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Welcome New Members!
Welcome to all the ISGB members who joined in October:
Illinois
Kate Lichter
Louisiana
Mark Rosenbaum
Gene Meneray
The Netherlands
Floor Kaspers
Nevada
Patty Cerajewski
New York
Nalani Williams
Ohio
Judy Ditmer
Texas
Teresa Weaver
Deborah Williams
United Kingdom
Karen Baildon
Vermont
Carrie Cleveland
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Rakow Research Library
A world of glass knowledge is at your fingertips. Check out the Rakow Research Library at Corning Museum of Glass!
Click Here
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Bead Release Archives
Looking for a back issue of the Bead Release electronic newsletter?
Click Here!
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Contact Us ISGB Sarah Riggle, Administrator 85 East Gay Street Suite 707 Columbus, OH 43215 614.222.2243 admin@isgb.org :: |
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President's Message
by Jeri Warhaftig, President
At the moment, I am re-reading a book from the 1970's about crafting stuffed pudgy dolls from panty hose. That is because even though nowadays, my craft life is limited to the medium of glass, that hasn't always been the case. I have had chapters of photography, knitting, sewing and quilting. I have made jewelry from woven seed beads, wire and metals. I have sculpted, cast and costumed porcelain dolls. During one phase, everything in sight was encased in complex polymer clay canes and I have used the newer faux bone too. I know how to cook and how to bake. And in my years with little kids I threw clay pots, painted with fingers, built paper mache masks and glued many popsicle sticks into forts!
Typically, I tell people I have left those other pursuits behind as I have sharpened my focus on glass. One of my paths to greater skill in a single medium has been to move away from scattershot crafting. My non-day job, non-family life time is limited (whose isn't?) and so I have really hunkered down in my glass world, leaving other fun worlds behind......or have I?
I gained a new appreciation for crafts gone by as a result of a glass project brought to fruition in my studio this month. I cast a glass box and sandblasted a design on its lid. But what I really wanted was to thread a bead onto a rod and through that lid as a finial. Hmmm, drill press from faux bone days, tap and die from metal days, changeable bead pendant from jewelry days and PRESTO (and some help from my DH), I figured out that finial. It was a little complicated and a little difficult, but the skills I encountered in other crafts eased the path into this finished glass project!
When I teach, I usually demonstrate a particular bead and then the students follow suit. Very often, they jokingly complain that I have made it look too easy! In the past, I agreed that things come easier to me because I have had more practice in a particular technique. But the truth is, it is also easier for me because of my non-bead pursuits. Because I have designed and created jewelry, I think I have a larger vocabulary of bead shapes and styles. Perhaps it is my quilting that leads me to understand the role of contrast and form in decorating beads. From photography I have an understanding of density and the variations of color that come from reflections and light.
There are a lot of bead books in my studio. But there are also books on tin, copper and other metals. I have a lot of mixed media references, and books about mosaics, sculpting and altered books. I have a lot of jewelry books too. I can't swear that I have tried, much less mastered, the techniques in these books. But when I am searching for inspiration in glass, I almost always find it by turning slightly aside, to the other crafts that I have enjoyed, and searching for how those crafts inform my next project. I doubt you see my porcelain dolls in my beads, and you probably don't see the years I made baklava and cannoli, but somehow, it is all in me, and therefore all in my artistic voice.
I am not all about beads. I'm all about glass. I'm not sure what I will do with the ability to make stuffed animals and dolls out of pantyhose, but I'm planning on skimming that book a little more tonight to see what it inspires. We all are truly the results of our life's experiences and I encourage all of us to stay broad in our experiences and engaged in every aspect of the artistic world around us.
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My First Bead&Button Show Experience
by Heather Behrendt, Member
The next step for me in my lampworking journey is to get my work into the general non bead buying public's hands. Unfortunately many of them appreciate lampwork beads, but don't know what to do with it. I started my creative path with stained glass as opposed to jewelry, so I've never known more than the bare basics of jewelry making. That's why I was so excited to hear about this wonderful scholarship opportunity.
When I received the email that I had been selected for the Bead&Button Show ISGB Scholarship, saying I was excited was an understatement. I would get to fly to Milwaukee to attend the Bead&Button Show along with two free classes and a bunch of other goodies. I had decided to go out of my comfort zone with jewelry classes instead of lampworking classes. I felt a little sad that I wouldn't be at the torch for that week. Imagine how thrilled I was when a month later I received a phone call from Kendra saying that a master class with Andrea Guarino-Slemmons and Leah Fairbanks had been added to my scholarship!
The last Friday of May started with a super early flight to Milwaukee and ended with my first class, Flame Painted Copper Cuff. This class I paid for myself, so I could get the most learning I could afford while the scholarship covered my travel and hotel. I had almost no experience with a jeweler's saw or flame painting, but Robyn Cornelius teaches an excellent class and I learned a lot. The first four days were the Master Class. The first two were with Andrea and the second two were with Leah. Each of them taught many of their signature bead styles while teaching students the techniques that would help us become better bead makers such as fuming, murrine, cane and dichroic. The class ended on the fourth day with a lovely graduation ceremony and dinner at the Milwaukee Public Market. |
| | My beads from Andrea Guarino Slemmons' class |
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| | Beads from Leah Fairbanks' class |
Most of the day Wednesday was spent learning how to use a torch and bronze to forge unique twisted bangles. We used a plumbers torch and Mapp gas that made me nostalgic for my old hot head torch. Meet the teachers took place in the evening. Every teacher of the hundreds of classes offered had the opportunity to show their work and talk about the classes they teach. I met a lot of wonderful artists. I couldn't help myself and did a little bead shopping with Terri Caspary Schmidt. The sales floor opened up on Friday, but there was an evening preview Thursday night. I've been to several bead shows before, but this one was huge. I browsed the show every day it was open and I still don't feel like I saw everything. The evening ended with a flame off hosted by ABR. Anybody with torching experience could participate and the following day the beads were auctioned off with the proceeds going to Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer. My final class was the next day. I will admit that I finally hit a bit of a brick wall with trying to take in so much information all week. It can all be a little overwhelming and that is ok. The rest of my day was a little more relaxing with the Bead Social. Seeing everyone's work being auctioned off to benefit a good cause gave me warm fuzzy feelings. I sat next to someone who had taken her first lampworking class that week at Bead&Button. It was an excellent way to end the week- chatting with someone who had just gotten hooked and was about to start their own lampworking journey. Marlene Vail, Kendra Bruno and everyone at Bead&Button were so kind in helping me with my travel and making me feel at home. Being in an unfamiliar state without anybody that I really knew well for 9 days was a little daunting, but I was always getting to know my classmates and meeting new bead people.
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Bead Challenge Event in Sedona, Arizona
by Penny Dickinson, Director of Membership
This year marked the second annual "Bead Challenge Event" that The Melting Point has hosted, since their grand opening only a year ago. It was a wonderful day in beautiful Sedona, with staff, locals and valley residents of Scottsdale, Phoenix and Peoria on hand to help make this event so incredibly successful!
 
Our generous lampwork artist volunteers worked all day on the torches to make Act of Courage beads, as well as bringing pieces of their own work to donate for both the raffle and silent auction. In addition to Bead Challenge door prizes from Beads of Courage charity, The Melting Point's owner Erin McMillen donated lots of wonderful prizes from her own inventory! These included several glass pumpkins, water glasses, martini glasses and a large paperweight from their own hot-shop. Also, she donated several small vessels by Emilio Santini, 2 gift certificates to "blow your own" glass art at The Melting Point, and glass sculptures and jewelry made by The Melting Point staff and gallery artists. 160 beads were made the day of the event, and adding all the beads that The Melting Point had gathered over the last couple months, the total beads donated to Bead of Courage was exactly 1,100 beads. 3 Dream Bead requests were filled during this event and $2400 was raised for the charity as a result of the raffle, silent auction and private donation. The Melting Point is looking forward to hosting a Bead Challenge Event once again in 2016!
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Industry News & Opportunities
by Kendra Bruno, Executive Director
AmazonSmile benefits ISGB and as an Amazon customer, you can select our organization. Support ISGB while you shop!
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by Kiersten Kern, East Central Regional Director
A Tidy Little Discovery
by Gay Massender, Member
For glassy friends - I have found the perfect receptacle in which to cut your murrini slices. This is an old glass ink pot. The one I have here I can actually rest my glass nippers on then I just feed my murrini cane down and snip off slices of the length I'm after without them bouncing back out of the glass and all over.
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The ISGB is the leading organization for the promotion, education, and appreciation of the art of glass beadmaking for wearable, sculptural, and functional art.
Our mission is to preserve the rich and diverse traditions of the art of glass beadmaking and glassworking techniques; promote educational initiatives and professional development; and encourage innovative use of complementary mediums among artists and craftspeople.
We invite you to join us on our journey through collaborative creativity in the worlds of glass and complementary mediums.
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