Art and Design A comprehensive guide for creative artists - Aaltodoc

f. Needle/long nose pliers uses it's longer and narrow
flat tip to give a quick reach into tight places. Its long
arms give a better control during the whole process of
working.
g. Beading awls are the only tools with an acquaintance
of “undo” during jewellery making. But it can also be
used for making holes in leather. Beading awls are
designed to manage annoying knots that are fastened
tightly or closed firmly. By improvisation you can use a
sharp nail; firmly fix it on a supporting stick-handle, a
beading awl shall be cheaply made.
h. Cutters/box cutters exist in various types and sizes.
Their functions are associated to a razor blade or a pair
of scissors. They can be used to cut some soft types of
strings or wires, papers for paper beads et cetera. A
good cutter must be sharp for a pleasant trim and to
avoid tattering or making irregular smooth less edge
on a thread meant for jewellery, or a paper intended for
bead making.
Other creative jewellers use kitchen knives to cut for
the time of constructing jewellery artworks.
i. Strings can be easily attained from well prepared
raffia or sisal. Sometimes nylon thread is used in the
same way for purposes like fastening and it is also
used for holding jewellery throughout construction.
Njoroge-Kamau (1988, 153) asserts, “bottle tops and
seeds need only a hole to be drilled in them and a
string passed through ... to make a simple necklace.” But
then, if a string or thread used for making a necklace
shows tattered bits on its ends. Use a lit match stick and
carefully burn them (tattered bits) for a pleasant finish.
j. A beading board has got the same function as a
beading mat. Such a board can be made locally from
a wooden board. Beading boards that we buy from
shops are designed to have grooves, which assist in the
process of shaping a necklace and they also provide
necessary measurements or size. Using a beading
board allows a jeweller to plan a necklace. It contains
units indicating chain length or bracelet sizes. Other
uses of a beading board include sorting, aligning and
organising beads.
k. Tweezers are many. That is to say, there are very many
kinds of tweezers. Even so, jewellers use tweezers to
pick and to hold small items during the process of
making a jewellery artwork. Items that can be picked
by tweezers include small pieces and parts of chains,
beads and strings. A simple tweezers can be made by
bending a small firm metal plate into a befitting ‘V'
shape.
l. Beads exist in different colours, sizes and materials.
Some types are made from plastics or they are artificial
and others are natural—extracted as seeds or from
fruits. Nonetheless, beads can be made from papers,
plastics, wood, stones, cowries shells and bones.
138 139
Box cutter
A piece of paper
indicating
doted lines for
slicing strips of papers
necessary for
creating paper beads
Di�erent shapes of
paper beads, mounted
on a nylon thread
Job’s tears beads
ritualistically arranged;
from a segment of a
Rosary.