aanii.
jayde micah ndizhinakaaz.
Atikameksheng Anishinawbek ndoonjibaa.
hello!
my name is jayde micah.
i'm from Atikameksheng Anishinawbek.
i'm the one-person show behind jayde micah designs!! throughout the month of march, i'd like to take some time to introduce myself, share how jayde micah designs came to be and give you a better understanding of how i create my art!
today's first post is the back story of how i began doing beadwork, how i progressed to selling my work, and a little about me and my current influences.
i grew up on my reserve, close to my culture and lots of family. i moved away when i was 17, as i wanted to leave the reserve and 'get an education'. although my academic career was short lived and uninspired, the depression and anxiety that were uncovered had a very real impact on my life.
a number of things help me deal with these issues, and one of them is beading. growing up, i had always had access to beading supplies, so one visit home i made myself a small beading kit. i was living in a big city, far away from my family and culture, and doing beadwork gave me that connection to home that i missed.
originally i planned to make my regalia so i could dance at pow wows, but ended up enjoying making beadwork for people around me and helping run beading circles at an Indigenous Resource Center. after a few years of learning, gifting countless projects to others, experimenting and figuring out my style, I started selling my work.
in the past three years i've attended round dances, pow wows, art markets, and craft fairs with my beadwork. more recently (because of the pandemic) i've been able to spend more time beading and engaging the beadwork communities i've found on social media. the response on to my work has been nothing short of mind-blowing!!! there are so many people i've met and became friends with due to beadwork and i am so grateful for everyones overwhelming support.
currently, my beadwork style and influence has been more contemporary, with a focus on creating wearable pieces for anyone. lots of pieces are based on anime characters, puns and humour, goth/emo aesthetics, or traditional tattoo images, to name a few.
while continuing my monthly beadwork sales, in the future i'll be looking to create larger scale art pieces or installations, as well as extend my art practice to a number of new mediums.
outside of beadwork i like hanging out with my cats, eating delicious snacks, watching anime, doing fun makeup looks and spending time with friends/family (when the gov allows me).
chii-meegwetch for reading!! check back every monday this month for a new meet the maker b[ead]log post!
- jayde micah