Gifts of Art presents Celebrating Ethnic Diversity: Jewelry by Marijim Thoene

Marijim Thoene's jewelry features a variety of pieces from around the world including:
• Pendants from Tibet and India
• Hand-painted wooden and leather beads from Poland and India
• Glass beads from Africa and the United States
• Seed beads called "Job's Tears" from China
• Beads resembling natural stones

Many of the Tibetan pendants are two-sided, displaying a stone on one side and fantasy-like animals or flowers suggesting medieval myths on the opposite. Marijim loves the peace in stringing beads and pendants together, and celebrates the beauty of the many gifted hands who created the items. These combined pieces remind us that we are all connected.

Marijim is a medievalist at heart. She and Guy Mermier had their book, End of Time in the Middle Ages, a translation of 15th-century French and Latin treatise on paradise and hell, published by the University of Michigan. She received a Doctorate in Musical Arts in organ performance and church music from the University of Michigan. She also serves as the organist and Director of Music at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Her CDs, Mystics & Spirits: The Dobson Organ in St. Joseph's Abbey and Wind Song: Music for Flute & Organ are available online from Raven.