Ganesh - Bead Embroidery by Janet Dann

I've shown Janet Dann's exquisitely detailed bead embroidery on an earlier post, here. As you can see in the picture above, she has such an amazing "feel" for animals and is able to show great detail by using mostly size 15/0 (and smaller!) seed beads.


This time, she took on Ganesh (sometimes called Ganesha), a long-revered God in India, a guide for new beginnings. With his human-like body and elephant head, he also removes obstacles. Although, when needed, he sometimes places obstacles! Janet is the second beader I know to bead Ganesh. The first was Liz Thompson, who bead embroidered the wonderful, fat and happy Ganesha shown below.



Janet's Ganesh is playing music and dancing, as he often does. His robes, necklaces and jeweled belts are swishing this way and that as he moves. His countenance is joyful, his headdress radiant. The size is about 9" high. Most of the beads are size 13/0 and 15/0. Janet used rhinestones, flatbacks, Swarovski crystals, & silver lined beads to decorate his headdress and adornments. There are also gemstones: ruby, emerald, amethyst, rose quartz & lapis. Please click picture to enlarge so you can see the details!


Maybe some of you don't relate to Ganesh. But all of us can appreciate Janet's work!


Above is a detail of Ganesh's knee. To get the lines and the detail, Janet had to plan ahead the order in which she would bead various elements. In this case, the adornments had to be done first; then the robe covering the top part of his leg; then the knee, leg and foot; and finally the robes behind his leg. Beading in that order allowed the sharp edges which define the various parts.


Here again, you can see that the hand beating the drum came first, then the jewels on the drum, then the rest of the drum, then the jewelry, and finally Ganesh's body.

As you might guess, the very last thing Janet beaded was the white background. When the beading was finished, she "framed" it in red felt, padding a little bit in certain areas to give further dimension and definition to Ganesh. She made it as a gift for a friend, who has serious health obstacles and needs a "remover." I hope Ganesh does his job well!