Return of the Bead-Woven Collar

Beads have always had an allure for me. I love walking into a bead shop to see the variety of shapes, textures and sizes, along with the rainbows of color on the walls. The threads, the tools, the little cups, glasses and tubes that hold curious beads and baubles.

I took my first beading class at around 14 years old. The teacher looked like an absolute sorceress covered in these intricate bead weavings of flowers and birds. It was pure magic to watch this woman bead, and the way her long painted nails held a needle and seed bead. I wanted to be her from the moment I saw her.

I was the youngest student in her classes, and I inhaled her lessons. She was one of the best bead weavers in the US. Her work was featured in numerous magazines and she was always traveling for workshops. What I loved about the lessons with her was that she came up with the designs herself. These weren't patterns that she had seen in a book and then was teaching to the rest of us. She had visions of what she wanted to create, mostly three-dimensional forms, that were very fluid, organic, inspired by the natural world, and then she wore them with her elegant, flowy dresses.

I really loved Margo, and as I got older and wanted to begin selling my jewelry, I turned to beadwork. Margo for me though, was a giant. How could I possibly supersede a master? I couldn't, nor did I want to, so I approached jewelry and beadwork in a very different way. I envisioned how I could marry beadwork with metal, and that's how my jewelry business began.

Margo and her lessons gave me confidence. There was one technique I had always wanted to learn, and because of how she taught, I had the foundation to teach myself until I could create a pattern of my own.

That’s how my first bead-woven collars came to be.

These were incredibly fun to make, and with my beginner metalsmithing skills, I began to fabricate end caps, clasps and adjustable chains for each one.

I put down my needle and thread for some years to focus primarily on expanding my skills with metalsmithing. It made me sad to walk away from the beads, but I kept them stored right under my bench knowing that one day they would call me back.

Last Fall, I felt that pull again to revisit these necklaces, but with a new palette of gems and materials. I’m easing back into them slowly, allowing the materials to speak to me and guide the design.

The end caps, though, are something I wanted to improve upon. Hand-fabricating each one was tedious, and because of the nature of these beaded necklaces, I wanted a more fluid process that still felt intentional.

Now I’m working on a wax carving for a new end cap design, one that can fit every necklace. I’m carving a block of wax by hand to create a scene of whimsical birds encircling the netted bead collar. The process will take time, but once it’s complete and cast, I’ll have the mold forever.

For now, I’ll keep carving, beading, and listening to what the materials have to say.

Thanks so much for reading.

Take care for now,

Caitlin