| Original Message: Luann |
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I have no background in beads. Most of my family thinks I'm nuts. I have a BA in Art History and an MA in Education from the University of Michigan. My art history classes are where I really got hooked on ancient & prehistoric cultures. I wish they'd taken beads more seriously then, it's astonishing how they are so overlooked as cultural artifacts. It was these classes that inspired me to focus on world and tribal art aesthetics and themes later on. I'm a fiber artist, then segued into making jewelry with the handmade polymer artifacts I use to embellish my wall hangings. I used to sell my work through about three dozen stores and galleries across the country, but have pulled back the last few years to refocus on retail and internet sales. I'm a double-juried member of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, and I've done the ACC-Baltimore show. My work has been featured in Ornament, Niche and AmericanStyle magazine. Hey, I just found out I'm going to be quoted in an article about yoga in the New York Times on Thursday--am I famous yet?? 8^* I'm not sure if I buy beads to complement my artwork, or if I make my artwork with beads so I have an excuse to buy more beads. I got my bead jones when I first started out about 15 years ago, repairing and reselling vintage jewelry. I collected Czech glass beads with a vengeance, eagerly studying Sibylle Jargstorf's books GLASS IN JEWELRY and GLASS BEADS FROM EUROPE. I began to incorporate these beads into my tribal jewelry designs, and all hell broke loose. Somewhere along the way, I came across African beads and trade beads, probably as "singles" in local bead shops. They had so much character & appeal, so different than the sparkly & shiny modern glass beads available. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I first collected those darn black-and-white batiked cow bone beads. I thought they were beautiful--still do, actually. I'm pretty indiscriminate in my taste--I was crazy about cheapo Indian glass beads for a long time, and still use them in some of my designs. If they have the right "look"--handmade (yet well-made), rough, worn, etc.--they call to me. Bought my first strand of robin's egg blue bicone beads through Barry Kahn at Caravan Beads in Portland ME. (I've always called them "vaseline beads" til I found this really only refers to the yellow variety...) At the time, Barry was the ONLY person I knew who even knew what these odd beads were, and he was very nice to me when I first started collecting. Later came Russ Nobbs of Rings & Things & his staff, who obligingly contribute regularly to my bead buying habit. Now I go to the regional shows and look for African traders first off. I have no idea how I found this forum, but I've learned so much here over the years. I have very little to add to most of the conversations, I'm still such a novice--I love the history and such, but very little of it sticks to my artistic right-brain. I consider myself a "bottom-feeder" in the trade bead collecting world, as I tend to collect the lower-echelon beads: Old padres, the smaller, less expensive faceted "Russian Blues", striped pony beads, Venetian pony beads, pigeon eggs (red, yellow, white)etc. I'm always looking for the little sliced Czech "flower heishi" (Prosser beads??)and the little Czech "snake vertebrate" beads. I LOVE kankamba beads, especially the watery blues and greens. I bought several strands of Hebrons early on (especially the blue & green) until the prices shot up. I have quite a few strands of millifiore (though rarely the red/white/blue ones everyone else likes so much), and I've recently gotten hooked on spotted "skunk" beads, especially the red ones. I make some of the beads I use in my designs, but I love to really mix it up with "real" beads. I also have quite a stash of freshwater pearls in an unnervingly broad range of colors but especially teal/aqua, rust and olive/pale greens, and a HUGE stash of semi-precious stone beads in water colors--aqua, pale green, crystal, like amazonite, varscite, hemimorphite, fluorite, rock crystal, etc. Oh, gosh, I sound like a babbling idiot. Let's just say if it looks old, well-worn, is pale turquoise or green or coral-colored and not too expensive, I buy it! :^) I've posted a few pics of examples of my jewelry. I make a lot of other animals besides horses, but they're still my favorite totem. What else? I write a regular column for a crafts magazine called The Crafts Report. I'm married, have two kids (one still at home), I study martial arts (though I have to give it up now, as I've had my third and final knee injury from practicing). I volunteer as a foster parent for mama cats & kittens for our local Human Society, and some of the "fosters" never left. :^) I also have an opinionated rabbit who has the run of my studio, and four feral cockatiels who alternate between thinking I am the goddess of good food and Godzilla, but they have a good home with me and they make me laugh. All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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