12/17/16: In a kind of a rags-to-riches story, Chicago native Jan Huling went from Hallmark to high art. After earning a BA from the Kansas City Art Institute, Huling went to work designing cards for that bastion of good taste and fine art, Hallmark. She eventually escaped Kansas City and headed to New York where she worked as a product designer, a children’s book author, and finally a beadist. Her travels around India and Mexico left clear imprints on her art.

“The spectrum of Jan’s beadwork is diverse, from the very first beaded kazoo, to whole table tops. She’ll transform just about any object into a dreamy piece of ornamental luxury. Sorry Mr. Van der Roe, less just isn’t more when we are talking about the scintillating qualities of Jan’s beadwork. She’s not a nudist nor even a Buddhist, Jan is a BEADIST practicing a labor of love within her studio across New York’s great Hudson River in Hoboken.” (Doesn’t The Beaded Kazoo sound like a quirky pub somewhere in New Zealand?)

Her complex patterns and mindfully-colored work reminds me a bit of the traditional beaded art style of the Huichol people, who hail from the states of Jalisco, Durango, and Nayarit in Mexico. I was lucky enough to come across some Huichol beadwork when we were vacationing in Mexico, and it’s absolutely hypnotic in person. I imagine Huling’s is equally mesmerizing.

When you’re done checking out Jan Huling’s website, go follow to her Instagram, which is equally full of amazing things!

All images property of Jan Huling.