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JoJo Beads
By Laura Jean Whitcomb
Every piece of jewelry has a story. Joanne Rutledge-Davis holds up a necklace with colorful, candy-like beads. “My son bought skittles one day, so I made a necklace called skittles,” she says. She points to another with glass beads in complementary shades of pink. “This one is named after my favorite dessert, raspberry sherbet.”
Joanne can tell you what inspired her to make each necklace, and why she chose a particular bead. This may not matter to the average customer, but, to some, it is Joanne’s stories that provide that extra something — a bit of personality, perhaps — to what would otherwise be just a colorful accessory.
Joanne, a native of the Upper Valley, has a story of her own. She has been making jewelry since she was a child, and remembers selling items at craft fairs at the age of 8. The money she earned helped pay for college; she studied interior design at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Mass., for two years. Then she married a Grantham boy, moved to Springfield and raised a family. In December 2004, Joanne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease of the central nervous system that is unpredictable in its progress, severity and symptoms. Joanne’s MS was aggressive.
“I stopped walking and lost the use of my hands,” she says. “My older sister Christine brought me to Vessels & Jewels in New London. Although she had to help me use the pliers, she had me making jewelry again.”
What started as therapy turned into a business: JoJo Beads. Beth, a guidance counselor, wore some of Joanne’s creations to school and co-workers inquired about her jewelry. “I like funky things and I wasn’t sure that others would,” Joanne says. Today, she is dressed in a bright orange shirt, blue baseball cap and is wearing a necklace with teardrop beads in primary colors. “Color, even with interior design, came very naturally to me. I love color. It makes me happy.”
Joanne uses unique materials in her creations. In a necklace called “Cape May,” there are nine different kinds of beads — shell, furnace glass, freshwater pearl, crystal and millefiori (an ancient technique of fused glass to create a patterned design which appears painted), to name a few. They are linked by a white organza ribbon, slightly twisted to look like a foamy ocean wave. “There’s an iridescent water look — kind of like jellyfish,” she says. “We used to spend summers in Cape May and this reminded me of the sea shore.”
Earlier this year, one of Joanne’s necklaces and matching earrings won the “Miss Outrageous Award” in a Vessels & Jewels competition. Joanne hand twisted fine gauge sterling silver wire into branches, and each branch has a freshwater pearl on the end. The pearls are in autumn hues — maroons, browns and purples — and the set is reminiscent of a New England fall.
“I want you to feel good about what you’re wearing,” says Joanne. She notes that she makes closures simple and easy — using buttons or loops — because she remembers what it was like to not be able to close the clasp on a necklace. “The joy of being alive is what I put into making these pieces. Yes, I have MS and am going through chemo, but I am alive and watching my kids grow up. I put everything I am into my jewelry. I enjoy it and I hope everyone feels that happiness when they wear it.”
JoJo Beads is truly a family business. Joanne’s son Ethan, 9, designs his own jewelry and has even sold a few things at the Lebanon Farmers’ Market. Seth, 4, steals beads and puts them in his dump truck, and husband Darrin cleans up after them. “My mom says, ‘I’m your best customer.’ But I say, ‘No, my dad is,’” Joanne laughs.
Joanne offers beading parties for birthdays or just for fun, and also teaches classes at the Grantham Stonewall Gallery. (She’ll be holding a few during the holiday season.) Her jewelry is available at the Stonewall Gallery, Artful Things in Lebanon, Bridgman’s Furniture in West Lebanon and the Library Arts Center Gallery & Studio in Newport in November. She can be reached at 315-9754 or jrutledge_davis@hotmail.com
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