Bread and Butter

This is more difficult to write about than I thought. Every sentence sounds like I’m whining.

You see, I’ve had to put the really fun (i.e. “creative”) stuff on the back burner and get myself back to work making those “bread and butter” beads. You know, the ones that bring in the money so I can pay off my credit card.

I don’t mind making them but after a while the process tends to burn me out and then there’s nothing left but ashes. Then I spend about 3 to 6 months recharging my batteries by doing nothing. Not a good way to do things because then I get cranky because I’m not out in the studio making beads.

This time around I thought I’d try and stick to some sort of schedule. Make the B&B beads for 4 days and then play around with the fun stuff. That hasn’t worked out so well.

Yesterday I managed to get a few sets done then found myself looking at one of my failed beads again and thinking, hmmm. I wonder …

Failed beads are those experiments that didn’t quite go where I’d planned but have the germ of possibility nestled within. I keep them in a bowl next to my torch. I usually put one or two up on the graphite pad so I can keep part of my mind engaged with what to do with them. (pardon the mess)

Here’s another basket of lumpy class beads and other attempts at trying something new:

So yesterday I was gazing at this one attempt at encasing “Michael Barley” style and I found myself reaching for the twisties and a mandrel and a black rod and off I went. An hour later I was still trying to get the encasing down around the end of the bead and swearing under my breath. Then I noticed all the darned itty bitty bubbles across the midsection. More muttering. Well it’s a good exercise in REMOVING glass, I thought as I set to work erasing the bubbles.

I finally gave up. It had been about 90 minutes, it’s was 9:30PM and the kiln takes about 2 hours AFTER I changed the sequence to cool off enough to shut off.

I still think this has possibilities:

But for now, it’s back to the B&B beads cause Citibank wants their dough. darn.