Bead Show Puts Spotlight on Local Artists

A look at how handmade jewellery is crafted by two jewellery designers.

Text by: Phoebe Yu

Edited by: Mike Lee

Published: March 22, 2011, The Source

Arts and crafts enthusiasts can look forward to an upcoming display of beads, baubles and handcrafted jewellery.  The Fraser Valley Bead Show puts the "art" in arts and crafts, as it showcases local artists this March 25-27.

Barrie Edwards, a designer and the show's main organizer, refers to the jewellery designers as artists because there is a lot of work and creativity that go into the pieces.  "Making jewellery is so diverse and different.  You learn new things all the time," she told The Source.

Edwards will also have her work displayed at the show.  She specializes in hand-fabricated sterling silver and identifies her work as contemporary, classic and timeless.

As a mother of four, Edwards wanted to do something that would give her the flexibility of time and allowed her to work at home.  This is how her involvement with crafting handmade jewellery started.  For her it's like an obsession.  "Once you start, you can't stop," she said.

Eugenia Chan is another jewellery artist and a vendor in the upcoming show.  She makes a similar case for jewellery-making.  Chan said she finds it very rewarding to make something that people will appreciate.  The same goes for the workshops that she teaches.  "I like teaching and I'm so happy when people come to learn and appreciate what you do," said Chan.

Being no stranger to art, Chan has dabbled in painting, quilt-making and other hobbies, but nothing stuck with her like jewellery-making.  She describes her work as one-of-a-kind.

"No one else does wire work in Canada," she said.  "I have very funky jewellery.  You can wear it anytime and it serves as a conversation piece."  Chan incorporates various mediums such as wires, sterling silver, and sheet metal into her designs.

The wires are typically knotted, using pliers or other tools, to make hooks or links.  It can also be wrapped around the beads for aesthetic purposes.  Chan also works with sheet metal, in which she melts it over the fire to shape it into different forms.  One particular sheet metal work was crafted into a leaf to be used as a pendant.  Chan uses various techniques such as etching, or using ferric chloride to draw different designs and figures on the metal itself.

The Fraser Valley Bead Show provides local artists like Chan a chance to be recognized and celebrated for their work.  Edwards started this event in 2004 because there was nothing like it in Canada.  Edwards notes that craft shows are not as popular as they used to be.  She says a number of factors contribute to this concern, such as the bad economy, which prevents people from wanting to spend money, or competition from products imported overseas.

But this event gives bead and jewellery-makers as well as crafts enthusiasts a chance to get to know each other, learn form each other, and of course, buy and sell jewellery.