A ARAStatement

ARTIST STATEMENT

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My work is my passion and not a job -it's something I knew I always wanted to do from the time I was a child -" be an artist ".

I always used to wonder how people who worked for themselves could stay focused and know what to do every day. Before I became a jewelry designer in the late 1970s, I had only ever worked for someone else . But I soon found out that if you truly LOVE what you're doing, there's no question as to what to do each day - if anything, there aren't enough hours in any day to do it all . 

I'm in my studio every day but don't consider it work. Playing with colors, patterns and particularly textures consumes me as the possibilities are endless.

 

BIO

In 1972 I received a B.A. in Fine Arts from American University where I perfected my skills as a silk screen artist. Silk screening is a challenging art form which involves intricate layering of separately printed and colored design elements.Years later this ability to layer colors and combine textures in unique ways became instrumental when in the later 1970s I began designing semiprecious beaded jewelry that was sold under the trade name "Beadles". I traveled to Asia, the Middle East, South America and Europe on buying trips - in search of unique beads and ancient artifacts to use in my work. I acquired an enormous palette of materials which helped set my work apart from other jewelry designers.

During the 1980s, my Beadles line was sold in :

◆The Smithsonian Institution mail order catalogs

◆ The Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History museum gift shop

◆ The Smithsonian Institution Sackler Gallery gift shop 

◆ The Chicago Art Institute's mail order catalog and museum shop

◆ The Seattle Museum of Fine Art gift shop

 ◆ Bloomingdales

◆ Saks Fifth Avenue

◆ Famous/Barr

◆ I.Magnin

 

ONLINE COMMERCE:

My vintage beaded jewelry is now only sold online in my Etsy shop - www.ForeverInStyle.etsy.com

My current jewelry line features hundreds of earrings, bracelets, hand-knotted necklaces and fan pulls - all made with vintage or antique components. All items arrive gift wrapped and ready for gift giving.

Many of the vintage bead components that I use in my own work are currently being sold in my other Etsy vintage supply shop www.EurekaEureka.etsy.com