[9781600592980] Global Crafting Delights: Beading with World Beads


Beading with World Beads: Beautiful Jewelry, Simple Techniques is the latest beading title from Lark. The book includes 39 great jewelry projects that celebrate the increased influence of world and ethnic traditions and sensibilities on craft design and beading in particular. We spoke with editor Ray Hemachandra about the book.



What makes a design “worldly”? It seems hard to define.

You’re absolutely right. The multicultural nature of the modern world blurs traditional definitions about what “world” or “ethnic” means in design. In fact, we went back and forth struggling even with choosing the title of the book. We wanted to reflect appropriately the language used in the bead community, and “world” beads ended up being the best fit according to most of the beaders and bead-store owners with whom we spoke.



The jewelry projects in the book either use beads from different cultures or incorporate an ethnic or world flavor in the design sensibility—or both.

So, is this a current popular trend you’re trying to capture?

Well, yes, “world” is a trend broadly in crafts, as well as in society. But beaders in particular have always sought beads from other cultures, most famously from African traders.

What other areas of the globe are well known for their beads?

Most areas of the world have strong bead-making traditions. The making, trading, and wearing of beads speak to something very primal in us.

Besides the rich bead history in Africa, other places with distinct and renowned bead traditions include Czechoslovakia, China, India, Venice, and Bali. Beads in use today include both authentic beads from many areas of the world and really fine replicas, which mostly are produced in India and China. We elaborate on this in the book a bit. We were lucky to be able to consult with Deborah Coule, the very informed owner of Chevron Trading Post & Bead Co., which is a well-regarded bead store in Asheville, North Carolina.



Was it difficult coming up with “world” designs?

Again, we were fortunate. Beading with World Beads showcases the innovative work of 15 wonderful designers—Jeannette Chiang Bardi, Francie Broadie, Jean Campbell, Candie Cooper, Sherry Duquet, Jamie Cloud Eakin, mother-daughter team Elizabeth Glass Geltman and Rachel Geltman, Catherine Hodge, Cindy Kinerson, Elizabeth Larsen, Karen Lauseng, Marilyn Peters, Andrea Stern, Mike Ann Zable, and Lark Books’ own Terry Taylor. Their inventive approaches—sometimes elegant, sometimes playful—to the jewelry projects really brought the book idea together. I’m very grateful to them and still wowed by their creative ingenuity.

What are your favorite pieces in the book?

I love Jamie Cloud Eakin’s Mumbai Melody necklace—the piece featured on the book’s cover—with its accents of turquoise and coral and a central weathered bell. Another necklace with a strong center piece is Sherry Duquet’s A Day at Eastern Market, which dangles a large chunk of amber under stands of lapis lazuli, peridot, amber, and red coral. Temple Gate Bracelet, designed by Andrea Stern, includes Thai, Czech, and Chinese beads in a distinguished yet exotic design. Elizabeth Larsen’s Golden Dunes Bracelet is a fun, jangly explosion of shell beads. And I was strongly drawn to Karen Lauseng’s classic, simple, and beautiful Peruvian Prayer Beads, a piece that features bone and horn rondelles and hematite disk beads.

The diversity of the bracelets, earrings, and necklaces featured in the book is fantastic. All of the designers seemed especially inspired and did terrific work.



Does any concern exist in the beading world about appropriating a community’s traditional designs—any fear that it might cross a line?

I’m married to a Native American—Cree/Blackfoot—beader, so I’m especially sensitive to the concern. But, really, in today’s craft world, many of those ethnic, national, and community borders have dissolved, for better and, perhaps in some ways, worse. All craft traditions are borrowing from one another—sometimes with purpose and intention and sometimes quite by accident. The result is new and creative combinations, influences, and inspirations, and I think we capture this flavor and excitement in Beading with World Beads. Readers will enjoy seeing all of the great project designs, and they’ll be inspired to come up with their own innovations.



Is something lost, though, in the modern era—a purity of culture and design aesthetic? Probably yes. But I believe we’re all the richer for opening up to one another and learning and growing with each other. I also believe the world and its people will continue to move in this direction, and I’m very glad for it.