Meet sisters Keri and Jaymie, who are Proud Wednesday. During the pandemic, Keri purchased a few ‘learn to bead’ kits, and there was no turning back. Following in their Great Grandmother’s footsteps, they now create bead art and jewelry inspired by nature and their heritage.
How did you find yourself on a path to discover beading? Was there a moment
Growing up we were exposed to plenty of beadwork to admire. Our Great Grandmother was an excellent beader, we like to share the detail that her sister, Zabet, even was asked to bead moccasins for the Queen!
As a result, we have many of her pieces that we still have, some that we wore as children, some that were our dad’s, and all of these have been around for decades! We also spent many of our summers up in Northern Saskatchewan where our parents lived in their younger years.
Up in La Ronge, SK, was a store that our family friend or “uncle” ran called Robertson’s Trading Post. Here he collected and sold all kinds of Indigenous artwork including but not limited to tons and tons of beadwork. The knowledge was not passed down to us from our family, through the forced assimilation the craft was lost a bit.
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In the summer of 2020 with Covid having everyone on lockdown, I purchased 3 ‘learn to bead’ kits from an artist Delia Estelle Designs, where everything that was needed to learn to make a pair of earrings was inside this little envelope! Jaymie and I both took to the craft immediately, where our younger sister was a hard no. The tedious nature of the art is not for everyone!
From the moment we both opened the instructions and put needle and thread to fabric, we could only describe it as natural. It was as though we’ve always known how to make it. We’ve shared moments of when we make something and we can almost sense spirit or maybe our Granny’s ghost with us. It’s really sometimes quite a moving process.
We have since learned more about how beadwork is described as medicine and holds energy. There’s both a magic in that and the responsibility of the worker. Whatever energy you harness while creating exists in the piece, so you have to make sure you bead with mega intention!
Do you feel that you chose your “passion,” or did it choose you?
Both Jaymie and I have always been artistic. Jaymie also enjoys painting, drawing, home design and even dabbled in crochet! I, Keri, was a hairstylist for years before I became a parent, and growing up was a dancer and musician. So to say that art and self expression chose us would be accurate, beadwork was just a natural progression of the artists we are continuing to grow into.
Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?
Nature would be our primary inspo. We do however pull from our Granny Tralnberg’s work. Our dad also has a cousin, Margaret, who lives in the Edmonton area who still beads and we have some of her pieces.
As a result, in the last year our designs are starting to become more our own and definitely have more intention around ensuring we are preserving and creating from our Denesuline roots. Something we have realized lately, is that there really isn’t that much Dene beadwork in circulation, as the population was much smaller than the more popular Metis or Cree work we see lots of in Alberta.
How do you manage your creative time? Do you schedule start and stop times? Or work only when inspired?
We are terrible at it to be honest! I, Keri, am at home with my kids, one is 8 and one is 2. So when school is in I have a much better ability to create time to bead. But this last summer was a doozy trying to entertain 2 kids of very different ages and interests as well as get work done!
I do my best to find time but often external circumstances means lots of starting and stopping! Jaymie is much more of a work when inspired person and can get very lost in it! There will be days where she has sat at her creative space for 12 hours straight!
What is your favorite tip for organizing your stash of creative supplies? Especially beads?
Well this is actually a funny question. We couldn’t be more different from one another in this aspect. Jaymie is one of those artists who when her space is crazier the more creative and flowing she is.
Where Keri has a spot for truly everything and works way better in uber organization. In the end these traits actually make us super complimentary as artists because where either of us might lack in a creative way, the other inspires and makes up for!
We do however have the perfect containers that we use to store our beads, they are from the dollar store and have interlocking lids and base which make them good for travel or organizing colours together for a project. They also have a threaded lid closure so there’s minimal spill chance, because spilled beads is legit something to cry over. And lastly they are clear so we can see every colour available to us.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
Varies lots, sometimes something just comes to us that we want to work on or try or perfect. But other times it’s deadlines like orders from a vendor or a market coming up that has us begin the creative process.
Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?
The challenge and the joy come from the same place, Jaymie enjoys trying to recreate and capture traditional designs, but it’s also a big challenge to rediscover and find those works. We don’t have any hard copies to go off so it’s all interpretation.
She also really enjoy customs and creating something out of ’someone’s dreams’. They always get so excited to have something created just for them, but there’s also lots of anxiety that comes with hoping she gets it right.
How has your work evolved over time?
When starting out and trying to get exposure, we definitely made pieces that we knew would be popular or would ‘move’. As we got more comfortable as leaders and artists we were able to see that sometimes making something even if it doesn’t go fast or at all is a really big part of the process. Sometimes the beading medicine is for yourself. Or perhaps for your family and their generational healing!
So now we focus on making stuff we love, we are making pieces that speak to our family’s history and traditional design, while also pulling inspiration from nature and colour to make it our own evolution.
What is your favorite accomplishment?
Having my beadwork take me to Inuvik this past summer. I applied as an artist for an entrepreneur workshop as well as their arts festival where my pieces were shown in the gallery. – Jaymie
Where can people see your work?
At the Royal Alberta Museum giftshop, on ProudWednesday.com, on our Instagram @proudwednesday
We also find ourselves at local markets multiple times a year!
Interview posted January 2025
Browse through more bead embroidery inspiration on Create Whimsy.