The art of Margaret Nazon blends traditional beadwork with celestial images captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Her work depicts nebulae, constellations and entire galaxies using beadwork on black velvet and canvas.

Nazon hails from Tsiigehtchic, a GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n community located at the confluence of the Mackenzie and the Arctic Red rivers.

At the age of nine, she learned to bead from her older sister Emily.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was just beading on a loom making little broaches with initials on them, very basic, two or three colours,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Her work is currently on display in the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, and will soon be featured at the Glenbow Museum in downtown Calgary.

When Nazon was a child, she developed an interest in astronomy.

SA国际影视传媒淭he inspiration is my interest in the cosmos. As a child growing up in Tsiigetchic, there was a priest who would show us these constellations,SA国际影视传媒� Nazon told Yellowknifer.

She first decided that images of celestial objects could be rendered using her chosen medium in 2009, when she and her partner Bob Mumford were on the computer.

The two looked at NASA images that held a likeness to beadwork, said Nazon.

SA国际影视传媒淚'm very curious,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲hat really blows my mind is the distance. It's hard to grasp.SA国际影视传媒�

On black velvet or canvas, Nazon beads her interpretations of supernovas and other celestial space objects captured by the telescope, which was first launched in 1990 and has since captured images of objects as far as 13.4 billion light-years from Earth, states the NASA website.

Nazon's first image was of the Cat's Eye nebula, located in the Draco constellation.
One of her art pieces on exhibit, Spiral Galaxy, depicts a flat rotating disk with stars, gas and dust. At the centre of the piece, is a caribou bone.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen I start beading, maybe the colours don't match,SA国际影视传媒� said Nazon, adding that the images themselves are up for interpretation of colour, and bead size.

SA国际影视传媒淚 like to experiment. I can do moccasins but I found that very tedious. Once I discovered the Hubble images and had a good look at them, I decided 'this is what I'm going to try beading.' I just got carried away,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淲ith regular beading sometimes you have to be very particular about having the same size, and the same colour,SA国际影视传媒� said Nazon.

The images themselves are SA国际影视传媒渕ostly gases, and they're floating and moving and changing colours and its hard to capture that particular part,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Humble about her intricate works, Nazon is SA国际影视传媒渟urprisedSA国际影视传媒� her art will be featured at the Glenbow.

SA国际影视传媒淚 am becoming the reluctant artist,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 was very flabbergasted because I don't consider myself an artist. Beadwork was just something I did to pass time.SA国际影视传媒�

In Yellowknife this week, Nazon held a special development workshop for beaders. Today, she will give school children a tour of the exhibit, and meet with youth to teach them how to build their own celestial images.

SA国际影视传媒淚'm not young, so I want to teach so that someone can carry on,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚'm meeting with the little kids, the tiny little ones and we'll get them to build their own milky way.SA国际影视传媒�

Nazon will be giving a presentation to the public at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Beaded Universe exhibit will be on display at the centre until the end of May.