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metal prints turtle metal prints coin metal prints beadwork metal prints beads metal prints indian head nickel metal prints four directions metal prints mixed media metal prints nickel metal prints american indian metal prints four colors metal prints

digital art turtle digital art coin digital art beadwork digital art beads digital art indian head nickel digital art four directions digital art mixed media digital art nickel digital art american indian digital art four colors digital art

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The are the coins that started it all. I got the idea from my older brother John J. Lemon, Jr. He had a jewelry store for 13+ years and told me about a catalog that had some great things for my beadwork. After he passed away, I received the catalog addressed to John. I flipped through saw the Indian Head/Buffalo nickels. I ordered a few and started incorporating the nickels on the back of my Turtles.

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....