Passion .. I asked my DH what I was Passionate about, thinking…he’d say something like making beads, jewellery, maybe even knitting… something like that… What did he actually say…” that I was Passionate about my cat Zoom Zoom”… Well he (Zoomies) is awfully cute and very affectionate as long as I’m wearing Polar Fleece….
Since I didn’t get the answer I wanted I tried again… second answer was “your Garden” Ok I’ll buy that … I spend most days in the summer pulling weeds edging gardens… moving plants looking at flowers and wondering what I can buy next year that will do better. For those of you who don’t know me I am stuck here, 7 days a week from mid June to mid Sept as I run a small
Gallery featuring work by Canadian Women… and unless I can get my DH look after it for a day… I’m it as far as staff goes! I have a baby monitor in the gallery and receivers all over the house… so I can make beads… and garden… and do chain maille…
My beads… I’m self taught… back in the mid 90’s… there was almost no info then… no pictures of other peoples beads… no nothing! Every couple of years we would drive to Washington state and buy glass from
Mike Frantz, (he was still operating out of his garage in those days...) One year he had a floral plunge bead in his display case… I had to know how it was made… He sold me a tungsten pick and I came home and attempted to make them…This is an early one… (That worked!)
I refer to them now as flower garden beads…
My first soft glass instructor was
Leah Fairbanks… (I loved her class.. would highly recommend it to anyone who makes beads!) That first class was actually way over my head … but I took a weekend class from her again a couple of years ago and moved my flowers from inside the bead to the surface…
I really do love flowers… I grow Orchids in the house so that I have flowers year round… But when it comes to my beads flowers can be any colour and shape... I have never tried to make an orchid on a bead I probably never will, why muck with perfection!
