Branching out in Bead Design

A couple of weeks ago I went to the beautiful state of Tasmania to attend a workshop with the german lampwork artist Anastasia. I have been a fan of Anastasia's work since I discovered lampwork back in 2006. Some of the lessons we were taught involved the use of enamels and fine stringer, such as with her tree beads. The following are some of my beads made in the class, the first has the addition of a tiny owl (awwwwww).





This floral one featues some honeycomb murrini for the stamens of the flowers, pretty cool stuff, though it takes a long time to make the murrini so we were given some of the demonstration version that Anastasia made.


Since I have returned I have been creating more trees using Helios glass, which reduces to a golden lustre, on a plain base, but adding fine frit to emulate leaves or dots for the occasional fruit blob. It is a very relaxing process but I have some ideas that will require pushing the boundaries a bit. Here is the forest so far:

Ring a Ring a Rosy

I have been making quite a variety of beads, but enjoying the ring thing a lot! Here's a couple of fingerfuls.



I particularly like the eye and flower design, decorative and interesting. The middle finger ring is made from Double Helix 'Helios' a beautiful lustering gold colour.

Below are a few more for good measure. I think if you are going to wear a glass ring, it had better be a showcase for the glass and therefore cannot be tiny and boring. It should catch the eye, well, that's what I think, and all the three year olds that have played with them would agree with me!

Little Red Riding Hood

I am very excited about a collaborative project I have embarked on with artist, Claudia Rubinstein . We met at the bead show and have discovered a mutual love of fairy tales and art nouveau.
So far the theme is Little Red Riding Hood, Grimm Brothers.  I have made a bunch of beads around the theme and they are really stepping stones to the final outcome. Still in gestation but also fun and a joy to make! It is great to swap ideas and encouragement in collaboration, it is inspirational and motivational.
Here's the pics:

The first Red is quite graphic and cartoon like. I added a hole in her hood for a dangle She was supposed to be looking over her shoulder in fear but her heavy eyelid makes her quite confident!! Also not in the style I want to eventually aim for (Art Nouveau curves).

First time making leaves and I enjoyed it. Used a metallic green glass and added some dew drops.

Also made some 'berries'

What is a fairytale without a forest? Birchwood trees are eminently suitable for fairytales. Introducing Red and the Wolf.  Red has evolved somewhat! the shape is more reminiscent of Nouveau, Will work on refining the details and adding the wavy hair highlights that all nouveau ladies seem to have! I love the howling wolf head, just him and the tree trunks is a super combination.

Red, Wolf and an owl. I am trying to make a tiny owl or two. I think I can go smaller.

Time to bead free!

Finally I have some time off work so that I can focus on the beads. Many owls have been made but I might post pictures of them in a couple of days.  Mainly I have been playing and experimenting with new glass, tools and concepts. 

The concept isn't new but it's fresh for me, and that is to make some eclectic sets. Sets of identical beads are not easy for me to produce because it's repetitive (sweat shop/ factory like). I got around that with the idea of different combinations and patterns and textures.

Even more fun can be had in matching up the individuals into their 'special' families. They're not set in concrete and it depends on the coming days how many more get produced and swapped.

Without further ado, here are the pics:

Eclectic 1: ~19mm  Some of the ingredients above are Goldstone, Aurae, Silverlake frit, brass bubbles, silver glasses.

Eclectic 2: ~17mm Encased frit, Multicolor, Magic, Taxco, Special purple rose. My theory is that sometimes you need plain beads, to contrast with the pretty ones and make them shine.

Eclectic 3:: A new glass arrived this past week and I fell in love. It is by Effetre and called Metallic Black. It usually has a matte finish and a gorgeous patina of oilslick colors. The two ultra shiny spacers are Aurae (different glass).

Eclectic 4: ~18mm "Hoi Poloi" Last but not least, a splash of color.  I have so much frit (crushed glass of different colors and blends) and thought it high time to do something with it..

Somthing that is not an owl, something that is, and something that was supposed to be.

So my sister gave me a not so subtle hint that my blog has a lot of owls. As a consequence here is something that is not an owl but was inspired BY an owl. The inspiration is the owl from the previous post, it IS kind of skull like, something that I noticed as well as a friend (thanks Sonia). Piraticowl badge, a lampwork bead mounted on some hand-tooled leather.

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Speaking of leather, it is my latest inspiration/fascination particularly as a vehicle for mounting lampwork. A satisfying process and IMHO a complimentary result.. It also means that I can make some brooches utilising the beads. (finally! it has been bugging me no end)

I recently undertook a project as a result of reading about an exhibition which the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) were mounting. The brief was to create a piece of jewellery that an imaginary or historical person would wear. Ofcourse my thoughts went to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom in Greek mythology, whose creature was an owl. I thought about the kind of jewellery she might wear and came up with the idea for a brooch to hold her toga together ;-) So it developed from there. It utilises a bead I developed earlier, an owl on a shard of glass.

Anyway I submitted images of it to be juried, and found out yesterday that my piece was accepted!! so very excited :-D

Here it is. It's the first of it's kind so I know it could benefit from more skill etc but ya gotta start somewhere. It is titled "Badge for the Order of Athena"

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Lastly I started making an owl that refused to be an owl. It turns out it was a princess. I called her Princess Pettigrew. I think she has potential as a design. I like how her skirt flares out over a balloon underskirt.

Another new owl design

The barn owl has always intrigued me with it's looks and has proven quite the challenge to emulate in a bead. I have attempted numerous times and been dissatisfied. This attempt looks nothing like a barn owl but I really like how he turned out. He has a kind of wedge-shaped front and extra levels of definition than I usually add. On the front you can see in the second photo the levels for the wings, body and head. Also I've give him some shading around his eyes in the form of colour and extra glass over his brow.

Athena's Owl

I recently held a first quality ancient greek coin with the head of Athena on one side and an owl on the other, similar to the image above. The owl's stance is very distinctive and I fell in love with it, but as a glass sculpture/bead it presented some challenges. I decided to approach it as an image on a surface rather than as a stand-alone shape. I also wanted to give it the feel of something old and a piece of a greater whole, like a shard from a vase.
The first attempt is on the left below, and you can see the gloss on the unetched glass. I chose a base glass called Kryptonite by CIM, it is a beautiful light jade green and looks even prettier etched. The owl has been formed from silvered ivory for it's wonderful organic detailed qualities. The bead on the right is etched and the figure of the owl is tighter. I like them both but prefer the direction where the second one is going. The hole in both runs horizontal through the top portion.
What do you think? Suggestions?

The Frog Prince

Last week I was obsessed with blue and green, one of the beads reminded me of a frog, so I considered making a bunch of them, all the same, and just call them froggy beads.
Then I started putting various combinations of beads together and it suddenly stood out that there was a kind of figure (see pic one). I saw an ornately dressed frog prince with his hands on his hips, wearing pantaloons.
So I sketched the image I had in mind and thought about how he could be made and which glasses to use.
The most satisfaction came when I put his legs onto his pantaloons because I wasn't at all sure if the technique I used was going to work.
It gave me a good laugh when I put him all together, I hope you guys get a smile from him too. I don't think I'll kiss him... I like him just the way he is.

Three owls and a robot on ebay

My beads have been stockpiling on my desk and it's time to let go of a few of them, always reluctantly! For the first time I'm auctioning a robot bead with a brass cog named Edgar.Another first is this flattened bead with a landscape picture of a fluffy baby owl out for a walk. His eyes are the only raised part.
Dulce below, is a decorative owl with a folksy feel to her. (She hoots with a European accent.)
Finally Byrd is a slightly different design again, with rings of silvered ivory around his eyes.

Divertimento in blue and green

I have it in my head to make a piece of jewellery with funky unique beads including some large silver findings. Using the colour theme of green and blue this is what I have made so far. While I think they are pretty cool all together it's not really what I envisioned, so I am going to try some different shapes, more extreme, and also some larger-holed discs. Making them this afternoon hopefully!
The beauty of a project is the new things you learn along the way. Like how dense and rich Reichenbach Iris Blue is and how it spreads and forms some lovely gradations. Below is an extreme enlargement so you can see what I'm referring to. It was laid on CIM celadon, can't wait to play with this effect some more!

Owls by the Light of the Silvery Moon

In early March a friend who loves animals, emailed me some cute pictures of owls she had come across. One of them was this funny looking fellow who to me seemed so dignified but ridiculous. I called him Mr Fancy Pants and was inspired to make a bead - the bead also made me laugh. I kept at it, using different glasses and stylizations. Some were scary others offered whole little stories. It seemed appropriate to gift the first one to my friend as a pendant.
Below is the development of some of the owls. The first on the left is the pendant I gifted to my friend. The first two were 'raised' on the surface of the bead (note the monster owl with scary legs). The next couple were made a week later and were smoother. The third one I etched, except for the eyes, and he has a lovely feel. Definately one of my favorites. The fourth reminds me of Monte Burns emerging from the forest in a drug-induced stupor. The last four were done two days ago, some have raised eyeballs some are in line with the surface.
The first one of this next group was from March and indicates the direction I decided to head in. The following six in the group I made yesterday - I had gained momentum and gotten excited by some of the background effects and choices. I decided I liked the eyeballs raised. The fourth one is is probably my favorite of the bunch, I really like the colours and contrast. The image after it shows the back of these beads, basically a mystical tree-type figure. Notice the second one has a scary face peeking out of the branches, like a skull. oooOOOooo eeek!

That's all in this series so far. I still have work to do on it, there's a few things I want to adjust and play around with.

What came out of the kiln?

Three owls that's what! On the left is Maree Dubois and on the left is Lady Willow. Maree has a little french flavour and Willow has a little chinese crockery flavour. I finally committed to selling something on ebay again and these two are the first.

When I go to the torch to create something, there's always a dash of mystery involved. The heat turns the colours of the glass to incandescent orange or red or clear, so it takes some visualizing to predict what's going on as you apply various colours. Then you have to wait for them to cool down in the kiln, and that usually means going to bed and looking at them the next day.

I have always loved the kiln unveiling experience, but I have to say that the more time and labour involved in each bead, the greater the elation and excitement when they are successful (and the greater the disappointment when they fail).

Little Harriet below is nothing like what I thought was going on in terms of her colouring, and while she has some merit, well, I'm afraid she was determined to win one of those 'worst dressed' awards. Like Bjork with a dead swan slung around her neck.

Four Fanciful Fowl

Some more decorative owls, 4 in the hand is worth 8 in the bush? :-D
I took a photo in the hand so that you can get an idea of size. They are about 1/3 bigger than the size of my regular owls. Averaging around 27mm in height.
Below is Lady Pemberley. A 'dignified' mature owl. Made with some transparent dark teal, EDP (purple) and cobalt blue.
Now for some French flavor, we have Babette Dubois. It turns out that Dubois is a French name that means 'of the wood'. She's pert and pretty in pink and black
Next below is Lucy Lambada. I had to laugh when she came out of the kiln, the precocious chick has ripped up somebody's flower bed and shoved it on her head. But Lucy is vivacious and unashamed of her vitality.
Last we have the beautiful Lissette Dubois, sister to Babette. Created with a mixture of pinks a touch of red and detail of handpulled goldstone stringer along her wing.

Duckie Magoo, Madame Fruit, Hepzibah Lulu

I want to share with you the delightful Mesdames three, on the left is Hepzibah Lulu, centre stage - Duckie Magoo (both names should be spoken aloud for maximum satisfaction and euphony) and on the right, Madam Fruit. They look like they're going out somewhere special.
Duckie Magoo was a little ray of sunshine in the kiln this morning. When these colours were heated it was impossible to tell what was going to happen with the final result but Duckie came through with flying colours. These owls are continuing on with the Frida Kahlo theme.
My favorite of the three is Madam Fruit, I see a lot of potential in her, particularly in the wing decoration. Her eyes are just divine! I've decided to go bigger with these ladies, pack in a bit more punch.

Frida Kahlo, The Websters, Mermaids, A set, and Heffalump

I have to do a bit of a catch up, I've been remiss in posting my latest creations and the developments that have taken place. There is actually quite a bit to share but I'll stick to the following 5 for this post.... in no particular order:

I started playing with encased aventurine chips and loved the subtle gold sparkle, so I made some scarabs and then got real ambitious and decided to make a set of curvy flat shapes with transparency and glitter. I really don't have a huge amount of patience for sets, I get skittish and want to move on to something new... but I stuck it out and made a couple each session. I used some harmonious colours with the always beautiful and currently fashionable purple.

Next I want to introduce my mermaid. I've actually made about four now and while I enjoy making them I know I'm learning and applying some different skills. It's exciting exploring new territory. By no means have I perfected her, but I love seeing how each of the challenges within this bead are developing and improving. In terms of the challenges:

• I am trying out my own handmade murrini for her eyes and learning how to apply them.
• I'm getting a lot of stringer work in for her hair and seaweed
• designing a flat image for 3 dimensional space, to create interest all the way around
• shape control without distortion
• seeking the perfect glass combo for colours with maximum impact while keeping the design in place.

I'm only going to show the first one... there's been a lot of changes since, but when I am finally happy with it I'll post the whole development. This one doesn't not have murrini eyes, so don't wonder why they look so awful (lol). The things I like about it are the copper green scrolls on the pyjama blue, and how her coral tail really pops out of it.


Next are my little Webster friends. They are a pair of owls who underwent the 'intense black' effect. Intense black in a special kind of glass which is packed full of compounds to make it a really dense black. These same elements will 'spread' out and produce a 'web' effect when put under intense heat, particularly on a sloppy base glass like ivory or white, which further exacerbates the effect. I'm really please with these two fellas.Fourth, just for eye-candy's sake, is little heffalump who I have fallen in love with. She was made out of a glass called heffalump, named after the elephant in winnie the pooh. A pale pinky lavender. She also features pink spots on her wings and white spots on her tummy. I just wanna pop her in my mouth like a candy.

Last but definately not least is my little carnivale of Frida Kahlo-inspired owls (Frida Kowlo's) Working in the state library with the art books, I can get distracted with what passes under my nose. Lately I think students have been studying Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist, because of the frequent use of books about her.
She does have a very distinctive, individual look and spirit about her which I admire.
She often self-portrayed herself with a mono-brow, red lipstick, and flowers and ribbons in her hair.
The photo below illustrates the order in which the owls were made. The first one was not inspired by Frida but it reminded me of Frida. So I thought about it for a while and then determined, for some unfathomable reason, that I should make more owl Frida's, with more of her characteristics.
They were fun to make and are simply a celebration of life. I can't wait to make more.
My favorites are the bottom three.