Face to Face: Vania Jacobs

Our newest Face to Face interview with our fellow beaders and designers is here! This time we looked into the Beadingschool community again.

Kind at heart, carrying and passionate are the first words that cross my mind when I think of her. Her creativity has no bounds as she’s constantly bringing fresh and innovative ideas on how to work with Beadingschool patterns, spreading positive word or good advice.  We enjoy her company and spirit in the Beadingschool Club for some time now and I can say I’m so happy she’s still with us as she’s a true inspiration in many ways to us. By the way, check our Beadingschool Recipe book where she contributed with her favorite – coconut coffee or salmon chowder!

 

Meet the Beadingschool Club member, creative, passionate beader and our lovely friend,

Vania Jacobs!

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

I have always been a creative artisan type person, at a very young age I started to learn, painting on fabric and leather, embroidering on fabric, crochet, painting with oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Sewing has always been important in my life and my dream was to create quilts. When my son was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer and was being treated, someone would always make him a quilt to keep him warm. So, I combined my love of sewing with the desire to give those in need a warm quilt.  So, I started a sewing circle to create quilts to go to other countries such as Africa, India and South America.  I lost my son but the love of quilts stayed. When I was no longer able to manage the sewing circle, I wanted to find something small to create and discovered there was bead embroidery which would be perfect for my skills. Through my research I found Erika because of the Rembrandt Necklace.  My love for art history and art itself drew me close to her and we clicked and here I am.

 

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

I wanted beadwork to be an extra income as I am near retirement age. However, it is extremely competitive and for personal reasons and my work demands I have not been able to be very successful at it. As most of you already know I am in Brazil currently helping to care for my mom.  I am still working remotely and the demands for caring for an elderly person is very demanding. Now that things have calmed down a bit I have started to bead again.  I bead when time allows, no set time, but mostly late afternoon, late night, and on the weekend when I have a free moment.

 

What did beading bring to your life? 

Beading came into my life at a perfect time. I was going through personal changes and my view of the world. Most of my fears came to pass with great personal and financial loss. I truly believe through beading I was able to survive this season of my life and with help from a very sweet friend (Nancy Klimon, an extraordinary beader), whom I would have never met would it not be for beading, kept me going. Beading gave me purpose and a wonderful art to help me focus.

 

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

I think the Rembrandt Necklace is definitely the one piece I would say was pivotal.  It was a piece I worked on soon after meeting Erika and the skills needed to make it, I did not possess yet.  I struggled making it but I did finish it.  My personal most proud piece is the Starry Night bead embroidery made for one of Erika’s competitions in which I placed 3^rd place.

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

My area I work on is not at all conducive to good beading practices, I don’t recommend it.  But it is what I have so here it goes.  When I had my house, I had a craft room in which I organized my beads and my sewing supplies. However, I like beading on beading boards in front of the TV.  I know, its strange but by having a movie or a story play out helps me concentrate on beading.  I watch the BeadingSchool and other videos as well.  After loosing my house and renting a room before coming to Brazil, I had no real space so I started using my bed to spread my beads and it became a habit. Here in Brazil, I have a side of my closet where I keep my beads. And whenever I need to get my supplies, I pull them out, get what I need and put them back. A little side table help me keep what I am working on close to me.  Whenever a few minutes are available I pick my beading board and sit on my bed with my iPad, on top of one of my quilts. It is my happy space.

 

What is your favourite stitch? Which colours do you like the most? On the other hand, is there any colour or colour combination you try to avoid? 

Peyote is probably my favorite bead weaving stitch, sometimes I just need to peyote something. But my ultimate is bead embroidery. I am an equal opportunity color lover, so it is hard for me to commit to a color or a set of colors.  But I do tend to navigate towards blues, greens, yellows, metal colors and anything shiny.  I learned to love Turquoise too. Colors I truly avoid are anything too brass, such as neons, in your face pinks, bright greens in odd tones, colors that look cheap and don’t go with anything. My favorite color is black and I have been collecting black beads for a while, (not yet enough) so a collection of all black and complimentary colors would be awesome.

 

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

I am not a designer nor have I developed many patterns, although with bead embroidery I can.  But have never published anything. Maybe some day soon.

It is important for me to say that I am dyslexic. This is important to say because of the instructions BeadingSchool has created for its patterns. There are certain things my brain cannot comprehend, and an example would be anything related to RAW. I struggle with most designers’ instructions; they are not written for dyslexic people. The pattern pictures mean more to me than the written words. So having both with BeadingSchool patterns is for me the best I have ever seen.

My style is very eclectic but I tend to focus on Art Deco, Art Nuovo, Hippy, Period, Retro, Bohemian, Ethnic, Indian, but still not settled on one thing in particular. It’s the dyslexic brain.

 

Who are your favorite designers? Why? 

As I have indicated above, Beadingschool by far have the best designers I have ever come across.  So, picking one would be difficult.  (but here is a hint, anyone doing a bead embroidery pattern gets my vote!!!)

 

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

Funny you should ask me these questions.  I have been waiting for the right moment in time to make this bead embroidery piece. Dragonfly Dance.  I have all the pieces finally and cannot wait to get started.  This is the perfect time since we are gearing up for bead embroidery more again in the Beadingschool group.

 

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

Since I have already talked about the Rembrandt (which is my favorite) I will talk about a few others that have captivated my heart. The one pattern I have repeated a few times is Charlotte. Any pattern with the 27mm would be my top ones. The other ones are Passiflora, Bleu Aimable, and Chittorgarh.

 

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? 

Wow this is a very difficult question. I will say, which is very odd, but I would love to be involved with jewelry for iconic Vampire and Faries movies.  Both of which are opposites but yet fits my brain perfectly.

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

My hope is to still be able to draw some kind of income from my art, be that of beading or sewing or a combination of both. I will never stop making, no matter what form it takes.  It is my life line and sanity in the crazy world.  Yes, I want to learn as much as I can until I find the exact thing I am looking for, and then become a master at that.

I could use more knowledge in photographing my pieces.

 

Where can we see or buy your designs? 

Most of my creations are posted in Beadingschool Club.  I occasionally post pieces on my Facebook and Instagram page.  If someone is interested in my pieces, they would need to get in touch directly with me.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my life with you.

Thank you for answering my questions, Vania!

We wish you lots of creative ideas, time for yourself, beading and  joy on your creative journey!

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

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