By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Linda Shea displays a kimono she created out of beads and freshwater pearls in her New Boston home studio. Her work will be on display at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s BEADS exhibit in Concord beginning Friday, June 16, and at the Craftsmen’s Fair at the Mount Sunapee Resort in August. (The Goffstown News/Bruce Preston)

The artwork of Linda Shea takes many forms, but it sparkles wherever it is placed.

Shea makes bead jewelry, wall hangings, sculptures and ornaments in her home studio located near the center of New Boston. While her creations may look unassuming, her more ambitious projects can take hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of beads to create.

“This is very fun for me,” said Shea, a 16-year resident of New Boston. “I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun.”

Shea’s work will be featured in the two major exhibitions this summer, both connected to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.

First, her work will appear at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s “BEADS” exhibition, opening in Concord this week. Later in the summer, she will have a booth at the League’s fair in August.

The BEADS exhibit will be on display at Gallery 205, located at 205 N. Main St. in Concord, from June 16 to Sept. 8. The event will kick off with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 16, and will be open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the run of the exhibit.

“When you see the pieces in this exhibition, you can really appreciate the skill and intricacy of beading,” said League Executive Director Susie Lowe-Stockwell in a press release.

“We have a few pieces that are entirely made of beads, while many pieces illustrate how beads are used to add texture and dimension to a variety of fine craft media.”

Shea’s second exhibit, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair, is set to run Aug. 5 to 13 at the Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Shea will exhibit her work there in a shared booth with weaver Cheryl Christenson. Their exhibit, titled Reeds and Beads, will be located at booth number 628 at the fair.

Shea’s work will also be displayed at the Shop at the Fair and Living with Crafts exhibits during the fair.

A member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen since the year 2000, Shea said she had no formal arts education or training whatsoever prior to his discovery of beading.

Shea said she came upon a book about beading while “killing time at a bookstore” in 1998, and has pursued the activity passionately ever since.

“The book should have included a warning: ‘This activity is addictive’,” Shea says on her Web site, beadofmyheart.com.

“I can’t sit still at night without picking up a needle, beading thread and my beads.”

The process of beading itself involves running tiny beads only slightly larger than a grain of sand through a nylon beading thread, one at a time, until the materials form objects such as watch bands, necklaces or sculptures.

While they vary in size and style, Shea’s works are uniformly rich in detail and complexity.

For example, she created a miniature Japanese kimono out of more than 150,000 beads in a process that took her more than 200 hours to produce. Her hard work is evident in the durability of the kimono itself, affixed with a green sash called an obi, and ornamented with additional beads and freshwater pearls.

“There’s something very relaxing about beading,” said Shea.

While some artists shudder to part with their work, Shea said she has no problem selling her creations.

“I always figure if I have to part with one, I can always make another one,” she said.

While Shea says most of her work is the result of a “wild creativity binge,” she said she believes her work is accessible to the public.

When she’s not creating artwork and jewelry out of beads, Shea is a skin care specialist at the New Boston Health and Wellness Center, in the Apple Barn in New Boston.