Ennikki Eze by Sigrid Wynne-Evans     © December 2003

One of the joys that I have in being a member of Bead-Patterns.com is to be able to write the short biographies of my fellow designers. With each one that Rita lines up for me, I learn amazing things about the other designers on this site. Each one is an inspiration for me, and each one has something in her story that totally amazes me.

Ennikki Eze is no exception. Her story is amazing, inspirational, and makes me cheer for the courage and determination that all of the designers on this site have. I think that you will be as amazed and inspired by Ennikki's story, and since she tells it better than I could ever hope to retell it, I have left her writing in full as she sent it!

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I was born in Finland in 1941, at a time when Finland was at war with Russia for several years. My parents were both shipbuilding engineers. I am probably the only child who had a mother who constructed icebreakers for Russia and Finland, while my father, when home, did the housework. My mother was a painter as well who made lovely sculptures, as all women generations back, wellknown for their beautiful handicrafts.

In 1946 we moved to Sweden to new shipbuilding areas. My 2nd year in school started at the age of 6. I had a new country, new language and new ways of life. Coming to a country with no signs of war was like coming to Heaven! I saw an orange for the first time. It tasted wonderful! Unfortunately we moved a lot. There were always new towns, new schools, even new countries. Because of that, a best-friend relationship was always impossible so I longed for a pet. I got a chameleon, and later a chimpanzee. I lived with one of my parents, and alone much of the time. A child afraid of the dark but very mature in the eyes of others, bilingual at the age of 6, trilingual at the age of 9, and 6 languages by the age of 15...a child not like the others, reading fluently at the age of 3 but not knowing how to tell the time until I was 11!

Studying was the ultimate lifestyle for my parents. Being a "foreigner" everywhere always forced me to be "the best" in order to be accepted - but I was very different from the others. I went to university at the age of 16 but I still wasn't able to boil an egg. From 1959 until 1993 I went to 5 universities in three countries and have three university degrees.

As a multi-cultural woman without any roots I married an artist from Morocco. After 30 years of marriage, I divorced him in 1991. I have 3 children and 3 grandchildren all living in Sweden. They are all very artistic and creative.

In 1997 I moved back to Finland - back to my roots, realizing that my roots had almost completely vanished during the 50 years I'd been abroad. My mother, the most creative and talented woman I've even known, was no longer able to manage on her own, so I decided to live with her. The brain that had constructed waterfast icebreaker doors all around the world, had suddenly 'tilted'. So I went back to my birth area with plenty of cats, a dog, new intentions and hope .... we had two wonderful years together before she passed away peacefully.

Today I live alone on the west coast of Finland with my animals, old and new ones, in a small, very inhospitable village. I have 13 rooms in my house, 240 square meters of space, a huge wild beautiful garden to bead in, a sauna in the middle of the house and it is absolutely the most important room!

I have been teaching languages (Swedish, English and French) and Arts for about 42 years, mostly in Sweden but also in Finland (Technical and Arts & Crafts High schools). Due to cardiac problems and difficulties in my mobility, I have not been teaching since January 2002. In January 2003 I finally received my Sickness Benefit from Sweden. It's wonderful now to be able to do whatever I want whenever I want to!

I discovered the Beading World in 1994 and could no longer sleep - although no efforts to bead were made at that time. I ordered my first beading books through Amazon.com after having moved to Finland. In 1999 I traveled to Paris and London and sent about 120 kilos of beads by air back home!

In August of the same year, I made my first tentative efforts to bead. My first item was Suzanne Cooper's "Spiral Rope". I made many of these - all in different colours. Living in Finland made the authors of the beading books curious to know about beadwork in Finland. I explained to everyone that Finland was an empty area on the world map of beadwork! This was in spite of the nearness to Russia's with it's huge and gorgeous beading traditions.

During 1999 and 2002 I tried each day to pick up new techniques since my heart condition gave me ideas of having to be in a hurry! When Bead-Patterns.com started selling patterns on-line, I was a devoted shopper from the very beginning. I was beading on my own and the vocabulary was totally new to me. There was no one in either my neighbourhood or the country to ask! Fortunately I had dear friends in other countries that were always ready to explain and correct me. (A special thank-you to Jo Ann Ely.)

One day, I realized that everything I made was in fact adaptations of patterns, which I made to suit my own taste. Then new roads opened to me - suddenly I 'created'! This felt a bit like flying! I have always been fascinated by symbols and ethnic differences. The step forward to designing the Chinese Zodiac Signs was easy. I contacted Rita Sova and I got help from her during my first 3 months of trial and error! This needed a lot of patience from Rita - which is still there! Rita will always be my dear mentor. For the Zodiac patterns and the following African graphs, I used Leah Cramer's free software.

Zodiac Patterns
(items are available - click on image for details)
    

In 2002 I found different ways of using the 4mm Miyuki Cubes from Japan. It has been a most fascinating time to show people how to use these cubes and solve problems. I want the patterns to help beaders create their own designs. If I have to choose my favorite design of my own it would be "Cool Cubes 4 Ethno Queens" - a set of Jewelry where I can attach cowrie shells or other pendants and detach them later. I wear this necklace and earrings very often.

I will always have a special love for ethnic patterns. My mother told me, "the older you get - the faster your ideas come running", and she was so right! It is difficult not to be able to draw or make notes of everything that 'flashes' by!

Examples (patterns not availabe)
    
  

Since I've always been an 'on the road' handcrafter I am used to odd workspaces. Living alone in 13 rooms I decorated a wonderful large crafts studio just to find out that I would never use it! I probably have supplies of beads in every room - excited to find what I am looking for at times - or finding something I had completely forgotten about! When making something with beads, I simply gather the stuff I need around me, and sit down in one of the rooms.....and when it is not too cold, in the garden. The hedgehogs are so familiar with me so they often sit beside my feet while I am beading.

During the 1 1/2 years at Bead-Patterns.com I have done a lot of drawing by hand, used a scanner, Word, Corel 6 and Leah Cramer's free software. A digital camera is my newest exciting toy!

I hope soon to be able to publish old and new Cube patterns on a CD, adding simple drawings and less text. The next project will be a CD with the existing African graphs and many new ones. This coming winter I plan to work with young girls to make a Finnish/Swedish instructional book for children on how to make jewelery. I teach 2 djembe drumming groups how to make African beadwork for their performances. In the meantime, they teach me how to play the djembe drum (from Senegal)and drums seem more and more to take over the main space in my heart.

Examples of Hobbies/Interests
  

I started to explore computers at the age of 52, the Internet and image-making - and a new world opened up to me and my life changed immensely. After my divorce in 1991 I am a hermit meeting people only a couple of months every year. The cyber contacts with beaders abroad is a necessary part of each day. Today I am very proud to be able to use a needle and thread and small beads with senseless stiff fingers and arthritis. It took me nearly 1½ years to be able to hold a needle between my fingers.

Living in Finland where people love handicrafts but do not appreciate beadwork as an art, I often get hurt and angry because of the lack of interest. Finding appreciation 'outside' has turned me into a very happy beader. Having found wonderful sharing beading friends around the world, has given a different meaning to my life. I have been given many opportunities to teach beadwork in the UK and France. Advancing towards a united beading society in Europe is something incredible! Having found wonderful Japanese bead factory contacts as well is just more than I could ever have dreamed of.

Satisfied Client

Beads and Beadwork have given me a new life, better health conditions, taught me more patience, not to make mistakes and never to give up! Beaders all over the world are a very special group sharing willingly their secrets, expertise and designs. This is something very unusual to find within other professions. If beaders ruled the world, our planet would certainly be a more peaceful one! I thank all the beaders out there who in one way or another have contributed to make me a better beader and a happy old woman!