Ashlee's Dragonfly Turtle Canvas Print

I made this for my daughter as a graduation gift. I had two things in mind for the center piece. I wasn't sure if I picked the right one. I started beading. Rachel and Gavino were outside playing. I took a break and went outside to visit with them. I was wearing shorts. Suddenly a Dragonfly with transparent wings with gold/brown circles on the wings landed on my left leg. I did not move until it flew away. It was then that I knew I choose the right piece for the center and Ashlee agreed.

I was at a bead show when I came across my first Dragonfly button. The first one was black with the Dragonfly painted in 24 k gold. I had it for a year before I knew what color beads to use. My wife Rachel fell in love with. She hung it in our living room in a prime location. I was not allowed to take it to art shows. It seemed the Dragonfly would stay with us permanently until I received an email one day from a young man who wanted to purchase it to honor his mother and fiance. What a touchin...

I am an enrolled member of "the" Oneida Nation and a descendent of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. My mother taught me how to bead on a loom at the age of five. She taught me to include an intentional flaw in my beadwork to symbolize that we are all human beings and we all make mistakes. All my work includes an intentional flaw. I eventually taught myself the appliqué style of beading. I take thousands of tiny glass beads and sew them onto a variety of materials to make a statement not only as art but to preserve the history and culture of my ancestors. I make traditional and contemporary Native American beadwork. My beadwork is a story of beliefs, of art, of commerce. You can enjoy the beadwork as art but behind the art is a story....