About Tabra
When I was 25, I was teaching art in the US Virgin Islands. I loved the exotic countries where I had been going to school and teaching - Mexico, Samoa, Costa Rica, but I didn’t like teaching. One day, I met a new friend in a little shop on one of the busy streets there in downtown, Charlotte Amalie. Charlotte was creating her own jewelry and making a good living. My new friend told me that she had started when she was still a teenager and that it was too late for me to start now - too old. I was disappointed and so envious. I thought about it a lot and the next year began studying jewelry design and fabrication in Barcelona, Spain, at night while teaching art during the day.
The next year, I was able to quit teaching for good and began my new career creating and selling my “Tabra Jewelry” designs on the streets of Berkeley, California. I was able to combine my love of travel with making a living by buying stones in Jaipur, India, designing bone beads in the Philippines, silver beads in small Kamer villages in Thailand - to make my own components so my jewelry would look unique and different from anyone else’s. That was the goal - Exotic, Strange, Powerful, Magical Jewelry - with rather Mystical Meanings that you had to figure out for yourself. - Unique!
Later, after many years of selling my work on the streets and traveling as a Gypsy would - from Faire to Faire around the country - I developed a following and began to hire young refugees from Latin America and Asia to help me with the manufacturing so I could keep up with the demand for my work
My California-based company “Tabra Inc.” grew so fast that with the help of my young manager, Donna Beisler, we were able to make the INC. 500 list two years in a row for one of the "Fastest Growing Small Businesses in America." Together, with sales in the millions, and feeling overwhelmed, we hired a fancy President and Sales Manager to help us run the whole thing “professionally." Within a couple of years, my company was bankrupt. I lost my house, my car and my business.
Starting over was not easy, but I did it. Donna helped with the sales from L.A. and I began hiring refugees again. The company began to grow. However, I was tired of manufacturing and in 2007, I closed down my shop in Marin County in Northern California and moved to Bali, Indonesia, where I designed, but only did light manufacturing. Instead, I taught Balinese artisans to make the designs I created, and for five happy years, I lived in the village of Penestanan on the outskirts of Ubud, the “Art Center” of Indonesia.
In July of 2012, I left my wonderful life in Bali and my business in the capable hands of two young Balinese women - Made and Dekti - who are now in charge of overseeing the handcrafting and distribution of my limited edition and production designs through my website, Tabra.com, through my Etsy shop, my gallery in downtown Ubud on Honuman Street, and through a few select very special galleries in the US and Japan. I'm returning to Bali two times a year - for a couple of months each time - to design new jewelry for my production line, as well as to personally handcraft "one-of-a-kind" special pieces for my Tabra.com online store. Donna continues to support me with sales and customer service in the U.S.
Now my life begins a new chapter in Costa Rica where I have bought land on the Banana River near the Caribbean Coast. Much of it is planted in Cacao. So, the idea is to set up an Organic Farming Community of Artists, Animal Lovers and Good Friends to grow food to Feed the World. What we can’t sell, we’ll just eat ourselves. One day, I hope to have lots of visitors to see what we produce - Fine Chocolate, Coconuts, Mangos and hopefully lots of Cool Art. Wait a couple of years and then come see me. I’ll let you know when we’re ready.
Tabra
The next year, I was able to quit teaching for good and began my new career creating and selling my “Tabra Jewelry” designs on the streets of Berkeley, California. I was able to combine my love of travel with making a living by buying stones in Jaipur, India, designing bone beads in the Philippines, silver beads in small Kamer villages in Thailand - to make my own components so my jewelry would look unique and different from anyone else’s. That was the goal - Exotic, Strange, Powerful, Magical Jewelry - with rather Mystical Meanings that you had to figure out for yourself. - Unique!
Later, after many years of selling my work on the streets and traveling as a Gypsy would - from Faire to Faire around the country - I developed a following and began to hire young refugees from Latin America and Asia to help me with the manufacturing so I could keep up with the demand for my work
My California-based company “Tabra Inc.” grew so fast that with the help of my young manager, Donna Beisler, we were able to make the INC. 500 list two years in a row for one of the "Fastest Growing Small Businesses in America." Together, with sales in the millions, and feeling overwhelmed, we hired a fancy President and Sales Manager to help us run the whole thing “professionally." Within a couple of years, my company was bankrupt. I lost my house, my car and my business.
Starting over was not easy, but I did it. Donna helped with the sales from L.A. and I began hiring refugees again. The company began to grow. However, I was tired of manufacturing and in 2007, I closed down my shop in Marin County in Northern California and moved to Bali, Indonesia, where I designed, but only did light manufacturing. Instead, I taught Balinese artisans to make the designs I created, and for five happy years, I lived in the village of Penestanan on the outskirts of Ubud, the “Art Center” of Indonesia.
In July of 2012, I left my wonderful life in Bali and my business in the capable hands of two young Balinese women - Made and Dekti - who are now in charge of overseeing the handcrafting and distribution of my limited edition and production designs through my website, Tabra.com, through my Etsy shop, my gallery in downtown Ubud on Honuman Street, and through a few select very special galleries in the US and Japan. I'm returning to Bali two times a year - for a couple of months each time - to design new jewelry for my production line, as well as to personally handcraft "one-of-a-kind" special pieces for my Tabra.com online store. Donna continues to support me with sales and customer service in the U.S.
Now my life begins a new chapter in Costa Rica where I have bought land on the Banana River near the Caribbean Coast. Much of it is planted in Cacao. So, the idea is to set up an Organic Farming Community of Artists, Animal Lovers and Good Friends to grow food to Feed the World. What we can’t sell, we’ll just eat ourselves. One day, I hope to have lots of visitors to see what we produce - Fine Chocolate, Coconuts, Mangos and hopefully lots of Cool Art. Wait a couple of years and then come see me. I’ll let you know when we’re ready.
Tabra