Beadline
Judith Bertoglio-Giffin
Bead by bead, stitch by stitch, each piece is unique.  Beads satisfy my hunger for color and texture
where the journey of creation is as important as the finished piece.


Back to Bead Line Home Page


For many years I was a snow bird beader, summering in rural New Hampshire and wintering in Arizona. After 35 years of raising a family and working in Corporate America, I maintained studios in two states and traveled to teach.  I finally managed to have taught beading in 48 States. It has been rewarding applying Corporate learned skills of teaching adults in the beading world. Beading allows me a freedom of expression, by design or otherwise, to create jewelry that enhances a wearer’s personal statement.   Many beaders come to Arizona to enjoy the mild winters, Tombstone's history and to bead with me in my studio.

I have always loved and collected beads, but it took my sister Tina, to get me interested in beading as an art form once againIn 1999 I attended a "Bead Cave" in Rhode Island and picked up a new passion - seed bead-crochet. Bead-crochet work has a suppleness to it that isn't to be found in any other bead work. A bracelet gently rolls over your hand and sits on the wrist with no clanking or noise - perfect for those with metal allergies. The Victorian-Style, or Flapper-era lariats at 40" to 50" offer endless variations of wearability. They slink & flow around your neck, are light weight and hang with an elegance of another era.  Playing with all the design possibilities in bead-crochet finally led to publishing several books on the technique.  Most of my publications can be found on Amazon or as eBooks on Sova-Enterprises.

I’ve been beading off and on for over twenty five years and take pleasure in making adornments that delight both the wearer and viewer. My designs are created to be wearable art forms, are original, and as such, are extensively tested to ensure that they will hold up to daily use. 

I enjoy working in just about every beading technique there is.  As an antidote to the structure of bead-crochet I frequently indulge in freeform peyote or bead embroidery. Quite frequently I find that a pre-designed piece just will not cooperate and becomes something else again. It's the primary reasons that I like working in embroidery and freeform techniques as they allow for freedom of expression, by design or otherwise.

amber.gif (16485 bytes)quartz.gif (25454 bytes)

email  me
Judith

artist

Retired beader as of the end of 2016

head west.jpg (120118 bytes)

Snow Bird Beader

 

wired.JPG (21352 bytes)

Back to Bead Line Home Page

Bead Line Gallery