Amy's Beading Biography
I still have my very first bead; I got it when I was living in North Canton OH. It was a large bead like those used in macrame, and it was a royal blue barrel bead with a yellow striation across its center. Yep, I still have it!
My obsession with beads and beading started in the early 1980s when I visited a long-gone boutique called Little Bohemia in downtown Grand Rapids MI. The shop owner made a lock of my hair into a beaded braid (still have that too!). I went back there and learned about beading and how to use bent nose pliers (which I had for 40+ years till they finally broke).
From there, I was beading on nylon-coated wire (tiger tail) and waxed linen. The latter is something I don’t do very often, because the technique is hard on my thumbnails.
My waxed linen use really took off when I joined the Society for Creative Anachronism (the SCA) in the 1990s. Making jewelry on waxed linen with knots between the beads is something very “period” (meaning that people in the Middle Ages would have worn such jewelry). I delved into research on period jewelry and made creations based on prototypical pieces.
I really liked Viking jewelry, with the Brustpartei pieces and simple penannular brooches. Elizabethan jewelry didn’t intrigue me, probably because I preferred simpler clothing to the ruffs and capes of the 1500s. My favorite period is the Merovingian dynasty, which was in the 600s in France and Germany.
I made a LOT of jewelry for myself and others during this time, and I managed to get a little money for some of my creations. Mostly, though, I gave away most of my creations. During my first A&S (Arts & Sciences) competition, I won an award for the necklace I had made and I presented it (without having taken a picture of it – darn!) to the queen at that event, Queen Valthiona.
At a much later event, a Crown Tournament (where fighters battle for the Crown of the Middle Kingdom), I presented that queen with a basket full of 100 hand-knotted beaded bracelets that I’d made, for her to present as she saw fit. I believe she gave them to the fighters to present to their ladies. (Some of the fighters were and are female; perhaps they kept their gift themselves.)
My Award of Arms (which entitles me to be called Lady) scroll has beads on it, and was done by Lady Allesandra, a friend of mine. That was and is special on so many levels! (Yes, there are people who actually hand draw and hand letter scrolls for presentation at events.)
I enjoyed teaching beading to kids and anyone who wanted to learn what I did and how I did it. It was and still is a simple style of stringing beads on a strand of wire or cord. While teaching adults is something I still enjoy doing, I think my time with kids was more rewarding for me; I hope I sparked an interest like I’d been bequeathed back in the 80s.
I also enjoy helping artists achieve more success, and one way I did this was as an A&S competition judge. I was fortunate enough to judge jewelry creations as well as other artistic and scientific endeavors, including brewing and wine making. I say this with a bit of tongue in cheek, since I did actually experience beers such as gummy beer (made with gummy bears) and wines like dandelion wine (“sunshine strained through a sock”)! Mead, on the other hand, was heavenly.
In the SCA, Willows are awards presented to people who show a remarkable talent for a particular craft and have taught it to many, shared their research and techniques, etc. I received mine as a result of my beading obsession.
I eventually left the SCA. I did not, however, leave my beading. Can you say, obsessed?!
I have been immersed in science fiction & fantasy fandom since I was a young adult. I attended a couple conventions more recently and eventually sold my creations in their dealers’ room. It was sort of like being at a craft fair but one that goes on for 4 days, and families and friends fully participate. Let’s just say it was a blast!
At the conventions, I placed some of my work in their Art Shows. That was very fulfilling. I hadn’t thought of myself as an artist, just a crafter; this changed that.
With my renewed interest in fandom, I tried my hand at reproducing some of the jewelry I’ve seen in some shows and movies. So I got back into research, of a different sort. Authenticity is still important to me, even with reproductions.
My brother gave me a bead in the shape of the sun when I was a little older. I do not have that one any longer; when he died in 2000, I placed it in his coffin with him.
Here's a picture of Bumble in his prime:
