Bundock, Ginger 2001-08-15

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This interview features Ginger Bundock as she talks about creating beaded jewelry and fiber art. In this interview, Bundock describes how she got into beads and her creative ideas. She then moves on to explain her love for fiber art and her process for making pieces. She ends the interview by discussing what she considers as art and by expressing her love for beads.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Ginger Bundock

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: August 15, 2001

Location:

Interviewer: Leslie Dutton

Length: 01:02:45


Abstract

Short Version: Introduction and background information; her beadwork; How her creative ideas come about; Fiber art and the cotton; Works of art that she currently works on; memorabilia necklaces; Her clientele and plans for expansion; symbolism in her pieces; What she considers as art

Long Version: Background, Born in Clarksville, Texas, Feb 1, 1947, Lived there until age 1, Moved to New Mexico, Age 16 family moved to Lubbock, Texas, The Start of Ginger Bundock’s Career, Started creating as a small child, Aunt was an artist and let her play with any of her materials, Mother was an artist, untrained and undeveloped, San Francisco Bay 1970’s, Moved there after her husband graduated Texas Tech, Started a serious theme here of old chevron’s and African things, Anything with a deep cultural background, 1985 started to design jewelry, Art School at Texas Tech, Father died and Bundock did not return in the next semester, Worked in the museum shop as a volunteer, Brought her pieces to the museum and they wanted her pieces for display, In 9 months the museum hosted her first show 1986, Got her bead from bead shows, Importers, Ethnographic pieces, Chinese pieces, Ivory, porcelain beads, Glass beads painted from the inside, African pieces, Africa trade beads, Used specific beading only made from certain groups of people, Form of self expression, Never had problems selling her art work, Developed a great clientele from the museum, Coming up with ideas, Inspired by the materials, Addicted to color, Loves putting colors together, One of kind pieces, Desert jewelry, inspired by the drive form Santa Fe to El Paso, Found old clay beads form Mali, Africa, Sometimes put ethnic crosses from Ethiopia in the works, Dream is to go to Africa and Morocco, Buys any beads that she loves, Creates in her mind while she is buying different pieces, Has millions of beads, Keeps her more valuable beads in a vault, Doesn’t really use the big African and Chinese pieces any more, Has to like the piece and feel proud of it before she sells it, Learning about foreign beads, Studied, Read books on the history of beads, Why they were important to a particular culture, Made condensed slide shows about beads, Santa Fe flee market, Jewelry Class, Rob Glover at Texas Tech, Metal’s class, Thought she wanted to make pendants, Loves designing, Not as interesting as beads, Business, Owns her own business called Bobbles, 1986, Started it so she could get a tax number and be able to buy wholesale, Interesting Facts, Lived in California and took a weaving class, Frame looms and tapestry, Started her love of fibers, Buys wool from locally grown sheep, Handspun and dyed with natural dyes, Secondary to the jewelry, Weaver’s guild in Lubbock in the 70’s, Lifelong friend: Romeo Raina, Huge tapestry pieces, Couldn’t put the work down when she first started, Weaving and spinning is too time consuming, The yak and Soto miracle painting, Done with yak hair and wool, Llano Brush painting, Big pieces have to be done on the floor, so they are harder to do, Just makes smaller pieces, Assemblages, Assembled from different images, 3-D, Wish you were here painting, influence by the day of the dead celebration, Inspirational people who have passed, Memorabilia necklaces, Old charms and mementos into a necklace, Clientele, Wide range of clientele, Not much for children, Young women, Men, Older women, Broadened her use of material, Internet shopping is in the works, Showed jewelry in Santa Fe, Galleries and Boutiques, One of a kind pieces, Time frame for work, A single strand: 1 afternoon, Multiple strands: Days, Symbolism, Refers to written material, Native American, Chinese folklore, Commissioned by the city of Lubbock to create a necklace for Ann Richards when she was governor, Dragon for power, turquoise for the West Texas sky, Loves working with specifics, Effects others emotionally, Only puts clasp on when customer says that they are happy with the end product, Customers, If you don’t like it Bundock allows refunds, Allows exchanges, Bundock just wants to have her customers happy, Willing to change the pieces until the customers are happy, Large inventory so that customers can select their own beads, Plans to build new studio


Access Information

Original Recording Format: mini-disc and audio cassette

Recording Format Notes: access copy available in reading room

Transcript: Transcript available on dspace <https://hdl.handle.net/10605/363318 >


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