Ruth Kiel
by Sigrid Wynne-Evans
Ruth & her Daughter
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Ruth was born in Gore, the "Country and Western" capital of New Zealand at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. Gore is a small country town at the center of a large farming community. Ruth grew up with two brothers and two sisters. Her childhood activities included riding horses, running cross country and reading a lot of books. Ruth says that Gore was a nice little town, but the type of place to leave when you're 18, which she did.
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After finishing high school, Ruth went to a University for three years and studied "Visual Communication Design". She worked as a free lance Illustrator and later, she worked for several years as a Graphic Designer with a scientific research company. Now, she devotes her full time "job" to her children, and works as a part time beader/designer.
Presently, Ruth, her two daughters (Christie age 5 and Holly age 2) and partner live in Wellington - the capital city of New Zealand. She loves Wellington which has a population of about 300,000, yet still has a village atmosphere. The scene where Frodo first meets a ring Wraith in "The Lord of The Rings" was filmed only a few 100 meters from where Ruth lives. It is a vibrant, friendly, creative city, and a fun place to bring up children.
Ruth and Family:
Ruth's first beading experience was as a child at art classes at her local High School. She learned how to use a simple loom and made long strips of beadwork with Native American patterns. During 1990, after a trip to Santa Fe, Ruth was inspired by the local beadwork, and as a result began beading again. She bought her first seed beads from Gabrielle Good Buffalo at his bead shop and has been beading steadily ever since then. This experience has shown her how important it is to teach children creative skills - you never know where it will take them.
Sampling of Ruth's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.
 
The beader who has influenced Ruth the most was Emily Hackbarth when she was the Guide at About.com. Ruth says, "Her free projects were incredibly good and she was a generous and talented communicator. I learned most of the stitches I know from her. I was sad when she disappeared off the internet. New Zealand does not have a tradition of beadwork. I feel isolated in terms of fellow beaders or bead classes/shops.
I only know two other people who love beads like I do. I depend on the internet to feel a part of the greater (worldwide) beading community. I don't think I'm influenced by other beaders at the moment, as I like to try to do what other people aren't doing. On the other hand I have been very inspired by all the amazing beadwork I've seen on the internet over the last few years."
Ruth is particularly proud of her frog, seahorse, and 3D doll designs. She is also proud that some of her designs have been selected for the gallery page of Chris Prussing's latest book on Right Angle Weave by Interweave Press.
Sampling of Ruth's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.
 
 
Ruth is a graphic designer and designing comes naturally to her. She is also a keen knitter and has knitted her own patterns for years. Ruth joined up with B.P. after she found it on the net and realized it was the ideal place to promote her designs.
Ruth says the her biggest joy concerning designing is having an idea and making it work, and look good, and of course the positive feedback she gets from people who have made her patterns.
Her biggest challenges concerning beadwork are: putting three dimensional concepts into words and pictures in a way that people will easily understand. Designing with beads when (although itty bitty) they never seem to be small enough to give the kind of fine detail you would like! Ruth credits her time as an illustrator for having helped her, as she always was being asked by clients to produce effective illustrations with limited detail and resolution.
Most of Ruth's ideas come from nature. She enjoys creating 3D animals, fish and people in RAW and brick stitch mostly because she likes Natural History, and the great outdoors.
Sampling of Ruth's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.
 
 
Ruth often takes requests from people to design a particular beaded animal or doll. To aid in this challenge, Ruth keeps a scrap book of pages that she has ripped out of magazines with color combinations and images that she likes. Ruth's partner Gerald, has some very good ideas and always pushes her to get it right. He is her toughest critic but some of her designs are extra good because of his help and input. He also takes great photos of all the beadwork projects.
The process from idea to finished item is a practical one and takes many attempts before Ruth arrives at something she's happy with. Lots of different ideas are tried out along the way, it's a journey she really enjoys. Ruth says that 3D is more challenging and fun than flat beadwork - one idea leads to another, there are still a lot of techniques and ideas that have not been thought of.
Ruth's favorite design so far is a little 3D beaded girl. She likes the fact that she is made entirely of beads and thread and the clothing and details can be adapted to make each doll unique.
Ruth's work space is a table and computer in the dining room so that she can be with the kids while she is beading. It stays in a state of constant readiness so she can pick up where she left off. Ruth is very busy and beading has to come second to looking after the children. She grabs every free moment she can while "the baby grabs all the beads she can."
Bead Kids:
Ruth uses PhotoShop and "Macromedia FreeHand" to produce instructions. She has used FreeHand for years, and knows it well. It provides everything needed to do all the diagrams and text. Ruth works hard to make her instructions as detailed and easy to understand as possible. Ruth say that she has no need for specific beadwork software although she would like to get Beadscape to see what it can do. All of Ruth's designs are photographed because she believes it is an important guide to anyone wishing to make up the pattern.
Ruth hopes to have beadwork books published. She has been working on having a good bunch of designs to include. Ruth wants to continue to learn and explore as many ideas and techniques as she can. She would also like to pick up her watercolour paints again! In addition, Ruth would also like to teach and encourage more beaders in New Zealand.
Ruth's final comments:
"Don't be shy about contacting designers - we love hearing from you."
Sampling of Ruth's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern.
 
Ruth Kiel
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