Wendy Seaward's fascination with beading dates back to her post-college volunteer work in Africa. After earning a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho
Art hidden in squiggles
Artist's tangled lines become beaded masks, jewelry
By MARTI DAVIS, martidav@comcast.net
February 25, 2004
As a child, Wendy Seaward remembers watching her grandmother encourage art students to close their eyes, scribble blindly on a canvas, then coax images from the resulting tangle of lines.
Today, Seaward has interpreted her own "tangle" of tiny glass beads into one-of-a-kind bracelets, necklaces, earrings and her trademark beaded masks.
The intuitive art of Mona Jordan, Seaward's grandmother, now hangs in the internationally acclaimed Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. while Seaward's own intuitive bead art is displayed in Knoxville's Hanson Gallery, 5607 Kingston Pike, in a show combining her work with that of two other local artists.
Seaward, who lives in West Knoxville, is a member of the prestigious Southern Highland and Foothills craft guilds. Her work has also been featured on HGTV, has won numerous awards and is displayed in several books about fine bead crafts.
Her fascination with beading dates back to her post-college volunteer work in Africa. After earning a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, South Africa, educating local farmers on improved methods of cultivation.
In her travels around the country, she saw beading everywhere, from beaded aprons in Zulu to beaded Swazi "love letters."
"I was intrigued by the traditional masks of Africa, some of which are very ornate with beadwork," Seaward said. "I supposed African masks are more publicly ceremonial whereas mine are more privately celebratory."
Formerly a fiber artist, Seaward's focus began to change about 10 years ago when her friend and fellow Knoxville-area bead artist, Kathy Seely, showed her a beautiful beaded mask she had created on a wooden form.
"I wanted to try for a similar effect using the form of my own face so I made a reinforced plaster cast for an armature and glued some felt on the back."
She then used tiny, shimmering beads in many colors to create a kind of sculpture that combined weaving and beading techniques.
The fabulous masks, which appear to "float" on the walls of the Hanson Gallery, have become Seaward's hallmark.
"I'm very intrigued by the idea that beadwork is an ancient art form and it has typically been a woman's art form, although that is changing now," Seaward said.
Like her ancient colleagues in the craft, Seaward's creations are created not from a pattern or on a loom, but freehand.
Each one requires two months of work for four to eight hours a day, but Seaward's hard work is paying off in a widening circle of fans.
A stylist who works for Faith Hill has been regularly purchasing her jewelry. She discovered Seaward at one of the Southern Highland Craft Guild's shows in Asheville, N.C. Held twice each year, the shows draw buyers from all over the country and beyond.
Encouraged by her success in East Tennessee and Appalachia, Seaward expanded her horizons last year and showed at the nation's largest and most prestigious craft show, sponsored by the American Craft Cooperative.
Seaward, whose family includes generations of Naval officers, grew up a "military brat," moving every one to three years. She was born in Hawaii and graduated from high school in Belgium.
She now lives in States View subdivision in West Knoxville with her life partner, Rick Whitehead, and their children from previous marriages, Savannah, 10, Forrest, 14, and Joey, 15.
The show of Seaward's masks and jewelry continues at the Hanson Gallery through March 2. Other artists featured in the show are Calvin Niceley, a native of Russellville, who is gaffer (head glass blower) for artist Richard Jolley. Nicely has developed his own sculptural glass art that includes contemporary masks inspired by African archetypes. Also featured in the show are the whimsical and colorful paintings of Knoxville artist Cynthia Tollefsrud.
For information, call the gallery at 865-584-6097.
Marti Davis may also be reached at 865-584-5234. : 9.65 inches/ 69 lines
Copyright 2004, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
