What is Hill Tribe Silver?

by Julie Holmes

I love Hill Tribe silver. It has an ethnic feel to it, and a spiritual quality. I've seen the name around for a while, but didn't understand why it was called "Hill Tribe". ...so, I've done a little research and found this good information here:
Hill Tribe Silver Beads Story

The Karen tribe (Kariang or Yang in their native language) is the largest of the five more prominent hill tribes in Northern Thailand, where the largest city is Chaing Mai. As many as 500,000 members of 20 hill tribes in the region are known for a variety of skills, and most support themselves as farmers in this mountainous area. Early in the last century, these tribes were formed when people from Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Tibet, and China, emigrated to start a new life. Their numbers still grow slowly as people leave behind their previous homes for various social and political reasons.

The Karen hill tribe people have made a name for themselves with their expert skill as silversmiths. This craft is a generations-old art that in the 1960s was recognized and promoted by Thailand’s king at the time. Once channels for production and marketing were opened, it was only a matter of time for the particular appeal of these hand-crafted, pure silver creations to raise significant interest. Karen tribe members produce beads like these that are now sold through many avenues worldwide. These pure silver pieces have a natural, rustic-refined personality that draws quite a following. A few distributors have built personal as well as business relationships with the crafters, and take pride in these positive connections.

Hill Tribe silver is a fair-trade product, so the artisans are paid a fair wage for their work. This rate of pay is often called a “living wage,” since it allows for a healthy and sufficient lifestyle in the culture. As part of the fair-trade arrangement, the crafters are also required to meet international conservation and environmental-protection standards

Look at this beautiful Hill Tribe Silver ring from Overstock

And this beautiful bracelet by Mary Jane

Hill tribe silver is more "pure" than sterling, therefore it's softer and more malleable, but will also tarnish less quickly. You can buy it at Artbeads , and many other internet stores.

If you use Hill Tribe Silver in your work, please post your pictures on our FB page! We'd love to see it!

stand in wonder

mary jane dodd

praying mantis wings that were respectfully collected

'he who can no longer pause to wonder 
and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead;

his eyes are closed.

- albert einstein

these delicate wings belong to those of the praying mantis - a creature i have been strongly drawn to since i was a child.  my daughter and i found one that had been stepped on and was still living - we wrapped it up and put it in a quiet place.

some small rodents (i am guessing) ate the body and left the wings... and so now i have them... and i am grateful for this reminder of strength and fragility, of the cycle of life... of the fact that, somehow, this creature ended up in a place where i was... 

small bronzes by daniel fleming

these beauties grace my home... 

fortunate enough to have lived near to manhattan my whole life, to have aunts who lived in the city and who had me visit, i was brought to art museums at a young age... always knowing to never touch the sculpture - though the metal and its surface called to me - i admired from a close distance... with my camera i would try to catch light on texture, in shadows and fractures... 

daniel makes small bronzes - 

daniel makes it possible for me to do what i was never able to do - to run my fingers over the surface of the bronze, to hold it for however long i choose,

to admire his work not from a distance, but as up close and personal as i can be... 

he cannot know what this means to me - 

there is a reverence for these little figures as they stand with me at the bench... 

they bring me joy

and return me to wonder...