We were truly stunned with the way in which Patti McDermott called the LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS to win the stitching category for our Design Challenge theme of HEROES & VILLAINS in May. This is a work of all bead embroidery, created from a solid carved piece of onyx, Czech glass, Swarovski crystals, and seed beads.
Patti McDermott, who goes by the moniker The Cheeky Mermaid, lives in Central NY with her beau, two pups, and four saucy cats. Her formal degree from Rhode Island School of Design is in Residential Interior Design, but her beading hobby became her full-time passion six years ago. "I eat, sleep, and breathe beads, and other mixed media. I've been designing things of all kinds since I was a wee lass."
Patti was a finalist in our 2017 BeadDreams competition for her Chinese Dragon Fish. (The contest is over for 2017, but you can still see all of the finalists' work
here!)
HOW DID YOU LEARN JEWELRY MAKING?
I walked into a bead store one day that was owned by Deb Saucier, and the rest is history.
WHAT IS YOUR DESIGN ESTHETIC?
I would have to say Whimsical Eclectic. Don't put Mama in a box! When I am done creating something, I'm done. I don't want to create anything else like it. I move on to something totally different. I find inspiration in the most unlikely places. The color of a flower, the texture of rusting metal, the smooth silkiness of beach wood. It's all good.
WHAT IS YOUR WORKSPACE LIKE?
My workspace ebbs and flows from messy to outright chaos! It depends on how many projects I have going at once, and how many muses are residing in my brain at that time! I always have my OttLite and my dog, Tucker by my side. The most unusual thing in my workspace? A vintage purse made out of a taxidermy armadillo. I call her Edith.
WHAT IS THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACE YOU'VE EVER BEADED?
On my boat, cruising the Erie Canal in the summer.
WHERE CAN PEOPLE SEE MORE OF YOUR WORK?
My website,
www.cheekymermaid.com, has links to my Etsy store, art and gallery shows I will be exhibiting at, and classes I am teaching at my studio in Syracuse.