User:Tparisien16/sandbox

Background

Jackie Larson Bread is a Native American full-time beadwork artist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. Bread grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. Her interest in bead work was sparked from looking at her late-grandmother's beaded pieces. In awe of her grandmother's beaded art pieces, Bread self-taught herself how to bead when she was younger and now, she has been beading for more than 20 years. Continuing through trial and error, Bread has become a well-known beading artist and received numerous awards for her mastery of tedious, delicate art of beading.

Portrait of Jackie Larson Bread with award-winning artwork Keeper of Random Thoughts

Continuing her passion for bead work, Jackie attended college at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through her higher education, Bread earned degrees in two-dimensional and museum studies.

Style and Technique

When beading, Bread uses the applique stitch method which requires the use of two needles, as the first needle holds a row of beads and the second needle pins down one bead at a time to receive a precise placement. Bread uses a limited color palette that reflects Native American traditional beading colors, such as blue, black, red, yellow, and white. Growing up, Bread mainly used a limited amount of colors because they were cheaper but as years progressed, Bread began to incorporate more diversity colors. Through illusionary beadwork, Larson mixes two different styles, traditional and contemporary imagery to create pictorial depth through different shades of beads. Within Bread's imagery beadwork, she integrates her culturally rich heritage and members of her community through bags, leather boxes, parasols, and other traditional items.

Teaching

After graduating from the Institute of American Indian Art, Bread returned back to her reservation in Browning, Montana. Applying her newly received degrees, Bread began working for the Museum of the Plains Indians. Bread took this job opportunity to further her education as she studied beadwork from previous artists. While working for museum, Bread also hosts workshops in the relatively close states to Montana, such as Idaho and California. Through her workshops, she teaches and shares her knowledge of traditional style beading. Working with the C.M. Russell Museum, Bread regularly teaches classes on beading.

Exhibitions

Jackie Larson Bread has been exhibited in a variety of public and private collections and such as:

• National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
• Heard Museum in Phoenix, New Mexico
• C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana
• Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan, New York

Awards and Honors

• Summer of 2013, Bread competed in the Santa Fe Indian Market with approximately 12,000 other artists and her beaded artwork titled "Memory Keeper" was awarded "Best of Show".
• Summer of 2015, Bread collaborated with another Native American beadwork artist, Ken Williams in the Cherokee Art Market. Together, they won "Best of Division" in the beadwork and quillwork division with the artwork titled "Fit for An Arapaho/Blackfeet Dandy".
• Honored for Montana's Circle of American Masters