To those of you who follow me on Twitter, or regularly read the comments, or indeed read G is for Glass during the A to Z Challenge this will be slightly old news, albeit with more photos!
Back in January I signed up for a glass bead making taster session, I felt confident my shoulder had recovered enough to be up to the job and spurred on by my trip to Trollbeads Cambridge I made the booking for "sometime" in February.
Dates decided and with a friend in tow who had always wanted to try lampworking, we met Victoria at Oresome Gallery's workshop ready for our glass bead making taster session.
Am I going to try it again? Glass bought and sessions already
What have you waited for a long time...
only to be super excited once you actually got started?
Any beadmakers out there who can give us some tips?!
I think this could be another on my - giving it a try list. I love the look of those rods of glass all waiting to be transformed into beads. I can also speak from experience about making glass go ping when being heated - ask some of my older classes about science experiments! In the end they just used to shout "Move to the back of the classroom" whenever I said, "Next lesson is science"! Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
ReplyDeleteI first tried it with a private 1-1 lesson about almost 2 years ago now which I thoroughly enjoyed but the workshop was an hour's drive from home, so not practical to do it every week, but I am going to go back for another lesson once I've had some more practice.
DeleteDiscovering somewhere that did a taster session close to home was great, and I love Oresome Gallery as I covered a ring making workshop there last year and I love Victoria and Nicola's approach to running a Gallery/workshop. It's a chilled out place to just be.
I had a few problems with my shoulder last year so it's taken quite a while before I tried this again as I was having problems moving my arm in the position I'd need to hold the glass but that has improved and now there's no stopping me!
I love working with glass, I used to make candles many moons ago and I'm finding the colour patterns of glass mixing and wax mixing to have certain similarties (and many differences), it's chemistry meets art and I love this mix!
Your science lessons sound fun :)
Mars xx
Also wanted to let you know I nominated your blog for a Thumbs Up award as I enjoyed it so much during the A to Z Challenge :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, that makes me really happy!
DeleteMars xx
This looks like a lot of fun! I would like to try this too, but I must confess that I am a little bit afraid of fire.
ReplyDeleteXOXO
I mentioned above that I like Victoria and Nicola's relaxed approach to running a Gallery/Workshop, they are uber safety conscious but in a way that doesn't freak people out.
DeleteWhen I covered the ring making workshop I loved Nicola's introduction to being in a workshop... it was along the lines of "it can get a bit overwhelming at first if you're not used to it, as there can be a lot going on, but just be calm, take yourself off and have a cuppa or go out and get some fresh air" - the workshop has windows all around and you're straight out onto the street with fab views along the Marina so it's a great place to work in.
I really am a big fan of theirs!
With respect to the torch, it's a nice controlled flame and I thought I would be a bit more freaked out by it, but now whilst I respect it, I don't think about it other than how it will help me to shape the glass. Or a curse it as I still have problems with "reduction" techniques (using a propane heavy/oxygen light flame to create a reaction in the glass to get a particular colour) so I definitely need another 1-1 lesson at some stage to help with things like this... oh yes and not making wonky beads ;)
Mars xx
That really looks like so much fun! You'll have to make a dedicated bracelet of beads you've made yourself. I especially like your red with white swirls
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that this was only a couple of sessions ago to where I am now, but that I've been teaching myself quite a bit in the meantime... mostly by trial and error, well quite a lot by trial and error actually!!
DeleteI'm not doing any sessions in May as I'm quite busy with other projects but I plan to book some for June, I absolutely love working with glass, it's so satisifying, and also frustrating because I have very new apprentice skills (I can make a bead but still working on making a decent shape) and my imagination requires master level skills! But it's practice, practice, practice! Or hopefully it will be in June!
Ironically I've discovered that slightly wonky beads can work quite well on a bangle, as the "thinner" part sits nicely under the bangle between you and the bangle, and the "thicker" part really gives great shape to the top of the bangle. Also that round (rather than doughnut) shaped beads also work beautifully as focals - happy accidents!
I've not cored the red and white swirls one yet as Billy and I have only just divided up our beads from this session and I can't remember if I have an uneven hole on the one side or not... will have a look later!
Mars xx
Those look great, looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing the pictures :-D
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Natalie, I will share more in future, just got a whole load of backdated articles to get through first!!
DeleteMars xx