ABOUT ELEANOR PIGMAN
"I have always been interested in transforming traditional craft" 

Before Eleanor started making arts with beads she was primarily a watercolor artist. She fell in love with the world of beading after doing an apprenticeship with a jewelry designer, the shop closed and she inherited thousands of seed beads. She was then faced with the task of turning these beads into art. Her work began with portraits and then moved into the marine world. She states “the medium is limitless and I love to try to create the impossible”. After being published and receiving a congressional honor for “Keeping Hope Alive Through Art” she began to push the medium even further. Eleanor’s work is all embroidered by hand with thread, needle, on felt with beads. She combines several different traditional and non traditional stitches to create a unique sculpture effect. Paper, fabric and mesh can also be found in her work. 

Eleanor Pigman is originally from New York City. She received her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and her masters in Art Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a self taught embroidery artist, currently living in St Petersburg Florida.

Fatima Mensen – “I enjoy perfecting the art and beauty of my designs”

Brazilian by birth and American by choice, Fatima is an artisan and teacher, having designs published in both American and European beading magazines as well as wining two Preciosa Design awards.  She can be found teaching at various venues and bead stores in the Bradenton/Sarasota area as well as during the Tucson bead shows in Arizona.

In addition to her beaded jewelry she enjoys wirework, photography, graphic and web design, patchwork and mixed media.

In 2009  a health problem kept her away from her normal routine for 3 years, that led her to start beading, she hasn’t stopped since.  Her idol, Leonardo Da Vinci, constantly inspires her work.

Fatima is a self taught bead artist residing in Bradenton, Florida since 2002 with her handsome cat Oliver.