Beading on a Loom

I am so pleased with the projects in this book. Most of them are for intermediate to advanced beaders, but with a little practice, all could be achieved by beginning loomers. The gallery portion is incredible and gives your creative side a shot in the arm! A "must have".

`Beading on a Loom' by Don Pierce is sort of two books in one, and both suffers and gains from that fact. The book begins with something of an overview of basic seed beading techniques which, to someone like me, who did some pretty large self-designed American Indian style beading projects many years ago, is just right as a next step in teaching us how to, for example, do French woven chains, where the weave splits into two different runs of warp, to be joined at their ends with a clasp. This project also adds elements such as a medallion and fringes. Looking through the `Tools and Techniques' chapter, one's initial reaction is that the book is a good elementary introduction to beading on a loom. However, while the instruction is very good, it really picks up at an intermediate level. I strongly believe that if I had no prior experience with seed beading, I would find myself doing a lot of fumbling around trying to make sense of some of the instructions. The three leading signs of the intermediate level of the book is that it does not bother explaining such elementary terms as warp and weft; it has too few photographs or illustrations of some of the most elementary techniques such as the look of a beading needle; and it cites no sources for beading supplies. This is not to say that this is not a valuable book for a beginner. The second half of the book is a photographic gallery of beading pieces done by expert craftsmen. For someone brought up on American Indian beading techniques and designs, these pics are a revelation of what has been done by contemporary and historical artisans working in the European tradition of haute couture, elevating a simple craft to the level of high art. The problem one faces with this book, just as I encountered when I read Colette Peters' `Cakes to Dream On' is that while I know all the basics of loom beading (and cake baking), the book really doesn't give me everything I need to make the leap from craft to art. Of course, it may simply not be possible to do this in one book, but the book clearly show one how high one can aspire in working in what seems to be a really simple technique. In that vein, the book scores points with me for giving a nice little bibliography on loom beading techniques. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting more from a book, without a clue as to where to go. The fact is that the craft is a lot more complicated than what you will find in your Boy Scout merit badge pamphlet on Indian Lore! Also, one little thing which tips the scale for me between a four and five star rating is Mr. Pierce's very engaging writing style. In technical fields such as handicrafts and cooking for example, it is so nice to find someone who writes as entertainingly as he writes well about his subject.

This is not a beginner's looming book, nor is it a pattern book. It is a book that will help you understand the history of loomed beading, how to do it, and how to design your own patterns.I recommend this book for beaders who are experienced with looming and want to expand their horizons, because it will do that.I will admit tho, I think this book is worth it for the eye candy alone!

As someone who has been loom beading since the age of 5, I look at beading books very skeptically. I found NEW techniques in this book. This book is well written, well diagramed and useful to beginning and experienced loom beaders. It is well worth the purchase.

This book has very good instructions for looming from the basics through the most advanced techniques. The instruction include clear and detailed drawings as well as color photos of the authors work that illustrate the techniques discribed. The gallery section of the book showcases the work of 20 other artists doing an amazing variety of work on the beadloom. There must be 80 or more color photos in total. This is a must have book for any beader whether they want to learn how to bead on the loom or not.