110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - wlinks_may08 - Index

30 member delegation would move together. It was
like a circus. No elephants but often displaying some
laughable clown-like qualities.
While in Geneva, I was assigned to socialize with
wives of the Russian diplomatic core. They would
come to my house and I would give them lessons
in designing jewelry.
The USSR was collapsing at that time and the
country had run out of rubles sufficient to support
their diplomatic delegations. As a result, Russian
diplomats and their families were forced out of
hotels and into cramped quarters in the Soviet
Mission building. The only time the wives got to go
out in public was when Uncle Sam and I treated
them to dinner.
We were dining together in a nice restaurant on
one occasion when one of the women looked at the
table spread with food and said in a plaintive voice,
“I haven’t seen butter in six months.” The comment,
and others like it, provided a fascinating view into
how difficult, at that time, were the lives of even the
higher-level Russian citizens.
The events of 9/11 changed everything for us, just
as it changed the rest of the world. T.R. was actually
working in the Pentagon building on the day that
the attack took place. When the plane hit he was
evacuated along with everyone else. He left his coat
and car keys behind and hitched a ride home.
When he walked into the house that day T.R.
announced, “We’re going to get out of Washington!”
The next day I had to drive him back to the
Pentagon so he could go to work. When we pulled
up I could see that the area where the plane had hit
was still in flames.
“You’re not going in there,” I told him. “That place
is still on fire.”
“If I don’t go to work, they win!”
I cried all the way home.
In June 2002 we came back to Discovery Bay. T.R.
actually had a vacation place in Discovery Bay since
the 1980s, when he was still a bachelor.
EAST COUNTY JEWELRY
DESIGNER
Long before we left Washington I began making
fine jewelry as a fulltime occupation. Never mind
that my government assignment at that time
was also full-time. Anybody can work 80 ho urs
a week for a while; you must simply manage
time and resources.
For five years I designed pieces for Saks Fifth
Avenue. Also, I designed for four years for the
National Museum of Women in the Arts in
Washington, DC, which is the only museum of its
kind in the world. It’s an incredible and breath-
taking place. I did a lot of dichroic-fused glass
pendants, creating a geisha series and an angel
series in glass, plus a line of shaman necklaces
with antique beads, fetishes, bones, antlers, and
antique buttons.
Plus, I was creating custom jewelry for cruise
ships — Canard, Holland America, Seaborne, and
Celebrity — up to 25 different ships. Sometimes
I would actually go on cruises to string beads
and design jewelry to clients’ specifications
while the ships carried us to exotic foreign
destinations.
Such a life sounds marvelous and, the fact is,
I made a lot of money and had some exciting
times. Exhausting though. I had no trouble
sleeping at night.
These days I’m showing my pieces at Loralei
Cove, plus doing shows at Trilogy in Brentwood,
at the Brentwood Art & Wine Festival, the Art
Festival in Discovery Bay, and doing some things
with the Discover Art League.
Last December we moved into our new home
in the Vineyards at Marsh Creek. We’re some of
the earliest residents in this active community.
The Trilogy people are real supporters of the arts.
It’s a great place for a creative person!
Moving my glass studio and shop took a couple
of months because anything having to do with a
glass kiln — and I have three of them — is a complicated
process involving tables, basins, and
specialized tools.
But now I am able to host open studio shows
at my own studio. People can come in and see me
GLASS AND JEWELRY ARTIST I ABODE
working. All my jewelry and glass pieces are for
sale. People seem most impressed when they see
how things are made.
I love my art! I love using my art; I wear my
own jewelry and serve guests off of my own
pieced glass plates.
My husband keeps my equipment running. He
says that compared to his nuclear engineering
demands, this is easy.
Those days of stringing beads on pieces of
dental floss seem long ago and far away. A lot of
water under the bridge! A lot of amazing experiences
and wonderful people!
I feel like Rudger Howard’s character in the
movie Blade Runner when he said,
“I've seen things you people wouldn’t believe....
Attack ships on fire off the shores of Orion.... I
watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the
Tanhauser Gate.”
I don’t even know what some of that means, but
I get the point that he had some indescribable
experiences. I know just how he felt. Like him I’ve
had experiences that are ineffable! Unimaginable!
My life has not been austere or very neatly
arranged in orderly categories. Some of it has been
hard, but almost always it has been fun!
And what a great ride it has been!
°
Meet Barbie at a reception at Loralei Cove on May 16,
6 to 8 p.m. Her art show will be May 16 to June 28.
Go to www.barbiekoncherstudio.com for more information.
Send any comments concerning the article
to editors@110mag.com.
May/June 2008 www.110mag.com 53