About the Artist:

 

The delicate art of beading flowers has been practiced across Europe as far back as the 1500's. Peasants would gather up inferior or irregular, discarded beads designed for clergy robes, string them and fashion them into flowers to be made into bouquets and wreaths for ceremonial purposes as well as to sell. 

The French beaded flower as it came to be known, have been widely collected for years. Many examples can be found in museums and private collections world wide. Some of the notable collectors of the delicate art have included Marie Antoinette, Madame Pompadour, Napoleons' Josephine,Princess Grace, Princess Caroline, Patricia Nixon, William Randolph Hearst and More recently, Martha Stewart.

 

For many years the craft had slipped into obscurity until a resurgence of interest in the art was renewed by the internet. New patterns and publications are readily available on line however the skill set involved  and the tedious nature of the work remain firmly in the hands of the true artisan.