Jo Wood's bead and fiber landscapes celebrate her connection to Nature. They serve as portals to the peace and beauty of place. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is in the collections of Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul MN and the Mayo Clinics, Rochester MN. Her work has been published in Lark Books, NY 500 Beaded Objects (2004), and Beadwork Magazine, Interweave Press "Stitching a Sense of Place In Beads".

Wood was born in Berwyn, IL in 1952. In 1970 she moved to DeKalb, IL to attend Northern Illinois University and study weaving and studio arts. The North Shore of Minnesota has been her home for more than 20 years. Much of that time she lived in a rustic log cabin where she hauled water, heated with wood, and created her intimate scale landscapes with beads.

For several years Jo lived in Duluth, MN as a Northern Communities Land Trust home owner. In 2014 Jo Wood returned to the North Shore of Lake Superior, near Grand Marais where she maintains her home/studio and garden.

Please contact her for more information. Jo is currently accepting commissions and offering workshops and presentations.

I delight in the shape, color, and pattern of botanical elegance. With tiny glass bead on textiles, I stitch my intimate impressions of nature. It brings a sense of peace. My artwork express my sense of place, my deep appreciation for and unique relationship with the shores of Lake Superior and forest trails of Northern Minnesota. From this picture book world I stitch images of the familiar yet ever changing patterns of the seasons, the flora, fauna, sky, and waters. Through my work I invite the viewer to share a connection to nature, the abundant variety, peace, and beauty that can be found in our world.

"Painting with beads" is the best way to explain my art making. Beads are my "paint" applied with needle and thread onto a “canvas” of felted wool. Each “painting” is then framed and ready to exhibit.

For me life is tactile and labor intensive ... like my beadwork. Each felted wool foundation (the canvas) is designed and created in my studio, allowing me a range of simple to complex backgrounds for the beadwork. This material adds color, depth and texture to my work and becomes an integral part of the finished image. After creating the canvas I begin the bead embroidery. It’s a patient art form. Choosing one bead at a time and stitching up to a hundred beads per square inch, it can take days, weeks, or months to complete a piece. While continuing to explore beads and fiber as my medium, I produce images that express my personal experience, the inspiring moments of being here, the stories of my life and place.

My beaded landscapes have found homes throughout the region, state, country, and Europe. Explore my gallery pages for available works. You can contact me for more information or to purchase my bead art. I would be happy to talk with you about a commission piece for your personal collection.