Niagara Region Artist Makes a Tropical Splash for Toronto’s John Bead with Jade, the Beaded Mannequin
When Toronto’s John Bead Corp. was looking for a new impact piece for their wholesale division, they turned to beading artist Brandi Jasmine.
“Jade’s tropical beading design was a collaboration between myself and John Bead’s Creative Director Fernando DaSilva” says Jasmine, who resides in the Niagara Region of Ontario “Fernando presented the tropical theme and gave me the specific motifs to use. We worked together to refine the design as I worked from the top to the bottom of the mannequin.”
“I asked Brandi to represent the lusciousness of a tropical land,” DaSilva said. “After she submitted several sketches, I was impressed with how well she captured my vision and ultimately made into reality.”
It took more than a year to fully complete this project and hundreds of hours were needed for the beading, using a process the artist calls “embeadering.” Using adhesives and special tools designed by Jasmine, thousands of tiny seed beads were then set onto the mannequin frame.
According to Jasmine her average square inch has 325 beads so there are approximately 700,000 seed beads covering the slender body of the mannequin. She also applied crystal sew-on stones and flat backs by Preciosa to create rays of light and extra pizzazz to the artwork.
“I actually dropped the bodice on a hardwood floor when I was showing it to Fernando via Skype,” Jasmine recalls. “We thought we both stopped breathing for a moment, but there was no damage at all.”
Jade is currently on display in John Bead’s Wholesale showroom.
