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Priscilla Beadle

Hull Artist, Priscilla Beadle Turns 75 and swings open the door to Open Studios Tour July 8-9.

Coinciding with Hull artist Priscilla Beadle’s 75th birthday, the public is invited to visit artists’ studios July 8th and 9th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Hull peninsula, plus one studio in Cohasset.

Free art tour maps are available at most Hull businesses for the self-guided visits. Children are welcome and on-street parking is available. Art lovers may choose to start at the beginning of Hull where maps are available at Gallery Nantasket, 121 Nantasket Ave, and work their way to the end of the peninsula on this free art tour.

Thirty six artists in 21 locations will show their fine arts and crafts for the 22nd annual Open Studios. Media represented include acrylic, oil, watercolor, fused plastic, colored pencil, cut paper, and mixed medium paintings, photography, textiles, jewelry, pottery, and mosaics.

Hull Artists is a tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1995. Over 75% of the membership are from Hull, Hingham and Cohasset. The remaining artists are from other South Shore towns. See HullArtists.com for more details.

July 8th also marks an important celebration for one Hull artist, Priscilla Beadle; it’s her 75th birthday and the midpoint of her 2017 Necklace-a-Week Challenge. To celebrate turning 75, Priscilla Beadle challenged herself to create a one-of-a-kind beaded necklace each week in 2017. Each neckpiece originates from a different drawer of her 52 drawer apothecary chest.

When she reflects on the first half of 2017, Beadle confides that the challenge she began to reinvigorate her work has driven her on a path of self-discovery. Beadle enthuses, “I wake in the morning thinking about creative designs and go to bed planning what to put in my journal tomorrow. I discovered that the process of creating is what really excites me.”

Reliving the acquisition of the beads in each drawer has stirred vivid, pleasant memories for Beadle. “Each day, the process of remembering and sorting has given me a new excitement about going to my studio and spending the time to design something spectacular,” she says.

For this year’s Open Studios, Beadle feels very self-confident and mentally trained as a strong necklace designer. Beadle explains, “Now I’ve had the chance to focus each week on something spectacular—I don’t usually go to my studio thinking ‘this is going to be the best necklace of the week,’ some are ordinary and some remarkable. But through my challenge, I’m putting the effort into one necklace that speaks to my creativity that week—it’s the most special necklace of the week.”

Beadle has been making one or two other necklaces each week but she hasn’t had time for much else. “This challenge has consumed me in a good way,” Beadle reveals. The public is invited to visit Beadle’s studio during Hull Artists’ Open Studios weekend July 8-9 where many of her unique neckpieces will be on display and available to try on and to purchase.

Creating bead jewelry art since 1993, Priscilla Beadle first found inspiration for her bold, eclectic designs in the bazaars of Tibet and Nepal, in dusty shops in Beijing, on remote Indonesian islands reached by catamaran, in beautiful Bali, and in verdant Indochina—Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Each Beadleful design starts with a centerpiece—add whimsy, color excitement, texture, chunky beads, a fabulous clasp—a collectable necklace is born.

Priscilla Beadle returned to her hometown, Hull MA, in 2011. For 34 years she had lived in California, eleven in the historic mission town of San Luis Obispo. She brought her business, Beadleful, with her and crafted a comfortable studio for her work on the ground floor of her home. The spark of Beadleful ignited when, after 23 years in the corporate world, Priscilla retired in 1993 to accompany her husband on his job assignment in Hong Kong. Southeast Asia became her handicraft fantasy world as she hunted for beads: –odd, large, ethnic, contrarian beads; antique or contemporary glass beads; rare and unusual colors; textures that lead to touching. Whether traveling the world or stalking New England galleries, successful bead hunting inspires the bold eclectic designs that characterize Priscilla’s unique necklaces and bracelets.

For more information or to arrange a studio tour, please visit https://PriscillaBeadle.com/

Hull Artist, Priscilla Beadle Turns 75 and swings open the door to Open Studios Tour July 8-9.Read More

Hull, MA Artist, Priscilla Beadle Shares Fashion Insights

Priscilla Beadle

Hull MA artist, Priscilla Beadle, 75 years old, has been creating unique bead jewelry since 1995. As she travels the world in search of beads, Beadle has observed fashion trends worldwide. Though she aims not to be trendy in her creations, Beadle is aware of what people are wearing today.

Venice, Italy, is Beadle’s favorite city for inspiration. “It’s the ultimate feast for the eyes—for unadulterated romanticism,” declares Beadle. When Beadle lived in Paris in the 1960’s, she remembers her French roommate had only three dresses, yet the young woman always looked fascinating. The French woman used accessories of scarves, necklaces, belts, hats, gloves, bracelets and other jewelry.

French women, Beadle believes, are not more attractive than American women, only more stylish. Beadle’s accessory to count on is a short necklace with sterling silver and pearls. A “sunshine cloth” is Beadle’s secret helper to keep sterling silver gleaming.

A simple way to look fabulous is to wear jewelry and clothing that make you feel good. Sometimes when considering a necklace, women confide in Beadle, “I’m too short,” or “I’m too chubby,” or “I’m too old” to wear the one they like. Beadle’s advice is to choose pieces that speak to you—it could be a favorite color or stone—and wear them whenever you want. It’s acceptable to wear a favorite necklace with a t-shirt to go shopping, not only with haute couture to a special event.

Beadle sums up her color philosophy in three words: surprising, unexpected, yet related. In general she recommends being freer with color and avoiding ‘matchy-matchy”. Her heroine for how vibrant she wishes to be at age 90 is Iris Apfel, the irreverent American fashion icon and businesswoman who is known for wearing ethnic pieces from around the world.

Beadle’s guilty fashion pleasure is to buy one fabulous necklace during any trip, especially to Europe. When she first began to make necklaces, Beadle only wore her own creations. But after 22 years of jewelry-making, Beadle takes pleasure wearing any necklace that speaks to her. “Yesterday I wore a fun necklace I found in Milan,” Beadle confides, “I’ve received several compliments!”

Creating bead jewelry art since 1993, Priscilla Beadle first found inspiration for her bold, eclectic designs in the bazaars of Tibet and Nepal, in dusty shops in Beijing, on remote Indonesian islands reached by catamaran, in beautiful Bali, and in verdant Indochina—Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Each Beadleful design starts with a centerpiece—add whimsy, color excitement, texture, chunky beads, a fabulous clasp—a collectable necklace is born.

Priscilla Beadle returned to her hometown, Hull MA, in 2011. For 34 years she had lived in California, eleven in the historic mission town of San Luis Obispo. She brought her business, Beadleful, with her and crafted a comfortable studio for her work on the ground floor of her home. The spark of Beadleful ignited when, after 23 years in the corporate world, Priscilla retired in 1993 to accompany her husband on his job assignment in Hong Kong.  Southeast Asia became her handicraft fantasy world as she hunted for beads: –odd, large, ethnic, contrarian beads; antique or contemporary glass beads; rare and unusual colors; textures that lead to touching.  Whether traveling the world or stalking New England galleries, successful bead hunting inspires the bold eclectic designs that characterize Priscilla’s unique necklaces and bracelets.

For more information follow her weekly blog at https://priscillabeadle.com/

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To Celebrate 75th Birthday, Artist, Priscilla Beadle Makes 52 Necklaces in 2017

Priscilla Beadle

To celebrate turning 75, many people choose a relaxing vacation or a great party; some people are happy just to make it through the day. Priscilla Beadle, Hull MA artist, challenges herself.

Inspired by a friend who was fascinated by the 52-drawer apothecary chest in her studio, Beadle decided to create a one-of-a-kind beaded necklace each week in 2017. Each neckpiece will originate from a different drawer. “I consider this an adventure fantasy trip,” enthuses Beadle. “Do I think about slowing down for 75? Do I think about maintaining? Or shouldn’t I speed up for a year?!” she laughs. “The fact I’m turning 75 makes me want to speed up!”

An English major in college, Beadle has lived her life by Robert Browning’s line, “…a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,/ Or what’s a heaven for?” This quote is the driving force behind all Beadle’s difficult and exciting endeavors. “It gives me permission to push myself,” she says. For her, this challenge is self-motivating as it produces a real accomplishment each week. “Sometimes you just have to push yourself to grow, stretch, and do things for yourself,” Beadle advises. She has already begun to write a maker’s journal that she will keep throughout the year.

Adding to Beadle’s motivation, her large vintage apothecary chest has 52 drawers; seven square drawers arranged in seven rows, with three large drawers at the bottom. Purchased in Hong Kong, the inspirational 1940’s era Elm wood apothecary chest is more than seven feet tall, four feet wide, with each drawer going 16 inches back.

“I’m going to start in the upper left corner drawer and work my way through every drawer, from left to right, top to bottom,” confides Beadle. She uses the chest to organize her vast collection of beads based on color and material. Each drawer has three compartments. The first necklace of the year will be drawn from Venetian glass beads which have been divided into silver/gold, blue/green, and red/orange groups. The second drawer has different color Venetian glass; black/white; purple/yellow; and multi-colored. The last drawer of the year contains faux amber—cherry, butterscotch, and yellow mock amber—resin beads from Indonesia.

Beadle keeps clasps and centerpieces in a special cabinet, not in the drawers. Center pendants can be made of glass, jade, silver, brooches, semi-precious gems, and oddities such as extraordinary buttons or other upcycled adornments.

Creating bead jewelry art since 1993, Priscilla Beadle first found inspiration for her bold, eclectic designs in the bazaars of Tibet and Nepal, in dusty shops in Beijing, on remote Indonesian islands reached by catamaran, in beautiful Bali, and in verdant Indochina—Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Each Beadleful design starts with a centerpiece—add whimsy, color excitement, texture, chunky beads, a fabulous clasp—a collectable necklace is born.

Priscilla Beadle returned to her hometown, Hull MA, in 2011. For 34 years she had lived in California, eleven in the historic mission town of San Luis Obispo. She brought her business, Beadleful, with her and crafted a comfortable studio for her work on the ground floor of her home. The spark of Beadleful ignited when, after 23 years in the corporate world, Priscilla retired in 1993 to accompany her husband on his job assignment in Hong Kong. Southeast Asia became her handicraft fantasy world as she hunted for beads: –odd, large, ethnic, contrarian beads; antique or contemporary glass beads; rare and unusual colors; textures that lead to touching. Whether traveling the world or stalking New England galleries, successful bead hunting inspires the bold eclectic designs that characterize Priscilla’s unique necklaces and bracelets.

For more information or to arrange a studio tour, please visit https://priscillabeadle.com/

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Eclectic Artist, Priscilla Beadle Focuses on Four Categories of Neck Adornment

Priscilla Beadle
Priscilla Beadle

Creating bead jewelry art since 1993, Priscilla Beadle of Hull, MA, first found inspiration for her bold, eclectic designs in the bazaars of Tibet and Nepal, in dusty shops in Beijing, on remote Indonesian islands reached by catamaran, in beautiful Bali, and in verdant Indochina—Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Today Priscilla has narrowed her focus to four categories of neck adornment including nature, whimsy, Venetian and other glass, and semi-precious stone. Each Beadleful design starts with a centerpiece bead — add whimsy, color excitement, texture, chunky beads, a fabulous clasp — a collectable necklace is born.

With environmental awareness, Priscilla selects sustainable materials from nature. Some of her pendants include petrified wood, beetle wings, paua shell, and mother of pearl (nacre). Beads may be made of amber, Philippine seashells, cork, apricot shells, carved wood, tagua nuts, cultured pearls, and seashells.

Whimsy and a sense of playfulness, joy in her craft, are present in all of Priscilla’s necklaces. In particular, some pendants feature animals such as a koi carved from resin to look like coral; an artisan-created glass cylinder adorned with a green glass gecko; a netsuke featuring tiny frogs. Some neckpieces feature amulets: an Italian red cornicello topped with a bit of rabbit’s fur; a carved bone Buddhist goddess of mercy; a lucky sterling silver star; turquoise, believed to protect the wearer from falling. Neckpieces in this unconventional group include materials such as vintage acrylic beads; dyed large teardrop pearls; handmade intricate beads of cardboard; resin combined with mother of pearl and carved into beads; polymer clay beads. Sometimes these necklaces feature an asymmetrical layout or an ornate clasp.

On several trips to Venice, Italy, Priscilla has collected an assortment of the finest glass beads in the world; those made on the island of Murano, home of the Venetian glass industry since the 1300’s. For centuries, Venetian artisans have been perfecting their decorative techniques, controlling the color and transparency of glass beads. A particular favorite of Priscilla’s are lampwork beads where each bead is created individually. In this time consuming method, the artist uses a torch to melt together Murano glass rods and tubes and wrap them around a metal rod to fashion the desired shape. Special effects are achieved by layering different colors of glass in addition to gold or silver leaf. The hole left in the cooled bead from the metal rod is perfect for stringing. Priscilla has sourced lampwork beads from a few local artists who have perfected this technique.

Semi-precious stones feature in Priscilla’s work; in particular, bluish green and sky blue turquoise; sacred iridescent moonstone; biblical carnelian, one of the “stones of fire” with their reddish orange hue; jade, “stone of heaven” for its unearthly shades of green; uncommon amazonite with its blue-green color; rutile quartz, also known as “Venus’ Hair” for its golden strands of crystal in a clear quartz; unakite, whorled with pistachio green and salmon pink; yellow to red sunstone with its glittering copper flecks; warm golden amber, fossilized tree resin between 5 to 50 million years old; and agate, also a biblical “stone of fire” valued since ancient times for the beautiful flowing patterns seen in its many colors.

Priscilla Beadle returned to her hometown, Hull, in 2011, after residing for 34 years in California. She brought her business, Beadleful, with her and crafted a comfortable studio for her work on the ground floor of her home. The spark of Beadleful ignited when, after 23 years in the corporate world, Priscilla retired in 1993 to accompany her husband on his job assignment in Hong Kong. Southeast Asia became her handicraft fantasy world as she hunted for beads: odd, large, ethnic, contrarian beads; antique or contemporary glass beads; rare and unusual colors; textures that lead to touching. Whether traveling the world or stalking New England curio shops, successful bead hunting inspires the bold eclectic designs that characterize Priscilla’s unique necklaces and bracelets.

For more information or to arrange a studio tour, please visit https://priscillabeadle.com/.

Eclectic Artist, Priscilla Beadle Focuses on Four Categories of Neck AdornmentRead More