Getting to know...Anne Marie Desaulniers

Mixed-media has been a relatively new addition to the range of techniques and classes that BeadFX has offered. Anne Marie Desaulniers has been leading the charge by offering several classes in Intuitive Bead Embroidery, Paper Beads, and Altered Dominoes. Her classes have been very well received and more are on the way!

Anne Marie has always been a 'creator'. "I’ve been involved in artsy pursuits all my life," says Anne Marie. "It started with playing with my grandmother’s scraps, moved to art lessons and sewing clothes, then being pressed into service for fancy wrapping paper jobs and flower arranging. I’ve always loved to work with my hands. Art is as necessary to me as breathing!

Altered Dominoes

"I backed into creating jewellery," she admits. "As a self-professed fibre person, I became interested in jewellery 10 or so years ago, while taking basic classes in stringing and off-loom weaving.  A technique junkie, I learned what I could and then quickly abandoned any involvement in beading, until stumbling onto the Bead Journal Project in 2007. I was working with Intuitive Bead Embroidery, but still not creating jewellery. It’s only in the last year, that I’ve renewed my interest. New areas of opportunity have opened up, since blending jewellery design, with my love of fibre and mixed media.

Intuitive Bead Embroidery

Learning her craft of mixed-media was a process. “I started out with sewing my own clothes, graduated to quilting, then art quilting,” says Anne Marie. “I took some jewellery classes, wandered off into photography, paper, paint and mixed media, then hand and bead embroidery.  I’m currently blending this knowledge, by applying it to mixed-media jewellery and other projects."

Anne Marie is inspired by all that is around her. “Mountains, the ocean, water droplets on a leaf, rust, decay, recycling, re-purposing, vintage jewellery, fabrics and lace, my favourite colours of blue, red and green, the sound of birds outside my window, running water, rain, rocks, flowers, trees, tiny baskets and bowls,” says Anne Marie.

Anne Marie’s approach to her projects is as intuitive as her projects are. “As an intuitive artist, projects just seem to happen! A bead, a piece of fabric, an idea, a theme, or even a dream, might spark my imagination. Find just one object that interests me, and I’ll be able to create something special around it!  Perhaps not immediately, but my house and my mind are exploding, with projects just waiting to happen,” she explains.

Intuitive Bead Embroidery

“I collect and record ideas in a very haphazard and totally undisciplined way,” continues Anne Marie. “I jot down notes on napkins, envelopes, sticky notes and the odd sketchbook, surf the internet, save endless photos, and dabble in photography.  My best ideas seem to come out of my imagination, dreams or a tight deadline."

Paper Beads

Anne Marie thoroughly enjoys teaching. “The energy in the room,” exclaims Anne Marie enthusiastically. “Creativity is electric, and there’s no beating the concentration and satisfaction in my students faces, when they’re enjoying the process.  They energize me to do better!”

Anne Marie’s advice to others who create? “Exercise your creativity, and make some memories! Don’t worry about the dishes in the sink or the dust on the table.  If you feel the urge to create, just do it! Some may be organized, tidy and planners, and others intuitive, messy and disorganized.  It doesn’t matter! What matters is that you’re doing something to feed your soul!”

Upcoming classes with Anne Marie Desaulniers:

Sunday, June 8

NEW Charm School: Inchie Charm Bracelet

11:30am - 4:30pm

Complete information about this class and more can be found on our website. Click on Classes and follow the link to the current monthly calendar.