Learning Folded Beads!

These are amazing beads and really important, in my opinion as they are ancient and some of the very first decorative beads around. Ancient Islamic Folded Beads, have captivated many an artist, with their seemingly impossible to replicate construction. I have read many stories of artists trying to replicate them, even spending years dedicated to reproducing these amazing beads, that seem to elude most.

I must admit, I love a challenge and decided to try and see if I could discover how to create them, if only for my own sense of accomplishment. I am not a glass artist, so I thought about polymer clay and how it adapts so well to the other glass techniques, like cane work... that look of milifiori, actually was achieved with molten glass. So in conditioning my clay, I was trying to put myself in the shoes of these Islamic artists who created this technique.... not an easy thing to do. I started to play and create with my clay, I tried stacking it in snakes and layering it, cutting the snakes and redistributing the lines to try and create the same pattern, but nothing looked even similar to them.


Well, I finally was able to create my won folded beads that look a lot like these original ones! Since discovering this method, I have created so many different shapes methods and techniques for creating unique and original folded beads.... not ancient, but these are as close to them as I have seen.
I have been blessed with a tenacity that does not allow me to quit, and i am thankful for that!

Here are some of my folded beads, please do a search to see more pic's of the original folded beads and compare them to min and you will see the similarities are very apparent... I am jazzed!

I can teach anyone to create them.... maybe a class!??? By the way, round beads are to simple, I wanted to create differnt shapes and am even creating connectors that are folded and pendant... really fun!

Here is a necklace with 3 fabricated  Ivory Folded beads, these beads are the ones pictured in all white!
Let me know what you think... I would love to start a class.... any interest!??
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Reproductions... Amazing!

I wanted to try my hand at reproducing early jewelry pieces, like form the pre Colombian era, and pre Classic eras. Those hard to find ornately decorated and expertly crafted pieces of wearable art.

I purchased a book by Daniel and Serga Nadler, Silver, from fetish to fashion. It is a book about their travels and their found love for Ethnic Jewelry, together they fell in love with each other and jewelry collecting. With their bond and love for one another they have amassed a huge collection of primer, gallery quality, pieces of Silver masterpieces.

Their collection has inspired me so much that I want to now recreate them, but in polymer clay and metals, and try my best to make them look close to the actual pieces. I have always been one to challenge myself, and this will be a challenge, as these are the finest pieces of jewelry I have seen, and they are actual pieces form their origination. They would travel to India, Pakistan, S.E, Asia, just every where, and would deal with tribes people and collectors to get the very best pieces they could find from all over the world.
This is my first try at creating with this book as inspiration... what do you think, i can use some feedback, really I could. Please feel free to comment... Thank you so much.