Photos compliments of Greenwood Masonic Lodge

Click here for driving directions
There is free parking 1/2 block west after 6pm at the St. John School playground.

2010 Meetings/Lectures

January 21st – Show-And-Tell “Class Acts”
All of us have had one of those great classes with an inspired teacher and interesting techniques that just helped you move your art forward or maybe you got a new how-to book that served the same purpose? How about an inspirational picture book that sent you in a new direction? Come show off your creations, what you made from the class or books and what it inspired!

February 18th – Juan Reyes

If you are looking for clasps and find yourself disappointed with the options available in the bead stores, February is for you. Local metalsmith and teacher Juan Reyes will talk to us about his work and various findings you can make with a minimum of equipment and no soldering! Juan has been a jeweler for 15 years. He teaches a wide range of techniques from his extensive repertoire at Danaca Design in Seattle’s University district.

March 18th – Zena McCoy

Based out of Seattle, Washington with ties to Colombia, Zena McCoy and Semilla Designs create an exclusive jewelry line inspired by an urban-natural concept. Each piece is handcrafted out of renewable resources, primarily seeds, stones, shells and wood. These materials, mixed with silver, gold, and glass, gives life to the collection, satisfying the functional and cultural aesthetics of the urban fashionista. Semilla Designs aims not only to stylishly accessorize the individual but to also educate on the botanical, historical and cultural significance of each seed.

April 15th – Rebecca Roush

   
Rebecca Roush has been using seed beads as a medium for over 20 years. Not formally trained as an artist but handy with a needle and thread, she was initially inspired by her college studies of Medieval and Byzantine history. She began basing her work on Columbia Basin petroglyphs and pictographs, and has done series of female figures, crows and hands. In the past few years she has begun incorporating felted wool into her pieces. To learn more about Rebecca and her art, please visit www.rebeccaroush.com.

May 20th – Viki Lareau
Viki Lareau, CEO and co-owner of The Bead Factory in Tacoma, WA and co-founder of the Puget Sound Bead Festivals, has been conducting workshops on “The Business of Jewelry” for the past 14 years. In 2006 she published her book, Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry. Based on the favorable response from both of these endeavors, Viki was recruited by Beadwork magazine to initiate a regular column entitled, “bead biz.” Viki's NWBS lecture will introduce you to turning your jewelry-making passion into profit - focusing on marketing and selling. To learn more about Viki, please visit www.thebeadfactory.com

June 17th – Maggie Maggio
Maggie Maggio is an artist and architect whose passion for color, experience playing with color and teaching color workshops around the country led to a new way of looking at color – a way she calls “Smashing Color.” She’ll talk about what’s right and wrong with color theory, what you need to know, and how palettes are created. She will use examples from her new book Polymer Clay Color Inspirations: Techniques and Jewelry Projects for Creating Successful Palettes, co-authored with Lindly Haunani. Maggie Maggio is renowned for her courses and workshops on color as well as for her outstanding polymer clay work.

July - no meeting
Annual Summer NWBS Picnic - Seattle - Woodland Park, Shelter #7 -more details

September 16th – Nancy Mēgan Corwin
Drawing from deep within the traditions of metalsmithing, Seattle artist and teacher Nancy Mēgan Corwin will present an overview of the work of contemporary metalsmiths who have mastered, applied and reexamined the ancient and technically demanding discipline covered in her new book Chasing and Repoussé: Methods Ancient and Modern. Mēgan received her MFA at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and she teaches extensively nationwide. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Tacoma Art Museum and locally at Facere Jewelry Art Gallery. For more information about Mēgan please visit her website www.nancymegancorwin.com.

October 21st – Greg Hanson & Marcie Stone
No description yet…

November 18th –
Nothing final yet…

December 9th – Holiday Party!!!
 

2009 Meetings:

January 15th – Beads and Books Show-And-Tell
     Books are one of the most frequent sources of bead inspiration. In January we hope everyone will come and share a favorite book or books and the pieces they inspired. It could be a craft, bead, jewelry, textile, or nature book. It could be a glass bead, beaded bag or jewelry necklace. If you have an extra inspiring book and would like to trade, bring it too! Come and see what you need next in your own library!

February 19th – Self Publishing
     Have you ever wanted to publish a book with your work but don’t know where to start? This month come and learn the basics with professional graphic designer Liz Martini. She will guide us through our choices including publishers, layout programs, printing options and what services a graphic designer offers. Look at real books from some of her favorite publishers. Come and take the first steps toward your own book.

March 19th – Sara Wilbanks
     Polymer clay is a new medium that Sara Wilbanks has transformed into a jewel to be set in precious metals. Phototransfers onto the clay form the basis of her artistic lexicon. A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sara has been featured in Lark Books’ 500 Earrings and was awarded an Artist Trust 2004 Edge Professional Development Program award. To see some of her work, visit her gallery, Facere Jewelry Art (www.facerejewelryart.com/artist.php?id=41).

April 16th – Tina Koyama
     In early 2003, Tina left a 20-year career in corporate communications to make more time for art. She has had dozens of jewelry designs and other beadwork published in Beadwork, Bead & Button, and Belle Armoire among others. Tina uses needle and thread with a variety of materials to create self-supported, three-dimensional forms that evoke movement and energy. Her latest body of work involves hand-stitched, single, continuous piece of hand-dyed, ordinary cotton rope into free-standing forms. The technique is self-taught. Tina says of her work,”Regardless of medium, what excites me about working in three dimensions is exploring the relationship between negative and positive space. As with words left unspoken, a tension develops between a hole and the physical material pressing against it. I am compelled to reveal this tension and transform commonplace materials into unexpected shapes.”

May 21st – Robin Atkins
     Robin Atkins, long time NW bead artist, will present Visual Journaling with Beads, Fibers, Threads and Fabric. Robin will present over 200 beaded journal pieces by 42 artists participating in the 2007-08 Bead Journal Project! Compelling and inspirational, this unique beadwork tells stories, reveals emotions and follows important events in the lives of the artists who create a visual journal each month during the year-long project. In this presentation, you will see the best of the best!

June 18th – Karen Lorene
     Karen Lorene, owner of the Facere Jewelry Art and author of Buying Antique Jewelry: Skipping the Mistakes, will present “WHICH ONE? Creating an Antique Bead Collection.“ In this interactive lecture Karen will guide participants on an imaginary trip through time putting together a collection of beaded jewelry. Each category of beads will have two images, and you get to choose the one you wish to put in your imaginary collection. The second half of the lecture will help you learn why one choice was a better collector's choice than the other... With debate when appropriate in case you disagree!

July 19th - No meeting, however, we have our July Picnic.

September 17th –  
An Evening of Sharing with Lampwork Artist and Tool Inventor Scott Bouwens of Bearfoot Art.

      Scott Bouwens from La Conner, WA has been making lampwork beads since 1998 and has been doing it full time since the year 2000. Starting with Art Festivals, Full-time selling on eBay, Local and National Bead Shows, A full e-commerce website, and now a retail location/studio in downtown La Conner. Scott is also the inventor and manufacturer of many unique handmade tools for the lampworker that enable the artist to work faster, with less body strain, and with new techniques. A few of these tools are The Electric Mandrel Spinner, The Rolling Marver, The Powder Vibe, and the Ultimate Hand Stabilizers. Scott has been published numerous times in various books and magazines and has received many honors for his work.
     Scott signature element to his beads revolves around his use of silver leaf to acheive a lovely palette of earth tones.  His passion for science and art will show as his natural talent of teaching and sharing information is broken down to a glorious night of eye candy and information. He'll share techniques, business information, and be happy to answer your questions.

October 15th – Alida Latham

     A seasoned world traveler, photographer and bead collector, Alida will share images and stories from some of her memorable trips. Whether it is the lives of peoples in remote parts of the globe, their ornamentation or just wonderful views of places most of us will never get a chance to visit, this is a lecture you should not miss!

November 19th – Mary Lee Hu
     Using traditional textile techniques—weaving, twining, wrapping, braiding—Mary Lee Hu transforms wire into sumptuous body sculpture. Her main tools are her fingers. "The many hours of repetitive twining are a meditative activity," she says. Hu professes an early love of metals that developed into more than 34 years of jewelry-making in which she has explored the possibilities and limits of wire. Gold, with all its associations of value and timelessness, is her metal of choice. "By using the deep yellow color of the high karat gold, symmetry, and intimate detail, I hope to reference the Classical Greek, Etruscan or Celtic," she says. The retired head of the University of Washington Metals program, Mary has taught and inspired a generation of jewelers throughout the country.

December 10th – Holiday Party!!!

 

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