Athena Grandjambe

Region: 
Beaufort Delta
Community: 
Inuvik
Primary Art Type: 

Artist Story

The type of beaded art that I make varies from small items, like hairpieces and brooches, to bigger creations like vests and shawls (add moccasin and mukluk vamps). Besides beads, I also embroidery and use porcupine quills sewn onto either stroud, velvet, suede, moose hide.

I learned to sew, bead and embroider by watching other people. I am still learning those skills.

I picked up beading to create a beaded belt for my son. When I think back on the few items that I had made at the time, I’m sometimes disappointed that I took a break from it for so many years, before picking it back up again. Now, I am just really happy to have reconnected with that part of my culture. Here I am, years later, still beading, creating and can’t stop!

Sewing, and making art in general, makes me feel so happy. What I like the most is that it makes me feel so calm and grounded.  The satisfaction that comes from creating something with my hands is something that keeps me going. I want to feel proud of the work that I am doing. I can be a perfectionist, but it’s so important that I give the best quality to anyone who receives a piece that I made.

The first beaded vest that I created was for my godson, before he started practicing Dene handgames. An embroidered vest request by my son, I think that was him telling me I could do it as this was still new to me. I’m looking at the pieces I made for them, and it feels really special to be able to make something from scratch for the people that I love. I get inspired by everyone, especially my loved ones.

I am also greatly inspired by other artists putting their work out there. It’s beautiful to see what other people can do! Their art is a motivation to keep learning new skills. I participated in a moose hide beading workshop where the teacher encouraged us to start drawing our own flower designs, which is something I plan to keep practicing.

When I start a new project, I may have a few colours in mind, but I love to go with the flow. I typically draw my flower patterns using stencils but will use chalk to draw so that I can make changes if I want to. Through the years, I have become more and more independent. At the beginning of my practice, I was always asking friends for their opinions or their advice. I was doubting myself and my choices. Now, I have more confidence, so I create my pieces line by line, following my own path.

Artist Bio: 

Athena Grandjambe lives and creates in Inuvik. She learned how to bead and sew through watching family members while growing up. As she touched base with these skills years later, Athena now feels that her art practice greatly reconnected her to her culture and traditions. She is eager to continue learning new techniques, which include embroidery and working with furs and moosehide. She started selling her artwork online, through Facebook marketplace, in 2021 (and friends adding my pieces to their market tables this past year).

Last Updated: October 21, 2024

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