By Kim Crow
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Prepare to get hammered at the Grand River Beads & Gift Gallery in Rocky River.
Or fired up, torched, drilled or blasted, whatever your creative heart desires.
The airy boutique bead shop and gallery along a bustling stretch of Detroit Road may seem mild-mannered and pleasant, as smiling shoppers carefully pick their way through strands of stone, ropes of silver and tumblers of stones to find their treasures. But in the subterranean basement, kilns burn, guillotines slice and vises grip as hundreds of students make their way through the store's multitude of class offerings.
"Our classes are probably our biggest draw," says owner Eva Sherman. "We view jewelry as an art form. We have a great team of local instructors, and we bring in nationally known instructors several times a year."
Grand River Beads hosts more than 100 intimate classes every quarter in all aspects of jewelry making including soldering, metalsmithing, wire wrapping, glass fusing, riveting, weaving and more. This number doesn't include the dozens of after-hour parties or semiprivate lessons the store arranges as well. For these classes, Sherman draws from the expertise of a revolving retinue of 15 or so instructors, most of whom live in Northeast Ohio.
"We instructors have a guiding mantra," says Sherman. " 'Don't take the piece out of the student's hand!' Sometimes students gets frustrated and they just want the instructor to finish the piece off. We have to gently tell them, 'You paid us to teach you!' and that's what we're going to do. You're going to leave here having learned something new."
It was that desire to learn that led Sherman into the absorbing world of jewelry design several years ago. An architect by profession, she took up beading simply as a way to spend more time with her teenage daughters.
"But I became hopelessly, hopelessly addicted," she remembers with a laugh. "It became all I wanted to do."
Soon she had traded in her drafting table for a crafting table, opening a tiny storefront on Center Ridge Road in Rocky River in November 2005. Her assortment of fine beads and supplies caught the attention of local artists, and when the owners of the Silverthorne Creative Art Center offered her the chance to expand her retail footprint and add studio space by joining them on Detroit Road, she accepted gratefully.
As Sherman puts it, she's now "the last man standing." Silverthorne closed earlier this year, but Sherman keeps its spirit alive by devoting a large section of Grand River Beads to a gift section. She features only the work of local artists, including glass art by Todd Anderson, photography by Mary Bruner, mixed-metals art by Kim O'Neill and beach glass jewelry by Beth Martin.
"It's so important to me to promote the work of local artists," Sherman says. The store also features a large selection of locally made lamp work, dichroic and ceramic beads, along with the stones and semiprecious gems she finds on buying trips throughout the year, specifically a giant bead show she attends every winter in Tucson.
Grand River Beads & Gift Gallery
Where: 19361 Detroit Road, Rocky River.
Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, noon-6 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
Classes: Check the Web site for a full schedule. The David Smith silver smithing workshop is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11. Price is $295, which includes all ma terials, use of tools and a take-home in structional DVD. Register online or by calling the store.
Contact: 440-331-4950.
"I have to say it's the most fun part of my job," she says, adding that she personally chooses every bead, stone and crystal for the store.
If buying beads is the most fun, being down in her classroom studio must run a close second. Sherman lights up when displaying its tools and treasures to a visitor and is quick to show how a coiler works or how easily the brand-new guillotine can slice through a sheet of metal.
While the majority of the classes held in this space are aimed at novices, some are more geared toward intermediate or advanced training for seasoned craftspeople. Those classes often take the form of workshops that revolve around a visiting instructor of national renown.
One such workshop on Saturday, July 10, and Sunday, July 11, will feature silversmith David Smith, an Indianapolis-based instructor who teaches around the country. His 12-hour session, split over two days, will offer "serious silversmithing lessons for serious jewelry makers." (Go to grandriverbeads.com to register.)
But Sherman does offer one warning. If you come for a class, or even to shop for beads, even that slight interest can lead to a full-blown obsession.
"That connection is pretty much instant," she laughs. "If jewelry making appeals to you at all, you'll pretty much be addicted right away. But here, you'll be among people who feel exactly the same way."