​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.

​We recently were contacted by Joyce Thursby who wanted to make a donation of her deceased mother-in-law’s beads. It is a large container with mostly seed beads in an array of sizes and colors! 
Joyce's mother in law’s name was Cynthia Thursby. She was the wife of retired Colonel Donald E. Thursby who is also deceased.  Cynthia Thursby was an avid needlework artist who created numerous works of art, no matter if it was yarn, thread or beads, Cynthia always created a beautiful keepsake. Her jewelry is worn by many members of the family and friends. Her granddaughters have enjoyed the fun beaded bags with a hidden treasure she made them and hopefully will hand those down to their daughters.

For our Kick off for the FY2025 meeting, we will have our members present and talk about what they did this summer, What Did you Do Last Summer?  
​
Wednesday September 4th, 7 pm Pacific Time
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, Passcode: Beads 

Here is some of the information about our presenters:

Angie Carrington has been working on her website, making major updates to the menu and adding additional content. While it's not ready yet, she will share her experiences and challenges with everyone. Maybe it can help someone avoid some headaches.  

Mary Yaeger had an exciting trip to the Czech Republic. She will share some of her adventures with us! 

Lisa Shatts has been working on ideas for celebrating our 50th anniversary. She will highlight the website that we created for Membership Shopping! She will also talk about our trip to the Bead Society of Orange County to hear Robert Liu's talk! 

The Bead Society members helped out at the Fiesta of Gems in late June! This summer Kay Deeney along with some busy members have been helping mark and price some of the Bead Shack. Sylvia H. gratiously offered her home for us to have a garage Bead Sale! We had one in April and again in August. They were very successful! Kay will fill in more details at the meeting! 

Join us! Everyone is welcome! 

Bead Society business meeting is at 6:30 pm PT at the same Zoom address! 

The Bead Society participated in the Culver City Rock & Mineral Club's Fiesta of Gems on June 29th and 30th, 2024. We have had a table other years, but this time we brought beads to sell! It was exciting!

The beads and jewelry come from donations from the families of Bead Society members and others. We have used the beads in classes, donated them to various groups and have sold some at our Pop Ups and other shows. 

Tony Todaro, husband of member, Lillian Todaro passed away in December. Tony was our first webmaster bringing the Society into the Internet Age! Tony was a frequent presence at the Pop Ups and Bazaars as he accompanied Lillian with her beautiful jewelry creations and beads. Tony also came to our meetings at the Veterans Memorial Complex when Lillian was VP to help bring the equipment we needed for the programs. 

Tony was Co-founder with Lillian of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society. He was also President of that group. 

He will be sorely missed. You can get in touch with Lillian at her email address.

Picture and some text courtesy of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society and Lillian T. ​

On Wednesday, January 3rd, the Bead Society is going to have a Member Showcase, Members will show their work and talk about themselves and their art. It should be an interesting meeting and a great way to learn about some of our members! Above is a picture of some of the participants and or their work. We will see a wide range of jewelry, and the use of beads in various formats! We hope that it gets your creative juices flowing! Join us! 

Wednesday  January 3rd, 7 pm Pacific Time
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, Passcode: Beads 
All are welcome! ​Join us! 
​
Business meeting at 6:30 pm PT at the same Zoom address! ​

​One of our members is now also part of another group that she would like us to know about. Diana Friedberg has joined the Ethnic Arts Council which is a group in Los Angeles which celebrates the ethnic arts and which includes beads, of course. They have an active and very interesting membership with lots of talks and visits to wonderful homes with great collections. 
​
People can browse and see if they are interested in being part of the group. It also extends knowledge of ethnic arts and puts beads in the highlight. I am trying to emphasize the importance of beads in the overall picture as well, so it could be informative for our bead members to help spread the word within the group.

Diana says they have a great once a year dinner at the Fowler Museum at UCLA with a silent auction. It is a really mixed group of males and females who are all hospitable and generous in sharing knowledge and homes. Their website is  https://ethnicartscouncil.org/

Submitted by Diana Friedberg, past president, The Bead Society.

Members of the Bead Society celebrated the end of the fiscal year, and the changing of the guard on Saturday, June 24 at the Mexican restaurant, Kalaveras in Marina del Rey. Outgoing officers are Kay Deeney, President; Lillian Todaro, Vice Presiident, and Carmen Landau, Membership Chair. The new and ongoing officers for the 2023-2024 fiscal year are Lisa Shatts, President; Violeta Guerrero, Treasurer (continuing); Sylvia Humphrey, Secretary and Eve Rappoport, Membership Chair. 

Lisa Shatts organized the event. The three outgoing officers received plastic buckets and celebratory cards. The buckets are for gathering one's bucket list of ideas. Lisa warned the three that in a year, she expects a report on whether we have accomplished items on our bucket list. The buckets also included a scoop which is very useful for moving beads around! The outgoing officers wish the incoming officers a successful and fruitful year! 

The restaurant is known for their exotic drinks, and the angel backdrop where several of the pictures were taken. Members and guests enjoyed good food, drinks and companionship. 

The Bead Society Mother's Day Pop Up held on Saturday, May 6th was great! Lots of people attended the brightly lit Parish Hall of St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Mar Vista. One attendee remarked that it was apropos that the church's name matches the Bead Society! 

Vendors sold finished jewely, paintings, art, photographs, tote bags, clothing, and art objects. Some beads and findings were also available.  
​