The rare gravel swan, found only in Tucson Arizona. made in the 70’s from plastic beads called “tri-beads” and of course styrofoam and stick pins, the stalwarts of Kitcsh!
Swanny river…minus the water
Submitted by signcollector
June 5th, 2011
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Allee Willis
Beautiful! I thought they were marshmallows at first. I never heard of tri-beads but just did my research: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=plastic+tri-beads&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=plastic+tri-beads&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=MMfnTd_bFYe6sQPwy4T6DQ&ved=0CFwQrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=dccede67a230cde3&biw=1285&bih=1041
Is this a permanent sculpture or are these for sale and pop up a lot around Tucson?
signcollector
Tri-beads were a staple of the seventies craft explosion. now nobody carries them, except my shops of course!
I found these at a thrift store, they are about 5 inches long- the mama
windupkitty
wow, i LOVE this!!! they look like they are swimming…i don’t know what tri-beads are either…gonna have to check out that link….love,love,love these though….
signcollector
Tri-bead creations rock! tri-beads were originally glass, then in the seventies became plastic, now they are no more.
windupkitty
wow, i think i remember making keychains and napkin rings out of very small sized tri-beads….I had no idea they were so huge…i’m IN LOVE with these swans!!!!
Michael Ely
I live in Tucson myself, and this is a must for my rock garden!
signcollector
They are about five inches long, and they swim in gravel with such grace!