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A Bead Journey:
Through The Eyes of Helen Dietze
By Gretchen Schueller and Kristine Buchanan
 If you have ever met Helen Dietze, also known as “The Bead Lady”, whether you first notice one of her incredible necklaces, or enjoyed one of her philosophies of life, you certainly remember the experience. Helen never leaves the house without one of her signature pieces of art hanging around her neck. The first time one lays eyes on a creation of Helen’s, one thing is immediately apparent, she had a profound desire to create art that is an extension of who she is. Whether it is one of her early fiber wall hangings, or one of her truly non-traditional necklaces, her wondrous use of color and aesthetics make all of her pieces an art statement.
As with most artists, Helen’s talent spans a number of different disciplines. Helen’s formal training was at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Color and Design in San Francisco, four years with Mr. Rudolph Schaeffer. A crossroads in Helen’s life helped her to make the decision to take the four years off and attend school full time.  This topped off a lifetime love affair with color and design. There she learned to understand color as light, and light as color; a firm foundation for the ensuing adventures she would have. This would give her an outlet to apply what she learned to express herself and make a personal comment on where she’s been, what she’s seen and done. Her experiences with Mr. Schaeffer are what made her decide to become a full time artist.
Hat with beads, made by Helen. Model: Kendra Scott
Helen’s first pieces were wall hangings that she created out of yarns that she blends together, mixing colors, textures, and philosophies of life. Her yarns are blended together for color combinations not found anywhere else. They are based on an “additive spatial fusion” technique drawn from her awareness and knowledge of color. Helen also combined weaving and crocheting to make shawls, coats, stoles, and hats using yarns. She also began to add beads to her pieces, to add depth and different shapes. In her earlier necklaces, it is easy to see the transformation from some beads, to more beads, to only some fiber, to very little fiber and mainly beads. Fiber techniques can still be found in most of her necklaces.
 After her studio was completed and established, Helen satisfied a childhood dream, to travel, extensively. Various situations in her life nudged her into exploring beads. Beadwork was, and continues to be, the most satisfying and rewarding form of artwork that she has practiced. Traveling to the far reaches of the planet has given Helen a chance to see many different types of beads, and beads are small enough to travel with easily. This gave her the ability to come home from a trip, and create a piece inspired by the journey. Helen feels that by interweaving beads from many different countries, she is able to bring the world together, peacefully. She has been to such exotic locations as Katmandu, Kashmir, Indonesia, Egypt, and just before the Tiananmen Square riot, China. Each trip has an interesting story about what Helen saw, who she met, and what affect it had on her life.
 Teaching has given Helen a way to share her knowledge and love of beauty, order and discipline. While most art teachers teach color theory, they only teach pigment theory. To help her students gain a wider understanding and perception of color, Helen teaches prismatic color theory as well. Most people working with color use the more traditional or popular combinations. Helen pushes her students as she pushers herself, to challenge what they think they know and they find themselves using colors that they wouldn’t have thought about using before, and are delighted with their results.
The results that her students achieve are wonderful to see. There is a unique thread that runs through the creations of Helen and her students, and each piece is an art statement. Each piece is unique, and even if every student began with the exact same beads, the results would be different since everyone puts their own interpretation and personality into it. You will not find these types of pieces at the mall, they would be more suitably shown in an art gallery.
Helen’s students experience and achievements vary, and regardless of this, they find a freedom, channeling their energies into their beadwork. Many of Helen’s students have won prizes for their work and some have just brought themselves a peace they hadn’t known before. All of this gives Helen a sense of accomplishment and gratification that transcends material possessions, and lets her give back to the world all of the good that has been given to her.
Helen admiring two of her necklaces in a show at the Sun Gallery in Hayward, CA
Never leave home without it. This is a saying that Helen has been listening too for a long time. She never leaves home without one of her pieces of art on. Perfect strangers come up to Helen and talk to her, people who wouldn’t have otherwise taken the time. It opens the door for people to share their thoughts and ideas, and that is what it’s all about, after all.
The entire series is now available in PDF format. This is an extensive article that covers 31 pages and the download file is 17mb.
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