Featured Member: Marie McGlamery
Abingdon native Marie McGlamery’s interest in handwork began at an early age when she was fascinated by her paternal grandmother, Nancy McCracken Burke’s, skill and personal decoration.
“She would come to our house to spend the night and she crocheted. She made doilies that you starched and put on a dresser. She made me a doll dress. She always had beautiful jewelry on. She wore earrings and necklaces and I just took an interest in the jewelry and crocheting, and that’s what started me.”
Abingdon High School’s Home Economics teacher, Eleanor Thayer, taught Marie and other girls how to knit during the summer and a few years later Marie taught herself to crochet when her husband was in the Air Force. “We were at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois. It was so cold, you couldn’t go outside! I decided to learn how to crochet.”
Marie took knitting classes when she and her husband lived on the Air Force base in Sumter, S.C., where she made afghans, sweaters, and dresses for family members as Christmas presents. When they returned to Abingdon, she began working in the Abingdon Orthopedic Associates office, where she remained for 35 years. During this time, she also began to learn the craft of jewelry-making, encouraged by her long-time friend Susan Fields, who is an accomplished beader herself.
“Susan taught me how to bead-weave. There are several different kinds of thread. I use Fire Line brand most of the time. It is basically fishing line. There are different kinds of stitches, such as brick, ladder, right angle, weave, and several others.
“It takes a lot of patience. You have to put in and rip out. Sometimes your beads will break your line and so you’ll have to start all over or work your threads back in to where it will hold. It has to be really secure so it doesn’t fall apart. Then there is bead stringing, too. I have done the pearls with a knot between them. You have small needles. There’s beading needles, a ten, eleven, and a twelve.”
“With bead wrapping, you take your stone and wrap a copper wire around. If there’s a hole, you go through it. Sometimes you don’t have a hole so you wrap it all the way around the stone. It’s really tight.
“When it goes well, it is relaxing. It’s fun. You have to be in a mind set to do it. I’m the type of person that can’t be idle. I have to be doing something.”
Marie is always eager to try something new. Recently she has been making gift cards and bags with special machine-directed cut-out designs.
After retiring from Abingdon Orthopedic Associates, Marie worked for Susan Howard at her Abingdon bead shop, where she also learned a lot. Then in 2012, she came to Holston Mountain Artisans as a shopkeeper and also juried in as a member with her crafts. Today Marie is our lead shopkeeper and one of the friendly people who you will find when you visit us.
Abingdon native Marie McGlamery’s interest in handwork began at an early age when she was fascinated by her paternal grandmother, Nancy McCracken Burke’s, skill and personal decoration.
“She would come to our house to spend the night and she crocheted. She made doilies that you starched and put on a dresser. She made me a doll dress. She always had beautiful jewelry on. She wore earrings and necklaces and I just took an interest in the jewelry and crocheting, and that’s what started me.”
Abingdon High School’s Home Economics teacher, Eleanor Thayer, taught Marie and other girls how to knit during the summer and a few years later Marie taught herself to crochet when her husband was in the Air Force. “We were at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois. It was so cold, you couldn’t go outside! I decided to learn how to crochet.”
Marie took knitting classes when she and her husband lived on the Air Force base in Sumter, S.C., where she made afghans, sweaters, and dresses for family members as Christmas presents. When they returned to Abingdon, she began working in the Abingdon Orthopedic Associates office, where she remained for 35 years. During this time, she also began to learn the craft of jewelry-making, encouraged by her long-time friend Susan Fields, who is an accomplished beader herself.
“Susan taught me how to bead-weave. There are several different kinds of thread. I use Fire Line brand most of the time. It is basically fishing line. There are different kinds of stitches, such as brick, ladder, right angle, weave, and several others.
“It takes a lot of patience. You have to put in and rip out. Sometimes your beads will break your line and so you’ll have to start all over or work your threads back in to where it will hold. It has to be really secure so it doesn’t fall apart. Then there is bead stringing, too. I have done the pearls with a knot between them. You have small needles. There’s beading needles, a ten, eleven, and a twelve.”
“With bead wrapping, you take your stone and wrap a copper wire around. If there’s a hole, you go through it. Sometimes you don’t have a hole so you wrap it all the way around the stone. It’s really tight.
“When it goes well, it is relaxing. It’s fun. You have to be in a mind set to do it. I’m the type of person that can’t be idle. I have to be doing something.”
Marie is always eager to try something new. Recently she has been making gift cards and bags with special machine-directed cut-out designs.
After retiring from Abingdon Orthopedic Associates, Marie worked for Susan Howard at her Abingdon bead shop, where she also learned a lot. Then in 2012, she came to Holston Mountain Artisans as a shopkeeper and also juried in as a member with her crafts. Today Marie is our lead shopkeeper and one of the friendly people who you will find when you visit us.
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Marie's work station. It takes a very steady hand to catch these beads! |
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Members Gallery
These are just a few of our 100+ members, most of whom live within 50 miles of Holston Mountain Artisans. Click on the pictures to see a larger image. |
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