Threading Beads at a Market Stall

Under a sign reading Rainbow Creations, two women in embroidered dresses sit stringing beads into necklaces at a wide wooden counter crowded with clay bowls of loose beads in every color. Coils of finished necklaces hang from the rafters above, alongside woven bags and striped fabric, while pliers, spools of cord, and a tray of sorted beads sit close at hand. A straw hat rests on a hook nearby, and two brightly colored birds perch at either end of the stall, one yellow and one blue and red. Behind the seated women, more artisans work at neighboring tables, and shoppers move through the busy lane beyond. Every bowl of beads on the counter holds a single color, waiting to be threaded into the pattern only the maker can already see.