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Kathy Seely - Epona
Category: Body Adornment.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I have been interested in fiber art since I learned sewing and embroidery from my grandmother at the age of 7. I worked with beads as a teenager, weaving them on a home-built loom into necklaces and bracelets. Back then, the only beads available were from the 5&10. They were ill-shaped and came in only about 8 colors. I loved the process of weaving the beads and the fabric-like feel of the finished products, but I felt limited artistically with only 8 colors to work with so I went on to other things.
I discovered beads again in 1992 when I walked into a craft shop and saw an array of beautiful seed beads on display in lots of colors that I had never seen beads come in before. I took my old beads out of the closet, bought some more and signed up for some classes. It was about the time that I was learning peyote stitch that The New Beadwork was published. I was inspired and enthralled with the incredible artistry in that book and the seemingly endless possibilities of beads. I was hooked forever.
I love all beads but my focus is working with seed beads. Weaving them combines two of my favorite things, glass and fiber. The way that glass captures and plays with light is a strong element in my work and the one at a time stitching of one bead to the next is, for me, a meditative experience.
I usually combine several techniques in one piece, including some that I have devised on my own such as the radial weave stitch that I used to create EPONA. My inspiration is varied. I draw upon past experiences, dreams, mythology and nature. Sometimes a song or something that someone says to me will inspire a piece. Often I am inspired by the chance discovery of a stone or a leaf or a few interesting old beads.
The scope of my work includes jewelry, decorative objects, vessels and sculpture. I feel as if I am on a continual adventure as I endeavor to discover ways to build my visions out of beads. My work has been exhibited in many shows and galleries nationally. In addition to Caravan's book I have work featured in Carol Wilcox Well's book, Creative Bead Weaving. Because I love to share the excitement of creating with beads, I teach classes around the country in radial weave and other advanced and intermediate techniques as well as beginning classes in peyote stitch, brick stitch and many others.
ABOUT THE WORK
EPONA is a Celtic broad collar. It is executed in a technique that I devised called "radial weave stitch". In this stitch, which is based on traditional peyote stitch, increases and decreases are used to achieve a predefined shape. Variations in the sizes of the beads as well as careful attention to tension assist in achieving the desired shape. For Epona, three separate pieces were woven in this stitch, then sewn together. The fossilized horse tooth, which I have used as a focal point was the inspiration for EPONA. I found it several years ago and knew when I saw it that it should be used in some kind of neckpiece so I put it aside until the right time to use it came along. The piece as well as the technique to create it came to me one day in a single inspiration.
The horse tooth was wrapped with peyote stitch and topped with sewn bead embroidery using tiny antique beads and amber and chrysacolla cabs. It was then attached to the woven centerpiece. A weighted tassel hangs from the amber and gold closure in back to balance the weight of the horse tooth in front. The fringe is made of amber, jet, vintage nailheads and contemporary glass beads.
ABOUT THE MYTH
The Great Goddess is known by many names. To the iron age Celtic inhabitants of southern Britain she was Epona. Her sacred animal was the horse. Epona, riding side saddle on a white mare, carried the sun across the sky and escorted the souls of the dead to the underworld. Epona's horse, the night mare, was the link between the world of the living and the world of the ancestors. Some time around 100 BCE the inhabitants of an ancient hill-fort known today as Uffington Castle in southern England etched the image of Epona's horse in chalk on the steep slope of a nearby hill. Today, this effigy is known as the White Horse of Uffington.
The White Horse of Uffington is the image that appears on each side of the front of EPONA. The interlaced design at the back ends in a horse's head which breaths out a spiral of green, symbolizing renewal of the sun each day, the earth each year, and of human beings each generation. The ancient horse tooth evokes the antiquity of human worship of The Great Goddess and in particular her association with the horse among the ancient Celts. Amber and jet, being not stones but the remains of once living things, were sacred to the Celts. Jet symbolizes the dark earth and the underworld and amber, the life giving sun.
I would be happy to respond to enquiries by email at moonbead.no.spam@mindspring.com.
I can also be contacted through my website.
Epona is currently not for sale. I do, however, sell most of my work as well as teach classes in the technique that I used to create Epona as well as other techniques. My website has photos of some pieces.