How Liz Cunningham, a teenage artist’s “Go-fer” from New York City wound up, 50 years later, an artist in Whatcom County weaving beads into jewelry, might need some ‘splainin’. Creativity was part of growing up. In NY Liz worked summers for her dad, a Madison Avenue commercial artist whose ad art filled full pages in many major magazines. At home he was always creating in various media and Liz was in the middle of it.

But Liz also enjoyed the precision of mathematical structures and graphic geometry. In 1972 she earned her degree in Math Education from SUNY. About that time her architect brother, a Seabee stationed at Whidbey NAS, discovered Whatcom Co. and convinced the family to move west. Once here she met and married an itinerant metal sculptor who continues to marvel at her creations.

Liz taught Mathematics for most of her career but spent much of her free time sewing, crocheting and quilting; putting miscellaneous small pieces together to create something big and beautiful.

Liz was bitten by the beading bug when a work colleague offered a workshop on how to make a beaded necklace of hers. She began watching beading videos on YouTube. Each video taught a new stitch which led to a new piece of jewelry. Eventually, she became brave enough to combine stitches and techniques into unique designs she could call her own. She has been creating necklaces, bracelets and earrings for 10 years. Still combining tiny pieces into larger ones, with her mathematical influences clearly evident. Her favorite saying, “Symmetry is natural, chaos is difficult”.

Her work can be seen in Bellingham at the Whatcom Art Market, Allied Arts and Gallery West, in Lynden at Jansen Art Center, and can be seen on Facebook at Facebook.com/LizbethBeadedJewelry.

Website: Facebook.com/LizbethBeadedJewelry