how to bead a beach

I first saw Kirsten Chursinoff's beautiful textile artwork at the Craft House Gallery about a year ago, and have been keeping tabs on her work though her Flickr photos ever since.

Based in Vancouver, Kirsten Chursinoff's work is primarily about nature. She takes little scraps of fabric, wool, thread and beads into turns them into miniscule scenes - perfect little glimpses of the natural world. My favourite pieces are her West Coast beach scenes - I love all the details hidden amongst the shells and driftwood:

• Moonlight on the Beach


• Urchins and Anemones


• Seaweed Cove


• Rocks on the Beach

Her new thread nests are also gorgeous. (Oh, and even the scraps are pretty.)

If you're in Vancouver, you can see Kirsten's work throughout August and July at the Secret Garden Tea Company (5559 W. Boulevard in Kerrisdale).

If not, no worries - Kirsten is everywhere this month: she has an article in August's issue of Quilting Arts Magazine - and she was interviewed on CBC radio this past weekend. You can listen to the interview here (mp3) - Kirsten takes us into her studio and explains some of her techniques, such as using the sewing machine freestyle, without feed dogs. (By the way, that has got to be one of the best craft terms EVER. Unleash the feed dogs!)

You can keep up with Kirsten Chursinoff's textile art on her website and on her Flickr, where she also shares some of her secrets, like using a water-soluble material called 'solvy' that dissolves to leave just a network of stitches.