For My Father WIP

This is for my father....obviously as the title states. It is a very large Native American Style Medallion. Originally it was supposed to be much smaller, but as I began it just kept growing....

This is not finished, but I really wanted to share it as I have been working on it for about two months. The yellow bear in the middle represents my father, so this is very significant for me. It is surrounded by green to represent life and the natural world we live in. Then the border is colored to represent the four directions as dictated by the Lakota tribe. I do understand that the four directions can be done with other colors, but this is the tribal beliefs that my father follows.

This piece has been embroidered onto a large square of gray starched felt (this will be cut and attached to leather later). The bear is made of size 15 seed beads, the green is size 10 seed beads, and the border was done is size 8 seed beads.

I need to give much thanks and credit to for allowing the use of his bear reference [link] Although much of the detail is lost, his piece truly helped me in my creation.