Iris, your student may be interested in visiting Pacific Western
Traders on Wool Street in the town of Folsom. She will find some
beadmaking supplies there, and I have purchased turquoise for stone
setting there in the past but also she’ll see a good amount of
finished artwork, including jewelry, of mostly Californian but also
other Far West Native American artists. It’s a great place to
visit, and considered by many to be a local treasure.
http://www.pacwesttraders.com/
I must say that I am pretty disappointed to read that Gypsy Wind of
Auburn is no longer offering classes! I learned my very first
"official" jewelry making skills there in one of their bead
stringing (knotting) classes in the early 90’s. Our instructor,
Nancy Leitch, also taught silversmithing at Sierra College (the
local community college) and so I went from bead stringing at Gypsy
Wind on to Silversmithing I and II at Sierra.
– Constance
