The Venerable Bead/Christine Connerly

Why does someone with a Master's degree in English Literature make jewelry?
I believe in the power of stories to inform and transform lives. Stories can be told through form, color, texture, and pattern as well as words.

Why the name, The Venerable Bead?
The Venerable Bede was a medieval ecclesiastical priest and historian who helped tell England's story. Priests were often referred to as beadsmen because of the rosary beads they used in saying prayers. The name evokes prayer, reverence, and connection to the past.

Why rock, paper, metal?
Rock - My father was a rock hound. Everywhere we went on vacation, we picked up rocks - agates in Oregon, sapphires in Montana, and every hole-in-the-wall rock shop in Colorado. I developed a love of and respect for rocks very early in life. Rocks form over a length of time that is incomprehensible to humans (especially Americans who are usually in a hurry). Wearing rocks, whether gemstones or beach stones gives us a sense of permanence and immutability. I incorporate many stones into jewelry - tourmaline, kyanite, garnet, amethyst, peridot, turquoise, basalt, jasper - any stone that speaks to me.

Paper - My parents were English teachers and there was paper everywhere in our home. I was (and remain) a voracious reader. In the 1980's I attended a paper bead making workshop with my mother (who was a weaver). I discovered that paper can express more than words - color, texture, pattern, lightness, mutability. Paper tells stories with or without words. I've used a plethora of papers in making beads and jewelry - handmade, mulberry, newspaper (including Chinese, Hebrew, and Arabic) magazines, photographs, art paper. Paper contrasts well with the timelessness of rock and the sturdiness of metal. Although paper can be made durable and sturdy - it conveys a sense of transience.

Metal - As a little girl, I loved to dig through my mother's jewelry box. All of the old watches, brooches, rings, and necklaces had some sort of metal - gold, silver, copper, brass, steel. In 5th grade, I used to roam the playground at lunch picking up old hair pins, paper clips, bits of broken glass, wire, and string. I would form these components into strange sculptures - monocles, lunar modules made of erasers on pin legs, and abstract conglomerates of junk. My teacher mocked me, but that didn't stop me from going on to enjoy torturing metal in jewelry fabrication classes. Folding, embossing, rolling, hammering, and drilling metal gives one a sense of power.
Although I use many mediums in my jewelry (including glass, polymer clay, and fibers), rock, paper, or metal is present in everything I make.

My hope
The need for human beings to embellish themselves with beads has been around since the dawn of human consciousness. Beads have helped those of many faiths focus the mind during prayer and meditation. I hope my jewelry will help the wearer tell part of their story whether prayerful or playful. My jewelry has traveled the world with its wearers - Israel, South America, South Africa, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, and beyond. A part of my story has traveled with it.

Memberships
American Craft Council
Northern California Bead Society
Chico Arts Center
Plumas Arts
Jewelry Artisan's Guild of Northern California

Events
May 5 and 6, 2007 Chico Artisan's Faire Downtown Plaza Park
August 4 and 5, 2007 Almanor Art Show Collins Pine Lawn, Chester, CA
My jewelry is available at Vino 100 (704 Mangrove Ave) in Chico, CA
My paper beads are available at String Bead (2201 Pillsbury Road) in Chico, CA