ELASTIC IS THE SECRET!

Well, not exactly a secret at this point in time….

During the past several years, we have seen an increase in bracelets strung on clear or black and for all I know, colored, elastic.  I always found most of them to be a bit delicate, very stretchy and seemed to me to be fairly breakable. If I could break the thread by stretching a length of it as hard as I could, then that would not serve my purpose.

I understood that the elastic had to be thin to pass through various semi-precious stone beads, crystal and many other materials, but it wasn’t for me. 

Now I also avoid  Soft Flex and Beadalon because I feel that the crimp beads on each side of the clasp can be stressed to breaking point, (because sweat seems to weaken the thread…) and then the beads  scatter, never to be fully collected again if the accident happens in a restaurant or on the street. I did experiment with these cords years ago and found that they were inclined to break in bed… an errant big toe…well..

When I opened my gallery, over six years ago, I began using Stretch Magic to make bracelets. I even used it to construct them using wonderful historical trade beads and the best of my own signed lamp work.  If the hole in the trade bead or silver I was using was a little too small, I stretched the first foot of the elastic as long as I could, denting my fingers and stressing both my hands and the elastic until I had pulled it into a smaller circumference.  After snipping off the short length remaining in my hand, I had a smaller thread end to work with. Once the beads were on, I could stretch the elastic enough to persuade them to slide further down the length, giving me room to put more onto the elastic to complete the design.

I have learned to thread up to 15 bracelets on the Stretch Magic without having to cut it into segments until I wish to finish and tie them off one at a time. In this way I don’t have to stress and stretch the elastic for each bracelet. It is important to add here that you can buy round silver beads for the designs with larger holes. I use 2.5mm round seamless silver beads as spacers, as well as the “Balinese” daisies and various kinds of copper beads too.

Now. Stretch Magic changes it’s tension radically between the 1mm and the 1.5mm. The latter was quite hard to find a few years ago and I had to order 25 rolls at a time in order to please the supplier. I suspect it is easier to buy now. I have seen it in smaller rolls than the ones I use, on Ebay. It certainly was not available in any of the catalogs I keep handy. Maybe things have changed… I hardly have the time to check these things these days!

The 1.5mm Stretch Magic elastic is miraculously strong. My gallery sells lots and lots of bracelets and I can remember only a couple ever coming back to be repaired. That is amazing. The elastic can be trusted. I have a male friend who lives in the desert and works pretty hard out there, taking care of his horses and goodness knows what else. I know he digs the ground because he recently found a small Dinosaur and is working with a museum to identify it etc. He wears one of my bracelets, made with 2,000 year old granite beads from Djenne, Mali, put together with copper hishi from the Giriama tribe in Kenya. Last time I checked, the bracelet was at least three years old and he never takes it off. There… does that convince you?!

I don’t have a picture of the bracelet handy but here is a necklace to show you what it looked like.

I stay every year with the owners, Barbara and Richard Beadman at their home… a special treat.
In 1907, before I taught my first class we had to import 5 Minor Bench Burners from Canada and set up the work room. There was no kiln and so Richard took specifics from me, a totally unscientific me, and in a few days there it was…handmade, lined with fire bricks, but functioning, even though at the time it had the simplest heat timer.

In 1997, there were only four bead makers I knew of, and two of them had been taught by me at home in Arizona.. that year I taught 25 more, in groups of 5. The following year we had a week intensive at Plowden and Thompson for 40 people with other teachers participating, including Diana East, who had studied with me in Arizona and was now a teacher too. Actually, several of my first pupils are now teachers in the UK, and glass bead making has taken off. Now there are at least 200, I’m told and more each year.

Four years ago I was invited to teach at The Old Kennels, in Devonshire, ( www.theoldkennels.co.uk/) by Tracy Bell. Wonderful art center, check it out… they teach all kinds of rare and wonderful traditional English arts… and Tracy breeds Alpacca so I thought you would enjoy a picture of them rather than looking at one of my classes!

Staying there for a few days, teaching both glass bead making, and wire work, was so special because I went to boarding school nearby when I was ten years old and everything brings back memories.

I teach the making of beads with stained glass remnants at the Old Kennels and I know this is the first time these methods have been taught in the United Kingdom.

Well, I must move on.

Well, as you can see from the link on my web site, I now have a store in Etsy. It took me a while to decide join this lovely Internet showcase, and now I will do my best to keep a constant flow of fresh work accumulating in it. This means inventing a 48 hr day instead of 24!

CLASSES IN WIRE WORK AND BEAD JEWELRY DESIGN AT MY BARN/STUDIO IN BISBEE ARIZONA.

The other news is that I have had lots of work done on my lovely large barn/studio and am ready to give classes there.

Various reasons. I want to pass on my knowledge. Time marches on and I have so much to teach.

I am interested mainly in helping those of you who are already in the bead jewelry and/or lamp work bead business and are perhaps in need of some guidance. I want those of you who are working hard and wonder why things are not going quite the way you planned. There is so much to know. We are going into a pretty worrying time now and are having to adapt in many ways.

People are going to do their shopping on the Internet more frequently now as travel becomes more expensive. I think it is wise to sell there, but I want you to know that my gallery is still going strong and that is because many people still love to be able to touch and choose their treasures from boutiques and galleries.

Silver has rocketed in price, so we need to adapt there too. No worries, there are ways of designing bead jewelry that work with copper and silver mixes for instance. I see that PMC is bringing out a new copper product. I love it, though I don’t teach it. Jewelry has always been fascinating to us and we will prosper if we bend with the changes.

Here’s the Egyptian Clasp.. you can learn to do this too, if you like!

In my jewelry making class we will see how to design elegant pieces giving respect to how the new, the old and even ancient glass beads were made and how to bring them into contemporary, wearable pieces.

CLASSES IN LAMP WORK GLASS BEAD MAKING, INTERMEDIATE .

My lamp work classes will be limited to four pupils at a time. I do not believe in teaching larger classes because obviously I can give each pupil really special attention if the class is really small.

I will be offering classes in making beads with stained glass remnants. I have been promoting this work for nearly fifteen years and I think you will be fascinated with the mixing of colors I have developed. Working with this glass will lead you to new ideas when you return to the rods. I can teach both, but prefer to give classes in one or other glass at a time.

In my studio also have lots of Plowden and Thompson and Lausha glass in case you want to give them a try.

If you are interested in this class, I would like you to send me pictures of your beads so that I can see if you would benefit from it…I don’t teach beginners any more, but you don’t have to be very advanced to qualify, so don’t be afraid!
Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have about the classes. I will have a list of open dates available within the next few days.

So here is that yellowed old fax sent to me by Plowden and Thompson on 26 Jun 1999.

BEAD SOCIETY AGM 1998

Unless indicated otherwise, all beads on loan from the artists. * indicates on loan from the
collection of Kate Drew-Wilkinson.

Strung beads

Left
whole necklace by Kate Drew-Wilkinson
Donated by the artist to Broadfield House Glass Museum, 1997

Centre, starting from top left blue/gold bead, clockwise.
Patricia Frantz
Dudley Gibberson*
Lark Dalton & Corrie Haight, Olive glass x 2
cay dickie*
Donna Milliron*
Janice Peacock
Tom Holland
Della Armstrong, Dancing Rabbit Designs
Lucinda Lesuer Brown
Nancy Pilgrim
Lynne Elliot
Loren Stump*
Kristina Logan*
Mary Kennedy*
Kristen Frantzen Orr
Derek Jones & Sally Hanson
Tom Boylan*
Michael Barley, Hori Designs
Linda Burnette
Patricia Frantz*

Michelle Boeck (centr angel)
Julie Wuest, Leopard Heart Glass

Right: starting from top right, clockwise:
Art Seymour*
Robert Jennik, Pilamaya Glass
Janice Peacock
Rowena
Andrea Guarino*
unknown
James & Neva Wuerfel

Asha* (centre)

So, if any of you see this and either think or remember lending me a bead for a show in Europe when the Best Bead Show was still happening at, er, was it the Red Roof or a Howard Johnsons round about 1997 probably, get in touch and when the beads come home,I can give you back the loaners. I will probably have the whole collection with me at the Bead Expo 2007 in Oakland in April, along with the book,or catalog from the Museum, of the show. Not very clear, but I’m workin’ on it…

By the way, there were lots of others in the expo too, beads that I carried during this new century!

Dear Kate,

When I told you my husband and I were taking a trip with Overseas Adventure Travel
to Africa, you sent me off with five of your wonderful Beads. I was to place each of them in the most beautiful, meaningful location I found in the countries we were to visit. The following is a bit about each Beads placement.

Bead Number One: South Africa

Our first camp was in Kruger National Park in South Africa. It is named Parfuri Camp and, in our opinion, the best camp we stayed in. Perhaps it was because it was our first. Perhaps it was the people. There we found the entire staff very friendly, always cheerful and most eager to help make our stay pleasant, informative and memorable. One woman, Toko, was an absolute dear. She shared many of her native customs with me and spent a lot of her time explaining about her life with her husband, who is Chef at the camp. Her enthusiasm, knowledge of her country and life in general endeared her to me. On our last day there, I presented her with the first Bead. As I placed it around her neck she had tears in her eyes and told me she?d wear it until she died. I was very touched because I believe she will.

Bead Number Two: Botswana

This Bead was given to a young woman with a rather serious young man in her life. They love each other, but perhaps will not be allowed to marry. He must present himself to her Uncle and, in turn, the Uncle and other relatives must decide if this marriage can take place. The young man, if he receives the blessings of the family, must then give the father 14 cows before he may marry. All of this was told to me with many soft giggles and a shy demeanor. I gave the girl the third Bead with the thought this might in some way help her situation. Who knows?

Bead Number Three: Namibia

Here we visited a traditional native village to learn more about how the natives of yesterday lived their everyday lives. We were shown how millet was pounded into flour, how tools were made in their wood burning blacksmith hut, the way the leader of the village lived, the musical instruments they made were played were played for us, the role of the ?grandmother? in teaching the young girls how to make baskets, to sew and at the same time, prepare them for a future marriage. We were even shown how they catch mice by using a large flat stone, a short stick and some twine. These mice were then used as bait for larger creatures. Dances were performed for us in their native dress. During the latter, one of the young dancers left the group and entered a nearby thatched hut. She returned with a beautiful baby and placed it on a blanket away from the dancers. The baby began to cry and the mother again left the dance group to pick up her child and tried to dance holding it. I went over to her and, through gestures and a smile, offered to hold the child. Mom passed her to me and I knew I had found the place for your third Bead. After the dancing I placed the Bead necklace around the childs neck and explained as best I could to the whole group of ladies that had gathered, it was for her to have and keep. They seemed quite touched. How long the Bead will stay in the possession of the mother and child is impossible to know. But the bead is placed.

Bead Number Four: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

There was no doubt where I wanted this to go. When we got to Victoria Falls I wanted to toss it in the raging water. Not knowing how close we?d be able to get to the actual falling water, I feared perhaps I?d have to place it somewhere near by. This is where our dear tour guide helped me. He?d seen me place some of the previous Beads and when I told him my wish to place this one actually in the water he led me to a spot along the trail where, with a good heave, I could reach the water with the necklace. With Arnold taking the picture I threw the Bead as far as I could. Of course, with the roar of the falls, I had no way have knowing it reached its destination. But be sure, with the rains just starting there in Zimbabwe, in a week or so the Falls will double in size and surely collect the fourth Bead and carry it on its journey to the sea.

Bead Number Five: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

This was the special bead I?d worn around my neck for our entire journey through southern Africa. It was to be presented to our hostess for the family meal we shared in Victoria Falls. At this meal there were seven ladies entertaining and preparing our meal. I felt it would be rude to only give one of them a Bead. I?d decided to give it to the young woman working in the kitchen who was about eight and a half months pregnant. Then I realized there was another kitchen helper who appeared to be about seven months pregnant. I couldn?t give it to one and not the other. So I decided to just keep the Bead around my own neck for awhile longer..
As we were leaving our last stay on this wonderful trip I realized the most generous, helpful, knowledgeable, beautiful person I?d met on the whole journey was Valentine. He had provided all of us with 24/7 care and concern throughout. When the weather was too poor for us to fly to a distant tent camp, he quickly arranged for a Plan B, which was a 4-hour drive to the camp. He not only made the change, but also kept us all happy about it with his good cheer. If some of us needed batteries for our cameras, he arranged a stop where he knew we could buy them. We never saw him angry or frustrated in any situation. He was my choice for the final Bead. To preserve his manliness, as I placed it over his head, I said it was for his wife, whom we hadn?t met. But she must be a very lovely person and I wanted them to have this special Bead.

I thank you Kate for the opportunity you gave me. Without the Beads I might not have been as observant of all the beautiful people I met on our journey to southern Africa.

Most sincerely, to my new friend Kate, I am,