Join artist Olivia Whetung for a beading workshop where participants will learn increasing and decreasing in peyote stitch. This technique can be used to add shape and dimension to peyote stitch pieces. Olivia will demonstrate the skills required to make a triangle pendant which can be worn as a necklace or used as a car dangler or keychain. Ultimately these skills lend themselves to using beads as a sculptural material.

Prerequisites:

Participants should already know basic peyote stitch in order to take this workshop. If you would like to participate but don’t know peyote stitch, please watch these videos and try the techniques prior to the workshop: Flat even count peyote by Jill Wiseman, Reading charts by Jill Wiseman.

Required Materials Essentials:

• Seed beads in at least 2 colours. You may use any brand or size you like, however cylinder beads such as Miyuki Delicas will give the most consistent shape (round seed beads will still work though!)

• Beading thread (whatever you prefer)

• Beading needle

• Scissors

Optional:

• A neck chain or necklace cord if you would like to wear your pendant as a necklace

• A keyring if you would like to make a keychain

• A cord, piece of yarn, or piece of scrap leather if you would like to make a car dangler

• Stuffing material if you would like your triangle to be puffy (you can use cotton balls, makeup sponges, plastic grocery bags, etc.)

Olivia Whetung is a member of Curve Lake First Nation and a citizen of the Nishnaabeg Nation. Her work has been the focus of solo exhibitions at Gallery 44, Toronto (2018); Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna (2018); Artspace, Peterborough (2017); and 180 Projects, Sault Ste. Marie. She has contributed to two-person and group exhibitions at Queen’s University, Kingston (2019); Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas (2018-19); Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto (2018); Art Gallery of Mississauga (2018); Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa (2017); Access Gallery, Vancouver (2016); Western Front, Vancouver (2016); Axe Neo 7, Gatineau; VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver (2016); Open Space, Victoria (2014); and many others. She completed her BFA with a minor in Anishinaabemowin at Algoma University (2013) and her MFA in Visual Art at the University of British Columbia (2016). She was awarded the John Hartman Award in 2018, the William and Meredith Saunderson Prize for Emerging Artists in 2016, and is a recipient of a CGS-M Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Award and an Aboriginal Graduate Fellowship. In 2019 she was awarded a Joseph S. Stauffer Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts.