Contemporary Design as Tradition

Pasadena Bead and Design Show is January 15-18, 2015, at the Hilton Pasadena. It showcases both local and international artists, artisans, and designers –and in eight short years has become Southern California’s marketplace for contemporary artistic beads, jewelry, accessories, clothing, and hand-crafted textiles.

Pasadena Bead and Design Show has rejuvenated the concept of contemporary design as tradition to a whole new generation of buyers who welcome one-of-a-kind products that are offered exclusively by the artisans themselves –like Kumihimo lariat, kiln-fired clay beads, and handcut gemstones.

The quality of merchandise mirrors the beauty and refined design of antiques –including wearable art, handsewn clothing, repoussé, millinery couture, micro-mosaic art, polymer clay flowers, foil glass, hand-dyed silk, polymer clay and ceramic beads –design rooted in traditional handcraft.

The exhibitors who are chosen by juried application and by invitation include top name beadmakers and handcrafters who carry on a tradition, passed down for generations, of using natural materials, handmade skills and techniques, to produce contemporary design.

Woven into and together with contemporary design are many displays of the genuine article –tribal arts, vintage and antique beads, ethnographic and sacred textiles, antiquities, artifacts, ancestral and nomadic costuming, rare champlevé enamel, vintage buttons, Gablonzer pressed glass, Bedouin jewelry, ethnic beads, art nouveau silk, vintage lace, ancient masks, and bijoux de couture.

Along with more than 300 boutiques and galleries, the show offers workshops for attendees who want to roll up their sleeves and learn handcraft techniques such as polymer clay, beadmaking, riveting, art clay silver, resin jewelry, talismans jewelry, soldering, glass casting, metal and wire work.

There will also be design and style workshops by top designers Suzi Click and Gretchen Schields, as well as ongoing beadmaking presentations, do-it-yourself projects and design performances, directed by both established and up-and-coming artisans and designers from around the world.

Open to the public, admission is $10. The workshops fill quickly, and early reservation recommended. Hours: Thursday- Sunday, January 15 – 18, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Hilton Pasadena, 168 S Los Robles Ave. For more information and registration –please visit www.pasadenabeadanddesignshow.com.