Designer in the Spotlight, Bead-Patterns.com

Catherine Vondenhuevel aka skddle
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Catherine Vondenhuevel aka skddle
by Sigrid Wynne-Evans © May 2005

Catherine has had a very mobile youth. She was born in Vancouver Washington, and moved several times while growing up. She has lived in Indiana, and several cities in Ohio. Presently, she lives in Ashville, NC.

After High School, she started college several times. Catherine says that if it weren't for the papers, she would probably be a "professional student". Originally, she started work for a degree in Fine Art. Health and financial concerns prevented her from finishing. Presently, she is studying foreign languages so that she can begin translation work.

Catherine has 3 grown children that she is very proud of. She has a daughter who is a nurse, a son who is a civil engineer, and a second daughter who is a model while she is working on her degree in nursing.

Sampling of Catherine's (skddle) Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.

Life has been rough for Catherine. She has been on disability for about 15 years. Catherine began beading while she was bedridden in 1999. Her daughters had begun beading sometime before then, and had a small stash of beads. In desperation for something to do, Catherine pulled out those beads and fell in love with the art.

Catherine is influenced by the work and encouragements of several beaders. While not too interested in smaller projects such as earrings and bracelets, she loves the challenge of creating tapestries. Since the type of patterns she enjoys beading were not readily available, she began to create her own. Subjects that interest Catherine are wide and varied. These include Art Nouveau, the Old Masters, animals, and just about anything in her daily life can inspire her. Presently, she is enjoying charting Celtic letters, and hopes to be offering the entire alphabet.

Catherine works at her computer desk, if she is using fewer than 15 colors. When there are more, her kitchen table becomes her work center. For designing, Catherine is a huge fan of BeadCellar, and is proud to be a beta tester for new updates of the program.

Sampling of Catherine's (skddle) Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.

The biggest challenge piece that Catherine created was "Pelican Elegance". How the pattern came about, was an "accident". Catherine had been struggling with the piece for a while. The chart was not coming out to her satisfaction. Then, as she began over, with charting out, she had the wrong color pallet chosen in the BeadCellar program. But she loved the result. This experience has taught her not to be afraid to try something off the wall. The outcome might just be what you are looking for.

Catherine's favorite piece is called RIVER. She says; "I did it for a juried competition, but even though I didn't make it, this is the piece that helped me get back to myself. I had been in a group home because I wasn't allowed to live alone after all my shock treatments, this piece helped heal me and get me back into independent living. The RIVER received consistently high marks except for the being in the embroidery hoop. These marks told me yes, I was a bead artist."

Catherine's (skddle) Favorite Piece, RIVER:

Catherine was one of the early members of Bead-Patterns.com. She is proud to be part of the site, and finds a lot of support from both Rita and other designers on the site. Being part of Bead-Patterns.com has helped her grow as a bead artist, and helps keep her in beads!

Catherine has had many tough challenges in her life, especially when it comes to her health, physically and mentally. Hopefully, the beads and designing will help keep her grounded and give her purpose. Catherine words of inspiration to all of us comes from a Greek Tragedy "Ulysses": "Today, I stand on the gateway of tomorrow, the sum of all my yesterdays" Catherine says: "Each and everyone of us, is a sum of all our yesterdays, everything we do, everything that happens to us in some way molds us and shapes us. But these things are not so strong that we are stuck in a tunnel, it is only a gateway to all the open choices we have of tomorrow."

Sampling of Catherine's (skddle) Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.

Catherine Vondenhuevel aka skddle
View Patterns - View Biography - Web Site - e-mail



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