Turquoise and pearls
I purchased this Kingman turquoise cab perhaps two years ago, and created the pendant. What I had not done is figure out how to make it into a necklace. Pearls were the solution. I wanted something with a substantial enough weight to match the pendant, so purchased these creamy stick pearls and tanzanite potato pearls…
Antique Pattern Library
So here’s something that I want to share: the digitization of out-of-copyright craft books in the Antique Pattern Library: “This ongoing project is an effort to scan craft pattern publications that are in the public domain, to preserve them, so we can keep our craft heritages in our hands. Most of these scans have been…
Beadwork to see in Ontario and Los Angeles
There are a couple of exhibits I’ve learned about recently. Both are First Nations beadwork, one in Brampton, Ontario, and the other in Los Angeles, California. First, a digression: I’m never quite sure what terminology I should use. The Ontario exhibit uses “First Nations,” and the Los Angeles one uses “Native Americans.” I am in no…
Linda Fifield
Linda Fifield is a Kentucky bead artist who is perhaps best know for beading over wooden vessels that she or her husband turns on a lathe. Her work is beautiful and precise, often with expert color gradations, and sometimes the addition of ruffles or flames tipped with orange. The Kentucky Craft History and Education Association (KCHEA)…
David Dean seminar
Beading in the Native American Tradition by David Dean is one of my go-to references for Native beading. If you’re in Oklahoma, I just read in the Gilmer Mirror that Dean is teaching a seminar on Native American beadwork: “Items to be discussed include how to buy beads and supplies, basic instruction in four different…