MAKER FOCUS: Holly Parr of Beaded Blooms

Creator of flowers and sculptures in French Bead Work

Holly Parr of Beaded Blooms, creator French Bead Work Flower Sculptures

I met Holly Parr at a craft event at RHS Wisley in early 2023 (she had reached out to

me to attend, and more importantly, to view her work). Holly was looking to expand the

reach of her business. I was bowled over immediately, not only by what she makes,

but also by her passion for what can only be described as a critically endangered craft.

French Bead Work is not necessarily as it appears, it’s a centuries-old technique with a hazy past; possibly begun in Italy, it was almost entirely co-opted by the French, after which the craft is named. Popular in earlier centuries, andimmediately recognisable in photographs of Victorian sitting rooms, by the early twenty-first century it was at risk of dying out. This is where Holly stepped in. Almost single-handedly, she committed to not only learning the craft, but to creating her own take on it. With a real flower on one side and botanical reference books on the other, Holly slowly recreates real blooms in wire and minute Murano glass beads.

Keeping a craft alive, but also breathing new life into it, Holly’s work is worth checking out. It can be found here.

. 

Holly Parr of Beaded Blooms quietly making her French Bead Work flowers