Face to Face: Meet Ariane Bild

Today we continue with our regular Face to Face interviews with our fellow beaders and designers. The Beadingschool Club keeps growing in number and we love to introduce our community members who inspire so many of us not only with their jewelry.

We’re so different in style when it comes to beading, and our background story, but we fit together as a beautiful jigsaw puzzle. If you look for a beader who is able to surprise you every-single-time, very skilled and able to use her beads to the maximum level – this is her!

Meet the Beadingschool Club member, inspiring to the last bead,
Ariane Bild!

 

Please tell us about yourself a bit! When and how did you start to create? How did you learn to bead? 

I live in Berlin, Germany and grew up with two older brothers (my sister moved out very early, so had not much influence). Ever since I had almost just male friends and my hobbies were also mostly shared with boys like death metal, motorbikes, muzzleloaders, Kung Fu, Magic (TCG), P&P, computer games and playing soldiers in LARP (live action role-playing game) and re-enactment. I even wear there a beard! ;D

 

 

I never saw myself as creative but was crafting a lot equipment which you couldn’t buy like LARP weapons and armors or sewing costumes (note about cover image: Ariane wears selfmade victorian dress).

Crafting was a necessity. I also worked in a manufactory for Special FX and after I changed to office-only job I suddenly understood how much I missed doing something with my hands. That was in the beginning of 2020. I was so intrigued by caning with polymer clay which I saw on Youtube, that I decided to buy some and try it myself. It was so great just playing around with colors while the world outside had just gone mad! I learned from Youtube, mostly from „Turtlesoupbeads“.

 

 

I learned stitches like peyote, herringbone and RAW and even a bit embroidery. But I knew I wouldn’t wear any of these bulky pieces. I continues to watch YouTube during the lockdown and I learned what is possible to create with the proper materials. Than the search began where I could find good quality supplies. I have to admit that in the beginning I was quite ashamed of enjoying sparkly things and spending so much money for something that I actually don’t need, that I kept it a secret.

At one point I overcame my fear of joining a female community and I became a clubmember of Beadingschool. This triggered a creativity burst and I cannot tell where it came from. I believe it is the safe and lovely environment – maybe it was held up in all the years of fighting and proving myself in being cool and tough.

 

 

Is beadwork your hobby or profession? How does your average day look like? When do you have time to create?

 It’s definitely a hobby! It is more all about the doing than the outcome. It relaxes me and helps to closeout the madness of the outside world. Since I started, there was not much of an everyday life with lockdown, home office and short-time work and most of my usual weekend activities cancelled. I was on 100% work shortage, taking sabbatical in first half of 2022 so I had lots of time to bead! 🙂

 

Tell us about the piece of jewelry you are the most proud of!

I had an exam in summer of 2021 and I bought a skirt for it. I was very nervous a long time before it and to calm me down I created a matching set of jewelry. I designed it all by myself. I was quite proud of it and it gave me some self confidence for the exam. But I think I am the most proud of my „Muschelset“ I made during the Art Deco Theme. That was the first time I had an idea how it should look in the end and how it could work – and I just worked everything out at first attempt, what is is quite unusual. I got so unbelievably positive feedback in the Beadingschool Club which makes me still really really happy! 🙂

 

 

Where do you like to create? Do you have a designated area in your home where you keep your beads? Can you show it to us? 

Unfortunately I live in a just 40 m² flat, so there is not much room. I have a table where I keep my beads, but it must be possible to put them aside quite easily because I need that same table if there will be a guest for lunch or something. I am quite a messy person, but my beads are mostly well organized and tidied up.

 

What is your favourite stitch? Which colours do you like the most? On the other hand, is there any colour or colour combination you try to avoid?

I think every stitch has its purpose, but I probably like RAW with all its variations like double, cubic or multiple the most. It is so versatile! I can do bezelling or netting too and most important I can process right angles in my brain quite easily. My most favorite colors are definitely blues and purple-green combinations. I like red-orange-yellow too but it is a bit difficult to find beads with matching shades. I almost never choose pink although when I use it I actually like it. I think I will definitely never use too bright neon-like colors and I have little problems with browns.

 

 

Do you follow instructions or do you like to develop your own designs? How would you define your style?

I like following instructions because you learn each and every time! If it isn’t a new technique there is always a little tip or trick or a way to connect something you never thought of before. And I love learning new stuff very much and tried a lot of different techniques. It’s like building up your skillset for making own designs, which I enjoyed lately quite a lot. I don’t think I have a style, it’s more about improvising: work with what you have and be surprised what is going to happen! ;D

 

Who are your favorite designers? Why?

There are lots of talented designers out there on Youtube from whom I beaded one or another design, but I would say the designers that inspired me the most are these:

 Susan from Turtlesoupbeads: I like her colors and her playfulness. But most important she is telling you almost mantralike „Don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t come out perfectly! Nature isn’t perfect! Don’t stress yourself, there is no style police in your craftroom! It should be fun creating and if you don’t like anything, do something else! In the end it is just clay!“ That inspired me a lot that the doing itself is more important as the outcome and to be proud of yourself what you achieved even it is not perfect.

Stephanie from Bronzepony Beaded Jewelry: I really love her vintage and Victorian style jewelry! That’s something I would wear too. I also like her voice and how she teaches in a very relaxed and joyful way. That really brought me into bead weaving!

Erika and the whole Beadingschool Club: I love Erika saying it is not all about beading, it is about a community and how beading is a way to express yourself and to gain a voice. It is so heartwarming to see all these different people from all over the world sharing their difficulties, overcoming them and being proud of it! All these different ways of approaching things widens my horizon. And everyone is so kind and caring that it is a real safe space for trying out yourself, getting feedback to learn and grow even more! That pushed my inspiration a lot!

 

 

Do you have a favorite design by Erika? Tell us about it!

It’s probably The Traveller. I like the idea of incorporating an everyday object like a coin into jewelry. But what intrigues me the most is to put a story into a piece which makes everyone’s Traveller a very unique and personal piece of art. I would like to see a collection of all of them some day. 🙂

 

 

Which is the bead / component in your stash which you treasure the most? Do you already have plans on how to use it?

There are some pieces like the cabochon from the signature box or the key everyone got with the first Academy box or some really pretty Swarovski leftovers. But I think the most precious are some purple tiger eye beads I got from my niece. They are unbelievable pretty and very personal and need to become something really special.

 

If you could design something for a well-known person or maybe a fictional character from a film or book, who would it be, and why?

 Probably Ronja Rövardotter (Astrid Lindgren) to learn not to be scared to express yourself with pretty jewels or Éowyn (Lord of the Rings) because even a brave sword maiden could use some sparkle! ;D

 

 

What are your plans for the future as a beader? Is there something you would really like to learn?

 I would definitely like to learn how to make better photos. And maybe I would like to infect more people with the beadvirus. Still, social media is quite a barrier for me. It would be nice to learn how I could give something back to all the lovely people in the club.

 

Where can we see or buy your designs?

I don’t sell my pieces and the only chance to see my work is in the Beadingschool Club.

 

 

Thank you for answering my questions, Ariane!

We all are happy you are beading with us and inspire us with your beadwork and ability to use 99,9% of the beads from Beadingschool Academy boxes!

Dear beading-friends and beadwork admirers, please, use the comment section if you have more questions you would like to ask, or greet Ariane.

Stay tuned for more interviews for Beadingschool.com by Erika Sándor!