Louise Doty began weaving beads because she wanted to make something she couldn’t take apart.  She had been stringing necklaces of semi-precious stones, but she kept snipping the string, taking them apart and restringing them.   She needed to make something that felt less temporary to her.  Now, six years later, she devotes herself to the complex process of weaving tiny beads into pieces so complicated they can take her weeks to complete.

Doty uses a technique called off-loom bead weaving.  She starts by stringing a circle of beads and then builds off this base, one bead at a time.  Working with a sliver of a needle and extremely thin (but strong) thread, she loops back and forth, connecting the beads into complex patterns and textures.  The color of the thread is important.  It adds to the overall hue of the final piece.

The ideas for her special pieces, as she calls them, can be inspired by a mere glimpse of something she casually passes. It could be the colors and textures of a department store display or an elaborate pattern of an old mosaic.  An image takes shape in her mind and is transformed into intricate jewelry.

After the artistic work is done, Doty says she frets about the finishing touches.  A piece can be ruined for her if it doesn’t have the right clasp, or if the clasp is poorly attached.  Her meticulous attention to detail makes each piece a work of art that is a joy to wear.