My name is Julie Fear and I’m a bead hobbiest.

I was born in Eugene, Oregon but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. When I was 19 I went to Pasadena on vacation to see a friend and stayed for almost a year, moved back to Chicago for several years, moved to Taos in 1980 for a few years, moved to S. Florida, and finally moved back to NM after retirement. I never made it to college but worked a variety of jobs from Senior Correspondent for World Book Encyclopedia to floor manager for a commodities brokerage firm on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to bartending at the Taos Inn to emergency dispatcher for the Miramar Florida Fire Department to supervising the Code Compliance Division of the Miramar Police Department.

I came very late in life to crafting and then only because I needed something to do to stay awake while dispatching. I started doing counted cross stitch at work and then tried my hand at quilting but found I was much better at buying fabric than actually making quilts.

After retirement and moving back to NM, I decided to take a class in every craft that ever piqued my interest. So far, I’ve tried gourd art, beading, metal working, wire working, lapidary, and a few others. Of everything I’ve tried, beading is my favorite. Although I’m partial to seed beads I’ve won most of my awards for my strung necklaces,

Beading is a wonderful medium for creativity and unlike quilting or gourds, if you decide you’re not thrilled with your finished product, you can take it apart and start over. Try that with cut fabric sewn into a quilt or a carved gourd.

Joining the Bead Society of NM has introduced me to so many talented bead artists of all types and given me a chance to really expand my abilities through classes. So many beads, so little storage space.

Remember, mistakes are just opportunities for creativity.