While browsing today for various things, as you do, I came across this excellent explanation of 'tibetan silver'.
http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Tibetan-Silver-Beads-I-don-apos-t-think-so_W0QQugidZ10000000002864930
As a consumer economy we are so driven by brand names and the appearance of things that we don't look beneath the surface. Oooh, it says silver! Even silver-plate sounds elegant. Gold-plate... wow! It's all in the eye and not in the brain.
In the UK we're very restricted as to what we can use in jewellery, if it's sterling or fine silver we cannot have more than 7.5 grams in a piece without sending it off to be hallmarked. This adds cost to the item and involves an element of risk if some of the silver in the piece is tested and found to not be as thought. We trust our suppliers, jump rings and ear wires are only part of the equation. Crimps and crimp covers are also liable to be tested and if one element is off then the whole piece of jewellery is rejected.
The alternative is plated components, but who knows what the base metal is under the plate? You spend hours designing a piece, you put in time and artistic ability and then you have to settle for cheap plated options to avoid being put through the hallmarking mill! Alternatives such as plated pewter are great, as are the lovely metal-dipped and fired Greek ceramic beads, since they are plated rather than solid precious metal they aren't put under the stern gaze of the hallmarking process.
But 'tibetan silver'? Blech. Who knows what lurks in the heart of much of the stuff? It comes mostly from China, and unless you want to spend the money getting all your batches tested... it's a risk and also it's a bit of a problem because you can't call it silver unless you get it tested and hallmarked.
On the one hand, here in the UK it's great that the hallmarking system is stringent but it does not allow for the new styles of jewellery from artists who use small amounts of silver but are not traditional jewellers. It's a challenge to produce an item that has minimal amounts of precious metals, which requires creativity but it really galls when there is on the market a proliferation of dubious metal beads and findings under the umbrella of 'tibetan silver' that should be addressed. It will protect not only the buyers but the artists too if this stuff were more closely and carefully regulated and tested.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
New look and layout on the Tillerman Beads site!
It's been a bit of a struggle, learning my way around the ins and outs of Wordpress, but after having used it on the Mancunium website, it seems to be the best way to maintain a number of differing sites, because the underlying structure is the same so it takes less time to get into the swing of editing or updating.
I've decided to keep the blog in place on Blogger for now, mostly because it's an established blog, it has followers (thank you!) and is linked with the blogging system on Facebook, so it would be a bit of a mess-around to shift the blog Yet Again.
Still, it's been a good couple of days, website up without much hassle, widgets and plugins and SEO and everything else that is a temptation when I search for 'new toys' to install. The gallery looks like it's going to be a useful tool, too. Putting pictures of the beads into the galleries becomes easier each time. That means the gallery lives in the same place as the rest of the site, and that's great for updating too.
A work in progress, but definitely not a work in doubt.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
The ethics of art and reproducing history
It's something that I think of all the time. Not the dread 'copying' issue as much as the sense of entitlement or ownership over a style or design. Where does ownership begin and end? It's especially applicable to my work in some ways as I spend a lot of time making beads based on historic examples. If someone looks at what I do, skims the surface but doesn't plumb the depths of the work, is that my problem or theirs? If they copy what I have done, is that any different than my copy of an historic bead?
How much do I owe to others, do I have to share my efforts and information or am I being selfish? Is it fair to tell them to 'find their own information'? When I put information on my site about beads, do I have to accept that this will be picked up and re-used, my efforts becoming someone else's profit?
I have spent hours combing through archaeological reports and visiting museums, to find the unusual, so I can re-make them as they would have been when they were first made. Does this mean I'm just a copyist? Does it mean I'm not using my own artistic eye and skills?
No, of course not. What it means is that I look at originals and learn from them. It's not just staring at beads and running back to the studio and melting some glass in a reproduction of the bead on view. There's a lot more to it, and for me it means research into the beads as not only objects but as pieces of the culture that created them, expressions of power, status and value. A bead isn't just a bead, it's a beacon. And to understand the bead, it takes a bit more than just seeing the bead, it requires trying to figure out how it was made, what successes and failures in construction lead to that shape and what it took for someone working with tools of a vastly different style and quality to produce the bead itself.
I'm not the only one who makes beads based on historic examples, there are other people who do the same kind of work in various ways, some for their own pleasure, some for the historic and scientific interest and some for profit. For me, it's a blend of profit (this is my living, after all) and the pleasure of knowledge of construction and a connection with that beadmaker who somewhere, in some past place and time created the bead that inspired me.
To me, the research is as important as the end result. I don't make beads just to sell, I make beads to enhance the owner in some way, even if it's just the pleasure of holding a bit of history reproduced. And because of that, when I make beads, I don't just melt glass, I blend history in a flame, giving not just the bead but the story. The person who buys my beads doesn't just buy glass, they buy a bit of history and also a bit of me.
How much do I owe to others, do I have to share my efforts and information or am I being selfish? Is it fair to tell them to 'find their own information'? When I put information on my site about beads, do I have to accept that this will be picked up and re-used, my efforts becoming someone else's profit?
I have spent hours combing through archaeological reports and visiting museums, to find the unusual, so I can re-make them as they would have been when they were first made. Does this mean I'm just a copyist? Does it mean I'm not using my own artistic eye and skills?
No, of course not. What it means is that I look at originals and learn from them. It's not just staring at beads and running back to the studio and melting some glass in a reproduction of the bead on view. There's a lot more to it, and for me it means research into the beads as not only objects but as pieces of the culture that created them, expressions of power, status and value. A bead isn't just a bead, it's a beacon. And to understand the bead, it takes a bit more than just seeing the bead, it requires trying to figure out how it was made, what successes and failures in construction lead to that shape and what it took for someone working with tools of a vastly different style and quality to produce the bead itself.
I'm not the only one who makes beads based on historic examples, there are other people who do the same kind of work in various ways, some for their own pleasure, some for the historic and scientific interest and some for profit. For me, it's a blend of profit (this is my living, after all) and the pleasure of knowledge of construction and a connection with that beadmaker who somewhere, in some past place and time created the bead that inspired me.
To me, the research is as important as the end result. I don't make beads just to sell, I make beads to enhance the owner in some way, even if it's just the pleasure of holding a bit of history reproduced. And because of that, when I make beads, I don't just melt glass, I blend history in a flame, giving not just the bead but the story. The person who buys my beads doesn't just buy glass, they buy a bit of history and also a bit of me.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
An eye for colour
There's an episode of 'The Fast Show' that reminds me of the problems facing new artists in any medium. Having been a high-school art teacher for 30 years, teaching both O-level and A-level students, the skit about the man who ends up painting everything 'black... black... BLACK!' shows how an over-excited beginner can end up using every colour and ending up with a muddy mess.
There is a tendency to want to use every colour available, every technique and every new material. There is nothing wrong with wanting to try something new, but it's a common error to add in everything possible until the work in question ends up as a bit of a kitchen sink effort.
Take time to work out one technique or style or colour combination before flying off to the next one. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
There is a tendency to want to use every colour available, every technique and every new material. There is nothing wrong with wanting to try something new, but it's a common error to add in everything possible until the work in question ends up as a bit of a kitchen sink effort.
Take time to work out one technique or style or colour combination before flying off to the next one. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Finding your place
Watching people struggle to create and sell has given me a basic set of instructions for an artist's life.
1. Don't think selling cheap is a good thing. You undervalue yourself and devalue others.
2. Stop eyeballing others. Their success, skill or talent is theirs. Develop your own.
3. Be confident.
4. Be honest.
5. Don't buy into everything that shows up, glass, tools, toys. Look at what people made with sand and fire and work up from there. Kit doesn't convey skill.
6. Don't rely on others to do your thinking.
7. Something once said by Kandice Seeber, and the truest words ever spoken by an artist.
Never sell anything but your best work.
Ok, that's it. Go on and work on it, make beads that are the best you can and don't be bothered by ones that fail, you learn more from failure than success.
1. Don't think selling cheap is a good thing. You undervalue yourself and devalue others.
2. Stop eyeballing others. Their success, skill or talent is theirs. Develop your own.
3. Be confident.
4. Be honest.
5. Don't buy into everything that shows up, glass, tools, toys. Look at what people made with sand and fire and work up from there. Kit doesn't convey skill.
6. Don't rely on others to do your thinking.
7. Something once said by Kandice Seeber, and the truest words ever spoken by an artist.
Never sell anything but your best work.
Ok, that's it. Go on and work on it, make beads that are the best you can and don't be bothered by ones that fail, you learn more from failure than success.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Dawning moments
There are times when I am extremely grateful to be an artist. Every day is full of anticipation, there is glass to melt and beads to shape. No one tells me what to make, or how. In return, I have the obligation to make the best beads possible. I am more critical of my work than anyone else would ever be, unless a bead is well-shaped, balanced and pleasing to the eye, it doesn't leave the studio.
I don't sell bunches of 'seconds' and I don't sell 'wonky' beads. They live in a jar by the door, like Eleanor Rigby's face. I firmly believe that your work is only as good as your last bead and your next bead, the one speaks about what you've learned and the other will show what you have added to that knowledge.
It is up to every artist to present their work fairly and with pride. If it's not good, then don't sell it because it says as much about your art as anything can, and being glass, it will outlive you. Make sure that your work doesn't come back to haunt you.
I don't sell bunches of 'seconds' and I don't sell 'wonky' beads. They live in a jar by the door, like Eleanor Rigby's face. I firmly believe that your work is only as good as your last bead and your next bead, the one speaks about what you've learned and the other will show what you have added to that knowledge.
It is up to every artist to present their work fairly and with pride. If it's not good, then don't sell it because it says as much about your art as anything can, and being glass, it will outlive you. Make sure that your work doesn't come back to haunt you.
Friday, January 08, 2010
When you can't melt glass
The weather lately has been such that studio time for the last month has been almost non-existent.
It's not a loss though, there are a lot of things that can be done when I can't get in to actually make beads. I keep a sketchbook/notebook and jot down ideas. When I have some free time I expand those ideas into more drawings. Sometimes, working in a different medium helps focus the mind and clarify layouts, designs, inspire technique experiments.
Try taking a bit of time away from the flame if you feel you're not progressing and work in a different medium. Bits of coloured paper or clay or even just a handful of crayons.
Go on, you know it's going to be fun.
It's not a loss though, there are a lot of things that can be done when I can't get in to actually make beads. I keep a sketchbook/notebook and jot down ideas. When I have some free time I expand those ideas into more drawings. Sometimes, working in a different medium helps focus the mind and clarify layouts, designs, inspire technique experiments.
Try taking a bit of time away from the flame if you feel you're not progressing and work in a different medium. Bits of coloured paper or clay or even just a handful of crayons.
Go on, you know it's going to be fun.
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