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Artist Signature Beads: How Do You Sign Your Work? |
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Written by Dara Spiotto
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Monday, 31 March 2008 |
 ARTIST SIGNATURE BEADS:
How Do You Sign Your Work?
I have the most spectacular bead, wrapped carefully in cotton in a tiny, vintage box. Heather gave it to me for my birthday eons ago. Every so often I take it out and oggle it. Then I carefully tuck it back into its nest and store it back away until the next time I need a glimpse to remind me how gorgeous it is.
It’s a hand wound, hollow, satin glass bead. The pattern on the surface is pink, blue and white flowers with some green vines and leaves, and in gold glass letters on one side it says “D P M”. On the other side it says 1887. This bead was probably the last to be made in a strand of lovely little glass works of art. And the  designer/creator decided to sign it, and I’m so grateful he or she did. I learned that it wasn’t uncommon practice in many years gone by to do that. Especially in the days before mass production was discovered.
A Personal Touch
Ever since I received that bead I have been very conscious of signing my work. Since I do so much seed bead work I usually bead my first name right into the design somewhere, with the year beside it. It's easy to hide stuff like that. I just use the same color seed bead, only I would use matte instead of a shiny bead. Or if it’s a really colorful piece, I would just make it another color. I like it to blend in, though.
On one of the beading challenges I used a piece of ultra suede to sign, and then I attached it by sewing a strand of colorful seed beads onto the inside door of a gate on the piece. You can see the whole project by going to my blog archives page and clicking on “The Other Bead Challenge...Done!” Tag! You’re it!
 If you do stringing work, there’s a signature piece available for you! Small metal tags shaped like ovals with a hole or loop at one end can be strung right onto your work. The tag can say anything you want it to, such as initials or your name or your business name. I found some great ones at www.microstampusa.com. The first time I ever saw these stamps was at a store in Orange, CA where one of the employees had one on a bracelet she was wearing. I asked what it was for and she said it was her signature. Cool! It made her stuff look really professional.
People who work with clay or make glass beads often use a millefiori of their name or initials to include in their work. They make the cane themselves, which is a fantastic talent! Then the chip of glass can be used to sign their work and it's permanently there, often blended in and hidden in the design or pattern. This is a very clever way to go.
Make Your Mark
My friend Carole is a quilter and she signs every piece she does with a small spiderweb in the corner of the quilt. All her quilts have this little web, made from little hand made stitches. Another friend, Gretchen, uses snowflakes as her signature in quilting. This is a clever, unobvious way to sign your pieces, yet undeniably they’re yours! My friend Cindy signs her handmade baskets with a simple black marker with permanent ink on the bottom in small letters, with the date.
Whatever your passion is, beading, scrap booking, etc… you should sign each piece so that it helps to tell a story. Years from now your amazing bracelet could be in a collectable shop, being purchased by someone who falls in love with it. And because it has your initials on there it will mean so much more! Remember the old purses from the 1700’s—1800’s where the beader put their initials or their full name and the date in their work. Boldly, across the bottom where everyone could see it? It’s a gentle reminder that another person designed it or beaded it or bought it, and it was loved and cared for by someone long before now. If only those purses could talk. I can only imagine what they’d say.
 Doing it Your Way
Maybe your signature will be a special bead that you include in every piece. Perhaps it will be a design element that will get incorporated into each design you do. Choose something that accommodates your work. Let it be really you! Make your mark in your work, and it could be a flag for future collectors out there!
“I’m sure an archeologist will find a stone tablet some day with the 11th commandment on it: THOU SHALT ADORN THEYSELF WITH BEAUTIFUL BEADWORK!” - Suzanne Cooper, Adorn Theyself
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