The love of ancient history, color and patterns have followed me throughout my life and my designs have come to fruition during the time my family and I lived in Italy. In looking back, beads have always been a part of my life – from playing with Mardi Gras beads or collecting semi-precious stones as a young girl to my love of ancient and ethnic jewelry as I became older. Today seed beads have become the medium I use to translate my sources of inspiration into personal designs for adornment.

When living in Naples, Italy, I was surrounded by ancient history. The fragments of Roman columns, mosaics and frescoes are my inspiration and I am grateful for those “ancient voices”. Translating these voices into designs fills my days with joy and wonder and I cherish my “connection” with the past. Teaching and beading are ways for me to share this wonderful experience and bring those voices of the past into the present.

Maggie Meister