Twisty Evolution Continues….

If you’ve been following my posts here, you read a while back that I started playing with reactive twisties, which evolved into my “Ornamentive” beads.  The next step my B.A.D.D. (bead attention disorder) created in my bead evolution brought out a bit of the mad scientist in me. Instead of dressing up my twisty beads with carefully placed dots and twists I decided to add a little physics to my work and play around with using heat and gravity to move my twisties about.

These beads are quite challenging for me, getting the glass to all move at the same rate in straight lines with out distorting the pattern is a very good exercise in heat control. Keeping the design in the glass when I do my final bead shaping can be challenging as well.

Of course I don’t always succeed in my mission to control the molten glass, and that leads me to further change my designs. And you know, that’s beauty of melting glass - It’s all good!!!

Linda beads and blogs from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Assembly Part 2 - Just Do It!

The comments and a couple private emails on my first entry about my assembly style made me realize how intimidating some people find the process of design and assembly. This is a shame because the comments/emails were all sent by people I know for a fact are tremendously creative. Therefore, part 2 is going to be a bit of a pep talk along with a few ‘rules’ I have come up with along the way.

1 - Don’t be afraid, beads don’t bite.

You can do pretty much anything you want with beads. You may be the only person who likes it but as long as you are happy who cares what anyone else thinks of it? Jewelry is so subjective that no one can ever tell what will or will not sell.

2 - Stringing or other Assembly techniques are not permanent.

If you make a piece of jewelry and don’t like it, redo it. Stringing a bead is not a permanent commitment. Nothing says that you cannot take your piece apart and redo it if you don’t like it. The necklace in this picture was taken apart about 10 times before I came up with a design I liked.

3 - Symmetry, Take it or Leave it.

Symmetrical or pattern based pieces can be quite lovely, but don’t be caught up in the trap that says all pieces must be symmetrical. As long as a piece you are working on is properly weighted so that it hangs properly the rules of symmetry can be tossed out the window. Try using a pretty clasp as a focal point, group a few focal beads together in one section but don’t have an identical cluster on the other side. Here is a picture of a necklace I made where I decided the clasp shouldn’t stay in back.

In this picture you can see the cluster of lampwork with no corresponding cluster on the other side.

4 - Experiment with different sized beads and uses for the beads.

Just because your focal bead or the bead set you are using in your piece is a certain size don’t be afraid to use other beads that are wildly different in size from your focal pieces. Seed Beads can be great with lampwork despite the vast difference in size.

5 - Experiment with wild colors.

Just because your focal bead is one color doesn’t mean the accent beads have to be shades of that color. The necklace I posted in the first Assembly entry had a teal focal, and yes, some of the seed beads were teal, but I also had cobalt, light blue, and emerald green in the necklace. The colors didn’t match, but they did coordinate into a harmonious whole. If you missed that post you can see it here, complete with the picture of the necklace.

6 - Experiment with fibers.

This is one I haven’t used yet but I plan to. There are so many cute eyelash yarns, silk ribbons, and other fibers available now there is no reason not to add them to your work. These fibers will add not only an interesting visual component but a textural one as well.

And last but not least, the most important rule of all.

7 - THERE ARE NO RULES!!!

What I just typed is what works for ME. If you find that you wildly disagree with one of my rules, or it just doesn’t work for you then toss it out the window. Not only is jewelry making subjective for the buyer but it is also subjective for the maker. If you take nothing else from this post I want you to take away one thing. Just Do It! As long as when you complete the piece it doesn’t fall apart and you are happy about it then you have done it right. There is really no wrong way to create jewelry.

Now get up from your computer and go make something. Don’t forget to let me see what you have done.

Heather blogs from her studio in Wisconsin. If you would like to see more of her work check out her site at www.squareonebeads.com.

Jerry Garcia in glass; art about art, Post-post modern ;)

Musicians amaze me. Especially Jerry Garcia. Not only was he an amazing guitar player, he was an Icon for peace, to me, while I was growing up. The Grateful Dead was, and is the best band I have ever experienced. And! It was a true one of a kind time, for me, on a personal level (and, many others). Most “Dead heads” were college students. The conversations going on, on the Midwest and east coast tours in the USA (in the 90’s), were very intelligent. I learned many things from Doctors, lawyers, scientists, physical therapists. And! We danced all the time; peace was in there.

Jerry Garcia died in 1995. It was a hot summer day in Northwest, Leland, Michigan. Was a sad day to me.

After seeing him sing “standing on the moon” numerous times, I can not help now, but think of the words, “A lovely view of heaven, but I would rather be with you.”

I miss Jerry. And, for me, in my life right now, I have lost many people I know. With the exception of my husband, and children, I have very few friends right now. I guess loneliness is in the air, for me. I made this and dedicate to all those people missing Jerry. Art about art.

celebrating the passions we have….

I put this bead up on Ebay, as a collectors item. It is a one of a kind. I made three…and it was recieved in a very emotional way to many. I am not alone.

Jerry in Heaven….

“A lovely view of heaven, but I would rather be with you.”

Sheila Morley is an artist living in Southeast, Michigan. She has an art blog, and her work can be purchased at her website, ebay, Etsy, and various shows and shops.

Twisties and Stringers…

Recently I’ve been having fun playing with twisties and stringers. I used to avoid them because I just couldn’t find the right spot in my flame. But a few months ago I decided to give them another try. Funny… even though I’ve been making beads for over five years now I still consider myself a newbie. And it always surprises me when I realize that I have enough control to use techniques that used to escape me!

It’s fun to play with bright colors and twist reactive glass together. I’m not always sure what the outcome will be but I usually like what happens! Now that I’ve added these techniques to my repertoire I’m trying to decide what to try next. I think it might have to be some new off mandrel work… See you soon!

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

Making a Pretty Princess for my Daughter

My five year old daughter, Katie, has been a close companion on this glass journey of mine. Oh, she doesn’t want to use the torch yet (although I did make her a fake torch out of a soda bottle and wire one time). What she does want to do is learn about art and the cultures of the world. This is amazing to me, because I had no idea that other cultures existed when I was five. One of the things Kate does is sketch new ideas when I am sketching and thinking. When I was reading about Mahakala masks in Tibet so I could create them in glass, Kate was at the desk drawing her own version of one.

When I asked Katie what she’d like from me for Christmas, she replied that she’d like me to make her a princess sculpture. Yep, that was a make-the-mommy-melt moment! I promptly made a base bead with her name on it, a skirt, and a princess with a crown. . . and then left them on the desk. Sitting down to write a new post about making something pretty reminded me of this unfinished project :

Now that I’ve remembered this Christmas project, let me just say I’ll be talking more about making something pretty (you can get a sneak peek in this entry of my blog). However, at the moment I have an unfinished project calling my name! Hmmm, that sounds like yet another future post, doesn’t it?

 

AngelinaBeadalina, aka Angela Greer Garren, melts glass as fast and furious as her equipment will allow, and you can see the results in her gallery and in her Etsy shop.