BY GREG JOHNSON

Frontiersman

Published on Thursday, April 29, 2010 7:54 PM AKDT

WASILLA — Lila Koberstein has an addiction that frequently leaves her all strung out.

Koberstein is a beader.

Koberstein uses thread, wire and thousands upon thousands of beads to create her art. From earrings to other items of jewelry to intricate work on wedding dresses, the only thing that limits what an artist can bead is his or her own imagination, she said.

A banzai tree sculpted from wire and beads by artist Mary Boyd. (ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman)

As owner of Aurora Bead and Craft in Wasilla for the past four years, Koberstein’s love of beading began at age 9, when she received her first loom. Like creating a textile, a bead loom weaves thread, fabrics or other materials with beads.

While many consider her work “crafting,” Koberstein advocates beading as a time-honored form of artistic expression.

“All ancient cultures have had beads,” she said. “I think beads kind of faded a little in the Bronze Age because metals were really cool, but before and after that, beads were it.”

The Aztecs not only used beads as currency, but would string beads together in specific patters that could be interpreted as messages between villages. Today, beads communicate on a more esoteric level.

“It’s an artistic expression,” she said. “You can express yourself in a non-verbal, creative way. We all have an idea about what’s beautiful, so we’re all able to incorporate that into our expression.”

Even the beads can be art on their own, Koberstein said. “Some of the art beads, if you were to go online and look up art beads ... they literally can go for hundreds of dollars (per bead).”

Almost anything can be beaded, Koberstein said, from sneakers and other items of clothing to automobiles — although you may not want to take a beaded Bentley out for a test drive.

Katherine Haisten is also a beader who is passionate about her art. She specializes in Viking knit, which is a way of weaving and braiding wire to make shapes. These shapes often incorporate beads as decoration or to add color.

That creating with beads is a form of art is not debatable for Haisten.

“I definitely feel it is a way of expressing yourself,” she said. “I am not artistic at all. Yet, when you’re around all these beads and you start putting these things together, to me that’s not a hobby, that’s being artistic.”

She also loves to create beaded bags, weaving intricate tapestries into her work.

“That’s my favorite to make,” she said of the bags. “They can take anywhere from 30 to 50 hours.”

Beading does more than provide an outlet for Koberstein’s art. A former art school student with a background in psychology, Koberstein would use beading as a way to calm those she counseled.

She knew beading was more than a hobby “before I ever opened the shop,” she said. “When I was working with people and teaching them to express themselves artistically as a means for better mental health, I knew I wanted to do something that would continue to give people that gift.”

Beading can be addictive, she said. Her husband “is super supportive, ... but most of my friends are just as goofy about beads as I am. My family, on the other hand, doesn’t really understand my addiction to beads. They think it’s odd.”

Creating beautiful works of art for herself and to give as gifts is what Koberstein said she loves doing the most. And besides, “the beads rarely talk back to you.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.