Designer

You have already had the opportunity to come across the playful and clean-lined designs by Jana Shweiki created using Czech beads and seed beads from the PRECIOSA Traditional Czech Beads™ range in Preciosa Ornela's internet galleries where they were previously signed with the name Jana Bukovská. She has liked "beads" since her childhood, but she became more involved with them after 2008, when she was on maternity leave. She is a member of the Fler Beadweaving Team which brings together artists who are involved in making sewn pieces of jewellery and organises thematic competitions. 

Designer

The basic building block of Martina Strouhalová's work is her thorough knowledge of costume jewelry techniques and her many years of experience in the field of jewelry and the costume jewelry industry.

An artist

The glass artist Ladislav Oliva was born on 21^st August 1933 in Chudeřice. He studied glass painting under Professor Josef Khýl at the Special Glass School in Kamenický Šenov and then at the Applied Arts University in Prague from 1951 to 1957. There, he endeavoured to cover all areas of glass making in Professor Josef Kaplický's studio.

An artist

Ladislav Oliva Junior was born in Česká Lípa on 27^th May 1964. He studied blown glass under Professor Pavel Ježek and specialist teacher Stanislav Šimůnek at the Glass Applied Arts Secondary School in Železný Brod between 1978 and 1982. He then continued his studies in the field of glass art under Professor Stanislav Libenský (1982 – 1988) at the Applied Arts University in Prague. After completing his studies (1989 – 1991), he worked as a glass artist at Crystalex in the Harrachov glassworks.

The Association of Flower Arrangers and Florists of the Czech Republic has nominated Klára Franc Vavříková as the Czech representative for the 2016 Europa Cup, a significant international flower arranging competition, after her win at the 2014 Flower Arranging Championships of the Czech Republic - the Děčín Anchor.

An artist

My name is Carla Ruvolo, I’m Italian. As a mother of two, I don’t have too much free time but whenever I can relax beads are my first choice.

She has been independently involved in the creation of painted glass, especially copies of historical designs. She creates unique compositions of natural motifs using bobbin lace.

All of her relatives have excelled at embroidery, crocheting or weaving with beads and at every other creative technique where hread plays the main role. Her grandmother and great-grandmother were her greatest sources of experience and inspiration.

Her name has resounded throughout the world of bead and seed bead costume jewellery for a number of years. She admittedly did not graduate from any art school, but she has been designing for a number of years and she also makes her own jewellery and lectures at costume jewellery workshops. Her pieces are made under the Snow Mirna brand which, as she herself says, is also her second name.