Face to Face: Beatrix Neumann

At Beadingschool, we enjoy asking questions almost as much as we enjoy beading. Luckily, our fellow beaders and designers are just as generous with their answers as they are with their creativity.

This Face to Face interview shines a light on one of our newer community members who quietly slipped into the Beadingschool Club and quickly became someone we all appreciate. With a warm heart, a helpful spirit, and a steady love for learning, Beatrix has made herself right at home.

So, let’s settle in and enjoy the story of how Beadingschool became part of her world. And how she completes our beading universe, too.

Meet the Beadingschool Club member, kind friend, inspiring, and passionate beader Beatrix Neumann!

 

Please tell us about yourself a bit! When and how did you start to create? How did you learn to bead?  

I grew up in Germany in Rhineland near Bonn. My mother and my aunty were tailors and also my father liked to make oil paintings after numbers, mostly Hungarian gypsy women in white blouses and red skirts, though he had nothing to do with this country.

He wished to have a wild-tempered dancing daughter with dark hair. I was just the opposite, and because I was made in Holland 😀 they changed my planned name ‘Carmen’ into ‘Beatrix’.

I decided to stay alone until Mr. Right appears in the beginning thirties, after some failed relationships. When I was thirty-seven I decided to become a buddhist nun, but my ordination master, short before my nun ordination should be, gave back his ropes and married. Through this, hindrances with my plans appeared and after waiting and living like a nun for ten years, even with shaved hair I finally preferred to be free without being tied by monastic rules. Then some years passed and the wish to stay with a man appeared again. I found my recent partner five years ago when I was nearly fifty-nine. He is a widower and brought also two girls and a boy with him, who are still learning and studying. Through the high rents in Munich, we couldn’t move together, and recently we decided that I would move to our house in Hungary. Now we have a long-distance relationship, but we love each other so much that I believe it will continue until he also moves in some years. I have been here for 3 months and feel very happy.

As a child, I loved to draw and paint and draped my dolls in leftover fabrics. Also, once I got a box with pearls to play with. I loved it. This was already before school. Later I knitted like crazy. At thirteen, I became a hippie girl, moved out and quit school. Then I started with embroidery. Everybody loved it and I eventually studied embroidery – becoming a master of art/hand embroidery, teaching and examining professional embroidery students in Bavaria. I worked for a priest, churches, and traditional societies. After 12 years I had enough to make art under economic orders and tried to come into fashion. So I moved from Regensburg to Munich, because I found a job in the high-fashion company Escada as a technician for embroidery. So I also worked for them for a time in India.

After two years I changed to another fashion company as a technical developer and had nothing to do with embroidery in my profession anymore. I stayed there until the end of my career. Now I am retired. 

During that time, I embroidered a lot for my buddhist teachers and their monasteries. I made some special Thankgas, one with hundreds of thousands of 3 mm Swarovski bicones and seed beads, which took many years to complete. This is now in Vermont, USA.

 

 

Then I started to have spine problems and the embroidery was not possible anymore. I found some peyote tutorials in Youtube three years ago and beaded for approximately two years. I never wanted to make such sparkly things like today. But this changed. I saw some examples on YouTube and had still some stones and beads from before and tried it out with some simple designs. And then I discovered the Cherry blossom box from Orchid and Opal. I ordered it and felt in love. So I came to Beadingschool. It was in April one year ago and I am obsessed ever since. The goodies are beautifully arranged, the designs and tutorials so stunning and interesting to bead, that I am addicted and want to bead as many of them as possible.

Also the personal guidance of Erika, all administrators and the friendly staff in Slovakia, and the lovely contacts in the Beadingschool club make it a living, pleasant, warm experience.  I feel thankful and have a heartwarming relation with many of our beading friends.

 

Is beadwork your hobby or profession? How does your average day look like? When do you have time to create?   

Beading is my hobby. I have no common rhythm of the day, because I have problems with sleep. So sometimes I get up early, sometimes late. I plan in bed what to do after washing, preparing my altar, gymnastics, and breakfast. Sometimes I get beading ideas in bed already and start to search for the beads, and even start, or cannot wait to continue with something. And suddenly it is already half the day over and I am still in pyjamas. But usually, since I am in Hungary, I am busy in the house, or garden, organizing other things, or meeting somebody. So, mainly I start in the early evening. There is no TV yet, and so I listen to music or stories on YouTube while beading. When my consort, or the children, are here, I have no time to bead.  As soon as he leaves, I must bead for one or two days all day long, because I’ve missed it so much.

 

What did beading bring to your life?

It was always necessary to create something. I could never be without doing something with colors and shapes. So with beading I found a perfect way to make something, which is not too time-consuming until it is finished, is not too difficult or stressful, and you don’t need extra tools or space.

At the same time, it is so satisfying in all aspects, colors, construction, and beauty. I think we all search for beauty in our lives. And beading brings these beauties, with so much joy and light, into our lives. Also, it calms me down when I am stressed or in fear. It’s like praying for me.

 

 

Tell us about the piece of jewelry you are the most proud of! 

The last two challenge pieces, which I designed totally by myself. I do not have much knowledge of creating jewelry. I have an idea, try and fail and try again. Also, they developed step by step, to fit comfortably around the neck.

Surprisingly, for myself, I was content with the result, which came out.

 

 

Where do you like to create? Do you have a designated area in your home where you keep your beads?  

In Munich I had only one table, 90 x 70 cm for everything – meals, writing, beading etc. All my stash was stored in old shoeboxes. Now, I have my beading area in our sleeping room, which became more or less my private living room. I have a corner with a dresser for my stash and some little shelves, where I can put my beauties. I like to see them all the time, not to hide them in drawers. Also there is a table where I mainly bead.

 

What is your favorite stitch? Which colors do you like the most? On the other hand, is there any color or color combination you try to avoid? 

There is no favorite stitch. I am still new to beading, and I am so amazed how the design architecture works – so I keep being surprised again and again. For example, the current theme:  I loved the colors and beads during Rosetta Windows unboxing, but I had absolutely no idea what to do with it (except the rosettas, which we do quite often). Then there came stunning designs a week later. I would never have had the idea how to work with the big oval fire-polished beads.  I am still curious to work with every stitch and technique.

I have a special relationship with colors. Though you can see in my clothes and room textiles always returning paisley ornaments in turquoise and coral shades of all kinds, I am sometimes in need of a color. For some years I felt only good in orange clothes, or then light blue, or lemon yellow. A long time I did not like green, but a time came when my bedsheets had to be green. I am extremely into colors, but I like them all at the right time.

 

Do you follow instructions or do you like to develop your own designs? How would you define your style?  

I am not so skilled with my own designs, but I am just starting to try it for the Mini challenges. I would not be encouraged to do it without Erika’s encouragement.  I like to follow good instructions, photo tutorials not as much as drawn tutorials. I learn a lot from it, there are often unexpected solutions and great ideas. My style is more playful, or romantic, I guess.

 

 

Who are your favorite designers? Why? 

I especially love Beadingschool designers. All are gifted. I appreciate so much what they are creating. Spontaneously, I mention Erika, Zuzi, and Aniko. I don’t even look anywhere else anymore now. I got some books and of course, I know Etsy and YouTube. I get attracted to these rarely, just time to time. Our Beadingschool designers match my taste in most cases. And you get me busy enough all the time – ha ha 😀

 

Do you have a favorite design by Erika? Tell us about it!   

There are so many. The first one I did was Fly!. I still love this lovely design very much. From the current Theme, Rosetta Windows, she did it again: I love Limoges and Rocher. Also Shamrock is so gorgeous.

 

Which is the bead / component in your stash which you treasure the most? Do you already have plans on how to use it?

I like all cabochons, but there is a need for all other beads to get a pretty result. Also, I love to use findings and filigree. I have about 15 mini kits that are waiting in a separate box for a long time.

 

If you could design something for a well-known person or maybe a fictional character from a film or book, who would it be, and why? 

There is no one famous who I adore this much. I’d say, there is no special relationship or a live connection to a real person from this area. But, I like to make special jewels for my beloved ones. They inspire me to make a certain design or color way for them.

Maybe, I will make once ornaments for a Tara statue, whom I love very much.

 

What are your plans for the future as a beader? Is there something you would really like to learn? 

Happy beading is my plan. I love to have joy with beading and making joy for others.  I still have to learn everything, or deepen what I have learned until now. Joining the Beadingschool Academy was an important decision. I am learning so much through it, nevertheless,  discovering my own ideas, which one should not be too shy to follow.

Where can we see and buy your designs? 

My jewels are only to see in the Beadingschool Club and if you are my friend on my Facebook page, or for a short time on my WhatsApp status. On Facebook I am not adding more friends, because I want to keep it more private, though it sometimes break a bit my heart, because lovely beaders from the club ask me and it is a honor for me. May be I can apologize here.

So I sell only sometimes to friends and acknowledges. Some got crazy about it and bought again and again, a great help to pay my bead bills. But since I am in Hungary there are no customers anymore.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for answering our questions, Beatrix!

We’re very happy you found your way to us and you’re happy to be and bead along everyone in the Beadingschool community. Thank you for your kindness and beautiful jewels you share with us.

We wish you a wonderful experience, lots of new ideas for your own designs.

 

Dear beading-friends and beadwork admirers, please, use the comment section if you have more questions you would like to ask, or greet our Beatrix.

Stay tuned for more interviews for Beadingschool.com by Erika Sándor