One of the most complicated and tricky aspects of bead craft is the idea of patterning. The human eye reflexively seeks out and identifies patterns, and our brains are designed to parse data in smallish, easily ordered chunks. Thus, the reason telephone numbers, social security numbers, and the like are broken into smallish chunks: 555-1212 vs. 5551212.

Oftentimes, an amateur to the world of beadwork will be tempted to just use whatever is on hand, and the results will be haphazard randomness. Now, it\’s true that this approach can often yield attractive outcome. There is, however, a growing body of evidence indicating that symmetry and identifiable patterns are one of the keys to defining what we see and recognize as \”beauty.\” A student of bead craft would do fine to take these lessons to heart, which brings us back \’round to the importance of patterning as it relates to your beadwork.

Beadwork patterns could be as simple or as complex as you\’d care to make them, though I would suggest less complicated designs for the newbie, with rising complexity as a normal addition of experience. And do not think that a simple pattern will create unattractive outcome! The easiest pattern of all is 1-1-1, best embodied by the classic strand of pearls. Easy. Stylish. Eternal.

Still, a lot of people get into bead craft as a form of self presentation, and one of the methods that expression manifests itself in the hobby is through the magic of the pattern.

Some people (both beginners and experts in the bead craft world) spend hours upon hours testing with arrangements until they hit upon anything that is really compelling. More general though, particularly to those new to beadwork, is a sense of intimidation. This is unfortunate, but the overwhelming most of hobbyists will outgrow that fear as they obtain more bead craft experience.

Still, if you\’ve recently taken up beadwork as a hobby and find yourself struggling with the complexity of developing your own patterns, you can get a lots of sites on the web offering bead craft pattern ideas and examples. Make use of these in your designs, and before very long, you will possibly find yourself thinking, \”I like this pattern, but would not it be neat if…\” and almost before you know it, you will be on your way to creating your own, wholly unique beadwork.

Anybody can, in a matter of minutes, learn the basic mechanics of bead craft, but the real artistry, and the portion that takes longer to master, is learning the art of patterning. My advice to beginners would be simply this: Try developing bead craft patterns on your own, but don\’t force it. If it\’s something you are struggling with, seek out bead craft resource sites on the web for pattern ideas and practice with those. Earlier or later, something will \”click\” inside your head, and you will find yourself branching out in your own direction.

Patience and practice. They are the real keys to mastering the craft, and coming up with original, innovative beadwork.