Mara Colecchia discovered beads in 2018, after fleeing her home in Ojai, California due to a terrible wildfire. She returned to live in Los Angeles for awhile, where she had previously lived. But Mara had brought none of her usual art supplies with her. So instead of spending her days making art, she spent her time sad and worried.
Then one day, Mara opened a book on art jewelry that was written in Italian, her native language. When she spotted a fabulous antique beaded rope necklace, she stopped turning the pages. The rope necklace was attributed to the Wiener Werkstatte collective that designed and produced elegant functional objects in Vienna, Austria from 1903-1932. A second beaded lariat was also shown in the book. And the rest is history, as they say.
Mara began taking beading classes, learning peyote stitch, chenille stitch, and other beading techniques. In her first months as a beader, she made dozens of rope necklace. But it was only when she discovered cubic right angle weave - thanks to excellent beading lessons from Carole Tripp, owner of Creative Castle in Newbury Park, California - that Mara Colecchia found her artistic voice. She's been cultivating it ever since, and her impressive expertise shows.
In 2019, Mara opened Maracole Bijoux, her full-time bead jewelry business. (Bijoux is a French word meaning "jewelry.") Since then, she's created some extraordinary art jewelry designs executed entirely in beads. It's hard to sum up Mara's singular aesthetic. To me, it looks European, and avant-garde. Art jewelry customers seek Mara out at leading juried American craft shows such as the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, DC.
Watch Mara talk about her favorite pieces as she tells stories from her rewarding multicultural life.
Mara grew up in Urbino, Italy, where she was surrounded by medieval and Renaissance works of art. Urbino is where Raphael was born - and Mara has visited his childhood home several times. She also loves the paintings of Raphael, along with works by Paolo Ucello, Piero della Francesca, and others. Listen as Mara explains why she loves these compelling works of art.
In college Mara studied art and animation design. She loved learning animation because of its typically lighthearted subject matter. Her love of childlike, whimsical themes has carried over into her beaded jewelry designs - as you'll see when you watch this interview.
Check out Mara Colecchia's website - which will soon be fully e-commerce ready. Her earrings are stylish and very cool. And check out her necklaces too.
www.maracole.com
And Mara's Instagram page:
maracole_artwear
https://www.instagram.com/maracole_artwear/?hl=en
And Mara's YouTube channel:
@maracolebijoux
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4GS5GziBa_2FKh1DsFCTng/videos
If you enjoyed this interview, please COMMENT, LIKE, and SUBSCRIBE. And I'll keep finding and interviewing more amazing bead artists.
-Valerie
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