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Maryalice W. Tomoeda - Momotaro
Category: Body Adornment.
The pouch was woven with 2 x 2 right angle weave with embellishment. The strap was done in square stitch using a variation on a celtic wave pattern. Square stitch with embellishment was used for the banner. The amulets were made with boby wire.
I started bead weaving in 1998 on a tiny pizza
box loom, (a craft project from Bead & Button). Being a novice, I kept
getting stumped by what to do with all the loose warp threads. My
cousin took pity and introduced me to my now very worn copy of Creative
Bead Weaving by Carol Wilcox Wells. Square stitch and I took to each
other from the start. I've mostly made things for friends, family and a
few of the charity raffles we have at work, but was able to have my
first table at a craft fair now that I've built up a tiny inventory.
I'm way too new to have a web site yet, and the only place I'm displayed
on the web is about 4 pixels of peach and 2 of blue in the photo on the Caravan Bead's
site. It's on the table behind the judges huddling around the phoenix
headdress. It may have been 6 pixels, but as the first time I'd ever
entered a contest, it was exciting picking it out amongst all the pro
entries. I am more than willing to answer email from whoever wants to
write. Our email address is tirval@pacbell.antispam.net.
I do sell some of my work and I'll be trying for my second craft fair
this December. I've since added wirework and Japanese Kumihimo (both
with and without beads) to my growing skills as a beader. Two of my
square stitch pieces and one of Kumihimo won prizes at the California
State Fair this year and are on display until Labor Day.
As for how Momotaro came into being, the first ever woven piece I made
was a present for a very close friend who, upon seeing it, said, "there's
this contest I found that you have to try." She showed me your ad about
the Miyuki Challenge in one of the bead magazines and dared me to
enter. It took a week or two to warm up to the idea of actually
entering, then another month to come up with an idea.
Growing up in Hawaii, we were raised with more than your usual brothers
Grimm stories. We had the Hawaiian myths and legends, as well as
Chinese & Japanese fairy stories. Since the Delicas are made in Japan,
I decided on Momotaro, one of the first books I remember reading. All
the illustrations were in the style of the old Japanese wood block
prints
The most vivid picture in the book was of grandmother going down to the
river and finding the giant peach. The colors of the peach floating
down the impossible blue river kept flashing at me when I was trying to
decide what to do. I painted the pouch in watercolor first to get the
idea down, then taught myself right angle weave from Creative Bead
Weaving judging that an entire pouch done in square-stitch wouldn't meet
the deadline. Next I went at it with graph paper until the shape looked
ok, then spent a solid month of beading on lunch and break and
weekends. The most interesting part was learning to mix colors. It
took awhile to figure out that clear pink over carrot orange would make
peach. Making Momotaro and his companions out of wire and delicas was
fun too. Momotaro went on to win third place at the 1999 California
State Fair, and is now hanging proudly in the living room with its
ribbon.
The story Momotaro goes something like this: Many years ago, in a small
mountain village in Japan, there lived an old couple who desperately
wanted a child to brighten their days. As grandmother did her laundry
at the riverbank one day, she was astonished to see a giant peach
floating downstream toward her. She gathered up the peach & took it
home to feed her husband for dinner after his long day of chopping
firewood for the village. When grandfather arrived that evening, they
prepared to cut the peach; but suddenly the peach split open, revealing
a perfect baby boy. They named him Momotaro, Peach Boy. Momotaro grew
strong helping grandfather with the firewood and helping grandmother
with her laundry; never did he turn away a request for help from anyone
in the village.
During that time in Japan, a fierce band of oni, Japanese ogres, raided
many of the small villages that had no army for protection. Momotaro,
being raised to respect the code of bushido, the warrior's code of
honor, decided to journey to the isle of the oni. Though his parents
worried about his safety, they made Momotaro a suit of armor, a sword,
and a banner adorned with a peach, and saw him off on his quest.
Momotaro, through his kindness and diplomacy (not to mention his
generosity with the bag of mochi (millet dumplings) grandmother had made
to feed him on his quest), made three true friends on his journey: the
fierce dog, the cunning monkey, and the swift pheasant. Together, they
crossed the ocean to the isle of the oni, defeated the ogres in battle,
and secured their promise, on pain of death, never to maraud again.
With that, the four companions gathered the treasure the oni had stolen
and returned in to the rightful owners, then lived happily in the
village for the rest of their days.
Unfortunately, my original copy of the Momotaro book with the wood block
prints was destroyed in a flood so I don't have a citation for it.
I remember that it was published in Hawaii rather than on the mainland.
I did find a different version while doing the project if you think that
would help: Peach Boy by Gail Sakurai, illustrated by Makiko Nagano,
published by Troll Associates, 1994.