Ok the title of this probably gave away the plot, but I am completely obsessed with BEADS.
Many years ago a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to a "bead store". I thought she was insane and did not understand that an entire store could be devoted to beads. I had always loved semi-precious gemstones and used to buy those little boxes of tumbled polished stones. But there wasn't much I could do with them other than poke them or let them sit around gathering dust. My aha moment occurred when all those pretty tumbled rocks turned into BEADS, at the BEAD STORE. It was then that I began to design and sell jewelry made of these gemstones and other materials. So it's really my friends fault I'm like this now. Completely and totally.
I took a hiatus from jewelry design when I moved to Arizona in 1994. Around 2002, I rediscovered my need to create in this medium. About this time I also discovered artisan made lampwork beads, which set off a parallel, yet new obsession with these intriguing glass beads. It took some time to find a teacher and to get into classes but I began my journey of learning to make my own glass beads in 2003. Since then I have been working on craftsmanship and technique to create my own glass beads to use in my jewelry designs. I have to make beads. I always am thinking of new techniques or materials I want to incorporate with the glass. At least most of the time. Some nights I sit there after I get all my stuff out and I stare at the torch like now what. But, most of the time I don't turn it off. The obsession. I can't.
I work with Italian soda lime (soft) glass and have a variety of tools besides the glass itself to poke, prod and move the glass where I’d prefer it to go. Sometimes it doesn’t “cooperate” and I have to see what new direction the glass takes me. It took me a long time to except this.
I also enjoy knowing that I am carrying on a tradition that dates back thousands of years. Techniques taught today are the same techniques used long ago when glass beads were first made in the ancient east. I am honored to carry on these traditions today.
Stay tuned for What is Lampworking Anyways and Why Should I Care?
1 comment:
...and you are a great lampworker at that!
I fell in love with beads too and can't seem to part with them. They are my treasures and I carry my new favorites around in my pocket while I am at work! shhh....it's a secret! People will think I am weird!lol
Post a Comment