meet annie walter, the artist behind these dazzling beaded bags

Prepare your socks, frankerinos, for Annie Walter is about to knock them right off. The artist’s beaded bags are forces to be reckoned with – made up of hundreds upon hundreds of delicate beaded bits, each lovingly hand-beaded by Annie herself. Ahead of showing them off at her Night Sky exhibition in Sydney/Warrane from June 26th, we caught up with Annie to pick her brain about the beading process – plus, what she’s working on next.Tell us a bit about you and your art practice. I currently live in Melbourne/Naarm and have predominantly worked as an illustrator and designer in music-related jobs. This is mostly done digitally, so when I get a chance to make art outside of work, I love to create hand-built items – paintings, ceramics, and all sorts of crafts. I enjoy being slow and letting things gradually come together. On a personal level, I adore being among nature, nice snacks, friends, water, and hoarding craft supplies for future projects.

The beaded bags you’ve created are absolutely incredible. What was the catalyst for starting the project? I started the smaller bag last winter and the larger in March. I would work on them in bursts and take breaks when life got too busy. They came with me on road trips through South Australia and Tasmania – helped keep me sane while on the couch recovering from surgery. I’d be scared to work out the exact hours – it was a lot! I chose to make them for a few reasons. I’ve been sewing since I was a teenager and have always enjoyed working on decorative elements. Last year I injured my hand quite badly – after 3 months of healing, all I wanted was to make things again. I had plans for an art show with my friend Miriam Montgomery, inspired by the night sky – these sparkly bags felt like the perfect project to reflect the theme. I’m also obsessed with everything Paula Votteler makes on Instagram. Her work is so beautiful, and at the time she wasn’t selling the things she made, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford them anyway. Her work was a large inspiration for starting these.Beading is such a delicate process, especially with a project this intricate. What kinds of things were running through your head during the endless hours of beading? One of the things I like the most about this project was that it takes just enough brain power to keep me engaged but not so much that I can’t watch TV or have a chat while working. The bags and I watched almost six seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale together, which left me with a lot of ruminating thoughts about our current world. Maybe not the best choice for keeping calm.

Tell us a bit about the ceramic charm addition. I just really love an accessory. It’s detachable and could be worn other ways or on other items. I like the idea of people making something their own and styling it to fit their own tastes.How do you keep yourself creatively engaged and inspired during long projects? I usually have a few projects going at the same time. If you hit a wall on one, you can switch to something different. My inspiration mostly comes from nature – colours, textures, and especially learning how living things function. For example, I learnt today that humans see in three wavelengths of colours, birds see in four – they have a UV cone, which makes black birds look like a deep jewelled kaleidoscope. Looking at recreations like this has inspired me to make a new artwork.

What are you working on now? I have an art show coming up, that will be displaying these bags along with other textiles, paintings, ceramics and woodwork projects myself and Miriam created. It’s for the craft lovers – it’s called Night Sky and runs from the 24th to the 28th of June at Sydney Street Gallery in Marrickville, Sydney. If you come along, you may catch me working on my next project while gallery sitting. I found a large bag of vintage yellow beads while recently in Adelaide/Tarntanya – my next bag will look like a big ray of retro sunshine. And after that, maybe a break!

Have a squiz at the details for Night Sky this-a-way. For more arty goodness, spy these nostalgic paintings by Jacklyn Foster or take a gander at the lush work by Jessie Nash. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop.