If you're looking for Kim Miles the beadmaker, you've found me. I don't make beads anymore, but I find it interesting to look back and see the connections between things I've done, and things I'm doing now. My best known bead design, and my personal favorite, is the Lotus. Its intricate mandala-like grace is calming and centering for many people, and it was a joy to make. There was a time, after beads, when I was smitten with hand drawing mandalas. Pen and paper became my favorite tools, and the elaborate circular images poured out of me, eventually becoming a coloring book. Now the focus has turned back to fiber arts, most specifically crochet, which was the first craft I learned as a kid. Crocheting my overgrown "doilies" is a peaceful, meditative process, just as glass work and drawing are. The big difference is really in the materials used, and I love the tactile nature of turning something as mundane as cord or rope into beautiful and useful objects. Am I going in circles? Well, I suppose so. But then, isn't life like that? Every day, every year, if we're lucky, we get to go around again.
