And again. And again. And finally, I realized that travel plans meant that I had to finish and photograph three days before the deadline, so I buckled down and got it finished. It ain't pristine, and it's certainly not the entire school of fish that I had hoped to present to Karen, but it's done. I think she's kinda cute.
So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Wanda, the Wonky Walleye.
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| "Kiss me, baby!" Don't you love her puckery red lips? |
Wanda comes in the hollow (or perhaps in this case, filetted) version, because I couldn't get the stitching to fit the stone. (Seems the level of stress in one's life translates into the thread tension in one's beadwork...)
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| She may be wonky, but Wanda has a rocking color sense! |
It is, therefore, a testament to Karen's genius that even my congenitally right-angle-weave-challenged self made a cute little fish. Thanks for the opportunity, Karen -- it really was fun, and as soon as I'm back from travelling, I'm gonna tackle this baby again and whip out Tony the Tasty Trout and Mona the Marvelous Mackerel!
In the meantime, be sure to visit the others who participated in the challenge:
