Enrolled Citizen of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation
Darryl Peasley is for the most part a self taught arts and crafts person who creates contemporary style pieces. He uses his imagination to make his pouches, dance sticks and hats come to life.
Darryl started in 2003 by creating pouches made of deer skin with fringe with some edge beading, He made some dance sticks from tree branches that spoke to him and a turtle shell purse from a turtle shell that said …”make me into something special” and that’s what he did. Darryl started vending at Pow Wows and found people really liked his work. Then Darryl introduced top hats and derbies to the Pow Wow circuit at a New Hampshire Intertribal Council event. Soon Darryl was known as “The Hat Guy”.
In 2013, Darryl was awarded a NH Council for the Arts Folk Art scholarship that allowed him to apprentice under master bead worker Debbie Bazin Dostie. During his apprenticeship Darryl demonstrated loom beading at Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum during several of their events.
Artist Statement
I enjoy working with all sorts of media. I use leather, bone, glass beads and feathers. I use bone beads to create choker style hat bands. I use leather to create the different style pouches or a hat band and glass beads to put a decorative edge on a pouch or hat band. I like creating loom pieces on the loom I made for my apprenticeship. My biggest joy is when someone sees one of my creations and they enjoy it as much as I do…that makes my day!
Affiliations
Vermont Abenaki Artists Association