Trysch Koester by Sigrid Wynne-Evans     © December 2006   Trysch has some delightful patterns. Don't miss her "Key to Your Heart" (item 10857) and 3D Puffy Heart ( item 10379). They will look fantastic beaded with Austrian Crystals.       Click on an image to view the pattern information.

I was born in Miami, Florida, and grew up in Southern California. I'm back in south Florida now, and plan to stay here "for keeps". As a young woman, I traveled the world in the Army. I settled and began to work in the music industry as a teacher, composer, arranger, and director. In the mid 90s, I injured my hands, and my professional music career (performing) was over. I continued to teach music and worked with beads to get my small motor skills back. I became fascinated with chain through a magazine, and developed patterns and instructions as I continued to teach music. In 2004, I gave up the classroom and began my full-time career as a bead instructor and designer. Although I travel throughout the country to teach beading and wire work, my home base is Beads, Beads, Beads in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

My influences are Spider (Spiderchain.com) and other designers, myriad in numbers, who work in structure -- no matter the medium, 3D shapes intrigue me. I learned right angle weave from Chris Prussing's Book, and was inspired to try peyote from various patterns right here on Bead-patterns.com!

Sampling of Trysch's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.
 
      

My "master work" is a piece inspired by Spider. With her permission, I adapted on of her pieces to create "Defying Gravity", a structured Japanese chain maille piece. I've also adapted traditional weaves to create brand new variations, including "Undulation", based on Dragonscale.

I learned to make my own patterns, as many do, by working through projects as presented, and then allowing those projects to evolve into my own works. Eni Oken (enioken.com)also uses this technique. As I went through this evolutionary process, my style and patterns came naturally.

My major influences, besides Spider and Eni Oken in chain and Diane Fitzgerald and Chris Prussing in beading, are structures. Any three dimensional item fascinates me. Flowers, vases, tubes, waves, houses -- all have influenced my designs. I love to look at sculptural peyote and right angle weave and marvel at the detail. A "beaded garden" can enthrall me for hours. Beaded right angle weave purses fascinate me. I am striving to make more projects with movement and structure.

My favorite design to date is a chain maille choker. This particular project was created for a student who was unable to understand a particular weave. I took the original concept, created a new way to make the jump rings, and gave her the ability to make a piece that had elements of a classic weave without the stress involved for the student.

Sampling of Trysch's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.
 
       

In the next five years, I intend to continue to develop projects that I can take on the national teaching circuit. I enjoy the challenge of meeting new students, and each student gives me ideas and feedback on my current projects that make me a better designer.

My greatest joy is watching a student come to an understanding of a stitch, a weave, or a project. When a student tells me they plan to adapt a project with their own ideas, I'm thrilled. As students grow in their abilities and learn to design their own projects, my joy is complete.

My biggest challenge was losing my musical career to stress related injuries. Of course, if that had not happened, I would not be a designer and teacher of beading and chain maille today. It's true that when a door closes, a window opens!