Kristen Greer is our March 5th speaker for our online program. She is an avid collector of antique-vintage beads and treasures.  She will be speaking about antique beads and beaded purses. Here's a list of what she will be covering: 

🌼A brief history of the cut steel & metal micro beads.
🌼A brief history of Georgian cut steel jewelry.
🌼A brief history of the micro metal beaded misers purses & later handbags.
🌼She will show examples of the Georgian cut steel jewelry, cut steel & metal micro beads, and the many different styles of purses that the women of the day carried from the Georgian era through the early twentieth century.
​
March Bead Society Program Meeting!
Wednesday March 5th, 7;00  PM Pacific Time
Meeting ID: 899 883 2615
Passcode: Beads

​Join us! 

The Bead Society went to the "Beads of Courage" studio for the SoCal Flame Surfers in February. It was exciting! The SoCal Flame Surfers support Beads of Courage in making special glass beads that can be given to hospitalized children. Bead Society member, David Keith was our host. 

Beads of Courage (BoC) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and teens coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them through their Arts-in-Medicine Programs. BoC has established collaborative partnerships in caring with hundreds of hospitals nationally and internationally and worked with several community organizations to make healing happen through the use of beads as a historical art form.

After our safety orientation, we were guided in making simple beads by Steve and David. We could add more glass to an initial bead, add dots, or do something else equally creative. We were willing to donate our beads to Beads of Courage, the non profit that David's group works with. Afterwards we had a pleasant potluck lunch with David's famous quiche. 

Here are some pictures from the two days we went to the Studio. 
​

​Several members of The Bead Society went on a field trip to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana in late January. The highlight of the trip was the exhibit, The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art by Aka Chen. 

"Aka Chen (Taiwanese, 1965-) is one of the premiere artists around the world today working in titanium. His debut solo exhibition in the United States, The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art, showcases an exquisite assembly of 20 sculptures that ingeniously combine the intricacies of contemporary jewelry with fluid compositions of brush paintings." We all were impressed, inspired and excited to see this exhibit! 

There is a video on The Bowers website that shows parts of the exhibition. It clearly does not compare to seeing the objects up close. The exhibit is on until April 13th, so be sure to check it out! 

​In addition, we were able to view Gemstone Carvings: The Masterworks of Harold Van Pelt.
This exhibit showcases the natural quality and colors of agate and gives quartz the transparency of glass. It was amazing! Here is a link to a docent led tour of this exhibit. 

The Bowers Museum which also hosts the Bead Society of Orange County is located at 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706. 

Here are some pictures from our trip.