As a young girl growing up
on the Blackfeet Reservation, in Montana, Jackie Larson Bread
taught herself the time-consuming and delicate art of beading
by watching her grandmother.
Jackie attended the Institute
of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico earning degrees
in two-dimensional arts and museum studies.
Blackfeet beadwork always
remained an interest and was incorporated into her painting and
printmaking. While at IAIA, Jackie helped develop illusionary
pictorial beadwork, where pictorial depth is created by using
different graduated shades of beads.
Upon returning to Montana,
Jackie worked at the Museum of the Plains Indian, where she began
to study the magnificent beaded pieces housed in the museum.
Currently traditional plains
ledger art, with its vibrant color and stylized depictions is
the basis for much of Jackie's beadwork. Illusionary pictorial
beadwork, as well as delicate Blackfeet florals and bold Blackfeet
geometric design comprise the remainder of her current work.
Images are hand-drawn and composed into intricately beaded bags,
boxes, parasols, and other traditional utilitarian items.
Jackie continues to live in
Montana and works full-time as a beadwork artist - attending
several shows each year. Her art is included in many permanent
and private collections including the Smithsonian Institution's
Museum of the American Indian.
Jackie's beadwork has been
acknowledged with many awards at the prestigious Heard Museum
Show, in Phoenix, Arizona, the Santa Fe Indian Market, and the
Northern Plains Tribal Arts Show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
"I try to place myself
in the frame of mind of a nineteenth century artist. Using a
limited palette of colors, I strive to produce a beaded piece
true to that time period. I use old stock beads or modern re-runs
of old colors, to lend a feel of authenticity to each piece."
Using a complicated technique
developed by Jackie, this beautiful piece features an elaborate
portrait of Mountain Chief - the prominent leader and last hereditary
chief of the Blackfeet.
Jackie is a relative of Mountain
Chief and was inspired by a hide he painted which now resides
in the Smithsonian's collection. The horses, tracks, and directional
arrows are all part of the design taken from Mountain Chief's
decorative hide.
The construction of the bag
is glass beads on brain tanned deer hide, and Jackie added the
wool inset as her own personal touch.
