Inspired by Native American Artisans

On my trip Up North this summer, I was lucky enough to see three museum exhibits featuring the art and craft of Native American artists. The pictures that can be made with tiny beads, porcupine quills, and moosehair is amazing. I’ve done a lot of beadwork, using Indian techniques, but I would love to try my hand at things like moosehair embroidery. (I wonder if all the saved cat whiskers might work in this technique. I've saved a LOT of them over the years!)



Carolyn and I went to a really good exhibit at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, called “Rethink! – American Indian Art.”    The exhibit is up until January 6, 2013, and includes the work of well known contemporary artists such as Teri Greeves, click here and here; Jeremy Frey; Marcus Amerman, and many others.  

Note: You can click on any text that is in dark red, to follow a link to another website.

I love Teri Greeves’ Beaded High Top Sneakers. What a hoot! Teri is teaching a Beaded Baby Moccasins workshop at the museum on November 4. Wish I could take it!
 

There were several wall hangings by Teri Greeves that were really interesting. This bead technique looks similar to working with number 11 seed beads, but she used BIG beads and on a large scale.

I have been seeing Marcus Amerman’s beaded portraits for many years (see Chief Joseph portrait here), but I did not know about his high fashion pieces and glass work.  I love the beadwork lapels on this 'Indian Tux' (my description, I do not know the title of this piece).  The jacket in the background was also fascinating, all done in a beadwork version of ledger drawings. 

The Berkshire Museum will also host workshops this fall with Jeremy Frey (an amazing Passamaquoddy basket maker), October 7, and Niio Perkins, ‘Iroquois Beaded Whimsey’ on December 4.

http://berkshiremuseum.org/event/rethink-hands-on-workshops/

The exhibit at the Berkshire Museum also features artifacts the Museum has collected over the years.  I love this sweet European China doll beautifully dressed in Crow costume:

Visiting Kathy in New York City, I discovered TWO museum exhibits featuring Native American art! Of course I always go to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, now located in the Wall Street area, but I used to go to it when it was up in Harlem and was called the Heye Foundation Museum of the American Indian. The NMAI has some amazing, amazing pieces in their collections, and there are always new exhibits up when I visit. This time it was DOLLS!

There were some beautiful, and charming, dolls in the exhibit. The lighting was low, and no flash, so the photos aren’t great, but you can see the NMAI doll collection online by doing a search (and you can see the BACK of the dolls too, which I couldn’t in the exhibit).   Click here. 

One of several ‘dolls’ by Joyce Growing Thunder:



I like the face painting on these dolls:



These dolls were from Alaska, are made of grasses, and I think they are a kind of basketry:



The exhibit is now closed, but there is a catalog, sort of. It doesn’t feature the dolls in the exhibit, but it is an excellent book about Native American dolls.

Order it from the museum store:

https://nmaistore.si.edu/shop/product/174/

Anishinaabe Birch & Quill House:

Cool!  A Choctaw coat (circa 1900) from Mississsippi!  This was part of another exhibit, "Infinity of Nations," at NMAI, and in additional to the actual exhibit, there is a fabulous online exhibit of Native art of the Americas, from earliest history to contemporary.

 



More Inspiration Pieces!

After visiting the NMAI, and a bite to eat from a cute little Farmer’s Market in front of the Custom House,

we head up to the Metropolitan Museum for yet another exhibit of Native American art & craft.  These items are from the The Coe Collection of American Indian Art, and are on exhibit through October 14. 

 

(Photography allowed, no flash.)  Here is Joyce Growing Thunder again!. This ‘doll’ was incredible, the design and workmanship are so exquisite. And this time I got to see the figure in the round, as well as the inspiration pieces that inspired the work!

Here is the inspiration piece that inspired Joyce Growing Thunder's figure, front and back.  It is a Girl's Cape, Assiniboin, from 1890-1905.

You can search the Metropolitan online data base for photos and information about museum objects and collections, including Joyce Growing Thunder: 

 

I love the internet!  It is wonderful for people like me who live hundreds (and thousands) of miles from the large museums.  To search the Museum's online data base, click here.  Try looking up 'dolls' and see what comes up, it's amazing.  There are so many objects in a museum's collection that are not currently on display which you can see online.

 

I did a search “beadwork in the coe collection” and found lots of beautiful pieces to study, including this Iroquois Glenngary style cap.  I want to make one of these.

Lastly, I love this figure in the Museum.  I’m afraid I do not know what it is, but I call it “Curmudgeon Baby,” because that is what it looks like to me!  Cute Curmudgeon Baby.



Tip for visiting the Metropolitan Museum.  The recommended fee for admission for adults is $25 (seniors $17).  When my daughter and I visited we arrived later in the afternoon.  I asked if I could pay less, as we would only be there less than two hours, and they said we could pay an amount of our choosing, so I paid less than the suggested amount.  But if I had been able to spend all day at the museum, $25 is a bargain for what you get at this BEST art museum in the U.S.!