Bead Embroidery Kit on Art Canvas "Africa-1"

“Africa-1” shows an African woman carrying a jug on her head in a long patterned skirt, against blocks of colour.

What the picture shows

The figure fills the whole height of the narrow canvas. The woman stands half turned, one hand steadying a rounded terracotta jug on her head, the other resting on her hip. Her top is red with pale curling scrolls; the long skirt is worked in black, ochre and brick beads in a large grid, and every square holds its own African sign: a diamond, a zigzag, a sun, a ladder. At the bottom left stands a round clay vessel with a red calla rising from it on a long stem. The background is assembled from yellow, ochre and terracotta rectangles and stays as print, so all the beadwork concentrates on the figure and the ornament. Fourteen colours, though the fine geometry makes the piece look far more involved. The skirt takes the most time: the squares are small and the colours alternate inside them, and the pattern printed straight on the canvas lets you fill them row by row without checking a separate chart.

What is in the kit

• Artist canvas with the full-colour pattern printed on it — no chart to follow on a screen
• Czech Preciosa beads, 14 colours
• Beading needles
• Thread for bead embroidery
• Instructions and finishing guide

Specifications

• Finished size: 180×520 mm (7.1×20.5 in)
• Beads: approx. 11,115
• Bead colours: 14
• Difficulty: above average
• Base: artist canvas

The format is very narrow and tall — the piece holds a pier of wall beside a door well, or joins an ethnic group with “Africa-2” and “Africa-3”. Gallery finishing is possible.