Artist Spotlight -- Beki Haley

Tonight's featured artist is a woman whom I feel very lucky to be friends with -- Beki Haley. Some of you may know her as the owner of Out on a Whim, whereas those of you from All About Beads also know her as our forum hostess. Still others may know her as an up-and-coming bead teacher at such illustrious shows as the Swarovski one in Tucson and the Glass and Art Bead Festivals hosted by Bead Unique Magazine and SoftFlex. Personally, I know her as a talented artist and all-around awesome woman who cares very much about the beading industry and the beaders who keep it thriving.

In addition to the wonderful beadwork that you'll find in her unfortunately out-of-date website, Beki works in other mediums as well. Recently she has become certified in Precious Metal Clay, and I've also seen work that she has done with rubber stamping techniques, fibers, and bead-quilting. If ever I doubted that creativity could be stimulated when an artist tries out a new material or medium, Beki has certainly chased those doubts away!

Beki can be found at many bead shows around the country, either as a vendor or a teacher or an attendee. Having been in her class at the Las Vegas Bead Retreat, I can certainly recommend her as a teacher. And as a vendor? Well, many of my beadwoven pieces are made with seed beads from her on-line store!