Beaded Buffalo

About the artist

For 13 years I was editor of a publication that focused on wilderness travel and backcountry skills. The job allowed me to travel to some of the last remaining, still-wild lands in the U.S. and Canada, and along the way, experience some wondrous moments. 

 

I’ve pitched my tent in South Dakota and watched the sun set behind a herd of buffalo. I’ve hiked a trail dotted with mountain lion tracks in Washington’s Olympic National Park. I’ve stared in reverence (mixed with a healthy dose of fear) at grizzly scat in Montana’s Glacier National Park. And everywhere I went, I savored the solitude that can only be found when you’re deep in the wilds. 

 

 When that phase of my life ended, I was left to wonder…what next? 

I found that when my creativity was no longer focused on the printed word, I had a knack for stitching leather and stringing beads. For a long while, I made beaded bags for my own enjoyment and as a form of personal medicine. My bags stayed close to home, except when I’d occasionally show one to a friend. Their kind comments were usually very flattering, but I never thought of selling my works. 

Then one day a friend remarked that other people might enjoy my bags, and playfully suggested that I was being selfish by hoarding them. A short while later, another friend asked if I planned to be buried with all the bags I’d made.
Their point was well taken. Thus this site.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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