I've been held captive by my beads. There they are, spread across the dining room table. Calling, calling their siren call. Sometimes I try to walk quickly past them, averting my eyes. It seldom works, I am drawn in. I will reach over to pick up a bead and see how it looks placed next to a different bead, and then how about adding ……
I might stand for ages bent uncomfortably over the table, selecting and arranging, reluctant to sit down and devote myself properly to the task, knowing I was actually on my way to do something else. The attraction is too strong and I usually succumb, and finally pull out the chair, rub the ache in my back, and settle into the task, eager to see how the design might work, but also somewhat uneasy, disappointed at my lack of will, knowing there was something else I ought to be doing. Laundry mounts, food supplies dwindle, emails are unanswered, dinner is late.
My eyes get strained and I stack reading glasses on top of each other. Late at night I might have three pairs balanced on my nose when Graham walks through to tell me it’s midnight, time for bed. I drive to my morning walks thinking about colors and shapes. I lie in bed at night jotting down ideas for new necklaces. I want to make sure that I will offer a full range of hefts and lengths and colors and looks and prices. Chunky and petite, ethnic and glamorous, choker and long, bright and muted ……
Once I have begun a necklace, and know in my mind how it will end, I am impatient to move on to designing another. It takes great resolve of purpose for me to actually complete the full length of the necklace. And then there is the matter of adding a clasp. I resist closure, preferring to leave my options open. What if I think of a more pleasing way to tweak the design? What if I’d rather use that special bead in some other necklace?
No matter how far ahead I start planning for a show, it is always a mad rush at the end. I keep creating, keep playing with the beauty and energy of my beads for way too long. I leave too little time for adding clasps, for naming each new necklace, for writing up a description of the special beads in each design, for photographing my latest Maridadi creations.
Here are a few.....
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| Hand cut Jade from Afghanistan |
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| Unusual Etched Bone beads from Kenya |
In addition to the Boston show later this month, I will be hosting a joint show with Helen Conrad at my Durham home in November. Helen is an extremely talented illustrator. Check out her website.
