Posted by: Rubyzane Post Reply
02/29/2016, 15:01:14
I believe I discovered my passion in beads & ethnic jewelry after I graduated from college at the end of the 70s. I believe after traveling to LA as part of my job in advertising, I found a lovely strand of Tuareg silver beads in a bead shop in Venice. A 2nd trip presented me with some wonderful E. Indian beads on the boardwalk there where they were having a flea market. I then found my favorite store in NY, one of the first shops in Soho, called Craft Caravan. The wonderful owners, Ignacio and Caroline, had the most incredible collection of African silver, coral, turquoise as well as everything you could possibly imagine. They taught me so much, & I spent hours & hours just looking at beads & jewelry, holding them, trying to figure out how I can buy & make them mine. They were so lovely about letting me pay a small amount down & slowly pay off each purchase, sometime over a few years it now seems! I bought 3 or 4 strands of Jimma beads from Ethiopia that came from their personal collection. I have yet to ever find these beads since then. They are large handmade silver beads on strands that hung below my navel. Very expensive at that time, but I just had to have these, & Fred, I have NEVER regretted spending what I did for these beads. I love them to this day & they will always remain among my favorite beads! Over the years I eventually started learning more about African trade beads, Venetian beads, and slowly started adding these to my large silver bead collection & jewelry from Yemen, Morocco, Mali, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Niger, Mauretania and so many other countries. My love & passion has continued to grow yearly, as has my collection & my knowledge. Although for the few years I sold at the flea markets in NY I did sell some incredible items, I have most of my pieces & consider them not only investments, but items of beauty, culture, art, spirituality and history. Nothing brings me the same pleasure as holding my beads...my amber, my jet, coral, silver, stone & ancient glass. Although my husband & others probably will not ever understand, they will always remain my one love. Thank you for allowing me to share! warmly, Lynne
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