Bead Barmy

Jean Power is an award winning jewellery designer, beader extraordinaire, author and teacher. A penchant for bold, geometric shapes contribute to her unique style.

Jean’s attention to detail and lush patterns compels the viewer to take another look. ‘Disposable’ costume jewellery is fine and fun, to be worn on a few outings and then left to gather dust in the ‘also ran’ pile. However, Jean’s jewellery is for life. These wearable works of art will stand the test of time and are guaranteed to take pride of place in any collection. I found out what makes this talented craftswoman tick.    

How did your interest in beading begin?

A star studded example of beading mastery

I always loved art and crafts and did many different ones when I was younger. One of these was cross-stitch and as I did more and more I was finding I was looking for kits with more and more beads on them. Then one day, when I worked in Kentish Town, North London, I noticed a bead shop had opened on my route to work.
It took me quite a while to get up the nerve to go in and even longer to buy anything. I was very aware of not knowing what all the different codes, sizes and types were and when faced with thread, needle and pattern choices, I found it too overwhelming to buy anything. It wasn’t until I found someone selling a kit that had everything in it that I began beading.

Many of your designs look like carefully planned artworks as opposed to ‘another string of beads’. Do you have an artistic background any other creative training? 

A pendant with pizzazz!

I have never formally studied art beyond GCSE, but I am very interested in this area and read and practice as much as possible. I used to paint a lot and have also had a private lesson with a medallist on making art medals which is an area I am very interested in. It is very important to me to try and let non-beaders realise that using beads can be more than stringing or childish work. Also that beads can be a valid medium to use in jewellery making and artwork

I love your geometric patterns and 3D designs. As you live in London, I have the feeling you must glean some of your inspiration from the buildings and sites of the city – or am I wide of the mark here? Where do your ideas come from?

A mathematical approach in this geometry inspired design

I have had inspiration from architecture. One of my pieces uses colour and shape inspired by a visit to an art gallery, the work there and the building itself. But most of my work is inspired by the beads themselves as well as geometry. Pushing the boundaries plays a big part and testing out “what would happen if…”

I love jewellery and fashion, so am always interested in what is going on. I often make quick, easy fashion items but my more time-consuming pieces are much less trend based.

I have waxed lyrical about your book, Compendium of Beading, before. I would say that it is the one must – have book in any beader’s collection. How did it all come about?

Totally tropical

Thank you! I am very proud of this book and really put my heart and years of knowledge and experience into it.

I love books and own many beading and jewellery ones but felt that so many of them missed out essential steps and tips which people need to know. I have taught jewellery making to hundreds, if not thousands, of people and am aware that the same questions crop up time and time again. I felt many of these issues weren’t being addressed in other publications.

More geometric style in bold reds

I’d never sat down and looked at any of my books since they’d come out as I was too worried about what I might find, but yesterday I taught a class and someone had the latest one. I actually sat down and flicked through it. I’d forgotten just how much I managed to squeeze in! I wanted it to be a complete resource of techniques and tips so am really glad it turned out to be that.

Your book is dotted with top tips to make beading easier. Do you have any favourite top tips for our Bead Barmy blog readers?

Jean cooks up a treat with peyote swirls in glorious greens

My top tip isn’t an obvious one to do with a specific technique but is simply “Try, try and try again”. There really is no substitute for actually doing something and doing it more than once to learn how to do it and do it well. I really believe that you can’t fully understand a craft until you have put a certain amount of hours in.

Think of it like cooking. When you start you have to follow other people’s instructions and may make lots of mistakes. But, once you’ve cooked enough times you begin to know what results you’ll get by putting certain ingredients together. You learn that some things take less time to cook than others and will be best to tackle on a Monday evening when you’re tired. You’ll be able to predict what something will taste like before you start or if it will be any good- and if not what you can do to fix it. None of that comes about by magic. You have to put all the work and hours in to get to the point where you can open the fridge and before you know it you’re pulling things out and dinner is ready.

A flair for design and a penchant for bold, geometric shapes

It’s exactly the same with beads. Put in lots of time, read lots of instructions and experiment and you’ll be pulling tubes of beads out and combining them without even having to think about what will and won’t work- it will come naturally to you. The more you work with them the more you’ll know what will and won’t work or maybe just where to begin to experiment.

As for a beading top tip it has to be to always make sure you don’t overwhelm your work with shiny beads. Too much shine is hard on your eyes and they will be constantly scanning for a matte surface to rest on. This means that it’s hard for anyone to see the detail of your work and the effect will be ruined.

With teaching, editing, beading and book writing your life must be pretty full! If such a thing exists, can you describe a typical day for you and how do you organise your time?

Attention to detail creates intricate jewellery

My life is a bit haphazard and really varies from one day to the next. Up until very recently my full-time day job was editing Bead magazine which took up a lot of my time. I resigned just over two months ago and finished my last issue a month a go.

My typical day starts between 7 and 8am. I’m usually straight on the computer answering emails, writing instructions, drawing diagrams, dealing with class bookings and kit purchases. This goes on until anywhere between 4pm and midnight depending on how busy I am.

Two nights a week, and on Sundays, I train with my roller derby team The London Rockin Rollers. It’s fun, means I get some exercise and actually leave the house! I am also a secretary for them and a committee member so there are often meetings, admin work and newsletter writing to do.

I also teach classes in London at least one Saturday a month and often teach private 1-2-1 classes during the week. Add to that going away every couple of months to teach somewhere in the UK, France or the US and finding time to bead and come up with new designs can be hard!

What’s next for Jean Power?

Bold peyote stitch beads

Since I left working on the magazine I have been mainly working on finally launching my own limited-edition kits. After years of people asking for these I now have the time to do them. These have sold really well and I’m looking forward to releasing more. You can find them on my website at www.jeanpower.com. I am also working on some book ideas with a publisher at the moment which may turn into something. I am also planning a large beading retreat for September 2011, but for the moment, my main plan is a top secret project that will launch next year. I am really excited about and working very hard on at the moment.

I’m sure all of these pictures of Jean’s gorgeous work must’ve got some of those creative juices flowing. The great news is that patterns for most of these items and many more are available to buy from Jean’s website. If any of you do take the plunge, I’d love to see your take on Jean’s designs. Please email any of your attempts to jo@beadsunlimited.co.uk  under the heading ‘Inspired by Jean’. You may see your name (and photo) up in lights right here on Bead Barmy!

Posted by: JoBlogsIt