WORKING with CLIENTS

Tonepahhote is often contacted by people who want to commission her to make specific kinds of beaded garments or items. When working with individuals she is not personally familiar with, Tonepahhote consults with them about the colors and design motifs they want to include in the beadwork Usually, individuals will request to have the colors of their tribe or band and family incorporated into the work, oftentimes, too, a crest or symbol that is meaningful along these lines.

Tonepahhote will then use this information to create a prototype beaded panel that shows the central design motifs and patterns as well as the arrangement of colors. She presents this prototype to clients and elicits their feedback Sometimes, as in the panel in the center, the commissioners ask for a substitution for one or more of the colors.Or they make ask for adjustments of the design. Tonepahhote makes another beaded panel of the revised design (on the right) and re-submits it for approval This process of making commissioned beadworks is labor- and time-intensive and requires the artist’s sensitivity to the complex modes of Native identification.