ETHNIC AND ANCIENT BEADS

My-oh-My does time fly!  Someone recently pointed out to me that I hadn’t blogged in a while and they were wondering why.  Well, they were certainly right.  There just seems to be a lot of stuff on my “things to do list” and I am having a hard time getting them all done in a timely manner.  I do believe most people can relate.  But speaking of time, I have been working on a lot of new pieces to add to my collections; however, “I keep going back in time” in most of my creations.  I am absolutely nuts about old beads, pendants, and doo-dads!  Now don’t get me wrong, I do love contemporary gemstones, pearls and metal beads, but I am most definitely drawn to the past if I am given a choice of having to buy ”old” versus the “new”.  Every time I hold an old coin silver pendant from Afghanistan or an ancient Hebron bead made from the Dead Sea Salts, I am getting  a history lesson on beadmaking, cultures, religions and superstitions, and other countries.  Just imagine wearing a Turkomen silver bead on a cord that had to be smuggled out of their country or owning old Kiffa beads from Mauritania that have become increasingly rare to find!  And how about having “Roman Glass” that was made centuries ago!  Give me those dents and flaws (no Botox here) which were made by a villager’s hand with rudimentary tools and lots of pride over the beads we see today strung in hanks that are machine cut and made in modern factories!   So you are going to see a lot of these “old world” goodies (Ethiopian crosses, brass and copper beads from African tribes, Venetian glass trade beads, Roman Glass, Bohemian glass beads, old coin silver beads from Afghanistan, India and Turkey, and collectibles from far-a-way places) incorporated into my pieces.   I am sure that I will even pair them together with modern beads and gemstones  on many occasions to complete a certain “look” that I am going for.   So please don’t be disappointed if you see more Artifacts Collection pieces than Contemporary Collection pieces because I am in an “Indian Jones” moment right now.   I always try to remember “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and want to accommodate my clients’ different tastes in jewelry.  But no matter whether it is from the Artifacts Collection or the Contemporary Collection, it will surely be one-of-a-kind, made with passion and exemplies the “Dare to be Different Jewelry Designs” style!