"I have always been interested in transforming traditional craft"

Before Eleanor started making arts with beads she was primarily a watercolor artist. She fell in love with the world of beading after doing an apprenticeship with a jewelry designer, the shop closed and she inherited thousands of seed beads. She was then faced with the task of turning these beads into art.

Her work began with portraits and then moved into the marine world. She states “the medium is limitless and I love to try to create the impossible”. After being published and receiving a congressional honor for “Keeping Hope Alive Through Art” she began to push the medium even further.

Eleanor’s work is all embroidered by hand with thread, needle, on felt with beads. She combines several different traditional and non traditional stitches to create a unique sculpture effect. Paper, fabric and mesh can also be found in her work.

Eleanor Pigman is originally from New York City. She received her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and her masters in Art Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a self taught embroidery artist, currently living in St Petersburg Florida.