Beads and Threads, A New Technique for Fiber Jewelry, by Diane Fitzgerald & Helen Banes
Hard cover, 144 pages, illustrated with many photos of finished necklaces as well as patterns and diagrams
Helen Banes was a beloved teacher in the Washington DC area and an overall delightful character. Her classes at the Smithsonian Institution, and efforts as a founding member of the Bead Society of Greater Washington were instrumental in helping me get started in the bead business in DC.
The book begins with a gallery of Helen's work and some of her students' (including another wonderful, unique local multi-media artist Kathleen Williams)
The Designing Your Own Necklace chapter Diane Fitzgerald, with side comments from Helen, gives a quick overview of color theory, the basics of design elements like line, shape, texture and focal point, followed by tips on how to organize the design in terms of scale, balance, and rhythm, and concluding with the importance of the symbolism attached to various beads, pendants and symbols.
Then Diane explains the materials, tools and process, followed by 19 projects for making your own including a diagram for making it and an image of the completed piece.
Of course the final chapter by Helen is my favorite "Finding or Making the Perfect Beads for Your Necklace" She had a wonderful collection, a deep appreciation of beads from around the world, and was able to communicate this with zest and humor. It's really a shame that Helen started teaching this technique so late in life that she didn't have time to train other teachers to pass this technique on more widely. It's a modern incarnation of the age-old union of beads and fiber than can be found in most bead-loving cultures.
The cover has some signs of shelf wear from it's time in one of the Beadazzled stores.
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