Tucson jewelry maker has world on a string

Phyllis Woods strings her dreams together and sells them as necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

Visions of bottle caps in one recent dream led to clunky, colorful necklaces. Woods said the idea caught on quickly at the New York International Gift Fair, which she attends each year.

Woods, 70, has spent more than 40 years designing jewelry as well as importing, and creating, African home accessories.

In the 1970s, she sold her jewelry through a local shop, The Departure. Then, her creations were mostly sterling and brass earrings, swinging from the ear, in various geometric shapes. The earrings were in high demand, especially among hip twentysomethings.

She also founded Phyllis Woods Designs Inc. in the 1970s, around the time she opened a retail shop on Fourth Avenue called Grasshopper.

After selling her first company and closing her store, she started Tribalinks about 20 years ago.

She now sells her jewelry nationally and internationally, including at the New York Museum of Art and Design, and the Victoria and Albert Museum of London.

Locally, her work is for sale at the U.N. Center/ UNICEF Store, the Tucson Museum of Art and Philabaum Glass Gallery.

"Phyllis is a little different because she's not making her beads; she's finding them and then designing the jewelry," said Dabney Philabaum, who opened the Philabaum gallery, 711 S. Sixth Ave., with her husband in 1982. "We love her work. It sells really well."

Originally from Indiana, Woods has called Tucson home since 1967. She also spends several months each year in New York City's West Village, where she has an apartment.

"It's the center of the universe for the arts. Every artist should live in New York for at least a few years," she said.

Woods travels frequently to Mali, Ghana, Morocco and Ethiopia to buy materials. While she's there, she works as a consultant with Aid to Artisans as well as other aid organizations.

Margie Matter-VanDusen said helping others is typical of Woods.

"She has long understood the plights of people who are not well-to-do, people who are looking for work, people who need to feed themselves and their families," said Matter-VanDusen, who has known Woods since the 1970s.

Matter-VanDusen, 80, operated Tucson's African Art Ltd. for nearly 20 years before retiring. She now spends her summers in Blue Hill, Maine, and brings Woods' recycled glass beads to a gallery there.

This year, Matter-VanDusen is taking a Woods collection of "wonderful ocean colors, blues and greens."

Woods often works with rare materials, such as horn bone, wood and unusual gemstones, as well as sterling, gold, copper and recycled glass. She is also a skilled photographer who documents and promotes her own work.

In addition to her jewelry, Woods and her husband, painter George Welch, have designed and built their own home.

"We tried to make it green, with double insulation, double-pane windows, a gray-water system, a tankless hot water heater, and building around the existing palo verde trees on our property, to preserve the natural desert as much as possible," she wrote in an email describing her home.

The house is pink on the east side and turquoise on the west side, a reflection of a Tucson sunset.

Woods designed the layout, which she said was inspired by her travels to Morocco and Mali.

She said her house is one of her most significant artistic accomplishments. Recycled glass tiles, made from glass from Ghana, were used in the kitchen and bathroom.

Around the time Welch and Woods finished their home, Woods' son, Tad, died unexpectedly at age 44.

"The whole family has been devastated by the loss of a brilliant singer-songwriter-lawyer," she wrote in an email. She has a tribute to Tad on her website, which includes her photos and a song he composed.

Woods said her story as an artist starts early. She was influenced by her father, who built homes and let her wander and wonder with him as he worked on the structures.

Her father also would bring home pieces of smooth, colorful glass from a nearby factory, and Woods would make mosaics.

"When you're a kid, you assume everyone does that," said Woods, who was one of six children.

"I think I was given a lot of freedom to be creative, and I've kept that freedom all of my life."

Jewelry maker Phyllis Woods

• Where you'll find her work: Philabaum Glass Gallery, 711 South Sixth Ave.; U.N. Center/UNICEF Store, 6242 E. Speedway, and the Tucson Museum of Art gift shop, 140 N. Main Ave.

• Price range: Earrings typically are $20 to $80, necklaces range from $40 to $400, and bracelets from $10 to $150.

• Visit her studio: By appointment - Tribalinks, 267 S. Stone Ave. 623-8654.

• Learn more: www.tribalinks.com

Contact reporter Patty Machelor at pmachelor@azstarnet.com or 806-7754.