Daffy's Stitchy Friends

Monday, October 17, 2011

A Beaver's Gift

Meet my friend Brodie. Brodie is a long-time customer in my store. He is a Native American of the Hualapai tribe. He has been telling me for ages of the beaded walking stick he's been working on and I have been pestering him to bring it in so I can see it. Here awhile back he finished it and today he finally remembered to bring it in!


The beading is lovely. No pattern is followed, all of this is just comes to him as he works. 


Forgive these crappy photos. All I had was my cell phone to take the pictures with. Hey, I was at work!


This design took Brodie eleven months to finish. The beading is done on top of a soft, thin, tanned deer hide. It follows the bumps and swells of the stick. Tiny, tiny glass beads. They really sparkle in the sunlight!


The stick itself was brought to Brodie's house by a beaver. That's right, it was a gift from an honest-to-goodness beaver. You can even see the tooth-marks left in the wood as Mr. Beaver cleaned all the bark off. I think Brodie made a treasure out of the Beaver's gift! 


Brodie has promised to bring in more of his work to share with me. I can't wait to see it.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox

58 comments:

Lisa V said...

What amazing artwork, he is a very talented man.
Received your ornie and posted to the blog for all to see, thanks Sharon I love it!
Hugs

Barbi said...

Beautiful craftsmenship!

staci said...

Amazing indeed!

valerie said...

Wow, that is amazing! And the beadwork is so pretty!

Claudette497 said...

That is wonderful - I love those beads and the pattern he made with them is beautiful!

Faye said...

Art comes in so many great forms...Thanks for sharing this unique piece....Faye

Jan said...

Wow! This is just beautiful. This is a dying art. I hope he has passed on his gift to some of the younger people. His work is wonderful.

Sweet Sue said...

This is one of the many reasons I enjoy visiting you Sharon, nice variety of cultures and crafts ~ TFS!

Kathy A. said...

Please relay to Brodie my admiration of his incredible talent. It is wonderful to see such art still exists.

Cross Stitch Queen said...

It is truly inspired. He is very talented. One can tell that he believes in the sanctity of nature and respects Mother Earth.

Truly amazing,
CSQ
betweenthestitches.blogspot.com

Ziggyeor said...

amazing work on the bow!

posting this link here in case there are any knitters who would like to help the oil spill in New Zealand
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/103722

The Outgoing Introvert said...

WOW, that is gorgeous!!!! What an awesome talent he has. Love it and thanks so much for sharing it with us!!

Unknown said...

That is just beautiful and what an heirloom. I adore Native American beading. Thanks for sharing xx

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is gorgeous. Tell Brodie it is an amazing piece of art. His bead work is beyond words. I love the story of the beaver.

Thank you for sharing.

Hugs,
Carolyn

katica said...

absolutely beautiful!

Fiona said...

It is fantastic... I'm so glad you got some pictures and were able to show us...
Hugz

Stitchabilities said...

Wow,Well done that man. What an inspiration he is to us all!

Carmen said...

beautiful beadworking!

Diane (di) said...

Oh my goodness, that is so beautiful. And without a pattern, too. Thanks for sharing his artistry with us Sharon (and please let him know how much we love it).

Mouse said...

ooooo lovely .. that's a lot of of beading done beautifully .. the story of the stick is cute too .... hope he can teach some one else how to do this wonderful craft :) love mouse xxxx

Julie said...

A truly fabulous post Sharon, such a beautiful piece, such talent inherited from his ancestors. Big thank you for sharing this special stick here. Xx

Patty C. said...

I like it - So much work - His design is very nice ;)

Sharon said...

I just love it... The work is timeless and beautiful... A true crafts person here - including the beaver... Thanks for showing it to us...

Bekca said...

Wow, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures.

cucki said...

truly beautiful..we also have lots of bead work art here in south africa..one day i will share it with you all..
thank you for sharing it with us all xxx

Christine said...

Wow, that is amazing!

Rachel said...

Wow, that is beautiful! Such a talent he has. I would love to see more, so I hope you can get more photos to share! :)

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Gorgeous bead work,such vibrant colours. I hope too, that you will be able to share more photos with us.

Pumpkin said...

Beautiful work!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

What an amazing piece of art and what an amazing artist! Please thank him for sharing it with us.

Cindy's Stitching said...

That is so nice. What an amazing piece of work. i love the colors.

geeky Heather said...

How cool is that!! Tell him we all said it's a great work of art!

Catherine said...

I absolutely love it!! How amazing that the beaver brought the stick to him!

Carolyn NC said...

It's gorgeous - and what a cool story!

Melanie said...

What an amazing piece of work! So lovely and unique. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

Karen said...

Incredible craftsmanship! I love the fact that it was brought to him by a beaver. It's such a beautiful combination of nature and human ability. Priceless!

Sharon said...

What a BEAUTIFUL, amazing piece of work! I am just stunned that this comes from his heart and not from a pattern. Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us! This is a treasure that I'm sure many of your "bloggie buddies" would never know existed if you hadn't shared. :)

Rhona said...

Wow! Amazing...thanks for sharing!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What a beautiful work of art! I'm enjoying your blog! ♥

Lynn said...

Brodie's craftmanship is stunning!! I love the attention to detail in the beading.

Lauren - Ambitious Stitches said...

That is beautiful work!!

P.J. said...

The seed bead work is gorgeous! Please pay Brodie my compliments. I can just feel the texture and coolness of the beads on the palm of my hand. Beautiful.

CalamityJr said...

Brodie did an amazing job beading his gift from the beaver. I have a feeling that's very important to his heritage, the sharing with the animals.

Nancy said...

Beautiful work. I love Native American beadwork and other crafts.

Pike said...

WOW, that is great beading, truly!

Katrien said...

That's truly beautiful, a piece of art.

Linda said...

That beadwork is amazing.

Linda

Raven/Missy said...

I think it is cool that the beaver gifted Brodie with the stick. His bead work is gorgeous! How nice of him to share his work with you, it is truly beautiful.

cerato said...

Beautiful work. You are a lucky woman!!
Hugs

Sun City Stitcher said...

I LOVE it, thanks for sharing and lucky you to have Brodie visit your store.

Aussie Stitcher said...

That is amazing, he has a real gift. Looking forward to seeing more of his work.

MaryBeth said...

Wow he does gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing with us.

Roberta said...

Sharon, this is incredible - I love it, what a talented man and I bet you cannot wait to see what else he brings in.

Lee said...

wow that beading is outstanding. Very talented person and persistent!

Meari said...

That is really cool. Wow!

Susan in SC said...

This is gorgeous. What a beautiful walking stick.

Ann at Beadlework. said...

This is what I love about blogging - you get a chance to see things you would otherwise miss out on. I love Native American beadwork.

HoorayForLauren said...

After seeing him all the time, I had NO idea he did this kind of thing! It's gorgeous!