| Original Message: Re: Lindstrom Collection |
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Hello Barb, Over the 35+ years I worked with Naomi Lindstrom, I would guesstimate I made at least 3/4 of the necklaces and other pieces in her Bead Collections. Let's be specific—as much as possible. I began working with Naomi in about 1978—in the early days of The Northern California Bead Society (for which I was a Founder in 1977). Prior to that time, a delightful lady named Fumiko Ukai made quite a few necklaces for Naomi. Fumiko was also an active Bead Society member. But, at that time, Fumi had begun to concentrate on her own designs, and marketing them. Over the years, I remade several Fumi necklaces (in some instances more than one time), according to Naomi's requests for changes (be they bead substitutions, additions, lengths, or whatever). During this period I also made many necklaces for Jewels—who was another San Francisco friend, who was heavily involved in making great jewelry from ethnic beads and ornaments—with impressive success. For Jewels I originated a style of necklace-making for which she has become well-known—involving the use of crowning (between beads, and as a rope to hold pendants, etc.). I bring this up because I alone could not keep up with Jewels' needs—and consequently she asked me to train Jacqueline, who was her silversmith, to string in my style—which I did. In turn, Jackie taught several other people to exploit my techniques and styles—one of whom was Abby. So I regard Abby as my "student-by-proxy." In the mid-1990s, Naomi began having Abby string for her. And Abby did quite a few necklaces. However, while I continued to evolve and refine my skills, Abby remained more-or-less the same. And, in some respects her work was admirable. She made GREAT thick ropes via crowning—which was something I didn't like to do. In fact, when Naomi would ask for this, I recommended that she ask Abby to do it. Unfortunately, in a number of instances, Abby's necklaces tended to unravel at the clasp area, over time. And it became my responsibility to fix these necklaces, and redo the closures. I can ALWAYS tell whether a particular necklace was made by me or by Abby—though, after the fact, Naomi could not. So, to answer your question, the 1/4 of the necklaces and other articles that I did not make were mainly made by Fumi and Abby. A very few pieces remained exactly as they were received. However, Naomi was very given to cleaning everything, refining designs, making new combinations from elements that were acquired one-by-one (or a few at a time)—and she needed a collaborator (me) to make all this happen. I have photo-documented my work with her from nearly the beginning. Plus, after Naomi passed away seven years ago, I continued to make pieces for the Collection, and for her family members. I still do this. And, from the time of her passing, over three years, I photographed and documented nearly 1,000 objects. The intent was to use these photos and information when the Collections were offered for sale or auction. However, as it happened, the people at Michaan's Auctions decided to not use my Catalogue, and instead made their own photos and descriptions (some of which were, respectively, poor or mistaken). The FaceBook Group, dedicated to the Lindstrom Collection was initiated by me—and I am its Admin. If you view the photos shown there, you will often see mention of the fact that the necklace (or whatever) was made by me. Note the attached screenshot, at the bottom left. Jamey All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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