Looking for Peace

A Beaded Hat Band

How did we end up here? My jewelry adventure began with beads when I was little, creating with my sisters.  My Dad made us bead looms, the same one I used for this hatband. I remember making loom woven bracelets with the word peace on them. I think I used dental floss for the warp threads and just tied off the ends to make it ready to wear. 

Maybe it was the word peace on those first bracelets that inspired me to pull out the loom. The news around the world is definitely sending me searching for peace wherever I can find it. I also needed to find peace in my own reality. Cat Man had his tumors removed and it is feline carcinoma, a cancer that occurs at a vaccination site.  Cancer makes me mad and sad and opens the raw wound of recently losing my sister, Kim.

Cat Man’s tumors were removed but without good margins. It snowed two feet the day before he was supposed to get his stitches out.  I was sick about having to snowmobile him a mile to my truck for that appointment. I was lucky enough to reschedule two days later and by the grace of God, Jonny somehow got his chained up truck to the house that day.

Through this I have been dealing with severe back pain. There were days working through the pain in my studio, I started to see double and it was hard to focus on perfect metalworking. So the loom came out as I was looking for a way to stay productive, spend time with my cat after his surgery, and not push myself in the shop for a few days.

West of the Divide, Voices from a Ranch and a Reservation by Jim Carrier

I also just finished reading the book, West of the Divide. Half of the book is about the Spann family, a local ranching family in the Gunnison Valley where I live. The other half is about life on the Ute reservation. I loved reading about Susan Spann making dusters for the ranchers and bringing a little bit of functional fashion to the ranch. When I started researching loom work, I was surprised to see many of the loom designs were done by Ute Indians. And in full circle, Cat Man got to see a Spann cattle drive on the highway en route to his vet appointment. (and a moose but that is another story). You bet I checked out the chaps as we passed by and it made me smile to see a white bird appliquéd into the cowboy’s leather chaps, the artistic kiss of individuality in a functional piece.

This hatband is my artistic kiss to a functional piece. It was the first, so there are a few minor things to change that will make the next one even better.  Already have the second set of colors picked out, inspired by a blanket that was in my 1972 cj5 Jeep. I know the four seasons and a Willy’s jeep will also play a role in my future color combinations.

To revisit a childhood craft with an elevated twist was quite enjoyable. My warp is now 7 strand beadline and my colors and patterns are much more refined. This piece ends with hand made sterling silver tabs that create an adjustable clasp and is backed with a thick strap of dark brown leather.