Now and then I accumulate several beads that for one reason or another did not meet my extremely high standards enough to be sold individually. They’re each still beautiful in their own way, made with all my best materials, properly kiln annealed and thoroughly cleaned, but they just did not turn out as I had originally planned. So they go into what I call an ‘Odd Lot’ set.
This particular Odd Lot collection includes some great large size focals and three fully lined Pandora style charm beads!
One of my most beloved styles of glasswork is ‘organic’. Simply put, organic design refers to a more free-form approach to bead making, allowing the materials themselves to dictate placement without getting too fussy over a perfect end result. At least that’s my definition of organic bead making.
In a nutshell, it just means allowing the glass to do its own thing. I’d say the biggest challenge with organic design is to know when enough is enough. Although, I am the first to admit sometimes I go overboard when the reactions I’m getting are just so spectacular that I think more is more. 😉
Either way, organic lampwork bead design is something I find myself gravitating back to time and again.
These beads take me back to my lampworking roots when I made organic style beads all the time. Organic beads have a much more free-form approach when it comes to design. Instead of being very precise with placement of each element you allow the colors, special reactions and flow of glass to dictate your next move. This style of lampworking is so much fun to do because there are lots of unique surprises throughout the creative process. 😀
NEW! Introducing the talents of my daughter Melanie, an art major in college. Her specialty is animation imagery with an emphasis on Japanese anime, manga and pop art designs.
Using liquid enamels Melanie hand painted her own original art design onto the surface of these opaque white beads. I then fired the paint into the glass for a durable, permanent finish. I also applied a line and dot designs with glass stringer to the back of the bead for added interest.
I hope you enjoy this new artistic collaboration with my daughter Melanie!
My daughter just told me that today is the first day of Spring! I thought for sure it was in April – but it is indeed today. I find this so funny because when I named and listed this bead on eBay I thought I was just pining for Spring, I didn’t realize it was already here – LOL! 😀
I will consider my timing kismet 😉 Now if the weather would just catch up…
CCGlassArt 