been looking at beads for a long time
Re: Is it time for another BCN "Who's Who"? -- Joyce Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: birdi Mail author
06/09/2012, 20:38:38

I haven't said much about me except for what is between the lines. I've looked at beads for a long time, but my collecting days are far fewer. I first became interested in the late 1960s. There was a bead shop I visited once, but it closed shortly later. And then there was the Folk Music Center in Claremont, a wonderful shop and museum packed with musical instruments, art, and handcrafted gifts. Dorothy and Charles Chase always had a glass case where Dorothy displayed necklaces she had designed using trade beads. The African traders made the shop a regular stop with their musical instruments, beads, and art.

Dot did not sell beads, only finished jewelry pieces. I often gazed at the elaborate necklaces wistfully beginning in 1969, but could not afford them. It was only much later, when she stopped designing jewelry in the 1990s, that she put out a small bowl of individual beads. When I spotted it in the back corner of the display case, I bought all the beads and made my first couple of Venetian trade bead necklaces.

Finding Ornament magazine in a book store was a great inspiration. I subscribed for about 10 years. I learned a lot.

A bead store opened in Claremont with lots of trade beads hanging in the window. The owner had collected them for years, and sold them all in a couple of months. I bought a few loose beads. She did not restock with trade beads, so I find only a few there once in awhile. She struggles to keep the shop open in these lean times, so buys only what sells best to the locals and the college students.

I live in an overpopulated area of California packed with people and their stuff. There is an endless stream of pre-owned goods flowing through the numerous local thrift stores and other venues. I find some good beads there, but the pickin's are usually slim. I have now resorted to selling other junk I buy at thrift stores so I can buy beads online. This has proved to be a marvelous adventure and my bead collection has grown greatly in the past 2 years.

I want to apologize to Jamey Allen for saying something to annoy him. Please forgive me Jamey. I miss the occasional emails.

Thank you to all the wonderful, informative people of BCN. I try to write about beads from an emotional perspective, because that is all I have to offer aside from sharing the things I've learned here and there. I very much appreciate the efforts of bead researchers. I hope I don't bore or annoy anyone. Though the other side leaks out sometimes, I'm trying really hard to be upbeat and positive.



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