Summer 2021 Workshops

Heart of Texas Bead Retreat

Summer 2021 Zoom Retreat

June 24-28, 2021

Workshops

These workshops will be held on the Zoom app. To use Zoom you will need: A computer or laptop which has speakers; a microphone and a video camera; and an internet connection. If your laptop doesn’t have a video camera, you can buy one inexpensively. You can also join a Zoom class without a camera but instructors don’t recommend it.


Cynthia Rutledge

Cynthia is a contemporary artist and teacher focusing on beadwork as her medium. She specializes in peyote stitch and off-loom weaving techniques with an emphasis on developing sculptural unsupported shapes in beadwork.

Her work has been exhibited in national and international shows and has appeared in Nicolette Stessin’s Beaded Amulet Purses, Carol Taylor’s Creative Bead Jewelry, and Carol Wilcox Wells’Creative Bead Weaving: A Contemporary Guide to Classic Off-Loom Stitches.

“My attraction to 3-dimensional shapes has created a fascination for me throughout my life and has fueled my creative spirit. My choice of beadwork as a primary medium has followed that same fascination. As my beadwork has evolved, my work seems to always lean towards the building of shapes and forms that are functional and wearable.

The choice to use beads as my medium was primarily influenced by my love of color. Beads reflect and absorb light, hold shape and dimension, and in so doing, offer chameleon-like qualities. It is not always the end result that is the most important to me, however. The process of working with beads and thread is meditative and calming, which allows time for reflection. Engineering each piece is always a challenge that thrills me, as well as giving me the power to make the decisions that need to be made for each piece. The more I experience the wonderful qualities of beadwork, the more I realize my relationship with beads will always be one of learning, experiencing and sharing.

The decision to teach grew from my personal desire to share my love of beads and all the wonderful things that can be created with them. The commitment that I have to teaching stems from my desire to share the knowledge I have gained while developing my own skills in this medium. Ultimately, my mission is to help to keep this art form alive and well.”    (photo of Cynthia by Mark Rutledge)

To view more of Cynthia’s designs, visit Cynthia Rutledge

Fortuna’s Wheels of Fortune Bracelet

Description:  Click HERE
Workshop: Designed for the Heart of Texas Summer 2021 Retreat
Skill level: Intermediate to advanced – Students must have a basic understanding of Peyote stitch and Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW)
Techniques:
Cubic right-angle weave
Peyote stitch, flat even count Peyote stitch, flat odd count step up/step down, Peyote stitch, flat circular, even count with increasing, Zipping techniques
Materials: Kit Mandatory
Kit: $42+ One 14mm cushion cut CZ & Two 10mm CZs  (+ shipping)
Kit Colors: Kit #1 Bronze AB; Kit #2 Soft Gold; Kit #3 Gunmetal; Kit #4 Silver – Click HERE
Students should bring: Kits come with size 11 beading needles but make sure to have an assortment of sizes for tight spots; Small sharp scissors and a thread burner; Microcrystalline beading wax (optional, but highly recommended); Beading surface of choice; Magnification; Lighting; Any basic beading supplies that you like to have on hand.

 


Sherry Serafini

Unusual objects and shapes become part of a new story as Sherry stitches beads and gemstones, one at a time, to a felt like base.  Most pieces are born spontaneously as the beads and Sherry’s imagination dictate the design.  She seldom works from sketches.  Sherry finds this meditative form of art to be a rich counterpoint to a society full of instant gratification.  Some pieces take a year to complete. Each is unique.

Sherry was raised in a military family, moving every few years. She credits that nomadic lifestyle with giving her an adventurous and uninhibited approach to her work.

Sherry was voted one of the top 10 instructors in the United States by Bead & Button magazine. She lectures and teaches throughout the U.S. and has won numerous awards for excellence in design, including Saul Bell Outstanding Jewelry Design Award, Bead International 2006, People’s Choice Bead Dreams, Runner Up Best in Show Bead Dreams, Kennedy Best of Nationally.  She has been published and has written articles for several well-known magazines.  Her work has been featured on the covers of trade magazines and catalogs and is the co-author of the Art of Bead Embroidery with artist and dear friend Heidi Kummli and Sensational Bead Embroidery by Sherry Serafini.

Sherry’s beaded art is known internationally and is owned and worn by Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, and singer Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. Her beadwork has been seen at fashion week in Milan by the artists who commission her.

To view more of Sherry’s designs: Sherry Serafini

Leaping Lizard Cuff

Description: Create a bead embroidered cuff with a beautiful lizard cabochon by the fabulous Jean Christen. Lizard is separately beaded on foundation then attached to cork fabric. Other components are beaded and then attached with a little herringbone stitch. Then embellishments of Swarovski pearls and crystals complete the piece.

Cuff will be customized to fit your own wrist. Clasp is a slide bar clasp.

Workshop: Designed for The Heart of Texas Summer 2021 Bead Retreat
Skill Level: All Levels
Techniques: Bead embroidery, Peyote, Herringbone, assorted weaving stitches
Materials: Kit Mandatory
Kit: $110  (+ shipping)
Students should bring: Includes everything needed to complete the cuff except for Fireline 6lb test, size 11 beading needles, scissors and E-6000. Full color directions are included. Lighting/Magnification, your usual beading supplies as needed.
Kit Color Options: Click HERE


Nancy Cain

Nancy has been teaching bead classes for over 20 years and for the last 17 years on the international/national circuit teaching in Japan twice, Australia, Germany, and England as well as on several bead cruises from Alaska to the Baltic Sea. She was the 2015 Bead&Button Show Master Class instructor – teaching Engineering Vessels. In her workshop sessions, she shares her passion for structural peyote stitch by delving into the process of designing and structure. With an engineering perspective to beading, she shares the processes so students can enhance their knowledge beyond the specific project.

Nancy has exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hakone Open-Air Museum. She was named Beadwork’s Designer of the Year for 2010 and twice been a Bead Dreams Finalist at the Bead & Button show. She has also been widely published and is in the process of writing a book.

Before her beading hobby grew, Nancy was as a graphic artist and calligrapher as well as a draftsman for an engineering company. She is married with two grown children and lives in Colorado.

To view more of Nancy’s designs, visit Nancy Cain

Perla Dulce (purr-la/duel-say)  [which means “Sweet Bead” in Spanish]

Description:
Create this elegant and very wearable necklace with peyote stitched bezels and pinch-in-the-ditch with a delicate Russian Spiral rope. The oval faced bezels hold 14mm round rivoli stones connected with Rolo chain accent, adding drape and balance to the three-tiered pendant. The rope uses Delica beads and 15/0 seed beads for a classy, smooth, and subtle look.
Workshop: Designed for The Heart of Texas Summer 2021 Bead Retreat
Skill Level: Intermediate
Techniques: Peyote Stitch, Russian Spiral
Materials: Kit Mandatory
Kit Color Options:  Silky Sage (photo), Golden Shadow, Lilac Shadow, Crystal Silver  Click HERE
Kit: $90  (+ shipping)
Students should bring: Lighting/Magnification, your usual beading supplies

 


Kim Stathis

Through out my life, I have always needed a creative outlet. I have played with many different types of media’s and loved them all. The media that really captured my heart and inspired my creative soul is seedbeads! There is just something alluring and special about those little bits of colored glass that I cannot resist. I love the challenge of designing with seedbeads using off-loom techniques. So many colors, textures and shapes! So many ways to express yourself with beads.

I been teaching my designs nationally for the past thirteen years. It is my hope that students will be inspired by what they have learned in class and continue to do beadwork and enjoy it as much as I do.

My designs have been published in the Bead and Button magazine and in Larks Showcase 500 Jewelry Book.

To view more of Kim’s designs: Kim Stathis 

Center of the Universe

Description: A large bezeled crystal stone with an overlay of circular beadwork makes up the centerpiece for the necklace. Arched Herringbone segments connect the pendant to a pearl ring component which matches the overlay on top of the crystal stone. The embellished necklace straps are made with Herringbone stitch.

Workshop: Heart of Texas Summer 2021 Bead Retreat
Skill Level: Intermediate – Student needs to have finished several off-loom projects.
Techniques: Bead embroidery, Peyote, Herringbone, assorted weaving stitches
Materials: Click HERE
Kit: $135 (+ shipping)
Students should bring: Includes everything needed to complete the cuff except for Fireline 6lb test, size 11 beading needles, scissors and E-6000. Full color directions are included. Lighting/Magnification, your usual beading supplies as needed.
Kit Color Options: Click HERE


Cliff Swain-Salomon

Cliff Swain-Salomon is an off-the-loom seed bead weaver known for creating non-traditional jewelry shapes and pushing the boundaries of color exploration. After injuring and losing use of both of his hands for over three years, he began beading when a friend recommended he try it as part of his hand rehabilitation therapy. Once he started, he was hooked.

In all of his pieces, Cliff integrates over 30 years of study in multiple fields, including graphic design, painting, as well as apprenticeships with several medicine men and women, exploring sacred geometry and chromotherapy. He has exhibited his work internationally, including at the Toho Bead Galleries in Osaka and Tokyo Japan. Several publications have featured his jewelry including Facet Jewelry, Style Magazine, and Bead and Button. Cliff was the grand prize winner of Bead Dreams in 2018 where he received the People’s Choice Award and has also received several other awards including—the Facet Jewelry Reader’s Choice Award July 2019 and Judges Award November 2019.

Cliff teaches beadweaving at various stores, for bead societies, and for retreats internationally. Before becoming a full-time artist/teacher, Cliff had worked as an instructor for a college of natural medicine, as a chef, and had held a private holistic medicine practice.  He is married with a 3 year-old daughter and lives in California, near San Francisco.

To view more of Cliff’s designs: Cliff Swain-Salomon
Wild at Heart

Description: Designed in honor of Cliff’s mother—an adventuresome character who runs circles around people even half her age—this wild prairie rose pendant necklace reflects her love, its resilience, and its infiniteness. Five heart-shaped petals adorn a bezeled Swarovski chaton, surrounded by softly striated leaves.  To complete the necklace, the pendant attaches to a beaded rope of Russian Snake Chain studded with 2mm Swarovski Pearls.
Workshop: Designed for The Heart of Texas Summer 2021 Bead Retreat
Skill Level:  Advanced.  A strong understanding of Peyote and RAW is required for this class.  In class, modified St. Petersburg (Russian Feather Stitch) and Russian snake chain will be taught.
Techniques:  Peyote, RAW, Brick, modified St. Petersburg (Russian Feather Stitch), Russian Snake Chain
Materials: Kit Mandatory
Kit: $95  (+ shipping)
Students should bring: Lighting/Magnification, your usual beading supplies including needles, One-G thread or Miyuki thread (depending on colorway) will be included.  You can use 4# fireline if you prefer (must be 4#)
Kit Color Options: Click HERE

 

 

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