Main Bead Embroidery Kit Varenka

“Varenka” is a portrait of a young woman in a tall kokoshnik headdress and festive dress, holding a small carved casket. Her gaze is calm and slightly dreamy, and the whole scene is held in warm pearly light.

What the picture shows

The headdress carries the picture: blue and white, set with red and golden accents, with long strands of pearl drops falling past her face down to her shoulders. Below it comes a blouse with a small floral pattern in cream and russet, a blue sarafan with a pale panel, and several strings of beads — blue, gold and coral. The palette rests on deep blue, warm gold and soft skin tones. Beadwork covers the headdress, the clothing, the jewellery and the casket, while the face, the hands and the blurred lilac-grey background stay as print on the canvas: that contrast is what pushes the figure forward and lets the background settle quietly behind her.

What is in the kit

• Artist canvas with the full-colour pattern printed on it — no chart to follow on a screen
• Czech Preciosa beads, 17 colours
• Beading needles
• Instructions and finishing guide

Specifications

• Finished size: 300×425 mm (11.8×16.7 in)
• Beads: approx. 13,849
• Bead colours: 17
• Difficulty: above average
• Base: artist canvas

The piece is vertical and elongated, so it suits a narrow wall panel, a hallway, or a gallery hang beside other portraits. Gallery finishing is possible — the canvas stretches over a bar and hangs without a frame or mount.