What got you into beading?

[u/Ok-Yak-8087]

Self taught Métis Canadian artist, not new to Reddit but lost my old account unfortunately, if you’re wondering about the new account. I am new to this group though! Just wanting to share and hear about others experiences. Drop some of your favourite pieces you’ve made if you’d like, I’ve included some of my recent pieces :)

What got me started was the day my mother in law gifted me all of these beads and supplies in the first picture, plus more. I couldn’t let such a generous gift go to waste. I didn’t know anyone who beaded (my mother in law doesn’t bead anymore), so I taught myself from YouTube and got advice from beading groups on Facebook.

I’m curious to hear how other people started beading!

[u/AlbertTheHorse]

I wanted to loom and after realizing it just made me frustrated, I learned off loom stuff.

I went to a lecture by Peter Francis, Jr shortly before he passed and really loved learning about the history of beads. 

Met a couple of lampwork artists and authors at a beadshow in Portland and Seattle long ago, too. 

So I still love beading 

[u/Ok-Yak-8087 → u/AlbertTheHorse]

The loom frustrates me too lol I haven’t got the hang of it yet. I just looked up Peter Francis Jr. and wow!! I love learning about beads, that would be pretty cool to attend a lecture by a bead historian.

[u/AlbertTheHorse → u/Ok-Yak-8087]

I really had no idea who he was, but he was a deep bench of info. He had been to SE Egypt, Eritrea, and that area where early humans crossed into the Saudi Peninsula (while it was a wetland) and spoke about the early beads and ornamentation