December 26th, 2009
As 2010 begins I will celebrate my 5 year anniversary as a full time lampwork glass bead maker. These are my reflections on this personal, creative and professional adventure. I decided to share so you can see where the work that you own and the support you've given fits into my story.
Five years ago - 2005
My days
were filled with searching for money and volunteers while wearing the fancy
shoes of a non-profit director. I worked long hard hours at the office and then
came home to lampwork until passing out. I wasn’t happy in my job/lifestyle and
the glass bead business was too enticing of an opportunity to pass up. It was
about five years ago that I gave notice to my employer; effective January 1st
2005, I was going to be self-employed. It felt good. W
ith
the support of my husband I had the confidence to try this new direction in
life.
The following year it was not hard to soak up my new lifestyle. My time was spent learning the business of online bead sales, getting to know the glass community and expanding my lampworking skills with more time on the torch than ever before. At that time both soft glass and boro were finding time in my schedule. In soft glass I was mesmerized by dots, raku glass, transparent colors and even a few attempts at florals; boro ended up as dragonflies, sunflowers, turtles and orchid rings.
2005 was
the first year I attended the Art Glass Invitational (AGI) in Pennsylvania, an
experience that affirmed my dedication to the craft and a new lifestyle on a
personal level. It was also in 2005 that I attended the Cabin Retreat in
Michigan, significant to me for a handful of reasons, but mostly because this
was where I was introduced to enamels by Lori Greenberg.
Four years ago - 2006
By 2006
I had learned the art of wearing pajama pants all day. The house was no
more finished than before because there was every reason to melt glass from joy
to income. My husband was attending massage school and my income was more
important than ever before. Plus I enjoyed the fruits of being able to
spend so much time at the torch. My skills were improving and business was
proving fun and successful.
Having built a habit out of working at the torch I found my interest in glass exploding. Instead of tight, strict dot placement I was exploring melted, morphing dots. Encasing silver was a great joy to me as was working with silver glass. I was having a lot of fun with the molten flow of glass and started to poke around at simple color chemistry. Even though I had been introduced to enamels, I was barely using them. Instead, my stoke started to focus on stringer work and the idea of straight, tight lines. I learned very quickly that ideas of straight lines are much, much easier than actually making straight lines. As hard as I found it, I dedicated myself to learning straight line stringer control knowing full well it would take some time (I had no idea I would still be deep in the stringer battle 4 years later). And that decision gave birth to the first attempts at a "Draft" design.
My new
love for glass events was taking hold in 2006. The ISGB Gathering in
Kansas City gave me the opportunity to sell my beads in person for the first
time while opening my eyes to a glass bead industry that was much larger than I
had thought. What a thrill and an education! I also attended AGI
again, and had the privilege of working there as staff. I was also excited
by the 2006 Bead Review that featured one of the first draft beads on the cover
and a silver glass Zen bead inside. My 2006 exercise in braveness came in
the form of competing at the first annual Female Flame off in Chicago where I
won 2nd place in the wearable category.
Three years ago - 2007
Three
years ago, I was anxiously preparing for my first year at the Best Bead show in
Tucson. I had NO idea what I was in for and the months of December and January have
not been the same since. I had
a lot going on and many beads to make, business was getting a little more
difficult with a declining economy but my dedication was growing. Of
course the house was no more remodeled than two years earlier, but the glass
studio had expanded. I was 30 and diving deeply into a whole new way of
life. At the end of the year, I also concluded my marriage and moved out
of the unfinished house.
Glass had become about color, form and line for me. I had finally realized the joy of enamel and color fades and couldn't seem to do anything without them (which is still almost true). I even started fusing tile with enamel, a project that I'm still just getting started on. Form began to tantalize me as I experimented with new shapes only to quickly became frustrated. Leather stamps borrowed from a friend in Michigan intrigued me for a bit (they still make me think) and straight line stringer control finally started to produce a few pleasing results.
In 2007
my event schedule exploded! In addition to acting as staff at AGI and attending
the ISGB Gathering in Minneapolis, I added several shows to the schedule
including BABE in Oakland, th
e
Madison Art Glass show in Wisconsin and the Best Bead show in Tucson. I
bravely taught my very first lampworking class that fall.
I won first place in Philadelphia at the second annual Female Flame Off .
It was a big year for my Bead Chopper (wire beaded motorcycle); the piece was
included in the ISGB's Metamorphosis project, displayed in
the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Denver's Pismo Gallery and was published in
the 2008 Art Glass Calendar.
Two years ago - 2008
In 2008, it seemed like I was
endlessly packing the glass studio and a
suitcase for another move. The year would find me
living in Michigan, Arizona and Utah.
It was
an emotional and stressful time, I was struggling to figure out what to make of
my new, not married life. I loved my newfound freedom and independence but
I was really stressed by the decision to support my adventures w
ith
lampwork. A hard working, pedal to the metal attitude was essential to
maintain financial and mental momentum.
Tightening the product line and further improving enamel and stringer
skills allowed me to form a strong foundation on which I could see my inventory as a collection of works
that expressed my interests. Enamel became my color system, I began to use
fades to explain the relationships between colors, letting stringer work become my tool
for building strong visual structures. As I began to think in series, I also
began to see the need for accent and spacer beads to support the functionality
of the focal beads I had designed. 2008 also saw the introduction of
vitreous enamel (like paint) into my work. After living and working with Margaret Zinser 
for
a bit I saw how painted enamels could add to my designs.
2008 found me maintaining a full show schedule in addition to a handful of classes, demos and talks. I sold in new booth locations at the Best Bead show and the BABE show in Oakland. The Madison Art Glass show in Wisconsin featured my work as the Challenge Bead and I had the rare opportunity to see one of my beads used in many different finished pieces. I attended AGI once again as a staff member but I also had the privilege of giving a demonstration. Professionally, 2008 was an outstanding year!
One year ago - 2009
Last
December I was preparing to move to Tucson, Arizona for a second time, only this time I had a mission:
The Excellent Enamel Adventure. Margaret Zinser and I put our heads
together and came up with a series of classes, tutorials, demos and talks, we
had decided that it would be best to live and
work in the same place. By the end of August our work was done, the
U-Haul was packed once again and I headed back to Utah... this time with
more stuff. I found a cute little yellow house in a tiny town and called myself settled. Living on my own
and supporting myself with
my lampwork has proven one of the greatest challenges I've ever given myself.
2009 was another hard working year focused on fine tuning
my product line against a
background of line work and color. Enamel colors became the grid upon
which I began to think about my entire inventory. And size began to matter to me again: I
made giant and tiny versions of all my favorite designs including giant spacers
and half-pound rainbows. My love for stringer and architecture inspired
new thoughts in beads along a more industrial theme, such as Brick Wall Beads.
While vibrant, saturated colors were an important part of my
inventory, ideas with more muted, natural tones and even some objects that lacked color
all together also
started making an important statement.
My
schedule was full of exciting events this last year. I attended a full
line up of shows including Best Bead in Tucson, the Madison Art Glass show and
BABE in Oakland. For the first time I added the Bead & Button show in
Milwaukee to the schedule. I taught a handful of classes including a workshop and presentation at the ISGB Gathering in Miami.
In partnership with Margart Zinser I published a suite of tutorials on
enamels and lampworking and I
published an e-tutorial on enameled rainbow beads. Last but not least,
Arrow Springs changed my sifting world with their new metal sifters called JC
Sifters. 2009 has proven to be another outstanding professional year
though sacrifices had to be made and some events, such as AGI, could not be
attended.
Today and Tomorrow
Today
I find myself approaching my 5 year anniversary of full time bead making.
In some ways my life is like it was 5 years ago, filled with hard working days
and a constant search for funding. But today is so very different because I love what I do! Glass has
been an essential ingredient in the mix that makes my lifestyle possible.
Living on my own as a self-employed lampworker is more expensive and interesting
than ever. I've made a little yellow house in Utah my home, some
thing
I haven't done for myself in a few years and I know I'm treating myself well.
I have loyal customers, talented students, a great boyfriend, wonderful friends,
family who loves me and a happy self. I am so very blessed.
Now more than ever, I'm stoked on glass! And stringer! And color! And form! I'm not sure where tomorrow will take me but right now I'm looking forward to exploring several new things. I think it's really fun to play with form, color and concept within an industrial theme. I'm still at the start of a battle to control stinger! Currently I'm playing with lines inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie designs because I love the visual math and it's a wonderful opportunity to geek out and learn the intricacies of working with stringer. I'm also determined to create a slamming awesome product in boro with rosette patterns which will build a tremendous variety of skills in borosilicate glass, something I'm weak in now. Back to soft glass, my freshest perspectives are in off-mandrel forms. Frequently working off-mandrel will grow my soft glass confidence and open a whole new world of form and structure exploration. The first products of the off mandrel adventure are flat disc pendants in a variety of my favorite designs.
In
the months ahead I will
need to start taking full advantage of all my resources
that support my life and craft. At five years I find myself at a
threshold, about to discover my true ability to support myself as large
financial divorce-related deadlines approach and I start to dream about what I
want for my future. I need to bring my business to a new level as I feel
the weight of lifestyle decisions more now than ever before. While I will
likely live most or all of the
next year in Utah, it will soon be time to move somewhere to settle for a few
years while I gather my resources, thoughts and skills in preparation for a long
term studio. I want to work
towards a larger, more permanent studio that will encourage growth in skill and
imagination. My dream is to learn in glass, to execute in
glass, and to let glass stretch me and help me grow. Of course, I'm living that
dream now but to continue as the dream grows larger will be the challenge.
I plan on more teaching, more/better work, more effective
marketing and straight out prayer. I want to fuse many more tiles, produce
a line of finished jewelry for architecture related galleries, consider a
stringer control DVD, offer
enamel and tool packages for sale and melt much more glass.
The Moral of the Story
This adventure is not mine alone. You and I are doing this together!
The influences of peers, mentors, friends and customers have opened doors for my
creativity and business that are, collectively, the reason I can continue to
melt glass. You facilitate the adventure by telling me what you think
about I'm doing, telling other people about my work and sharing yours with me.
You participate in the adventure by purchasing and using the objects I create
which validates the effectiveness of my work. Your purchase is not
only an important communication for me but the very foundation of my ability to
keep doing business and improve my skills, deepening the adventure for us both.
When you take a class or purchase a tutorial from me, our adventures and skills
will grow together as we share our unique perspectives on the craft of
lampworking. All off the ways you're involved in this story makes this
adventure a collaboration. Thank you for being here with me. Thank
you for continuing your investment by purchasing my work, asking your local
studio to host my workshop and signing up for my classes, purchasing tutorials
and recommending me to fellow bead lovers.
To
purchase:
Website (check out the awesome new sale!)
Bead Shows, Etsy, eBay, Special Requests
To learn:
Stay involved:
Mailing lists, Blog, Facebook, Twitter,
Send me pictures of your work with my beads