Gaetano Preti is the winner of People’s Bead 2021. He lives in Italy, in a town in Puglia called San Severo. Not far from here is the Gargano Peninsula where Gaetano used to spend wonderful summers with his grandparents and family, when he was a child. In the dark nights, Gaetano and his grandfather had long chats in the garden while lying on the sun beds watching the myriad of stars that lit up the sky. He navigated the sky with his imagination, trying to recognize the constellations and trying to find some shooting stars to make a little wish. Gaetano entrusted the stars with childhood dreams and wishes.You are never too old to look at a sky full of stars and dream. This was partly the inspiration for Gaetano’s winning design in the People’s Bead event.

"For the People’s Bead event, I designed the bead ‘Wishful Sky Tassel’. I dedicate it to the people close to me, who always support me and who give meaning to my life; I also dedicate it to those who are no longer here with me and who surely live in the sky, in a star of the universe.”

Gaetano Preti loves art in all its forms. He likes giving space to his imagination and express himself in drawings and photography. He very much enjoys photographing in the nature, catching the beauty or the detail from everything. He likes all animals, but jellyfish are the favorite as they remind him of his summers by the sea. He is fascinated by reptiles and insects, and he also has a passion for tattoos and piercings which he sees as true expression of art.

GAETANO PRETI DESIGNS