Beautiful Geometry

A not-so-secret in my work is a fascination with translating geometry into beaded forms. This spring I've been playing with Platonic solids, which is the fancy way of saying "3D shapes where every side is the same length and every face is the same shape." I will be doing demonstrations of some of these new shapes as an Artist-in-Action at this spring's Best of the Northwest on April 11-12. 2026.

My go-to shape is the cube, which form the bases for some very special new necklaces inspired by the reflections of our city skyline on Puget Sound. In the images at the top of this post you'll see the Ochre Skylines Necklace, with cubic right-angle stitch used to form the spiney skyscraper shapes as well as the clusters that repeat around the back of the necklace.

I have been surprised that dodecahedrons are proving to be a lot of fun too, even though each one leaves me wondering if it will really come together and hold it's shape! You can see the open shape these In the Tiger's Sphere Necklace on the right are dodecahedrons and icosahedrons made from tiny tiger eye beads. 

Along with 3D shapes, new this spring are beadwork "paperclip" links, featured in the center image as a chain for a red and bronze pendant. These are proving to be a fun way to add colorful, lightweight beadwork as well as an enjoyable technical challenge. There is something really satisfying about just holding a set of these links in the hand!