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RADILIH KOE'/FORT GOOD HOPE - Bead artist Verna Pierrot posted pictures and biographical information to the NWT Arts Council website a few years ago. That small web presence is starting to get her noticed by customers.

Pierrot is one of more than a hundred territorial artists who have photos and contact information featured on the website.

Fort Good Hope bead artist Verna Pierrot creates colourful creations using caribou and moose hide and stroud, including handbags, credit card and glasses cases, mirror frames, moccasins and larger projects like women's jackets. - photo courtesy of Verna Pierrot

She recently got a call from a distributor in Whitehorse, asking her to make four items for resale in the Yukon. Although she has no plans to design her own website, she said she is thankful to have a small space for her work on the Internet.

Pierrot designs bead art in the form of handbags, credit card and glasses cases, moccasins and larger projects like women's jackets. She uses moose and caribou hide, furs and stroud embellished with fine beadwork.

"I prefer using little beads," she said. "It's more time consuming, but it's a neater-looking job."

Pierrot learned to sew at the age of six, when she began sewing dresses for her Barbie dolls using cut up tube socks. She graduated to beading and finer work in her teens.

Like many craft artists in the North, Pierrot learned to sew in the home. Her mother, Vicky Orlias, and grandmother, the late Dorothy Cottchilly, were her teachers.

"I always used to watch them sew," she said. "I grew up with it."

Her first big project she showed to her mother and grandmother was a pair of rabbit fur-trimmed moccasins. She has demonstrated the intricacy of her beading skill by capturing the detailed RCMP logo on a pair of mitts for a family member. She is interested to tackle new challenges thrown at her by custom design requests, she said.

This month Pierrot is working on a series of handbags decorated with flower designs and beaded butterflies as well as assembling a beaver hat and gauntlet mitt set. She plans to display her work for sale through the community complex in Fort Good Hope.

Although she does not aspire to build an online business, she said she accepts custom orders through email.

For a link to the NWT Arts Council's online artist directory, including Verna Pierrot's contact information, visit:www.nwtarts.com.