I'm Andrea Adams, a Seattle area artisan working (primarily) in beads and leather.
An incurable magpie, I'm drawn to anything that sparkles, shines, shimmers, glimmers, glows, inspires or intrigues.
Over the years, this fixation has led to a sizable collection of treasures, baubles & oddities :o)

I fell in love with beads in the early 80's, and taught myself basic jewelry making. Years later, I began to meet other beadworkers and realized that the medium held more possibilities than I'd originally thought. I soon discovered the work of Joyce Scott, Don Pierce, Virginia Blakelock, Marcus Ammerman and many other artists who pushed the envelope. Seeing their work challenged me to expand my skills, and to think outside of the jewelry box.

I began making masks around 1991. My early masks were made of plaster, and most were not wearable. I'd been playing with leatherwork for a few years before it finally occured to me that I could use it to create wearable masks. Once I figured that out, I shifted my focus to creating masks that are as functional as they are beautiful.
(Though you're still free to hang them on your wall if you prefer)

Despite the fact that I've been working with beads & leather for a good amount of time, I find that I'm still very intrigued by both. There's always some project in my mind's eye that is just beyond the scope of my skills ... always a new technique to learn, or a design challenge to solve!

~ site contents © Andrea Adams 2003 ~ 2008 - do not reproduce without permission ~