And a Beader is born

10 years ago, Octoberish I think, a friend and I took an Art Gallery Course called Introduction to Jewelry making. Neither of us realized it was all about bead weaving, not fixing or stringing necklaces. Neither of us were prepared to meet Gail ,a USA transplant who owned at one time the largest bead emporium in the Eastern U.S. and who with amazing foresight brought the majority of her beads with her when she moved to B.C. We took the class. Learned Peyote and were hooked on the lost art of native bead weaving. Following the end of the course and faced with two "all or nothing" personalities, she did a wondrous thing. She invited us weekly into her home to continue to learn more Native Weaving techniques. Neither of us knew who Gail was or knew of her reputation in the bead world and that she had apprenticed with Tis Mal Crow, legend in native bead weaving and Shaman herbal healing circles. Had we even a clue we would never had raised our eyes or stood erect in her presence.Ten years later our passion for seed bead weaving has only grown stronger. We watch with amusement  beading fever hit the craft world and the thousands of dollars spent in wire, crystal, findings and glass blown beads always returning to our roots and first love, the cheap and simple seed bead, beading needle and Nymo D thread. Above you see some of the Peyote bags we first produced. We later discovered we could adjust our designs to be a modern piece with a foundation firmly set in the versatile Peyote stitch. Over the next week I will display many of our designs in an attempt to lure you into the wonderful world of Native Bead Weaving.