Introducing.....Patrick Duggan

I was delighted when Patrick accepted my invitation to be a Maven, I have gotten to know him through FB and regular chats, love his work and personality.  The thing with Patrick...he really needs to write tutorials, people are crying out for them and I hope the Mavens will help him take the next step into becoming a full on tutorial writer. 

It's great to see more men beading too, it really is just engineering with beads.  Anyway.....lets get to know..

Patrick Duggan

What did I do before beading? And what brought beading into my life?

I have always enjoyed being creative and have tried knitting, crochet, tatting, macramé as a young man but gave that away when I ceased finishing pieces. I then went in search of other forms of expression and tried adult leisure classes in pottery, sculpture, drawing, leadlight.

About 7 years ago a friend returned from Bangkok with some braided men’s wristbands. I hoped he would give me one but no such luck. 

Then one morning I woke and thought “make your own”. That was my discovery of beading. I did macramé then went into stringing and it was not until I learnt how to make a spiral rope that I knew I had discovered my passion and I am still passionate about bead-weaving.

What is my comfort zone?

I love size 11 and 15 seed beads so I guess I am very comfortable with these sizes. I don’t use a lot of size 8, only occasionally, and very rarely use size 6s. The smaller the better for me.

What aspect of beading do I find most challenging?

I create my designs and don’t wear them. I am often challenged as to how long a creation should be. I have made a feature piece that I think should be worn on the chest only to be asked if it could be lengthened and worn long.

I do struggle with this often. 

What would I most like to bead if I had the time and supplies?

I have a theory that men like bling and few would wear it. I would like to make a series of beautifully beaded shapes/pieces – not necessarily jewellery - that could be framed.

That way they could enjoy the bling and it would be wall art. I will get some done one day.

Who, if anyone, has influenced your style of beading?

I am not too sure I have been “influenced” by any one artist.

The first artist I was over the moon about was Marcia DeCoster. I bought her first book and devoured it. Laura McCabe’s technical skills and imagination inspire me. Eva Maria Kaiser’s beading I find incredibly intricate. Mikki Ferrugiaro’s sheer variety of creativity and output amazes me. 

I am a bead-weaver so I would say I am influenced by “weaving”.

I learn from what I see and I experiment a lot so many styles are in there.

If I could only use one bead weaving stitch which one would I choose and why?

It would have to be Cubic Right Angle Weave. It is an amazing building block and can create a myriad of shapes and lends itself to embellishment so well.

Do I have a favorite place to buy beads and supplies?

I buy from many different places and I am always looking for a bargain. My favourite seed beads are Czech so I search for reliable sources who have lots of great colours. There is a supplier in Melbourne called Cranberry that has a good selection of seed beads so I am slowly getting used to paying a bit more as I know I can get what I want fairly quickly and not have to wait for them to arrive from overseas.

A local store in Sydney, that is very close to my home. Popping over to pick up a crystal or gemstone is really convenient…..and dangerous as it is too easy to spend money!! 

They do not have a range of seed beads yet but are starting to import Miyuki, which will make it even more dangerous !!

MYSELF

I am 63 years of age and happily live alone in Sydney. I very much enjoy my artistic pursuits (beading), my home, my garden and I am set in my ways and wouldn’t inflict myself nor my habits upon anyone else. Too old to change as they say.

I am fortunate enough not to have to worry about earning from jewellery at this point in time so beading is for fun.

I am in semi-retirement working only two days a week in a job I have done for 31 years as a bookkeeper. I plan to finish working in the not too distant future and I will then make beading my livelihood.

One day I plan to write a book/books of my designs. Sharing how I do things is important I think, so that the art/skill doesn’t die with me.

Patrick is still in the process of setting up shop so we'll have his logo and link this week but if you want to see more right now here's a link to his personal blog.

I like to think of Patrick as a good friend and now you know a little of why...no, not because I'm on his list of inspirations (check's in the mail, Patrick). I'm sure after seeing a little of his work you agree he needs to be writing tutorials and it's my goal to help him do that.

We aren't deciding a winner in our guessing game (see Saturday;s post) until everyone is introduced so there's still chance for you to snag that $25 gift certificate.

Next up......ha! as if I'm going to give it away ;) Tune in tomorrow.