Since I was 4 years old, I've made my grandmother a self-portrait every Christmas. The first one has a big, round, blue nose and a dress with glitter glued along the bottom edge.
Over the years I’ve been looking for different techniques to make these portraits, and this is how I eventually stumbled upon fuse beads.
I used a peg board for the first portrait I made, but quickly realized that I like the mixture of pixelation and more precise lines that I can get if I bead free-handed on top of a sketch or picture.
Usually, in my practice, I make sculpture-objects out of metal and fabric, but when the pandemic came along it didn’t feel right to go to the studio to work, so I started thinking about what I could do from home.
The reassuring repetition of placing bead after bead became my answer and a kind of calming activity for me.
I used objects from my apartment – a globe, a lemon a crumpled paper, a rock – and fused the beads directly against their surfaces and then removed the pieces to create hollow, pixelated copies.
One of my favorite types of objects are reliquaries. They are such an interesting way of storing hope, wonder and memory.
Needing more of all of those, I decided to make my own version of a foot-shaped reliquary from the 1400s that I’ve always liked for its unapologetic adornments.
While making it, I realized that many of my own memories are stored in the clothes I wore while experiencing them, and also that the clothes that are left behind when we lose people close to us carry the memory of them.
The well-worn fisherman’s sweater is inspired by the sweater that was worn almost every day and then got left behind, and still hangs by the door of Tore’s old summer house.
The tank tops are made as illustrations of places where important things have happened to me.
Hello my name is Rafa Moral Campayo, I am 45 years old and I’m from Valencia (Spain) where I live with my wife and two daughters. I’m a technical computer engineer and I have been working for twenty years in a technology services company as a programmer analyst for a Microsoft ERP.
I would define myself as a serious person but fun at the same time, passionate, responsible, demanding, perfectionist and I try to give my own style to everything I do.
I share my free time with family and friends, and I always leave something for the many hobbies I have and are passionate about. Sports, travel, gastronomy, music, photography... and of course beads!!!
I discovered the beads back in 2015 when a friend told me about them as a craft that he does with his son. I remember that he told me "I don't know how but there are people who manage to do things in 3d with this"...
at that moment I didn't give much importance to the comment, I got a basic kit and started practicing with simple 2d things to learn the ironing technique.
I stumble upon the world of 3d beads by chance without having seen anything before. I'm passionate about soccer and one of the first things I feel like doing is the grass of a field with various shades of green and white stripes (I promise that's all I intended to do).
When have it done and before ironing it, occurs to me that in some way I could put a ring around as stands like a small stadium. And at this point why not a second ring and it would be more realistic.
And already why not do it with the shape and colors of Mestalla, the centenary stadium of my beloved Valencia C.F. Inspiration comes to me, I do some small tests to see if it is possible and decide to jump into the void to see how it turns out.
Without realizing it, I had just settled in my head the bases to use the beads in 3d format, now I had the challenge ahead and the difficulty of figuring out how to achieve it technically.
I am inspired by monuments/buildings, my favorite sports and objects. Always on a proportional scale that allows to see the most characteristic details, looking for different solutions to make it as real as possible.
At the beginning I only used graph paper to make the 3d sketches through “plan + elevation + profile” and then transfer it to an Excel grid for easy handling and modification, calculate the necessary beads and write down changes that I make on during the process.
Now I know and use 3d design tools such as Magica Voxel that allow me to model the entire piece and then break it down into individual layers.
Almost all my 3d works are made with midi size beads, only the Ferrari SF 1000 is made with mini size beads and I consider it the most difficult so far due to the design and the added complexity of size.
Of course I don't only do 3d, here I show you a sample of some 2d works with my own designs.
For this I usually use mini size and sometimes combine midi+mini to add twice the detail in the same size.
For the 2d pieces usually vary the final format presenting them in plain squares, squares with a background, refrigerator magnets... many possibilities.
I like to keep the 3d models in methacrylate urns that I order customized, that way they are well protected both from dirt and from possible “accidents”.
I have been self-taught until 2020 when José and Rosa from @fanartfusebeads contact me and inside their beautiful project I know other great artists of the beads and friends like them.
Ginger @frenchy.ginger.beads Diego @diviarcade Leandro @beads.master Liliana @lilianagamerart Jesús @nadalbeads Sergio @the_hama_designs Susana @susana_beads Jona @jona.casado and many more people…
all of them have given me knowledge and advice that allows me to develop and grow both in handling beads and in handling and presence on social networks.
I hear talk very well of Artkal brand and I decide to try it for the first time when I make the Adidas soccer ball, thank you Alina for your excellent attention.
I am very happy with the quality of the product and with the final result, it allows ironing on one side very well and they melt great, leaving solid layers respecting the original height of the bead.
Quality that makes them ideal for 3d work, I recommend them 100%. The wide variety of colors available in various sizes is another of its attractions.
I believe that the key is in the balance between technique and creativity.
Creativity allows you to do different and original things that capture people's attention, and technique is vital to be able to tackle complex jobs with a good final result. But without a doubt the most important thing is to enjoy and have fun with the beads in any of the forms and complexities that they allow us.
I invite you to see in detail everything I have done and my future works on my Instagram profile.
If you have any questions contact me and I will try to help you in any way I can. Thank you and greetings.
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My name is Robin Gavie and I am 39 years old. I live in Sweden, on the countryside near the ocean on westcoast, with my wife, daughter and cats. I work as a teacher in primary school which I love and outside work I spend my time with my family and close ones.
I started my art as an adult, not many years ago. We gave our daughter some beads for Christmas and as I was helping her I felt this feeling of creativity and I continued beading after we put her to bed. I have always felt like a creative person but never found my way of expressing it, but I felt it instantly with the beads and wanted to explore it more further.
In the beginning I made very classical and easy pieces, like different game characters, and now about two years later my projects have got bigger and more advanced.
When I was a kid, I loved to play Nintendo and that “8 bit”-feeling of pixel art have always been both classical and nostalgic for me. Right now I make beadart out of pictures I see but as I develop my skills I look forward to try to create my very own patterns. What inspires my artwork is mostly everyday life – it can be a quote that speaks to me, beautiful sites in nature or cool places in the city, something that happened that I want to express somehow.
My first beadwork was something from Nes - MarioKart. Then when I started photographing my beadwork I did a hamburger which I put infront of my TV with a suiting background. I was quite happy about those kinds of pictures at that time, but I wanted to bring my life to my pieces so I began to photograph them outside. The boy with the bike is my first real piece.
Picture 1
The biggest piece I’ve made was about 30 boards big. I was so tired of it at the end, but the photo came out good so I’m happy I finished it. It is an abandoned house in the forest, a pattern from pixelartist @indieshilov (twitter)
Picture 2
My workspace is a big desk in a small space of our house. I have a big window and some of my beadarts on the walls. I like to keep it neat and pragmatic when I want to be creative, I actually don’t want to be surrounded with too many things instead I keep it more minimalistic.
The tools are Artkals 160-color palette, pegboards, ski waxing iron and a tweezer especially for beading.
Picture 3
Normally a project takes around 1 to 4 weeks from start to finish, depending on how big it is and how hard it is to find the right spot to photo it.
The first thing I do is to figure out what I want to do. I search for patterns, from pixelartists, crossstitches, old gamesprites or I create my own pattern in a program from pictures. When I then start beading I go into this feeling of flow, it is actually quite meditative to bead and it gives me time to think about how I want to photograph the artwork. Sometimes I know exactly up front how and where to take the shot, but sometimes I need to work with the piece and it kind of grows as the piece grows. After the beadwork is done I get to the ironing. I want it totally flat without visible holes and that means the ironing takes some time. I have tried many methods and now I only use a ski waxing iron.
The last part is to photograph and after I have found my location I need to find a good solution for how to hang, stand or lean the beadwork, which can be very tricky sometimes. In the picture of the cat you actually see a two-piece beadwork where I hung the two separate pieces on each side of the branch.
Picture 4
I love this part of the photoshoot, to find good solutions to let the artwork blend into the surroundings. The photoshoot takes from 5 minutes to 3 hours, the golden dancer took 3 hours because I waited for the perfect sunset.
Picture 5
Many tell me that they think my pictures and beadwork are full of life and soul, and they wonder how I do that. I guess I just follow my instinct on what I find to be beautiful, important and fun to create. People also ask me about my ironingtechnique and how I succeed with my ironing. I have found a good quality brand of beads Artkal which are easy to work with and iron according to the tejping-method, and only use a ski waxing iron. You need to give yourself time and practice a lot to find the method that suits you the best.
My favorite project is a ballerina dancer. I have this idea of working on themes, where I make four different beadworks that goes together. This was my first ballerina.
Picture 7
I love that my artwork gives me time to go out in our nature, I have seen so many beautiful sites. It is very relaxing to spend time outdoors. I also find beading to be very meditative, I go into this sensation of flow after a while and then I sit for hours at my desk.
One of my favourite moment is when I take shot after shot after shot, and then suddenly I just feel that I just took the perfect one.
I try to do what makes me happy😊
You can find me at my Instagram profile @skapamedparlor
Best regards Robin Gavie
If you also want to share your story with us, pls send us the email :D Thank you so much!
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Do you know how to make the 3D lights with Arkal Beads? We also confused about it. But we found that someone is good at making these 3D light on Instagram. His instagram account is beadlightstudio.
Before the New Year of 2021, we contacted his on Instagram and asked his if here are any inspiration when he made his projects.
He told us it is quite a long story, but he will try to keep it short.
[His Story]
Since I can remember I have has a lot of shapes in my mind and dreams. But I didn't know how to explain or draw them.
13 years ago I got reintroduced to beads, some of my friends and started and art group called PerlePlade Syndikatet (translated: The pegboard sysndicate). They made huge pixelated pictures with beads as a social workshop. I was invited to join and after I discovered.
The possibilities os bending the pieces and saw huge potential when using the hexagon boards, the grid is isometric which give the ironed beads more strength. I started bending, but I thought it was to difficult, so I began to recreate the shapes from mu dreams, byclicking big pieces together and glued smaller pieces on as well. But I didn't think it worked perfectly. So I tried bending again and developed and ironing process that mainly worked perfectly, but Hama Beads' qualit was poorly, but still I could get projects to work.
6 years ago I finally learned something about the shapes that had filled my mind and dreams all my life. Learning geometry at DTU (tech university).
I started creating a fully ironed dodecahedron, but it couldn't be closed, but still it was the perfect lampshade.
The I made a lot of lampshades because it was fun and the poor quanlity of hama beads didn't allow me to test them further.
Then 4 years ago I heard about Artkal Beads.
I bought a broad range of colors from Perleskuret.dk and made some tests. It was love at first test! The ironing process becamde 100 times easier and not a single mistake.
Finally I got the perfect media to create shapes, lampshades and pure art.
So since August 2020 I have been working on my biggest project ever. Theh XY project! It is basically based on the two shapes X and Y. I created a mathematical formula X*Y=(3d shape).
Example: 20*Y is dodecahedron.
Then I had to tey to create the formula as a base pattern.
As a math equation it would look this: (X*Y)*60-= (dodecahedron) It turned out as the most beautiful lampshade.
The project will hopefully be published or something.
I belive I have material enough material to 5 really heavy books.
I hope that beading will continue bringing joy, peace and pain relief to lots of people around the world!
]]>I used fuse beads for the first time two years ago. It all started with a bucket of 12 colors midi beads and a bag of glow-in-the-dark ones.
I first created geometric figures and assembled them in a mobile for my baby girl. While doing this, I thought about one of the best pictures of her, and immediately imagined to bead it.
Which led me to mini beads. After buying a couple of color bags from a cheap brand, I made this picture, but was so disappointed by the bad quality of a color portrait: skin tones were not even and too few to get any interesting result.
I then started looking for a rich greyscale and found Artkal.
Working with good quality beads was an absolute delight, and this 13 tones greyscale allowed really detailed and realistic rendering. After my daughter, I made a portrait of my son, and from then on got addicted to beading.
A couple of more portraits got me to the point I imagined skipping all the darkest beads while working, and sticking the result on a black paper, therefore inventing the floating portrait.
This also made me realize I loved pixel art very much, and I am now starting to experiment with different materials, like wallpaper squares as you can see below.
One important point in my bead addiction is that while assembling the picture, you get that relaxing sensation alternatively obtained through meditation and self-hypnosis. As the body moves in an automatic fashion, the mind escapes from reality and enters a world of calmness, peace of mind and raw creativity.
I use beading as a craft, as an art form and as a healing process. Inner tensions ease and problem-solving get much easier. Hours go by as I set bead after bead. Subconscious gets at work and the result is a beautiful creation!
I recently felt the urge to display pictures related to these topics haunting Humanity as a conscious and mortal race. Death, love, war, I want to wonder and make wonder about. I guess that beading can be as philosophical as it is therapeutic. It’s all about creating, self-healing and achieving full consciousness!
In order to share my works, I created an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/bazartdenat/
You also can find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bazartdenat/
For French-speaking people, feel free to visit my blog: https://bazartdenat.com
I hope that beading will continue bringing joy, peace and pain relief to lots of people around the world!
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I used to be in constant pain due to a genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a lack of collagene that comes with flawed blueprints, making it impossible for my body to cover what's missing and already flawed. It induces pain and exhaustion every single day, and makes me prone to injuries. Sometimes I use a wheelchair, sometimes not, sometimes I can't do anything at all and lay in bed, and there are days when I'm like "normal" people.
Two years ago I discovered beads while searching something related to video games (I love them but playing is hard due to my condition) and found it so relaxing : it's like a form of meditation, a way to stay focused on something different than pain. It helps me to enhance and keep proprioception (particularily on my fingers and hands in general).
I started with the most easily found brand in France but quickly grew to search for better quality and more colors, and I found the Artkal beads. They are so soft that ironing has become a pleasure (before it was a source of pain, not anymore !), and there are so many colors that I can spend hours just choosing the right one (or redo a project with another set of colors).
I really enjoy the ironing film, the shiny aspect and the texture of the beads, I use them all the time. I use medium beads but also enjoy the mini beads even if the tweezers are an obligation : the result is worth it !
I made little 3D projects and bigger ones like the TARDIS, which is nearly 40 hours of work (I'm a little slow due to my disease) but really a piece I love to make.
I also made a reaper from my favorite show "Sons of Anarchy" : 3 days in mini beads but I'm so pleased by the result !
Also, I made an instagram account (@pixelartbeads_flepi ) and a facebook page ( @flepi.fr ) where I share most of my pixelart and share tricks with others beaders artists.
I also try to sell it at conventions in France (like Japanantes or Japandco, not too far from home because I can't travel too much) or on the internet. Part of the benefits go to research on the Elhers-Danlos syndrome, and I try to raise awareness on this illness, which isn't well known (I was only diagnosed at 34 years old, but suffered from it all my life). You can find more information on Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in french on the GERSED website :http://www.gersed.com/.
With beads and a little time and imagination you can do everything you want, it's an unlimited source of pain relief and joy.
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I remember making bead patterns as a kid during summer camps and such. I made the usual star patterns that just followed the outlines with different colors. Nothing fancy like Mario stars or faces. One day I was at a milk tea shop, and I saw a Charmander, Pikachu, and Squirtle made out of beads sitting at the top of a cabinet. My girlfriendat the time loves pokemon and I knew those would be the coolest little gifts that I could make for her and try to make other things. The next day I went on to Amazon, found a bucket of 22,000 perler beads, and the journey started.
]]>Background.
I am 23 years old from San Francisco, California with tons of inspiration and opportunities surrounding me. Before beading, my favorite hobby would be gaming. Counter strike, Super Smash Brothers, and Maple story were among my favorite. Although I spent quite a lot of time on the computer, once I was introduced to beading, all my gaming time quickly vanished and was consumed by hours in my room making projects the second I got back from school.
How I started beading.
I remember making bead patterns as a kid during summer camps and such. I made the usual star patterns that just followed the outlines with different colors. Nothing fancy like Mario stars or faces. One day I was at a milk tea shop, and I saw a Charmander, Pikachu, and Squirtle made out of beads sitting at the top of a cabinet. My girlfriendat the time loves pokemon and I knew those would be the coolest little gifts that I could make for her and try to make other things. The next day I went on to Amazon, found a bucket of 22,000 perler beads, and the journey started.
Growing my “business”.
As I started making more and more little keychains and showing them off on my Facebook, I thought it would be a fun idea to start selling these as a fundraiser for my dragonboat team, SF Blazing Dragons. Shoutout to the coolest team out there! So I started advertising little keychains and taking requests for certain characters and I raised a total of $80 for my team. Not a lot, but I was happy with that amount considering it was an individual fundraiser. I quickly saw there was a niche little market but I wasn’t too big on selling online yet. I wanted to become more creative.
Instagram. (@Christoperler)
My first Instagram name was Perler_crafts. But that quickly changed when I wanted the account to be more personal. It became @Christoperler. Christopher + Perler. I started slow, just posting little things here and there, not getting much of a following, but I didn’t mind. When I saw @Nickgalilei make a Goku portrait, I thought, wow I need to make one for myself. Made it, was happy with it, wanted to do more. So I sat down on a computer, opened my program, and started designing my first ever original piece, Yugi. When people hear program, they usually think about a converter from picture to pixels. The program I used was basically like drawing. Placing one pixel at a time and correcting it ten thousand more times. It took roughly 3-4 hours, but the final result was so satisfying. I quickly started to make more, such as Naruto, Luffy, Baymax, and Aang. These custom original portraits were the turning point in my Instagram journey. A competition hosted by some awesome beaders, @perler_purrs, @tarawashere88, @nickgalilei, @zomberic_art, @voxelperlers, and @ig_retro4everything_, posted my Aang photo and I got an awesome shoutout!
Soon after making all those portraits, I started to get a little tired of making them because they took a long time to design, bead, then iron. I made a red shell and a green shell that I saw online, but there was no blue shell. So I designed a blue shell, and thought to myself, why don’t I try to make something different with these. I’ll use the same turtle shell, but add a water cannon to make it seem like the pokemon Blastoise. It was the perfect idea that launched my whole custom shell series that got me such a huge following. The fun part about this series, was everything that was made, was suggested by someone commenting what I should make next. I loved to engage with my followers and involve them in my projects.
After using perler for a long time, I was introduced to Artkal beads. Now many would say the worst part about this hobby is the ironing, or knocking over your finished piece, but I think being limited by just color selection can be much worse. Thankfully, Artkal saw the need for more colors and shades to allow all artists to be open with their ideas and not be restricted by the basic colors of most bead companies.
My appreciation.
This was the hobby that I never knew I needed. I was struggling to find something to motivate me, to give me something to look forward to. The more I progressed in my creativity and Instagram, I knew this was the perfect outlet to dedicate my time to. Beading gave me an outlet to be comfortable being alone and be happy. Even though I was physically alone, people would take interest in what I was doing and as how my business was, what kind of project I will make next, and just generally be very happy that I’m doing something I love.To all the wonderful people who supported me, inspired me, pushed me to create bigger and better things, or simply just ordered something from me, I say thank you very much. You all have impacted my life in such a big way and I will never forget about it.
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Know more about Christopher Tang?
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I was a bruised child, suffering from the shame and dark secrets of being sexually assaulted at only 6 years old... I never told anyone back then... covering up and hiding myself from the world. Most of my memories from childhood is gone, my mind depressing it all, to protect me just a bit.
I grew up, more and more alone. At home, my father hit me, at school, the other children bullied me...
I only really found peace in my head, doing creative stuff. ......
Julie Heinemann, Denmark.
My story to begin with, is not so colorful...
I was a bruised child, suffering from the shame and dark secrets of being sexually assaulted at only 6 years old... I never told anyone back then... covering up and hiding myself from the world. Most of my memories from childhood is gone, my mind depressing it all, to protect me just a bit.
I grew up, more and more alone. At home, my father hit me, at school, the other children bullied me...
I only really found peace in my head, doing creative stuff.
Looking back, I really wish, I had discoverd beads at a much earlier time... As an adult, I still find it hard to concentrate, and keep bad thoughs away, but sitting down with my beads always helps.
The years went by, with me getting nowhere. I had a few bad relationsships, one with a gambler and one with a drunk, that just left me in an even deeper hole of depression. Getting both married and divorced within a year.
I did get 3 wonderful kids though, and a reason to keep going, even when my third pregnancy made me so tired, I coundn't stand on my feet and fainted... Yet another obstickle to my troubled mind, was finding out after the birth, that I had cancer...
This, is where I turned to making beads. Being sick, being operated, having radioactive treatment and feeling weak as a mom, with all the bagage of my own childhood, pushing me to the edge, I could find that peace in creativity again.
Made with Julie
I started out with mini beads, but quickly got fustrated, as the brand I was using, had really poor quality to their minis... In my begining as a bead artist, I often had to throw out big pieces, for failing when ironed, due to size difference in the beads.
For me, there was no other choice, than to seach the world for orther brands. In Denmark, most people only use the danish brand and dosen't even know about others.
I found out about Artkal in the end of 2016, and decided to try them, no matter the cost. I'm glad I did. All those colors and so much better quality. I never turned back.
All my work, I do in the Mini A series, and I've had some awesome responces to my bendy and strong pieces, that can be rolled up, without breaking.
During this year, I did get better. Making beads has been like theapy and I even ”bead” cancer.
Make by Artkal A-2.6mm soft beads
Only a short time ago, I got connected with the Artkal team, for the reason of becomming a retailer, and bring Artkal to Denmark, to share my love for this amazing brand.
If not for Artkal, I would have stopped making beads, and maybe been swallowed into that black hole of being sick in body and mind.
Make by Artkal A-2.6mm soft beads
I do hope my time in the Artkal family will be long, and because I sincerely love this brand, I do my business with heart.
Once black, turned colorful.
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Know more about Julie Heinemann?
IG: @perleskuret.dk FB: @perleskuret Store: Perleskuret.dk
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Matthew Phelan & His Girl Friend
I was born in Dublin but spent the majority of my life growing up in Liverpool, England. However, I never started my artistic journey until my move to Sri Lanka where I lived for a year. A new country, no friends, I slowly became a recluse. My highlights of my day were waiting till 6 am to play
In the times of the day I would wait to play, I found myself just walking around on the game trying to find a way to entertain myself. I found with all the different
Fast forward a year and now I was Living in Newfoundland, Canada. Whilst walking around a dollar store with my mum my eyes were drawn to this little packed. It was the beads! Immediately bought every packet out of the store; costing $15 and thus began my journey of beading at age 16.
Ironing my first piece didn't really go to plan.
It was over melted,
I learned a lot for this and it set me up for 4 years of beading.
Matthew First piece
At age 17 I moved back to Ireland. This is where things really began to take off for me. I started to see a real change in my quality with my beading and in my ironing. I now had more
Made with
My next big step in bead art was becoming connected with Artkal. I have now been with them for over a year and honestly couldn't be happier. Their colour selection was great and really allowed my work to progress into the next stage. I got wind of an art competition running in Ireland and set my sights on it. It would entail you having an art piece in a gallery and an international tour for 2 years. I took my chances and with my new found beads I went for it. 92 people entered the competition and
I wanted my piece to stand out and be the best piece I have ever built. My biggest piece before this was 6600 beads but this one was looking at over 20,000 beads. I got as many
--Matthew made with Artkal Beads
My biggest inspiration is probably my father, Andrew. He
My next goal is conquering the 3D beaded world and with this in mind, I have started to learn several 3D packages to aid me in my new original creations. I am also putting more time into showing people how to make 3D stuff whilst I do it too so I have created a YouTube channel that I will be filling with beading tutorials. You haven't seen the last of me and my best is only to come!
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Learn more about Matthew Phelan?
IG: @mattyperler FB: @mattyperler YouTube: @mattyperler
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Growing up I always loved video games and played everything I could get my hands on. I decided to try these beads we had at work. I started out by making sprites from the Super Mario video games I loved as a kid and I was instantly hooked! I made all kinds of things from my favorite games and it soon evolved and I started to make portraits of my family, friends, and celebrities...”
]]>Appreciating a piece of art
not just for the art itself
but the story of
the artist
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Bead your dream and live creative life!
David Nilsson
David in 2008
David in 2015
David's Bead Art Gallery
David's New Artworks in 2017
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Learn more about David Nilsson?
@davidnilssonart davidnilssonart.com
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