Karen Medicus and Pam Burney have worked in the animal care and protection field for many years.
In 1997 they formed their own company, Gypsy River Trading, and began selling animal motif jewelry they created at animal care and protection conferences across the United States. Karen recently expanded into metalsmithing working with silver, copper, and brass exploring new designs.
The Remembrance Bead© design is an extension of Pam and Karen’s commitment to recognize and honor people and animals. The artists make each bead by hand. Beads are available in a variety of colors. Custom orders are available; multiple beads in a design; addition of charms; etc. Pricing for custom orders is done on an individual basis in consultation with the artists.
John Frick’s first hand-tooled leather project was a wallet for his father as a fifth grader in 1958 at a small school on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.
In 1964 his family moved to Houston when I-40 by-passed their Route 66 trading post, and he began creating leather accessories for his family and Hippie friends.
He moved to Austin in 1984 where he designed movie sets and created leather-crafted props for Native Americans in many westerns including Lonesome Dove.
He retired in 2014 to write movie scripts and joined his wife Karen and friend Pam to add hand-crafted leather items to the beautiful jewelry and deeply personal Remembrance Bead© designs offered by Gypsy River Trading.
