In early 2022, I was watching Kate McKinnon talking about the amazing Contemporary Geometric Beadwork group and all the wonderful things that they’re up to. My silversmithing projects at university involved a lot of origami, to look at how I could bend and form sheet metal and this got me inspired to dig out some of my origami books and sketchbooks from my graduate collection, and continue this exploration using small beadwork techniques.

Northwood is a transnational project that seeks to use traditional storytelling to support creative industries in northern countries. Northword is part-funded by the EU Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme. It is led by Robert Gordon University and includes partners from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Russia.

The project will collect stories from northern regions and use these to inspire new products and works developed by creative practitioners living in these regions. A bespoke website and app will be developed to showcase these in early 2022. I was lucky enough to get selected and given a grant to create a piece to tell the story of Strontium and the mines at Strontian.

Professor Sam Norgard runs a yearly Norgard Designs global projects, as part of International Beading Week. As well as the sharing of knowledge, part of each of Norgard Designs global project includes companion lectures.

This years topic was ‘A view of now and the future of beading’. I was invited to create a 10 - 20 minute video of my view of the world of beads now and what’s ahead.