Lerum turns love for beads, rings into hobby

The West Shore’s Tina Jo Lerum grew up

in Vancouver, Canada, with parents who instilled in her a love for

travel. It was the traveling she did with them that also fed what

would become her hobby, passion and business — jewelry.

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve collected

beads and rings,” she said. “Wherever I went with my parents, my

souvenirs would be beaded necklaces and rings.”

As a teenager, Lerum said she wore many

rings on her fingers — perhaps too many, she admits now. Someone

suggested that she consider making them.

An opportunity arose while she was in

college to take a short course in jewelry making from a retired

jeweler.

What she picked up from the course,

aside from the basics, was joy in working with metals.

Her love for travel helped bring her to

the West Shore. A spur-of-the-moment trip to Mexico led her to Bob,

the man who would become her husband. Bob lived in Lakeside, and,

eventually, Lerum came there too.

When she moved state-side, and as she

was working on her citizenship, she also began turning her hobby

into a business and what later became Tina Jo’s Designs.

Her first craft fair was the Whitefish

Art Festival in 1988 and she’s continued and grown her work ever

since.

Aside from her initial short course,

Lerum has been largely self taught, a method she encourages others

to pursue as well.

One of the most challenging parts of

her learning was acid treatments for metals. It took her over a

year to learn, she said. She noted that she was fortunate to have

access to the chemicals for metal work as her father was a chemist.

That part of her work she warns others not to attempt without

proper safety precautions and knowledge.

“I love hammering, using different

chemicals,” she said. “I like that metal has a changeable

quality.”

Lerum has been told that her jewelry

tends to have a multicultural flavor, which is fitting given her

travels and the beads and styles she has picked up through them.

She points to the earings she’s wearing to show their international

influence — a snowflake from Switzerland and a bead from Japan.

She seeks out new beads everywhere she

goes, and when friends and her parents travel, she sends money with

them to bring back their finds both in individual beads and

strands. She also has hot spots to check out when she makes return

visits to Vancouver. She’s only recently started looking online as

well.

Some of her prized finds she refuses to

break up — like a strand of prayer beads from Nepal and beads she

discovered at a flea market in Germany that were actually from

Afghanistan.

She researches her finds as she likes

to let people know the history and origin of the pieces in the

jewelry.

Lerum said she feels fortunate whenever

someone purchases her pieces.

“Anybody could do this,” she said of

her jewelry compositions. “Even the metal work, anyone can if they

practice a lot.”

For those who are interested in picking

up jewelry making as a hobby, Lerum said the best way to start is

just to experiment. Though she hasn’t taken one herself, Lerum said

she’s heard rave reviews about the jewelry courses at Flathead

Valley Community College.

“Also if you have the luxury of time

and can just play around, do it,” she said. “I’m so lucky. My

husband said, ‘You figure that out and I’ll support you.’ I used

that time to figure out something about my own signature.”

She cautions newcomers to think

carefully about the decision to move from making jewelry as a hobby

to a business.

“You have to work hard at keeping the

love for it,” she said of doing it as a business.

Finding balance, she said, is key.

“My ‘passion’ can take me to extremes,

and while I believe in the value of visiting the extremes for brief

periods, I’ve learned that aiming for balance is what keeps my

energy and creativity flowing,” she said.  

Lerum’s jewelry can be found at

ARTFusion in Bigfork, the Kindred Spirits Gift Gallery at Glacier

International Airport and a variety of art shows. For a list of

upcoming shows or more information, contact Lerum at

tinajo4@centurytel.net.