Heading into a New Beadwork Genre

I have been away from beading pursuing other obsessions for several months, but now I am back to the beads.
I have been working with an artist and high school class who are doing a beautiful regalia, and this has inspired me to learn more.
Last year the class in Native Studies worked on some regalia pieces but also made medallions under the guidance of an artist mentor.  
Here is  a picture of the medallion I designed and made.  The technique is to do bead embroidery applique on a material called tara cloth.  It is sort of like a thin oilcloth.  After the beading is completed, then the piece is backed and an edge beaded border done.
The dedication of the students was impressive.  Their beading designs were very intriguing and they incorporated various personal meanings into the design and colours used.

In seeing how much the students were enjoying the medicine pouches that were this year's project, I suggested to the artist mentor that we incorporate some loomwork.  The loomwork piqued my interest, and my next post will feature the results of my first serious loom piece.