Pearl Necklace ended the way it began: with a party.

Last Friday’s bash at Bloom Salon on Main Street was both a celebration and a send-off for the group of women artists who began publishing the “zine” called Pearl Necklace two years ago.

A ‘zine — it rhymes with “magazine” and is thought to be short for the retronym “fanzine” — is a post-modern term for a phenomenon that’s been around for about as long as the printing press: A ‘zine is a self-published periodical, usually with a strongperspective and a limited circulation.

Napa artists Ann Trinca and Caetlynn Booth co-founded Pearl Necklace with three like-minded women in 2004. Aimed at “celebrating kick-ass femininity through art and words,” the zine got a warm welcome from local artists and advertisers.

“Everybody in the community came together to help publish it,” Trinca said Friday.

Seven issues (and parties) later, the consortium is calling a stop to publication  — for now — so its members can focus on their own arts careers.

‘Gritty but pretty’

With the tag line “Gritty but pretty,” a $5 cover price and a press run limited to 500 copies, each issue of Pearl Necklace offered more than words and images. The first issue — now a collector’s item — came with a custom temporary tattoo and a Japanese recipe booklet. Volume 1, Issue 2 included a pirate eyepatch and a 2005 calendar; the final issue, released at Friday’s party, has a sewn-on cloth label.

But beyond the novelties and cocktails, Pearl Necklace’s editors have proved to be gifted coolhunters, spotting talented artisans ahead of the mainstream press.

“It’s very much the editors’ taste,” Trinca said. “If we’re attracted to what they’re doing, we chase ‘em down.”

Oprah magazine recently picked up on Pearl Necklace discovery Jamie Attenberg, whose writing appeared in the Napa ‘zine more than a year ago.

The latest issue of Pearl Necklace, “Make Belief,” profiles “Capitalism’s Worst Enemy,” recycled-fabric designer Stephanie Syjuco, whose work has also appeared in Bust magazine.

“We try to keep it a little controversial, shake things up a bit,” Trinca said.

Napa men plan a new ‘zine

Though Pearl Necklace has suspended publication, most issues of the ‘zine are still available at Copperfield’s Books and other retail advertisers.

And Trinca won’t rule out further Pearl Necklace endeavors. The group recently hosted a ‘zine-making workshop for a local group of teens emerging from foster care, and Trinca says “something different” may be in the works — perhaps a fund-raising project in support of the Napa arts scene.

In the mean time, a new team of would-be publishers — men this time — is preparing to fill the ‘zine vacuum.

Inspired by the Pearl Necklace project, Napans Benjamin Cooper and Ethan Hartman joined Friday’s party to announce their upcoming Flaps, “a bold new ‘zine of verbal and visual artifacts.”

Cooper nodded as Hartman described Flaps as “a bit Dada in its sensibility,” referring to the absurdist European art movement championed by artists like Tristan Tzara and Marcel Duchamp.

Hartman and Cooper have a list of contributors, but no set date for their first issue. To learn more, e-mail them at flapsinyourface@gmail.com.

The Pearl Necklace Web site will be active through the end of this year: www.pearlnecklacezine.com/