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Beading the Mardi Gras Indian

Hi all y’all!

I started beading. It is taking longer than painting. I can see why it takes a year to make a costume. I started on the front of the headdress with sequins.

Sequined Headdress
Sequined Headdress

I like the seed beads better. Because they are smaller than the sequins, they are more forgiving. I think they look more traditionally Native American.

Beginning to bead the breast
Beginning to bead the breast

On the lower part of his suit I am going to bead a design with seed beads on another piece of material and attach it to the painting with gel medium. I like sewing directly on the canvas, but it is awkward and thick. I can’t sew on the bottom of the canvas because of the stretcher bars. Mardi Gras Indians usually sew the beads on a separate piece of material and attach it to their suit. By the end of this project, I will know what works best for me.

Raffi hasn’t started pre-school yet. While he was over here this week, he worked on his big painting. It is 30 x 40 inches. It is not finished yet. For sure he is going to put a little more paint on Lacy. When he is all finished, he will add goggly eyes.

Raffi's pets
Raffi’s pets

Lacy is a cat that has a “tail like a raccoon”. Alberta is a Guinea pig. Kenobi is a mix of Great Dane, Lab and maybe Pitbull. The crawfish is  John Jones Nixon. When Raffi finishes his painting, I will post photos of the animals.

Until next time.

With scaly love,

Gator Girl