The Hama bead project was an exciting large scale and ambitious project involving a wide range of individuals. The aim was to create a 22 foot by 7 foot 'stained glass' type panorama that fits into the 7 windows of the community room at An lanntair (Stornoway's premier art centre).

HAMA TIME

Hama beads are a child's toy traditionally used to make simple images, coasters or mobiles by combining a range of coloured beads on a peg board then using an iron to fuse the beads together to form a solid piece.

The Hama project is taking the concept to a whole new level of ambition.  The 22 foot panorama is made up from 7 individual panels which in turn are each made up of 105 squares each consisting of 841 beads, meaning each panel contains 88305. The final image contains 618135 beads and will hopefully be a world record.

The design for the image came from working with participants who came up with the initial sketch.  Individuals then collected photos to make up the elements of the picture, landscapes, boats, buildings and the people in the image, which are made up of the participants.

The pictures were then combined, reduced to 6 tones and coloured.  The finished panel was then divided into 105 squares and printed out with a grid.  These grids were then used as guides by participants to follow when putting the beads onto the peg boards.

As the panels were completed they slowly made up the larger image like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

NEARING THE HALF WAY MARK

THE COMPLETED PANEL IN THE LIGHT MATTERS EXHIBITION

THE COMPLETED PANEL IN SITU IN  THE COMMUNITY ROOM AT AN LANNTAIR

THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE AN LANNTAIR

THE ORIGINAL SKETCH

PANEL DETAILS

DONNEY

DONALD

CATHERINE

DONNA

HILARY

ANNE CHRISTINE

BETH

REBECCA

WILMA

ENA