One of the most interesting things that my husband Tim and I discovered about each other, when we first started dating, was our mutual love for all things Italian. Living in Seattle in the 1990’s, Tim owned a café and I designed jewelry and owned a bead shop. The shop, called Sound City Bead, catered to bead lovers of many stripes for over ten years. Both Tim and I built our businesses around concepts and products that were staples of Italian life; i.e. coffee and hand-made glass beads, respectively.
We both adored Italian food, wine, art and culture tremendously, although neither of us had ever actually been to Italy. After we were married in 1999, we joined other family members vacationing in a rented villa by the Tyrrhenian Sea, just south of the port city of Livorno. We spent a month traveling around the regions of Tuscany and Umbria and also took a three day trip to Venice. I will never forget the overwhelming impression that Venice made upon me. I felt as if I had died and gone to bead heaven!
During the summer of 2001 we rented an apartment for two months in the Tuscan town of Lucca. We fell so in love with the way of life in Italy, especially in the region of Tuscany itself, that we never left. Because of my Italian heritage, I discovered I was legally entitled to obtain Italian citizenship, which I did with the help of my father. Shortly thereafter, my brother took over the bead store we owned in Tucson, Arizona at the time and we sold or gave away most of our other belongings.
We then put our daughter Leah, who was then nine, in Italian public school, and started to build our new life here in Italy. Around that time I suggested to Tim that he might enjoy learning how to make lampworked beads. After taking a one week intensive course in the region of Umbria, Tim set up his own bead making studio. He has been busy making wonderful glass beads ever since in the Venetian tradition, but with a distinctly American twist.
In early 2005, craving a more cosmopolitan atmosphere, we moved from Lucca to Florence. Florence, which is called “Firenze” in Italian, is the capitol of Tuscany and one of the world’s most beloved art cities. Besides being the home of the great Renaissance period of art history, Florence also enjoys the distinction of being the intellectual center of Italy.
Home to one of Europe’s oldest universities, the University of Florence, the city also hosts at least thirty Italian and American study abroad programs each year. Many American universities, like Syracuse and New York University for example, have permanent campuses here in town. This helps give the city a young and vibrant feel, which is an interesting contrast to its ancient surroundings.
Since moving to Florence, we have been on an interesting personal and artistic journey. Tim has been making glass beads for a number of design houses, both big and small. Chanel featured his beads in their summer and fall 2006 line. He also received commissions from the famous Italian design houses Ferragamo and Escada, as well. He continues to supply a myriad of smaller designers, in Europe, North America and as far away as Australia, with his ever-expanding line of hand-made glass beads. He now also teaches glass bead making in our Florence glass studio. (www.BeadedLilyGlassWorks.com) Our daughter Leah, now 18, is currently enrolled at the Liceo Linguistico, where she is studying several languages.
"Siesta"
Our Miniature Schnauzer
I am happily running what I believe to be a charming shop featuring Tim’s beads, our hand-crafted jewelry, Venetian glass and other high-quality bead related products from around the world, as well as teaching beading and jewelry design courses. The shop is located in the Oltrarno area of Florence, home to many interesting artisans, museums, family trattoria and several university programs.
Starting over in a new country is always a challenge, especially in these times of world turmoil. But even in these harrowing times, it is the simple things; the food, the people and the overall lifestyle, that make life in Italy so comforting. As artists working with beads and other media, both my husband and I have found a sense of peace and a feeling of oneness with our surroundings that eluded us before. The rhythms of the day and the seasons, the ebb and flow of tourists from all over the world, and the sense of wonder that comes from new discoveries in an old land, are constant sources of nourishment for our creativity. But living in the shadow of the Renaissance can have its challenges too, and can be quite humbling to any artist or creative person. The key, I think, is to find a way to mesh the classical and the traditional with the modern and the innovative, while finding one’s own voice among the ancient whispers. It is this balance that we strive to achieve while searching for “La dolce vita.”
For us, the first step was articulating our dream. The rest continues to reveal itself day by day.
