Beads (the long story).
Sometimes, I imagine that beads represent our earliest engineering triumphs. Think of our first glimpse into the possibilities of a piece of string. Stone-age light-bulbs must have appeared over our heads. Little did we realize the innovative ideas that still were to come: the intentionally threaded object, how to pierce and drill, the tying and untying of knots, or the one that still eludes us; making sure that loop will fit over your head just right.
I think of it as purely sensory, and something important: at the beginning of craftsmanship and science.Mystery, and genius. I believe it is this early and almost primal response to beads that all people, throughout time and in all corners of the world, find irresistible. Traveling throughout the world, beads are always winking at me, and I have collected everywhere along the way… an American southwest antique mall, West African craftspeople in Mali, a Parisian street market, a Shanghai backstreet shop, a bin of beads in a local resale boutique, or my mother’s closet. I am enamored with beads, and I can't help harvesting more wherever I go. I hold them in my hands, I turn them over and feel their weight. I look through the holes, see how they catch the light, and make piles… I sort them out in endless, unexplainable manners. Sometimes I actually make time to focus on "results" and begin stringing them, and my friends and family know they should bring me sustenance and leave me alone. The results are tactile, visual expressions of their journey and mine, assembled from every possible material and origin, representing most of the continents and many peoples of the world, and the substance and beauty of those places, the processes and artistic achievements of those people. Real people with real lives, concentrating for a few moments on a single beautiful bead.Sometimes they are windows into the past, when pieces are reassembled and bring their memories with them. I imagine echoes of that special pleasure a pretty adornment brings; how much she may have enjoyed receiving it as a gift, or knowing how much she would have enjoy being complimented when she wore it. Now those lives and life stories are strung together, in more ways than one. The more important stringing together, of course, took place under wildly varying conditions, when individual artisans, unknown to one another, sat down with nearly identical intent and commonality of purpose. Their value has been renewed on so many different levels. I hope you will feel some part of that special connection to times and places when you wear these unique creations, as I certainly felt when I was making them for you.
Your purchase will bring you into the loop. To foster creative energy and pay homage to a legacy of craft around the world, proceeds will help contribute to micro-loans, investing in artisan entrepreneurs in developing countries. (click here to see why I think micro-loans are a great idea: Kiva)
Our loan, once it has helped their business and is repaid, will loop back around and keep the story going.
Full circle.
...with a lovely little clasp.
:^)e
I think of it as purely sensory, and something important: at the beginning of craftsmanship and science.Mystery, and genius. I believe it is this early and almost primal response to beads that all people, throughout time and in all corners of the world, find irresistible. Traveling throughout the world, beads are always winking at me, and I have collected everywhere along the way… an American southwest antique mall, West African craftspeople in Mali, a Parisian street market, a Shanghai backstreet shop, a bin of beads in a local resale boutique, or my mother’s closet. I am enamored with beads, and I can't help harvesting more wherever I go. I hold them in my hands, I turn them over and feel their weight. I look through the holes, see how they catch the light, and make piles… I sort them out in endless, unexplainable manners. Sometimes I actually make time to focus on "results" and begin stringing them, and my friends and family know they should bring me sustenance and leave me alone. The results are tactile, visual expressions of their journey and mine, assembled from every possible material and origin, representing most of the continents and many peoples of the world, and the substance and beauty of those places, the processes and artistic achievements of those people. Real people with real lives, concentrating for a few moments on a single beautiful bead.Sometimes they are windows into the past, when pieces are reassembled and bring their memories with them. I imagine echoes of that special pleasure a pretty adornment brings; how much she may have enjoyed receiving it as a gift, or knowing how much she would have enjoy being complimented when she wore it. Now those lives and life stories are strung together, in more ways than one. The more important stringing together, of course, took place under wildly varying conditions, when individual artisans, unknown to one another, sat down with nearly identical intent and commonality of purpose. Their value has been renewed on so many different levels. I hope you will feel some part of that special connection to times and places when you wear these unique creations, as I certainly felt when I was making them for you.
Your purchase will bring you into the loop. To foster creative energy and pay homage to a legacy of craft around the world, proceeds will help contribute to micro-loans, investing in artisan entrepreneurs in developing countries. (click here to see why I think micro-loans are a great idea: Kiva)
Our loan, once it has helped their business and is repaid, will loop back around and keep the story going.
Full circle.
...with a lovely little clasp.
:^)e