Meet Dawn Chastain (dawnchastain)

Bead Art Originals welcomes Dawn Chastain! Dawn is the bead artist behind the Etsy store that bears her name, dawnchastain.

When you visit Dawn's Etsy shop you'll see that her banner says "Colorful Everyday," an apt description of Dawn's work. Colorful Everyday is the creative product of a hobby gone wild! Dawn has always enjoyed making things and creating with her own hand, and her beading journey began with simple stringing of seed beads while her two children were at the pool. In her quest to learn more, Dawn read every magazine and book she could find. Eventually, peyote stitch took over and she realized that her boundaries were unlimited. Her peyote stitch pieces are colorful, fun, and whimsical. They're often freeform and are meant to be worn with a light heart.

Dawn is constantly trying new ideas and color combinations. She recently began creating pieces using bead embroidery, and it's quickly become a favorite technique. Dawn frequently uses discarded and unexpected items in her beadwork, as the love of old things and tiny beads inspires her to create beadwork that is wearable with today's lifestyle. Discarded pieces of china, buttons, and broken jewelry have been repurposed, recycled, reinvented and salvated using tiny seed beads of color to create interesting wearable art.

Dawn describes herself as fun, funny, caring, inquisitive, determined, creative, flexible, patient, and flamboyant. She's married to a great guy who encourages her creative endeavors. Together they have two teenagers and a St. Bernard, all sharing an historic home in Georgia.

To see more of Dawn's work, check out her Colorful Everyday blog and her flickr photostream. Here's a sampling of the colorful creations you'll find in Dawn's Etsy shop.