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From the beginning of time, style was the art of ornament, which explored the heart and mind and released the human imagination from the obscurity of everyday existence. It was centered on instinctual visual experiences and artistic thought that integrated the synchronization of color and pattern with the inclination to organize reality. The ability to establish a mental connection between symbolic images and artistic objects, created order and balance. The substance, color, shape, and texture of an object were pleasing to the senses and revealed the power of style. The art of ornament first came together with a cordage of beads, stringing and balancing color, transparency, translucency, and opaqueness, with sequential design. It was a spiritual and artistic step into the unknown the moment the first woman turned and looked at herself, wearing a strand of beads. It released an image that had lain dormant in the unconscious for millions of years and opened up a mysterious and creative world. Meaningful archetypal perceptions contrasting a social-cultural world view with self-image could be defined by objects of color, form, and pattern. The ancient bead was a self-contained vessel of knowledge, perception, and beauty. It could be picked up, held, and worn; given away, traded, or passed on to the next generation. The shape, pattern, and symbology of a bead could be modified over and over again, and necklaces could be strung and restrung while maintaining style. Women learned the basics of bead work from their grandmothers, and beads traditionally handed down from mother to daughter became a way of recording lineage and creating a bond with the past. It was style that connected the artistic arrangement of colors and patterns with the ability to organize reality, and it was the extraordinary perception that art was not just an aesthetic, but the life of human nature, which made ancient design a necessity of life, and gives contemporary wearable art its personal meaning.
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