The process of making Motibharat artifacts is unique in its style. The beading is not done on the surface of any fabric as well as there are no predesigned graphs to follow. The designs and patterns are always done with imagination and calculations. Most of the designs and patterns are traditional and have been passed from one generation to another one but at the same time, the artisan is having the freedom to do improvisation as well to develop new patterns and designs. The making of Motibharat artifacts always starts with a knot on the thread as well as making a locking with a bead to avoid the awkward projection of the knot.
Indeed that to mention, Sitaben is absolutely an excellent teacher. The serenity and proficiency in the work show her passion and love for it. She started making this particular design by taking the thread in a required length and knotting its ends. Then she strung a bead and needled through the previously knotted end to make a locking system and subsequently she stringed thirteen more beads. Once again she strung a set of four beads and needled them through the fourth bead of the previously made string in the reverse direction which resulted in a loop of seven beads. She repeated the action of stringing four beads and needling the thread through the fourth one in the previously made row in this manner she made five scallops in total. These strings of beads are called ‘kadi’. She continued the process of making the scallops of four beads in the reverse direction as well. In the reverse direction for the first loop, she took four beads and then needled through the middle bead of the previous scallop then she made a string of three beads. While making the next scallop she changed the color of the beads into a ‘red-orange-red’ sequence. In this manner, she created a beautiful piece of art by working row by row and this is how a closer rhomboid network is formed. In the olden days, the stones were made of marbles and stones and now the availability of such stones has become very rare; the present scenario is, the artifacts are made of acrylic and glass beads.
Part - 2
