Rayela Art and HeArt of Healing Gallery Welcome Quilters to Paducah!

Rachel Biel and Christi Bonds Garrett, AKA Rayela Art 

and HeArt of Healing Gallery, join hands and share 

in their love of cultural textiles.

The quilters are here!  The quilters are here!  The AQS event stirs Paducah into action, waking up the town after a wintry sleep.  Awaited with anticipation, the quilt show is our big yearly event, the core for those or us who love fabric and textiles in Quilt City USA.  I have had a booth at 212 Broadway in an antique store for three years now.  Ownership of the space changed and is now operated by Tanya and Randy, who have truly developed the space into a wonderful eclectic mix of antiques and local crafts.  Christi moved her inventory from her clinic/gallery in LowerTown to a large booth space across from mine making our combined space into a large ethnic delight of textiles from around the world. 

Rachel Biel in front of Afghan Tribal Arts' booth of beads.

Our friend, Abdul is also here,. renting a temporary space.  Stocked with beads, mostly semi-precious hand-carved stones from Afghanistan, his booth is a must visit for anyone who uses them in their work.  I like to incorporate beads and findings into my textiles and encourage other art quilters to think outside of the box in how stones can be incorporated into surface design.

Christi and I have many overlapping interests and then specialties that complement our product mix.  HeArt of Healings focus:  vintage kimono and molas.  Christi rattles off all the different names for the working, wedding, women's, men's and other kimono, how they should be worn and the techniques that were used in decorating the fabric.  There are hundreds of them!  Gorgeousness on racks!  Initially, her idea was to cut them up and sell them as fabric for quilters, but they are just too beautiful to randomly suffer attack under the scissors.  As her collection has grown, so has the quality, making them valuable pieces of wearable art.  She has often adapted her kimono to make them more functional for her lifestyle: if the sleeves and length are shortened, the remnants can be used in other projects.  And, the molas....  my, my!  What a stunning collection!

Christi Bonds Garrett modeling a kimono and 

straightening a rack from her booth.

Rayela Art focus:  My textiles are mostly from Central Asia, although I have started branching out and investing in small objects for the booth.  I was able to purchase some fair trade items that add a fun touch to my space: Bolivian instruments and dolls, palm visors and fans, and lots of Indonesian sarongs, always a big seller.

I get a big kick out of seeing all the action downtown during the quilt show.  Paducah becomes alive and we all benefit from both the financial contribution the quilters bring to our local economy as well as the relationships that are formed during this time.  I've met a couple of my cyber friends in person for the first time, transforming names and photos into real people, which was great fun.  And, there is just a wonderful exchange of stories and sharing that happens which is truly wonderful.

If you are in Paducah, please do stop by the Antique Galleria and visit us.  We are just a couple of blocks from the Quilt Museum, down by the flood wall.  If you are not here, then visit us online:

Rayela Art
HeArt of Healing Gallery
Afghan Tribal Arts


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Rayela Art and HeArt of Healing Gallery Welcome Quilters to Paducah!

Deerwoman Designs Uses Beads from Afghan Tribal Arts

Carnelian, Jade and Turquoise Necklace 

by Deerwoman Designs

Normally, I try to keep this blog's subject matters closely tied to themes that address textiles or fiber art.  But, I have two friends who have small businesses where beads dominate the scene.  Anita Ghaemi of Deerwoman Designs makes the beautiful jewelry shown in this post and Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts supplies her and other jewelry makers and bead stores around the country with his hand-carved, natural beads from Afghanistan.  Actually, beads do not really stray far from the textile/fiber art road, as many of us love to incorporate them into our pieces.

Abdul has been my buddy for a long, long time now.  We used to be partners in a Chicago Gallery, Dara Tribal Village.  After I moved to Kentucky, I continued to sell online and he travels around wholesaling his products from Afghan Tribal Arts.  I have been helping him develop an online presence.  Abdul is a wonderful storyteller, but can't spell worth a dime.  He now has a store on Etsy and I have just loaded a bunch of his beads there. 

Flat Oval Jade Beads from Afghan Tribal Arts 

now available on Etsy!

These beads from Afghanistan have been hand-carved from semi-precious stones like jade, carnelian, lapis lazuli and onyx.  Afghanistan has long supplied artisans all over the world with its vast mineral natural resources.  The coveted lapis lazuli, only found there and in Chile, made its way into glass work, inlay, mosaics, and illuminated manuscripts in the Middle Ages.  Today's bead market has changed a great deal since those days as synthetics, dyes and cheap imitations undermine the value of these natural stones.  We decided to list the beads on Etsy as strands instead of selling them as single beads partly because it is easier for me to keep track of his inventory this way.  So, a strand can cost between $10-$100, depending on the value of the stone, the cut and its length.

Deerwoman Designs uses lapis heishi with sterling silver spacers 

and semi-precious stones as focal beads.

The cost of the beads can be quite an investment, yet the beauty of these stones are easily seen when compared to their cheaper competitors.  Unpolished stones like these take on a deep luster as they are worn, absorbing the oils of the skin.  And, to those who also look for the healing properties found in the stones, minerals and fluids have greater exchange values in the raw state.

Jade heishi beads from Afghan Tribal Arts.

The bigger stones usually take center stage over smaller, simpler ones.  Yet, examine Anita's necklaces closely and look at how she uses the tiny heishi beads to emphasize the larger focal ones.  Glass seed beads, a much cheaper option, would also look fine, but don't you think that these natural heishis complement the larger beads perfectly?  Artists like Anita help us see these components in a new way, illustrating how an assortment of stones can be made into wonderful wearable art!

Deerwoman Designs also makes great use of tribal pendants.  I have listed a few, but have several more in line, waiting for their turn.  For example, this Turkman pendant would be quite the eye catcher as the main jewel on a beaded necklace:

Turkman pendant from Afghan Tribal Arts.

A gazelle, once abundant in Afghanistan, carved into turquoise.

 

A Turkman pendant adorns this strand of mixed 

stones by Deerwoman Designs.

Afghan Tribal Arts has a website with samples of beads that are usually in stock.  Go take a look and if you see something you really like, send me a request.  Copy and paste the photo into an email so that I can have a visual.  Abdul makes regular stops by my house and if he has the beads you want on his van, I can add them on to the Etsy selection.  We have decided that instead of adding a shopping cart to his website, we would use Etsy as the retail platform.  If you have a tax id # and want to buy in quantities, you can also send me wholesale requests and I will pass those on to him.  (My email is on the top right hand corner of this blog.)

 

A beautiful lapis lazuli necklace by 

Deerwoman Designs.

 

Deerwoman Designs has a retail store on Artisans Market and on Etsy.  You can also follow her through her blog.

 

Deerwoman Designs Uses Beads from Afghan Tribal Arts

Afghan Tribal Arts at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show!

Handcarved semi-precious stones made into beads,
a specialty of Afghan Tribal Arts.

My friend, Abdul Wardak, is in Pasadena for the Bead and Design Show there. Abdul is the owner of Afghan Tribal Arts and has been importing from Afghanistan and the region since the mid-1980's. Beads are a big focus of his family owned business, but so are textiles, carpets, carvings and other tribal crafts from the region.

July 30 - August 2, 2009, 10AM to 6PM
300 Exhibitors and Workshops
Wearable Art, Bead and Fabric Handwork, Trade Supplies
The Hilton Pasadena, 168 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California

Abdul Wardak at a bead show.

Abdul does many of these bead shows, but he also wholesales to ethnic galleries, boutiques and sells directly to collectors. His normal route focuses on the Midwest and Southeast, but he is interested in making some contacts on the West Coast, too. Visit his website, Afghan Tribal Arts, for contact info and for more images of the types of beads, textiles and products he normally carries. The show info states:

AFGHAN TRIBAL ARTS
Nomadic and tribal jewelry from Afghanistan and Peshawar; Turkman and Pashtun crowns, silver jewelry, Pashtun wedding dresses, vintage clothing, beads, jade, carnelian, lapis lazuli, silver, findings, embroidered and beaded textiles, camel tassels, interior decor, kilims and carpets.
California Ballroom #C190

Catch your fancy? I know I absolutely love everything from that region! People may know about the war in Afghanistan, but little do they know about the beauty of that country and its people.

Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts in Afghanistan, 2002

Abdul began the business when he realized what an economic impact his purchases had on the lives of small businesses and artisans in his home country. He also has a deep love and appreciation for the products themselves, their beauty and the skills involved in making them.

If you meet Abdul on this trip, you will have the pleasure of enjoying a warm heart, great storytelling and certain unpredictable laughs. His sense of humor is always brimming, even now as his back is giving out. You will also meet Roshan, Abdul's oldest son, who is learning the ropes and will hopefully keep Afghan Tribal Arts in business as my dear friend gives his back a needed fix through surgery and rehabilitation.



You can read other posts about Afghan Tribal Arts in this blog.

Afghan Tribal Arts at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show!

Afghan Tribal Arts: On the Way to the Tucson Bead Show!

Abdul Wardak owns and operates Afghan Tribal Arts

Every January thousands and thousands flock to Tucson, Arizona. Birds? No. Bead lovers. Bead fanatics. Bead addicts. Tucson hosts THE definitive bead show for stores, dealers, web outlets, and collectors. Vendors from all over the world spill out their wares... glass, stone, shell, pearls, silver, brass, copper, seeds, polished, raw, mass produced, hand made, collectible, tribal- you name it.

My dear friend, Abdul, will be there. Abdul and I have been friends for a long time and shared a partnership in a gallery in Chicago, Dara Tribal Village, for four years. I moved to Kentucky and continue to sell online, while he remains based in Chicago, but spends most of the time in his van, wholesaling his beads and textiles to galleries and specialty stores around the South East.

Abdul Wardak at a bead show in North Carolina

The love of beads is a nasty addiction and affliction. Once you have been bitten by the bug, the romance blossoms until the little orbs call you in the night, whispering... "You need more of me, more, more, more..." Most people buy beads for their obvious use in jewelry making. I've done my share of making necklaces and earrings, but I prefer to incorporate them into my quilts, garments or other objects I might work on. I've never had the patience to weave them, but have great admiration for Native American skills and others who use beads as a surface cover. Yes, I have my stash... Fortunately, beads don't take up as much space as fabric, but those little buggers can end up costing a lot more! Prices are all over the board, depending on the material, origin, and context of how they were made.

Hand carved carnelian beads from Afghanistan
so rich in color you could eat them!

Afghan Tribal Arts specializes in two kinds of beads: old collectible tribal beads and new metal or semi-precious gemstones made or carved by artisans in Peshawar and other parts of Central Asia. Afghanistan may seem poor and devastated, but it has great mineral wealth. Although I sometimes shudder at the thought of mountains being blown up for carnelian, lapis or jade, the stone industry is a great source of employment which helps provide stability in a country devastated by war and drought. Abdul immigrated to the United States in the early 1980's. He brought back some samples of handicrafts from Afghanistan on a couple of visits, found that there was a market in the US for them and began bringing more and more until he established Afghan Tribal Arts as one of the largest US importers of beads, carpets, textiles, and other handicrafts from Afghanistan and the region. He has an intimate relationship with his suppliers and has designed many of the cuts of the beads he carries.

Abdul Wardak on a visit to Afghanistan

Where we get things counts. Paying fair wages counts. Quality counts. Bead shows are flooded with imitation beads or beads that were made with cheap labor. Is it really turquoise? Blood red coral for how much? In this lean economy, quality beads often get passed over for cheaper imitations, a fact that has had an impact on Afghan Tribal Arts and other quality bead suppliers. But, once you develop a love for the genuine, replacing it with cheapness feels like a betrayel. Take a close look at just some of the beauty given to us by Mother Earth:

The greens of jade, citrine and malachite...

Deep oranges and buttery tones of carnelian and agates...

Fluorite, a veiny stone that ranges in shades of purples and blues...

And, the royal stone, lapis lazuli,
a treasure found only in Afghanistan and Chile.

Afghan Tribal Arts also carries tribal beaded remnants and vintage pendants and jewelry. The beaded disc below is found on all kinds of Pashtun apparel, in hats, on garments and on bags. Some call it a "Kabul disc".

Kabul disc from Afghanistan.

Jewelry from Central Asia shows centuries of craftsmanship.

Afghanistan and neighboring countries have embellished their garments and utilitarian objects with beads for centuries. The photo below shows a display we had in our gallery.

Afghan Tribal Arts on display at Dara Tribal Village.

So, if you are one of those heading towards Tucson, make sure to look up Afghan Tribal Arts. There are two shows, back to back, organized by the same group where you will find him. The links will take you to the show's website:

Pasadena Bead & Design Show
January 15th-18th

To Bead True Blue
(Tucson)
February 1st-6th

Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts.

Abdul is on his way!

The night has come to an end,
Dawn awaits the ship to depart.
It’s a new day in the making,
Two friends dear and one say goodbye-
Very hard, but wise.
As he looks back in his mind
He knows that the memory of the past
Is the only untouchable and priceless treasure
That he took and left behind
And the simple wish is that someday
If he returns to shore
A friend may remember who he is.

Abdul Ahad Wardak
12/06/06

Afghan Tribal Arts: On the Way to the Tucson Bead Show!