So recently I had the pleasure of presenting to the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild at their August 2016 meeting. They are a sister guild in the Southeast Michigan region that is focused on making ornament with beads and other jewelry type mediums. I have been a member of this guild for around 3 years and have taken classes with them on seed beading, wire wrapping, and other metal work. They are a wonderful group and I am proud to be a member. My presentation was a introduction to lampworking.
I lugged in a few torches, tools, glass, and other assorted lampworking necessities and spoke to them about the wonders of glass bead making. We laughed about some adventures I had when getting involved in this hobby such a kiln fear, exploding glass, and burning my arm but saving the bead. All and all we had a great time and I finished by showing a short YouTube video of bead making. I think everyone came away with a better understanding of the process and why buying artesian beads over mass produced Chinese beads would be a great way to support local glass bead makers and use quality glass beads in their creations. :)
The GlassAct guild had a trunk show following and we saw quite a few happy bead workers finding new treasures.
I love to share this art with others and hope I get the opportunity to speak again about the love of all things glass.
I have added the bead workers link to my links page. Check them out.
Glassy adventures await.
Susan