Chongqing, April 4 (Zhongxin.com) (Li Chen) Threading beads into fishing lines, knotting, crossing, tensioning, combining them into leaves, petals, wings and other patterns, and then using inspiration to design shapes... When the reporter met Li Hongyan, she was making a handmade satchel on the sofa in the living room. A pair of scissors, bags of acrylic beads, and strings of fishing line, these seemingly ordinary materials have been transformed into beautifully shaped and cleverly conceived handicrafts by Li Hongyan's hands.
Li Hongyan, who lives in Tiangong Street, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing, is a "post-90s" who is unable to straighten her limbs and fingers due to congenital cerebral palsy.
The picture shows Li Hongyan making beaded crafts. Photo by Li Chen
"When I was 7 or 8 months old, my parents trained me to walk and found that I couldn't stand upright." Li Hongyan said that her family took her to seek medical treatment in major hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing, but the replies she received were incurable.
The brilliance of life is not that it never falls, but that it always rises again after falling. For Li Hongyan, one of the forces that helped her "rise" was hand-beading.
In 2014, Li Hongyan and her family lived in Shanghai. While visiting the City God Temple, she saw beaded handicrafts for the first time. "It was a pendant, beads shiny, shining in the sun." Li Hongyan still remembers the handicraft nine years ago, "I liked it very much and wanted to buy it, but the price was too expensive. ”
The picture shows Li Hongyan threading beads into the fishing line with both hands. Photo by Li Chen
After returning home, Li Hongyan still missed it, so she bought the "same model" online. She was dumbfounded when she received the courier, "Didn't I buy a pendant?" How is it a pack of beads and a couple of strands of fishing line? "When I asked customer service, I learned that I bought a material package.
It was originally an "oolong", but it became the key for Li Hongyan to open the manual road. "You can try to do it, we have video tutorials." The words of the customer service made her eager to try, and she followed the video steps and began to learn to thread the beads.
"It's inevitable to stumble at first." Because the hands are curled, it is difficult to control the fingers, ordinary people can wear beads in 1 second, and Li Hongyan may take 3 seconds or more. The smallest bead is only 2mm, and it takes a long time just to align the mouth, and when learning the various routing methods of beading, you have to repeatedly disassemble and try non-stop.
It wasn't until all the fishing lines in the bag were used up that Li Hongyan basically mastered the basic tutorial of beading. With the energy to not admit defeat, she began to buy more material packs and challenge more difficult works.
"The pumpkin box is done, applaud yourself." "The rose is finished, originally monochrome, I modified it to be two-colored." "New work, finally challenge success!" Every time she completes a work, Li Hongyan is particularly excited. In the past 9 years, from fruit baskets, coin purses, pen holders, to door curtains, lanterns, Chinese knots... She is like playing the "puzzle game", with a piece of "loot".
The picture shows a Chinese knot and cross-stitch beading work made by Li Hongyan. Photo by Li Chen
"She loved watching her dad do carpentry since she was a child." Li Hongyan's mother said she was particularly supportive when she saw her daughter intoxicated by these beautiful beads, "They seem to have magic that can make her daughter from morning to night." I asked her if she was tired and she always replied 'it's okay, I like it'. ”
"Mom, you're so good, this flower basket is beautiful." Li Hongyan's daughter Feifei (pseudonym) is the most loyal fan, she wrote an essay called "Skilful Mother", "I am proud of my mother. Fifi wrote in the text.
Improved storage box that can hold paper towels and stationery; A deformed car model that can hold household debris... With the support of her family, Li Hongyan boldly innovated and continuously produced various original and practical works, filling her small home with colorful colors and filling her heart.
In 2018, Li Hongyan returned to her hometown of Zhongxian County, Chongqing, and after the local government understood the situation, it connected Li Hongyan to employment positions and invited her to teach in training courses, so that more people with disabilities and employment difficulties could learn to bead by hand.
The picture shows the red lantern made by Li Hongyan. Photo by Li Chen
"Very excited, and a little nervous." The first time she became a teacher, Li Hongyan was so excited that she didn't sleep well all night, and she repeatedly anticipated the teaching scene in her mind. It wasn't until she walked up to the lecture hall and touched the familiar beads that she relaxed and explained to the students in the audience with ease.
In May 2021, Li Hongyan came to Chongqing. A few days ago, the local community contacted Li Hongyan and invited her to guide residents to learn handmade beading, and Li Hongyan agreed without saying a word.
"If someone likes hand-beaded and likes my work, I will be very happy, which is an affirmation of me." Li Hongyan said that she hopes to make more people fall in love with handmade beads and feel the strength of firmness and beauty in the process of weaving beads one by one. She believes that under the care of government policies, new forms of employment have burst into place, allowing more disabled people to have diversified career choices, actively embrace life and move towards tomorrow. (End)