Kathy King is an award-winning jewelry artist based in Raleigh, NC, who pushes the boundaries of bead weaving by combining both traditional and her own innovative techniques. Her signature ‘Bead Quilling’ technique and ‘beaded beads’ are strongly influenced by her engineering background, as well as historical architecture, cultural patterns from around the world, and color combinations that inspire her contemporary, wearable sculptures. Join us as Kathy tells us about how she went from engineer to bead weaver, her brilliant processes, and work as an artist.

In 2008, Kathy developed an innovative weaving technique called “Bead Quilling” which allows her to construct unusual designs that traditional bead weaving cannot. Bead quilling allows her to construct sturdy, 3-D structures, which she can further embellish and build upon. With this process, the holes of the glass beads and thread are exposed as well, allowing the thread color to become an integral part of the final design.

Another signature component of Kathy’s work is the Beaded Bead, in which she creates intricate beads by weaving hundreds of smaller glass beads together. An impressive, rainbow of an example of her beaded beads is a 3-part necklace, titled Am I There Yet, which is made of 185 individually colored beaded beads- consisting of a total of 14,800 seed beads! This necklace is on display (and can be tried on!) at our current exhibition “Are We There Yet?”, on view through July 30th.

Kathy has been an Exhibiting Member of Piedmont Craftsmen since 2008.

For more examples of Kathy King’s work visit: https://piedmontcraftsmen.org/…/find-an…/kathy-king/
Doors to the Gallery will open at 4PM for the Talk at 4:30PM.

This event is FREE. Masks are encouraged.