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.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Good spacers make good beads
There's no replacement for practice.
A hundred spacers is boring, a thousand spacers is experience. You learn balance, application of glass, judging amounts, creating uniform base beads, decent ends. You get your eye in for larger beads by making spacers.
Get cracking, it's not as bad as it sounds.
A hundred spacers is boring, a thousand spacers is experience. You learn balance, application of glass, judging amounts, creating uniform base beads, decent ends. You get your eye in for larger beads by making spacers.
Get cracking, it's not as bad as it sounds.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Display and perception
Over the past few years, we have created a variety of ways to display the beads for sale at fairs. Craft fairs, bead fairs, history fairs. The common theme has always been to present the beads in the best light, but how to achieve that has been an endless question.
Oddly enough, the display version we used in 2009 received the most compliments and also the least positive comments. The positive ones were about the professional way the display was set up and the lighting. The least positive were about the professional way the display was set up! Apparently, making an effort to display my work means that it doesn't look 'handmade' or it detracts from the idea that I am an 'artist'.
When did being an artist or making things by hand require that the work is displayed in a slipshod, amateurish way? How is pinning things to a cork board better than displaying them on a specially designed stand? (we love IKEA, so much of their shelving and other items can be easily altered for display) Often, we wondered over the past year if people felt intimidated by the display we used, or if it really mattered.
How do we get people to perceive that handmade and art don't equate with cheap car-boot items? Is it necessary to descend to the lowest common denominator so as not to frighten the horses or servants?
Oddly enough, the display version we used in 2009 received the most compliments and also the least positive comments. The positive ones were about the professional way the display was set up and the lighting. The least positive were about the professional way the display was set up! Apparently, making an effort to display my work means that it doesn't look 'handmade' or it detracts from the idea that I am an 'artist'.
When did being an artist or making things by hand require that the work is displayed in a slipshod, amateurish way? How is pinning things to a cork board better than displaying them on a specially designed stand? (we love IKEA, so much of their shelving and other items can be easily altered for display) Often, we wondered over the past year if people felt intimidated by the display we used, or if it really mattered.
How do we get people to perceive that handmade and art don't equate with cheap car-boot items? Is it necessary to descend to the lowest common denominator so as not to frighten the horses or servants?
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Self-Management
One of the pleasures of being an independent artist is the ability to work at my own pace and hours. One of the disadvantages of being an independent artist is the ability to stay home when the weather's too bad to get to the studio, and wondering when I can get in to get some work done. No one else is looking over my shoulder, pressuring me to get things done. It would be easier if that were the case as someone else would not be as hard on me as I am on myself.
It's been snowing heavily today, the roads are barely passable and it is a question now of balancing the need to work with the need to get there safely. Unlike people who work regular hours and receive regular pay, if I don't go, nothing gets done and that makes me a harder boss to please than most others. So, do I take the day off and wait for the weather to clear or do I go and melt glass?
Answers on a postcard, please.
It's been snowing heavily today, the roads are barely passable and it is a question now of balancing the need to work with the need to get there safely. Unlike people who work regular hours and receive regular pay, if I don't go, nothing gets done and that makes me a harder boss to please than most others. So, do I take the day off and wait for the weather to clear or do I go and melt glass?
Answers on a postcard, please.
Monday, January 04, 2010
The past and the future
The past seems to be giving me the future in so many ways. This year I will be doing fewer bead fairs, and more events and work based on historic items. It has been so gratifying to have my work appreciated on many levels, from archaeologists and museums to re-enactors and history enthusiasts.
I find that beads can be such a compelling aspect of life that everything starts to look like a bead. I always try to keep my sketchbook handy to note down various bead ideas, and have given some thought to publishing some of the designs as small cards or postcards.
This month is devoted mostly to preparing for February, which has three major historic venues where I will be with my beads. I haven't forgotten the contemporary beads that are still a significant part of my glass life, and will work to keep a balance between the two this month.
Exciting times ahead for glassy goodness.
I find that beads can be such a compelling aspect of life that everything starts to look like a bead. I always try to keep my sketchbook handy to note down various bead ideas, and have given some thought to publishing some of the designs as small cards or postcards.
This month is devoted mostly to preparing for February, which has three major historic venues where I will be with my beads. I haven't forgotten the contemporary beads that are still a significant part of my glass life, and will work to keep a balance between the two this month.
Exciting times ahead for glassy goodness.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Advancing through the past
After spending some time the past few weeks re-visiting sites of interest to my historic bead work, such as the Roman forts along Hadrian's Wall and a few museums, it has inspired me to expand the types of beads I make and also to look back at the beads I've made. For the past two years I've worked as much on understanding how the beads were created as actually making them, it's been a very worthwhile effort and one I will always be glad that I did. Taking several years to really have a feel for the beads and spending so much time looking at examples both in publications and in museums has given me the sense of how important they were to their original owners. Not only as decoration or statements of importance, status, power but also as expressions of admiration, affection, respect or love for the recipients of the beads.
Each bead I have looked at is unique, every one created by a beadmaker somewhere and somewhen in the past. Some of the beadmakers were skilled, some of them were very average and some of them, quite frankly, were terrible but every one of them made beads which were treasured by the owner. It is such an enjoyable experience to look at these ancient beads and then have the pleasure of re-creating them again as they most likely appeared when they were new.
Another aspect that I have been enjoying lately is the expansion from the general to the specific, making beads from particular finds rather than general beads of various types. I have ranged across the centuries from early Iron Age beads on through the late Viking-era beads and occasionally stepped past that in date too. There is a world of beads out there as yet untapped and un-made by me, this year is the one that is the start of that expansion into specific finds. As I make them, I think of the connection with the past, the person who owned that particular bead and the person who will own my version of it. Will it be found in a thousand years?
I hope so.
Each bead I have looked at is unique, every one created by a beadmaker somewhere and somewhen in the past. Some of the beadmakers were skilled, some of them were very average and some of them, quite frankly, were terrible but every one of them made beads which were treasured by the owner. It is such an enjoyable experience to look at these ancient beads and then have the pleasure of re-creating them again as they most likely appeared when they were new.
Another aspect that I have been enjoying lately is the expansion from the general to the specific, making beads from particular finds rather than general beads of various types. I have ranged across the centuries from early Iron Age beads on through the late Viking-era beads and occasionally stepped past that in date too. There is a world of beads out there as yet untapped and un-made by me, this year is the one that is the start of that expansion into specific finds. As I make them, I think of the connection with the past, the person who owned that particular bead and the person who will own my version of it. Will it be found in a thousand years?
I hope so.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Form first, technique first
Brad Pearson says it so well.
http://pearsonglass.blogspot.com/
Before taking those huge, silver-glass-laden, dichroic steps, make sure the bead you're applying all that glitz to is a good bead.
http://pearsonglass.blogspot.com/
Before taking those huge, silver-glass-laden, dichroic steps, make sure the bead you're applying all that glitz to is a good bead.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Culture clash or simple ethics
In the past month or so we have been trying to track down the people responsible for stealing images of handmade beads from our website, marking them up with prices and sending them out in emails along with a number of other bead images, purporting to sell the beads for the prices on the images, sometimes for amounts around $25/kilo!
While trying to track down the people responsible we've found something that is not just sad but disgusting. No one in India seems to care. One person who had answered an email from us about the issue said essentially that it is 'normal practice' for the company in question to steal images. and that other companies routinely download other images and then pass them off as theirs for sale. The old chestnut of watermarking images was brought up, but why? Every image of a one-of-a-kind bead set would be slashed with messages, so the people who want to buy the sets from us would struggle to see the actual sets. Should we punish our customers because of thieves elsewhere?
We were told that there is nothing we can do. We can approach the British Embassy in India but we doubt that they're going to bother a large Indian company at the behest of an individual artist. A bit of the David and Goliath about it, yes? Imagine the Embassy giving a quick call to the company:
Embassy: Hello, yes, I'm contacting you about some images you stole from a website in the UK. Yes, we're not happy with it.
Them: Shove off. Tell them if they don't stop complaining we'll ruin them.
Succinct, and to the point. Bless them!
Watermarking. Why? Might as well take a photo, put a big blot on it and say 'Here you go, there are beads under there somewhere but we're afraid some thief in India or Russia or wherever is going to nick these images and pass my work off as their own so could you please base your purchases on the little edges of the beads you can see around the watermarks? Thanks ever so much.' Might as well start putting copyright notices across everything to stop the unethical. There goes the art world.....
No. Thieves are thieves. We're not going to blot our landscape for them. If they steal, it's their problem, if we find out about it we'll tell everyone but we refuse to ruin the work we present to the world because they can't be honourable, ethical or frankly just nice.
Oh, yes. Is it a culture clash? No. People are either honest or not. There's no license to steal in Russia or India, ethics don't change based on location. Thieves are thieves no matter where they stand. We refuse to believe that location creates OR excuses such actions. That would be an insult to the people who live honestly.
While trying to track down the people responsible we've found something that is not just sad but disgusting. No one in India seems to care. One person who had answered an email from us about the issue said essentially that it is 'normal practice' for the company in question to steal images. and that other companies routinely download other images and then pass them off as theirs for sale. The old chestnut of watermarking images was brought up, but why? Every image of a one-of-a-kind bead set would be slashed with messages, so the people who want to buy the sets from us would struggle to see the actual sets. Should we punish our customers because of thieves elsewhere?
We were told that there is nothing we can do. We can approach the British Embassy in India but we doubt that they're going to bother a large Indian company at the behest of an individual artist. A bit of the David and Goliath about it, yes? Imagine the Embassy giving a quick call to the company:
Embassy: Hello, yes, I'm contacting you about some images you stole from a website in the UK. Yes, we're not happy with it.
Them: Shove off. Tell them if they don't stop complaining we'll ruin them.
Succinct, and to the point. Bless them!
Watermarking. Why? Might as well take a photo, put a big blot on it and say 'Here you go, there are beads under there somewhere but we're afraid some thief in India or Russia or wherever is going to nick these images and pass my work off as their own so could you please base your purchases on the little edges of the beads you can see around the watermarks? Thanks ever so much.' Might as well start putting copyright notices across everything to stop the unethical. There goes the art world.....
No. Thieves are thieves. We're not going to blot our landscape for them. If they steal, it's their problem, if we find out about it we'll tell everyone but we refuse to ruin the work we present to the world because they can't be honourable, ethical or frankly just nice.
Oh, yes. Is it a culture clash? No. People are either honest or not. There's no license to steal in Russia or India, ethics don't change based on location. Thieves are thieves no matter where they stand. We refuse to believe that location creates OR excuses such actions. That would be an insult to the people who live honestly.
Friday, July 17, 2009
How many?
How many artists does it take to make a show? How many traders does it take to make a bead fair?
As the year progresses, we've been doing a lot of thinking (ouch!) and looking at the aspects of being reliant on bead fairs for part of our sales each year. The main thing we've noticed is the growing number of fairs and also the growing number of beadmakers at the fairs.
Great? Maybe. Um... not really?
It's funny how the same people who use lampwork in their jewellery and try to sell at various venues may find that the limit on jewellery artists in a fair is a problem that they aren't happy about, yet may not feel that the same should apply to shows where supplies are sold, such as bead fairs. The more the merrier for them, a bigger selection and all that.
Is that how it really works? Not in the UK, for a few reasons. One is that there are far fewer beadmakers in the UK than in the US, which lessens the pool of artists who trade and competition is lower for places at fairs because organisers are not being selective about artists. If there were proportionately the same number of beadmakers in the UK as the US, there would be several thousand people vying for places at fairs, rather than several dozen.
Beadmakers are a special section of any fair, they aren't there selling bought-in items where pricing is pretty much set by the pressures of the market forces in action, because ten traders selling crystal bicones or Czech glass beads or semi-precious stones are paying approximately the same wholesale prices and the quality and styles are fairly well the same across the board. So, the shopper can spend time comparing strands of carnelian 8mm beads, find the best price which probably varies within a pound a strand for them, they're made to a certain size, standard and don't want variation or technique applied to make them individual or unique. A show with a certain number of sellers will find that the competition is stiff but at least it's fairly even based on the items being sold.
Not the same for beadmakers.
Lampwork beads are individually created, and the level of skill, the technical quality of the beads and the ability of the artist to produce beads of any value at all varies widely, sometimes even wildly. There is little to compare between an artist who takes time to create unique and original works and offers them with an assurance of several of the most basic things and a beadmaker who sells beads that should be considered 'practice' beads.
Good holes, cleaned, annealed.
You'd think those were a given but it's not always true. People sell unannealed beads or claim that certain shapes mean that there is no way to NOT have sharp edges or any of a large number of other things that make us go 'huh?' a lot. And yet, because they're huddled under the overly large canopy of the 'handmade lampwork' category, there is a feeling from the general buyer that all beads are created equal.
The plain fact is that some beads are more equal than others, and they are not made with the expectation of being sold simply to buy more glass to make more beads. It's not the chicken/egg here, because there is another factor, and that's pricing.
Some artists actually work at the whole beadmaking thing hard enough to try and make it a business that will and occasionally does support the artist. When they sell at bead fairs where people are selling at hobbyist prices it does one of two things. It undervalues or devalues the entire 'handmade by artists' concept of beadmaking and it undercuts people whose work should receive significantly higher prices but cannot because they are competing with people who price their handmade beads at the same level as cheap imported lampwork.
Not everyone who makes beads is concerned about the market. Nor are they concerned about other artists, or frankly anything other than just funding their hobby. And because the bead fairs are allowing more and more hobbyist beadmakers to book, beadmakers who expect to sell beads for 'art' prices are finding that they spend a lot of their time explaining why their bead sets are five to ten times the cost of someone else's when they're both selling 'handmade lampwork beads'. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, but people who get out there to sell should spend some time taking a look at their market and also their fellow beadmakers and learn to price their work like an artist and not like a hobbyist.
We've reached this point and have spent a lot of time looking at the bead fairs for this year and 2010. In addition to the spate of new shows being planned for next year, we've decided to be a bit drastic about it and are cutting out all shows where we feel that the balance of beadmakers to other traders is not even. A show with 40 traders with 12 of them being beadmakers means a disproportionate balance of traders, and that is unfair to the traders. No craft fair would allow a 25% balance of jewellery makers, in fact it's now very difficult to get into a top-quality craft fair if you do make jewellery. Why it should be different for beadmakers in bead fairs is beyond us, and we're doing the only thing we can, which is voting with our feet.
So, if you go to a bead fair and we're not there, take a head count of the beadmakers and give it some thought because quantity doesn't always guarantee anything at all but lots of tables booked for the show organisers. We have brought this subject up with several organisers, who have taken note of the points we presented; some organisers already make it a practice to keep a balance of types of traders anyway and didn't need to have this simple concept pointed out. The end result is that some shows will have an overload of beadmakers and some will balance the blend of traders. Just like craft fairs who vet their traders and keep a balance, which benefits the traders, the buyers and the organisers.
As the year progresses, we've been doing a lot of thinking (ouch!) and looking at the aspects of being reliant on bead fairs for part of our sales each year. The main thing we've noticed is the growing number of fairs and also the growing number of beadmakers at the fairs.
Great? Maybe. Um... not really?
It's funny how the same people who use lampwork in their jewellery and try to sell at various venues may find that the limit on jewellery artists in a fair is a problem that they aren't happy about, yet may not feel that the same should apply to shows where supplies are sold, such as bead fairs. The more the merrier for them, a bigger selection and all that.
Is that how it really works? Not in the UK, for a few reasons. One is that there are far fewer beadmakers in the UK than in the US, which lessens the pool of artists who trade and competition is lower for places at fairs because organisers are not being selective about artists. If there were proportionately the same number of beadmakers in the UK as the US, there would be several thousand people vying for places at fairs, rather than several dozen.
Beadmakers are a special section of any fair, they aren't there selling bought-in items where pricing is pretty much set by the pressures of the market forces in action, because ten traders selling crystal bicones or Czech glass beads or semi-precious stones are paying approximately the same wholesale prices and the quality and styles are fairly well the same across the board. So, the shopper can spend time comparing strands of carnelian 8mm beads, find the best price which probably varies within a pound a strand for them, they're made to a certain size, standard and don't want variation or technique applied to make them individual or unique. A show with a certain number of sellers will find that the competition is stiff but at least it's fairly even based on the items being sold.
Not the same for beadmakers.
Lampwork beads are individually created, and the level of skill, the technical quality of the beads and the ability of the artist to produce beads of any value at all varies widely, sometimes even wildly. There is little to compare between an artist who takes time to create unique and original works and offers them with an assurance of several of the most basic things and a beadmaker who sells beads that should be considered 'practice' beads.
Good holes, cleaned, annealed.
You'd think those were a given but it's not always true. People sell unannealed beads or claim that certain shapes mean that there is no way to NOT have sharp edges or any of a large number of other things that make us go 'huh?' a lot. And yet, because they're huddled under the overly large canopy of the 'handmade lampwork' category, there is a feeling from the general buyer that all beads are created equal.
The plain fact is that some beads are more equal than others, and they are not made with the expectation of being sold simply to buy more glass to make more beads. It's not the chicken/egg here, because there is another factor, and that's pricing.
Some artists actually work at the whole beadmaking thing hard enough to try and make it a business that will and occasionally does support the artist. When they sell at bead fairs where people are selling at hobbyist prices it does one of two things. It undervalues or devalues the entire 'handmade by artists' concept of beadmaking and it undercuts people whose work should receive significantly higher prices but cannot because they are competing with people who price their handmade beads at the same level as cheap imported lampwork.
Not everyone who makes beads is concerned about the market. Nor are they concerned about other artists, or frankly anything other than just funding their hobby. And because the bead fairs are allowing more and more hobbyist beadmakers to book, beadmakers who expect to sell beads for 'art' prices are finding that they spend a lot of their time explaining why their bead sets are five to ten times the cost of someone else's when they're both selling 'handmade lampwork beads'. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, but people who get out there to sell should spend some time taking a look at their market and also their fellow beadmakers and learn to price their work like an artist and not like a hobbyist.
We've reached this point and have spent a lot of time looking at the bead fairs for this year and 2010. In addition to the spate of new shows being planned for next year, we've decided to be a bit drastic about it and are cutting out all shows where we feel that the balance of beadmakers to other traders is not even. A show with 40 traders with 12 of them being beadmakers means a disproportionate balance of traders, and that is unfair to the traders. No craft fair would allow a 25% balance of jewellery makers, in fact it's now very difficult to get into a top-quality craft fair if you do make jewellery. Why it should be different for beadmakers in bead fairs is beyond us, and we're doing the only thing we can, which is voting with our feet.
So, if you go to a bead fair and we're not there, take a head count of the beadmakers and give it some thought because quantity doesn't always guarantee anything at all but lots of tables booked for the show organisers. We have brought this subject up with several organisers, who have taken note of the points we presented; some organisers already make it a practice to keep a balance of types of traders anyway and didn't need to have this simple concept pointed out. The end result is that some shows will have an overload of beadmakers and some will balance the blend of traders. Just like craft fairs who vet their traders and keep a balance, which benefits the traders, the buyers and the organisers.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Cloaking devices and visibility online
It's an eternal issue, how do I get myself seen online? It may be a vanity thing, you have a blog and want people to read your words of deep thoughts and high goals. You may simply want to have people see a story of your life, your work, your family or your predilection for wearing odd clothing or driving unusual vehicles.
There's the blog, like this. It's an easy way, if you're good with words. You can post photos, some blogs are almost like a small marketplace, you can drive for sales from it or you can simply post those handy Paypal 'buy this, you'll love it' sort of button things on it and voila, money for stuff!
There are websites, there are online sales venues, there are auctions and forums and social networking sites and tweeting and ... when do you have time to actually MAKE anything, much less photograph it, list it, describe it, name it, give it some loving cuddles before sending it out into the big bad world?
Well, there's a way to create a systematic approach. It's not perfect and it only works if you work at it. Is it your job? Then treat it that way. If you had a boss and a time clock to punch, you'd regulate how things go. Make a list of things to do, then work them into a useable schedule.
Mondays: an hour of Facebook, chatting about wanting desperately to get on the torch, upload photos and natter. An hour of reading bead forums for hints on how to make beads, a half-hour to have a drink (tea, coffee, Hawaiian Fruit Punch are possibilities) and plot how to take over the glassy world with your stunning new techniques. Two hours of torching then, if you manage to tear yourself away from the computer. If that's proving the stopping block, where you can't progress along your schedule and Tuesday seems like a month away, get a timer for your computer, that turns the internet off after half an hour.
Tuesday: have we reached that point yet? Twitter first, check for sales on Etsy, ArtFire, Crafts'r'us etc ad infinitum. Write up descriptions for the beads you did actually make, anneal and clean, and photograph after the computer shut down via the timer you installed yesterday. Check your Paypal account for enough money for more glass and frit. Check your Facebook... and there goes the internet. Get on the torch!
Wednesday: beads cleaned, photographed and ready to go before you even thought to twitter, facebook, surf, blog or get on the forum! Go on, get that timer, make a list of the things to do weekly and DO them.
Thursday: even less time online, with a frantic eye on the timer, you're amazed at how much you got done in such a short........
There's the blog, like this. It's an easy way, if you're good with words. You can post photos, some blogs are almost like a small marketplace, you can drive for sales from it or you can simply post those handy Paypal 'buy this, you'll love it' sort of button things on it and voila, money for stuff!
There are websites, there are online sales venues, there are auctions and forums and social networking sites and tweeting and ... when do you have time to actually MAKE anything, much less photograph it, list it, describe it, name it, give it some loving cuddles before sending it out into the big bad world?
Well, there's a way to create a systematic approach. It's not perfect and it only works if you work at it. Is it your job? Then treat it that way. If you had a boss and a time clock to punch, you'd regulate how things go. Make a list of things to do, then work them into a useable schedule.
Mondays: an hour of Facebook, chatting about wanting desperately to get on the torch, upload photos and natter. An hour of reading bead forums for hints on how to make beads, a half-hour to have a drink (tea, coffee, Hawaiian Fruit Punch are possibilities) and plot how to take over the glassy world with your stunning new techniques. Two hours of torching then, if you manage to tear yourself away from the computer. If that's proving the stopping block, where you can't progress along your schedule and Tuesday seems like a month away, get a timer for your computer, that turns the internet off after half an hour.
Tuesday: have we reached that point yet? Twitter first, check for sales on Etsy, ArtFire, Crafts'r'us etc ad infinitum. Write up descriptions for the beads you did actually make, anneal and clean, and photograph after the computer shut down via the timer you installed yesterday. Check your Paypal account for enough money for more glass and frit. Check your Facebook... and there goes the internet. Get on the torch!
Wednesday: beads cleaned, photographed and ready to go before you even thought to twitter, facebook, surf, blog or get on the forum! Go on, get that timer, make a list of the things to do weekly and DO them.
Thursday: even less time online, with a frantic eye on the timer, you're amazed at how much you got done in such a short........
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Teaching beadmaking and what to know about selecting a teacher
It's a growth industry here in the UK now, and with the rise in people who now own torches and have decided that after three weeks melting glass they're ready to teach, there is a need for some thought on the subject. Making beads is a very relaxing way to spend time, it has several great results. You chill out at the torch, you have something to show for your time and you can possibly sell your work.
But, once you show someone else your beads they say 'WOW' and the next thing you know they're over at yours and there's glass melting going on. It's great fun and happens across the world, people sharing their skills.
Hmmm... so what? What does this have to do with teaching and the rest? It's that next step that counts. The thought is this. I can make beads, my friends love them, we've melted glass together and now I think I should make some money off all this because I want to support my hobby.
Is this really the way to go about it? Years ago, when Mike was first making beads, after more than a year of making and selling beads, he decided it was time to take on the next step of teaching beadmaking. This was with not just time at the torch, an average of 5-8 hours a day, almost every day, but also with 30 years of being an art teacher behind him. You would have thought that he was planning to give lessons on the fine art of (fill in your own heinous concept). Despite the fact that he had spent quite a lot of time working on the plan for his lessons, and based his approach on the ISGB lesson recommendations, there were a few folk who thought that it was a Very Bad Idea, to the point that someone somewhere took it on themselves to write a personal LETTER to Mike, this individual castigating Mike in no uncertain terms for his temerity in taking the step of teaching beadmaking to the masses. No, really, it happened. With luck you'll never get a letter implying you're being mercenary and only teaching for the money without the skill required.
So, what does this have to do with teaching?
Everything, really. Someone, somewhere will decide if you're not suitable to teach. Usually it's a student or a prospective student. They will want to know if you're worth the money they're going to pay for the pleasure of learning how to make beads. And if you are, that's great.
How do they know?
The ISGB has a great guide to teaching beadmaking. They have spent a long time and a lot of thought on the topic, working to help people by preparing guidelines for both teacher and student.
It is important to cover so many aspects of beadmaking, not just 'here's a torch, light it and don't burn yourselves' and yet this happens. Before you take the step of teaching someone in your home, studio or elsewhere it is vital that you prepare yourself as much as the students. And, this is a very important and... can you make a bead? Not just melt glass, but make a bead. A consistent bead, properly constructed. Do you know what to look for in a bead? Is your technique sound? Do you understand the important basics, not just the fancy aspects of the latest popular glass colour but the sound principles behind beadmaking? If not, then perhaps you need a bit more time at the torch before you teach others?
Read the guidelines. If you're a student, ask your prospective teacher the questions they suggest. If you plan to teach, then ask yourself if you can say yes to the criteria as set out by the ISGB.
The link to the guidelines: http://www.isgb.org/education/standards.shtml
They're the best guide you could possibly ask for.
But, once you show someone else your beads they say 'WOW' and the next thing you know they're over at yours and there's glass melting going on. It's great fun and happens across the world, people sharing their skills.
Hmmm... so what? What does this have to do with teaching and the rest? It's that next step that counts. The thought is this. I can make beads, my friends love them, we've melted glass together and now I think I should make some money off all this because I want to support my hobby.
Is this really the way to go about it? Years ago, when Mike was first making beads, after more than a year of making and selling beads, he decided it was time to take on the next step of teaching beadmaking. This was with not just time at the torch, an average of 5-8 hours a day, almost every day, but also with 30 years of being an art teacher behind him. You would have thought that he was planning to give lessons on the fine art of (fill in your own heinous concept). Despite the fact that he had spent quite a lot of time working on the plan for his lessons, and based his approach on the ISGB lesson recommendations, there were a few folk who thought that it was a Very Bad Idea, to the point that someone somewhere took it on themselves to write a personal LETTER to Mike, this individual castigating Mike in no uncertain terms for his temerity in taking the step of teaching beadmaking to the masses. No, really, it happened. With luck you'll never get a letter implying you're being mercenary and only teaching for the money without the skill required.
So, what does this have to do with teaching?
Everything, really. Someone, somewhere will decide if you're not suitable to teach. Usually it's a student or a prospective student. They will want to know if you're worth the money they're going to pay for the pleasure of learning how to make beads. And if you are, that's great.
How do they know?
The ISGB has a great guide to teaching beadmaking. They have spent a long time and a lot of thought on the topic, working to help people by preparing guidelines for both teacher and student.
It is important to cover so many aspects of beadmaking, not just 'here's a torch, light it and don't burn yourselves' and yet this happens. Before you take the step of teaching someone in your home, studio or elsewhere it is vital that you prepare yourself as much as the students. And, this is a very important and... can you make a bead? Not just melt glass, but make a bead. A consistent bead, properly constructed. Do you know what to look for in a bead? Is your technique sound? Do you understand the important basics, not just the fancy aspects of the latest popular glass colour but the sound principles behind beadmaking? If not, then perhaps you need a bit more time at the torch before you teach others?
Read the guidelines. If you're a student, ask your prospective teacher the questions they suggest. If you plan to teach, then ask yourself if you can say yes to the criteria as set out by the ISGB.
The link to the guidelines: http://www.isgb.org/education/standards.shtml
They're the best guide you could possibly ask for.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Honey or vinegar
It's easy to say thank you, yet so few people do. It's easy to admit fault, yet sometimes people get into squabbles over something that is just Not Important.
Customer service, it's the lifeblood of a company. It costs nothing to be nice, it pays huge rewards in both the cosmic, karmic dividends of internal happiness but it also makes someone else feel valued. You made the effort to do something for them therefore you show them they're worth doing something for. You listen and do not immediately deny responsibility. You listen and understand what is being said and accept that it has value. You do something about a situation where your customer is not happy, and work to help turn a negative into something that is a positive result for both you and your customer.
What can we do to make you happy? What can we do to make you a customer that wants to come back? I'm sorry, I was wrong, how can I make it right?
Aren't these the things that keep a business going?
Catch more with honey than vinegar, as someone used to say.
Customer service, it's the lifeblood of a company. It costs nothing to be nice, it pays huge rewards in both the cosmic, karmic dividends of internal happiness but it also makes someone else feel valued. You made the effort to do something for them therefore you show them they're worth doing something for. You listen and do not immediately deny responsibility. You listen and understand what is being said and accept that it has value. You do something about a situation where your customer is not happy, and work to help turn a negative into something that is a positive result for both you and your customer.
What can we do to make you happy? What can we do to make you a customer that wants to come back? I'm sorry, I was wrong, how can I make it right?
Aren't these the things that keep a business going?
Catch more with honey than vinegar, as someone used to say.
Monday, June 15, 2009
A life less well-travelled
It's been a week or two of reflection and pondering. New auctions on eBay, the ressurection of JustBeads as an auction venue, more beads being listed in the US venues of Etsy and Artfire. Plenty going on and something has to give, something has to be the sacrifice to the gods of space and time.
Bead fairs. Yes, they're part of the great glassy web that is our daily existence, but they are not always the best part. It's not the people, we love that, it's not the travel (not as loveable as the people, truly) and it's not the set-up/pack-away and drive home that are the problem. It's that there are so many now and the make-up of the traders has changed.
Looking at the schedule from three or four years ago and there were significantly fewer fairs. Is that good? Is that bad? Opinions vary. Customers love the convenience of a fair that is local to them, of course. It makes a bit of one-stop shopping easy, they can see a great variety of items all at once instead of spending ages online or travelling to distant shops.
Is it good for the traders? Not always. More fairs means less revenue per fair as people generally only have so much money to spend in a year. If customers have a bead budget of several hundred pounds over the year and now don't have to save up for the one 'big' show, then they may visit several smaller shows which are new and closer and more accessible etc and so on. But the traders still have to show up for the same expenses per show and three times the shows, so for the amount of sales of one show several years ago, they are now faced with treble the costs for three shows and only the same amount of sales from the buyers. Not exactly good for them, then, when it's not a hobby but a living they're trying to make.
And, in the case of beadmakers, there are more all the time. The growth of lampworking in the UK has been very steady over the past few years. Newcomers are encouraged by friends to start selling virtually from day one, enthusiastic comments in forums and from family and friends about new beadmakers and their work creates on many occasions a very unrealistic impression of what their beads are worth and if they should really even be selling their work. Plenty of these new beadmakers have almost no overhead, they don't have studio costs or large fuel bills for hundreds of miles travelled over a year.
Many choose to only do shows local to them, which is nice. Many of them also look at any money made at a show as simply a way to buy more glass, the chicken and the egg principle operating there. More glass, more beads, more glass, more beads. And nowhere in the middle is there the necessity to pay for various other things. It makes life simple for the occasional show, pop along to the venue ten minutes from home, set up, have a natter with friends, sell a bit and spend it on glass and head home again for a cuppa and a meal.
We've had a look at shows over the past year and have taken a decision based on several factors, and one of them is the preponderance at some fairs of beadmakers. This skews the amounts of traders, in some cases with several beadmakers sharing a table it ends up with the number of 'lampwork pounds' through the door being divided rather drastically between 12-15 beadmakers rather than five or six. In a craft fair or other arts or crafts show, the organisers limit the number of any particular kind of trader or artist, yet this is not happening in bead fairs. Yes, there are the arguments about market forces and people buying what they want, but to be honest there are other factors too. New beadmakers sell cheaply. They price to buy more glass to make more beads to buy more glass, most of them are hobbyist beadmakers who simply want to keep their hobby as a self-financing one. Nothing wrong with this, but are they suitable for bead fairs where the majority of the businesses are people who work full-time and derive their income from their businesses?
When we first started being involved in lampwork, we had the great good fortune to have the assistance and guidance of a number of beadmakers and bead people who use lampwork in their designs or simply love lampwork, many of them in the US and many of them very successful people. Uniformly, they were generous with advice but sparing with effusive praise for Mike's first beads that were nice but not earth-shaking. It was a long process, and one that taught us a lot, before we felt Mike's made beads were ready to sell. They had proper dimpled ends, they were well-made, they were symmetrical and even and made to as high a standard as he was able. And when the friends who helped us said they were ready for sale, we felt that it was true. They didn't praise everything, and they certainly had the courage to criticize things they felt weren't just right. And that's something that is not common in forums/discussion groups/whatever.
People are afraid to say anything that isn't a positive, even if it's a 'false positive' in that it's simply cheering someone on when what they really need is a bit of common-sense commentary. No one is able to simply say 'no, they're not that good and here's why...' because no one wants to be hounded or slammed or labelled as 'nasty', 'envious', 'bitter', 'insecure' but those are all potential reactions. And the same with trading at bead fairs.
It's not insecurity that prompts us to cut back next year on our list of shows to attend, it's practicalities like footfall, balance of traders and venues. We base our decisions on various things, including sales, but not exclusively. So, you'll see us at shows, but not as frequently. Our sales online are easier to achieve, we can stay home and get work done without travelling, we can have a life on weekends and best of all we can put our feet up and sell without having to leave the house. It's hard work but it's worth it and it doesn't start out the day with a minimum £250 deficit of costs just to do a show for a day.
So, next year we'll be about but the schedule will be a sleeker, more svelte one with more gaps between shows. We're already looking forward to experiencing weekends at home!
Bead fairs. Yes, they're part of the great glassy web that is our daily existence, but they are not always the best part. It's not the people, we love that, it's not the travel (not as loveable as the people, truly) and it's not the set-up/pack-away and drive home that are the problem. It's that there are so many now and the make-up of the traders has changed.
Looking at the schedule from three or four years ago and there were significantly fewer fairs. Is that good? Is that bad? Opinions vary. Customers love the convenience of a fair that is local to them, of course. It makes a bit of one-stop shopping easy, they can see a great variety of items all at once instead of spending ages online or travelling to distant shops.
Is it good for the traders? Not always. More fairs means less revenue per fair as people generally only have so much money to spend in a year. If customers have a bead budget of several hundred pounds over the year and now don't have to save up for the one 'big' show, then they may visit several smaller shows which are new and closer and more accessible etc and so on. But the traders still have to show up for the same expenses per show and three times the shows, so for the amount of sales of one show several years ago, they are now faced with treble the costs for three shows and only the same amount of sales from the buyers. Not exactly good for them, then, when it's not a hobby but a living they're trying to make.
And, in the case of beadmakers, there are more all the time. The growth of lampworking in the UK has been very steady over the past few years. Newcomers are encouraged by friends to start selling virtually from day one, enthusiastic comments in forums and from family and friends about new beadmakers and their work creates on many occasions a very unrealistic impression of what their beads are worth and if they should really even be selling their work. Plenty of these new beadmakers have almost no overhead, they don't have studio costs or large fuel bills for hundreds of miles travelled over a year.
Many choose to only do shows local to them, which is nice. Many of them also look at any money made at a show as simply a way to buy more glass, the chicken and the egg principle operating there. More glass, more beads, more glass, more beads. And nowhere in the middle is there the necessity to pay for various other things. It makes life simple for the occasional show, pop along to the venue ten minutes from home, set up, have a natter with friends, sell a bit and spend it on glass and head home again for a cuppa and a meal.
We've had a look at shows over the past year and have taken a decision based on several factors, and one of them is the preponderance at some fairs of beadmakers. This skews the amounts of traders, in some cases with several beadmakers sharing a table it ends up with the number of 'lampwork pounds' through the door being divided rather drastically between 12-15 beadmakers rather than five or six. In a craft fair or other arts or crafts show, the organisers limit the number of any particular kind of trader or artist, yet this is not happening in bead fairs. Yes, there are the arguments about market forces and people buying what they want, but to be honest there are other factors too. New beadmakers sell cheaply. They price to buy more glass to make more beads to buy more glass, most of them are hobbyist beadmakers who simply want to keep their hobby as a self-financing one. Nothing wrong with this, but are they suitable for bead fairs where the majority of the businesses are people who work full-time and derive their income from their businesses?
When we first started being involved in lampwork, we had the great good fortune to have the assistance and guidance of a number of beadmakers and bead people who use lampwork in their designs or simply love lampwork, many of them in the US and many of them very successful people. Uniformly, they were generous with advice but sparing with effusive praise for Mike's first beads that were nice but not earth-shaking. It was a long process, and one that taught us a lot, before we felt Mike's made beads were ready to sell. They had proper dimpled ends, they were well-made, they were symmetrical and even and made to as high a standard as he was able. And when the friends who helped us said they were ready for sale, we felt that it was true. They didn't praise everything, and they certainly had the courage to criticize things they felt weren't just right. And that's something that is not common in forums/discussion groups/whatever.
People are afraid to say anything that isn't a positive, even if it's a 'false positive' in that it's simply cheering someone on when what they really need is a bit of common-sense commentary. No one is able to simply say 'no, they're not that good and here's why...' because no one wants to be hounded or slammed or labelled as 'nasty', 'envious', 'bitter', 'insecure' but those are all potential reactions. And the same with trading at bead fairs.
It's not insecurity that prompts us to cut back next year on our list of shows to attend, it's practicalities like footfall, balance of traders and venues. We base our decisions on various things, including sales, but not exclusively. So, you'll see us at shows, but not as frequently. Our sales online are easier to achieve, we can stay home and get work done without travelling, we can have a life on weekends and best of all we can put our feet up and sell without having to leave the house. It's hard work but it's worth it and it doesn't start out the day with a minimum £250 deficit of costs just to do a show for a day.
So, next year we'll be about but the schedule will be a sleeker, more svelte one with more gaps between shows. We're already looking forward to experiencing weekends at home!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Don't blame the tools
I love glass. I love everything about it, the way it stays transparent when it's cool, the way light moves through it, the way it takes shape... well, to be honest there's not a lot about glass I don't like.
And yet, I watch people trying new glass all the time, desperate to get 'colours' or 'make it pop' or 'sing' or whatever. The new silver glass colours are fantastic in the right hands and yes they do sing and pop and colour up and do everything but wash the dishes and sweep the floor.
And yet...
What's wrong with simplicity? And walking before you run? And getting a grasp of mechanics and techniques. I see more beauty in one single bead made with attention to detail, with a sense of pride in technique and composition than in all the wonky silvered glass blobs out there.
Pure and simple are good. Basic work lays the foundation for progress. You don't get great beads if you don't have a good bead to start with.
Yadda yadda yadda.
For pure perfection of shape and simple application of a basic technique such as frit, take a look at the new beads by Dawn Scannell/Art Insomnia. Simple wound disks of black or raku glass but there's nothing simple about the quality of the construction, wound carefully and with attention to the construction of the layers of glass and then simple application of raku glass frit. And then WHAM! It's magic, that's it. The magic of knowing your materials.
Lots of people put frit on beads but not everyone bothers to understand the structure and reactions of the two kinds of glass.
Before flying, like Dawn, perhaps it's best to spend some time walking and learning how to craft a bead or what you end up with is the glass version of 'all fur coat and no knickers'.
And yet, I watch people trying new glass all the time, desperate to get 'colours' or 'make it pop' or 'sing' or whatever. The new silver glass colours are fantastic in the right hands and yes they do sing and pop and colour up and do everything but wash the dishes and sweep the floor.
And yet...
What's wrong with simplicity? And walking before you run? And getting a grasp of mechanics and techniques. I see more beauty in one single bead made with attention to detail, with a sense of pride in technique and composition than in all the wonky silvered glass blobs out there.
Pure and simple are good. Basic work lays the foundation for progress. You don't get great beads if you don't have a good bead to start with.
Yadda yadda yadda.
For pure perfection of shape and simple application of a basic technique such as frit, take a look at the new beads by Dawn Scannell/Art Insomnia. Simple wound disks of black or raku glass but there's nothing simple about the quality of the construction, wound carefully and with attention to the construction of the layers of glass and then simple application of raku glass frit. And then WHAM! It's magic, that's it. The magic of knowing your materials.
Lots of people put frit on beads but not everyone bothers to understand the structure and reactions of the two kinds of glass.
Before flying, like Dawn, perhaps it's best to spend some time walking and learning how to craft a bead or what you end up with is the glass version of 'all fur coat and no knickers'.
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