Melissa Earley translates her traditional watercolor, oil or acrylic paintings into original "beadpaintings" by weaving thousands of tiny glass beads (about 245 per square inch) together, using a Native American technique called "peyote stitch."  The results are reminiscent of miniature mosaics or pieces of stained glass, in which the light that flows through the work becomes an integral part of the finished piece.  Her images are often portraits of friends or self portraits which strive to portray an emotional or intellectual state and establish a connection between the portrait and the viewer based on the common human experiences of grief, joy, thoughtfulness or similar conditions. 

Melissa Earley Axel Forrester Darlene FuhstBeth MarcumDeb Massa Erin MooreJJ Ohlinger Debbie PaganoAnnDouglas Pinckney-McLeod Judy Verhoeven Enid WilliamsPaul Yanko.