The geckos that Rebecca Jurgen fell in love with when she moved to Hawaii two years ago are gone now. Ariel, Fuzzy, Camera-shy and the dozen or so others became the unintended victims of termite tenting. We got the bead
Tiny sculptures make
By Suzanne Tswei
animals the focal point
Star-Bulletin"They all had names. Then I came home and they were all dead. I had to go around the house and take care of the aftermath. It was devastating," she said.
After she cleaned up, Jurgen did the only thing she could do. Immortalize the critters in hot glass.
The lampwork glass bead artist made little sculptures of those nocturnal lizards that used to lull her to sleep every night with their clicking chirps. "You know those sounds they made ...th, th, th ... like little kisses. So cute."
The geckos are the newest additions to her glass bead menagerie, which feature cats, frogs, turtles, rabbits, teddy bears, killer whales, seals, tropical fish and more.
Jurgen will be showing her animal beads at Bead Ho'olaule'a tomorrow at Ward Centre. The fifth annual sale and demonstration of bead crafts also will include artists who specialize in fused glass, raku, shells, polymer clay and other bead work.
"Critters, that's what I am known for. I haven't covered the entire animal kingdom yet, but I am getting there," Jurgen said.Animals have been her main source of inspiration, the result of having grown up on an Idaho horse ranch where she was allowed to adopt as many abandoned pets as she wanted. She once had 27 cats.
Jurgen and her family discovered new animals in Hawaii, including green sea turtles and tropical fish.
Bead making is a family affair, with husband David making turtle beads and the more difficult layered encasing beads that resemble miniature paperweights. The couple's children, Brandon, 8, and Leslie, 10, make simple small beads and string bead bracelets.
Her husband, a Navy submarine maintenance chief, became interested in glass-bead making when the family lived in Seattle, the American capital of glass work. She was making air-brush paintings and bought him a torch and other equipment to keep him busy. He taught himself the craft and got her interested too.
"We are all self-taught because we didn't want to pick up other people's styles. We want what we do to be distinctive," he said.
The Jurgens have concentrated on making focal beads -- large beads that become the focal point in a piece of jewelry. The animals sculpted onto the beads are what set their work apart from other glass artists, they said.
They've turned a portion of their Mililani home into a glass studio and have been working every night in preparation for tomorrow's show. It will be their first sale in Hawaii although they have been selling their work on their Web site landsart.com for about three years.
"The exciting part of this business is being able to share our work with people, and we have had people from all over the world order our beads through our Web site. We've had people from Greece, Australia and other places buy our beads," David Jurgens said.
Place:First floor of Ward Center Bead Ho'olaule'a 2001
Call: 842-7714
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