Beeman speaks from experience. In her mid-40s, the academic left a tenured position at the University of Minnesota to make glass beads and jewelry full time.

A year later, in 2005, she and her family moved to the Triangle after her husband's company closed its Minneapolis office. In three years here, Beeman, 50, has become known for her beads of radiant colors and unique designs.

She sells her work in several area shops, teaches bead making through Carrboro ArtsCenter, and participates in the annual Orange County Open Studio Tour. She also appears at several area craft fairs, including CenterFest Arts Festival in Durham on Sept. 20 and 21.

All kinds of art: Beeman was drawn to art making of all kinds when she was growing up with four siblings in South Bend, Ind.

"My high school had a lot of art classes, and I took things like metalsmithing and jewelry making," she said. Beeman's mother was the only female draftsman at the local electric company.

Landed in academics: Because the children were "encouraged to pick something practical for college," Beeman didn't view art as an option. She studied social work and community organizing and ultimately received a doctorate in social work from the University of Chicago.

"I drifted into academic work," said Beeman, who ended up with a coveted tenured position at the University of Minnesota, where she taught for 12 years.

Colorful calling: "The whole time I was also taking continuing-ed art classes. I especially liked watercolor painting, and I tended toward the precise, like botanical art," she said. Glasswork was on her list, too, and her first class was in fusing.

"The teacher also taught lampworking, so I tried that," she said.

Lampworking, also known as flameworking, begins with glass rods that are heated with a torch fueled by propane and oxygen. The molten glass is then wound around a steel tube, called a mandrel, which creates the hole in a bead. Beeman was totally taken with the effect.

"I was drawn to the color and the transparency of glass," she said. "Now I work in colors that are transparent and opaque, but I love the way light shines through. And I like combining colors in unexpected ways."

Making the move: During a yearlong research sabbatical, she pondered the idea of becoming a full-time artist. "I loved my university work, too," she said.

Beeman was committed to another year of teaching, and then took a year of unpaid leave before finally taking the plunge in 2004. "Some people understood it and others thought it was crazy," she said.

By then she had taken several glass courses and rented a small space in a glass studio. Her son, then 12, came up with her studio name, Lime Moon Art.

"I like green, and we were talking about names that capture light and color," she said.

To the country: While Beeman displayed her work at some craft shows and sold her beads to a few stores in Minneapolis, she didn't really get the business going until moving south.

Her husband, a software engineer, works in RTP. After living in urban areas for two decades, they fell in love with a house on nearly 10 acres in Orange County beyond Carrboro.

"Part of the thinking was to get a place where we could build a studio," she said. "We happened to find a house we fell in love with, with tall ceilings and big windows."

They also embraced the South.

"We love it," she said. "We're really, really happy we made this decision. Living in the country is a nice transition being out in the quiet and among nice colors."

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