How they came to be...

Doing this series of beads brings together the work that I have been doing over the years on a small scale to now appear on "the big screen".

(Fun inspirational photo at right taken by Carol Bugarin.)

I have always done stringer work ….the stringers in these beads are very large, each one is cased so the color does not bleed. The trick is to have the ends of the stringer meet perfectly so the joint does not show. It does not always work that way.

The stringer work gives me the ability to pile on the colors and still have a "tight" appearance to the bead. It is a contest to see just how much color I can get in one bead.

The "bicycle spoke" looking twists are very simple twists but made on the scale I am making them makes them visually very dramatic. I feel like I have come full circle because I learned to make this particular twist in my very first beadmaking class with Brian Kerkvliet! Again, the trick is to get the ends to meet perfectly... I'm not there yet….almost perfect, but not quite.

In the photographs the "bicycle" or "fancy tires" beads look very similar to the Pinwheel beads. However, this new series of beads are QUITE large, over 2" across and a bit more than 3/8" thick. Each bead is ground and polished on the flat sides to give them a paperweight feel/look.

One of the things I enjoy most about making beads is the technical challenge of keeping the work tight.

I am anxious to see how my clients use these beads in their work.