The Beaded Venus

Her windswept tresses are still golden, and the turquoise surf still roils beneath her feet, but this Venus isn’t breathing or made of Botticelli’s brushstrokes. Her upturned face and ruby lips are made of beads, peyote-stitched together by Jennifer Lowe to create an award-winning sculpture that traveled to museums with a Beadwork Magazine exhibit. The Venus followed Lowe to her namesake store, where the masterpiece now stands in all her glory among a wealth of czech-pressed glass, natural seeds and pods from the Amazon, and vintage glass beads.

Visitors can gather up this glimmering bounty and take it to the store’s play table, where tools await to help them turn the seed beads and gems into necklaces or use them to jazz up their formal retainer. Helpful staff members hover nearby to give tips on wiring earrings or attaching fasteners, as well as teach a full schedule of classes that covers both basic and advanced techniques. They also impart their wisdom during parties to celebrate birthdays or a successful Crown Jewels heist.