Beading is in our Nature

I typed "Nature Inspired Beadwork" into Pinterest, and oh - my - gosh! I hardly know where to start. I kept coming back to one site so figured I'd start there.

This is an article by Pearl Blay of The Beading Gem, about Russian beadwork artist, Julia Turova.  Since I'm basically stealing the article (thumbs up to cut-and-paste, huh?) you can also click on the highlighted links above to go directly to their websites.  By Pearl Blay on Tuesday, September 02, 2014:

​Julia Turova is an astounding Russian beadwork artist and master instructor who lives in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.  Her passion for her craft shows in all her designs.  She also holds a PhD in biology (ecology and entomology) which explains many of her nature inspired beadwork, particularly the insects.  Her ability to create beautiful 3D designs is astonishing.

This is the image I kept returning to most often. It's intricate, amazing, whimsical and beautiful all at the same time.

​​She clearly lives to breathe and bead! She said in this article, "I can work anywhere, in any situation.  I come early to work, I bead at lunchtime, in queues, standing, lying down, sitting; my pack with beads is always with me. Even in a crowded bus, I draw sketches with the sharp stylus on the screen putting on it my thoughts as they unexpectedly come into my head. If I can find an hour or two, I run to my working place of 2 square meters, covered with beads and photo accessories, entangled with wires, plug my headphones and disappear."

It's not just insects she is good with. Her floral designs are amazing too!
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Her imagination and creativity knows no bounds as she has created all sorts of wonderful creature pendant and brooch designs. I particularly love her fun frog pendants.  The purse pendant frog is a marvel!

Julia doesn't just bead around a cabochon, she adds a snail too for this creative brooch!

She is also a genius with seahorses and spiders right down to their herringbone legs! Julia has a real talent for being able to plan and execute wonderful designs ​​in 3D - no mean feat with tiny seed beads.