Teresa Sullivan beaded art

I'll admit that I'm not really a fan of the seed bead. I've tried to like those little glass pixels, but it wasn't until this weekend that I started to really "get it". One of the amazing people that I met was Teresa Sullivan, a Portland bead artist. To call her a beaded jewelry maker would completely miss the mark, however. Teresa creates sculpture and wearable art. She doesn't just string beads on thread, she really paints with her materials.

I had the pleasure of talking with Teresa about her work, and she got me excited about the inspiration behind her pieces as much as the work itself. The necklace above (along with other pieces of hers) was inspired by sci-fi pulp comics from the 1950's where bold, curvy women got themselves in and out of trouble without having to be rescued. She also likes to think of this woman as possibly being the mother of Zap Comic's Checkered Demon, which just adds new dimensions to the thought-provoking nature of her work.

The necklace above is titled "Wanted on Six Planets". You can read more about it and Teresa's other work here.