As I write this it is a grey and blustery day, and so it is a great day for hunting out some online entertainment. If you are looking for artist glass beads, be sure to check out www.lampworketc.com a forum for and about lampworkers and fans of lampwork. The gallery pages are posted every day, and many people start their Ebay searches by looking at the Gallery posts and then following the links to Ebay auctions (not that I ever ever bid on Ebay…..ok, not terribly often anyway). To pass the time, scroll down and look at Galleries from days past. Send me links if you find anything too wonderful to pass up!! Happy surfing. Jeri
-
Recent Comments
Sassy on How to make a wire wrapped… Denise on About the Bead Society of New… jeri on Exciting Glass Beads Jeri on Patti Whiteley-Beader &… RoR on Exciting Glass Beads
Mary Lou Spang in West Windsor-Plainsboro News
November 23, 2007 — Suzanne HyeMary Lou Spang was interviewed in the November 16 edition of the West Windsor-Plainsboro News with regard to her participation in the Princeton Crafter’s Marketplace, an annual juried craft show featuring 140 professional crafters. You can read the full interview (and see a picture of Mary Lou) by clicking on the link.
Jeanne Evans Featured in “Beading Daily”
November 21, 2007 — Suzanne HyeBeadingDaily.com, Interweave Press’ beading blog, featured our own Jeanne Evans’ work in a October entry. You can see it by going here:
http://www.beadingdaily.com/posts/beading_tips/bead_embellishment_tips_294-1.html, or read it below:
Inspired by . . . YOU
Beading Daily reader Jeanne Evans created this lovely version of the Flowerette Chain, a recent Beading Daily featured project from the book, Zulu Inspired Beadwork by Diane Fitzgerald. Instead of a bracelet, Jeanne created a necklace and added a flower of her own creation. |
Sandy Lupo in “Beading with Crystals”
November 18, 2007 — Suzanne HyeIf you haven’t seen it already, this is an absolutely beautiful book, with projects using many techniques, but the common denominator of crystals! Be sure to check out Page 100, which showcases member Sandy Lupo’s chandelier earrings.
The book is Beading with Crystals: Beautiful Jewelry, Simple Techniques (Hardcover) by Katherine Duncan Aimone and Jean Campbell, ISBN 1600590365.
Urban Glass Holiday Open House
November 16, 2007 — Suzanne Hye
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
By the Light of the Hook
November 16, 2007 — Donna Steinhorn
Lois Rosenthal brought a pair of lighted crochet hooks to tonight’s meeting. Even though I don’t crochet, I wanted to head right out and buy a pair. In checking online, I found two companies who make these: Crochet Lite and Needlelite. Available at many local craft stores and online. Knitting needles also available.
Book Review: The Decorated Bag
November 15, 2007 — Suzanne HyeNot strictly a beading book, The Decorated Bag:Embellishing Handbags, Purses, and Totes by Genevieve A. Sterbenz, is a must-have if you love purses and want to try embellishing bags and making old bags new again.
The cover project is gorgeous – a velvet evening bag dripping with beads and rhinestone components. The instructions and pattern are easy to follow. Another favorite of mine is a knit bag embellished with buttons. There are also bags embellished with sequins and charms. The Beaded Ballerina Bag is to die for, and the Silver Moon Satin Clutch evokes the 60s.
Most of the bags use a ready-made bag, and guidelines are given for the kind of bag used. I think you could find some likely candidates at thrift stores. Instructions are given to make some of the bags.
Each project is accompanied by step-by-step color photos and a materials list.
This book retails for $19.95.
Exciting Glass Beads
November 14, 2007 — jeribeads
Donna has asked me to chime in with an occasional post about my favorite subject, handmade glass beads. These are technically called “lampwork” beads, sometime I’ll write about how that term came about, but for now we’ll stick with “handmade”!
For my first post, I thought some NJBS might want to learn about the differences in the two major categories of glass types, borosilicate glass and so-called “soft” soda-lime glass. Borosilicate, also known as “hard” glass or “boro” is the glass we long ago knew as PYREX. That is the brand name the Corning manufacturer calls its borosilicate glass. If you have ever used a Pyrex measuring cup or baking dish you know that it is valued for its extreme resistance to temperature fluctuation. A cold measuring cup can be filled with BOILING water with rarely any problem. Raw meatloaf, in a cold dish, goes directly into that hot oven, again, no problem.
Boro’s ability to withstand big temperature shifts means that when it is worked at the torch it is good for big items, only a part of which is hot in the flame at any one time. Boro got its start in the artistic world when it was used to make pipes (for smoking tobacco or whatever). An artist could fashion one end of the pipe in the flame while the opposite end was almost room temperature. Similarly, when filled and lit, the pipe didn’t explode from the sudden application of heat when lit to be smoked, this was a good thing. Boro also makes great globe ornaments.
The early problem with boro was that it was only made in clear. In the past twenty years or so, that problem has been solved, and boro now comes in many deep, rich saturated colors, and is especially prized for its russets and purples. Unfortunately, colored boro is very pricey (see below) and that is why many artists use a teeny bit of color maginified by heavy layers of clear (which is cheaper). Examine the boro beads and marbles you come across, you will see lots of clear. If instead they have a lot of colors, that glass expense was most likely reflected in the price of the marble or bead.
Soft glass is the other major category of glass and is made by several different manufacturers. It is much more sensitive to heat fluctuation and must be kept warm the entire time it is worked in the flame. If it cools too far from the flame temp it will crack while the bead is being made, or later while it is being annealed in the kiln. The majority of beadmakers use soft glass, and you will also find it used for other things such as goblets, sculpture, and marbles.
Not all soft glasses can be used together, but even within a single brand there are plenty of colors. Unlike the muted tones of boro, soft glass can be bright yellows and reds. The soft pallete is typically lacking in great purples. Soft glass is what the Italian glass artists have used for a very long time, and the first soft glass used in this country was imported from Italy. Nowadays, it also comes from Germany, Japan, China, America and elsewhere.
Boro and soft glass cannot be used together. If they were to be combined in one item, that item would crack all over the place as it cooled. This has to do with the vastly different rates of expansion and contraction in the two glasses. Artists choose their favorite glass and then use a torch and a kiln, and other materials, that work with that type of glass.
Why is boro “hard” glass and soda-lime “soft” glass? It is probably because it takes far more heat (like a thousand degrees more) to melt boro than to melt soda-lime, and yes, when cool, it is harder - although all glass is breakable.
Why is soft glass a little more prevalent in beads? A pound of ordinary soft glass in widely available colors is about $10-15 whereas a pound of boro is about five times as much! The greatest expense in making beads is the cost of materials, and so the more expensive glass yields more expensive beads!
Finally, some of you who have seen my work might wonder what I use. The answer is, that with rare exception, I work in soft glass. I have not had the time to study the use of boro that would justify the added expense and I have yet to grow bored with the opportunities offered by soft glass. I always assure my students that all of their soft glass skills will transfer nicely to boro and it is a good idea to practice with the cheaper material.
Well known artists who work in boro include Nancy Tobey, Gail Crosman Moore, Andrew Brown and Lauri Copeland. Some prominent soft glass artists include Leah Fairbanks, Kathy Johnson, Jill Symons, Ann “Schermo” Baldwin and Andrea Guarino-Slemmons. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and in future posts I’ll try to post you to some of the wonderful work that can be seen on the web.
I hope this has all been interesting to some of you. Please let me know in your comments if you are curious about other aspects of the glass world and I’ll try to clue you in (when I know!).
Book Review: Simply Beautiful Beading by Heidi Boyd
November 13, 2007 — Suzanne HyeSimply Beautiful Beading: 53 Quick and Easy Projects (Paperback)
by Heidi Boyd, North Light Books. Retail $19.99.
I recommend this book for the beginning beader, or for a beader who wants to try a variety of techniques.
Boyd begins her book with a brief overview of the basics – thread, wire, tools, crimping, wire-wrapping, clasps, bead types and jewelry design. The rest of the book is devoted to the 53 projects promised – and for the most part the projects are attractive and the directions easy to follow.
One thing I liked about the book is the variety of materials used in the projects – leather, wire, stretchy elastic, memory wire, etc. If you haven’t used a stretchy material, for instance, you might want to start with the project in the book. All of the finishing techniques for the different materials are well-described and professional looking. I find that often beaders shy away from new products just because they are unsure about how to use them and, especially, how to begin and end a project with that particular material. This book goes a long way to helping one over that hump.
The variety of projects is also impressive – everything from necklaces, bracelets, earrings and anklets, to watchbands, barrettes, napkin rings and bookmarks.
Techniques used include a basic right angle weave, wrapped loops, knotting, crimping and more.
Ronnie Lambrou in Montclair Art Museum Show
November 12, 2007 — Suzanne HyeTwo pieces of Ronnie’s (which I believe we’ve seen on the Show and Tell table at past meetings) have been accepted into the Montclair Art Museum’s “New Jersey Craft Annual: Tribal Roots in the Garden State.”
The necklaces will be on display with other works by New Jersey visual artists and craftspeople from February 24 through May 11, 2008.
The Museum’s website (http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/exhibitions.cfm?id=19) provides the following description of the show:
“The curatorial theme and the exhibition’s title at MAM, Tribal Roots in the Garden State, was chosen by organizers Twig Johnson, Curator of Native American Art and MAM Board Member Janet Taylor Pickett as an opportunity for artists to be inspired by MAM’s unique collections of American and Native American art, which we believe inspires creativity and a deeper understanding of America’s unique diversity. This exhibition explores the artists sense of tribe, and ultimately celebrates the diversity of the Garden State and the multiculturalism found in our nation’s artistic legacy.”
