One days' Beads Fresh out of the Kiln

As soon as I heard the word, anticipation, for April’s Art Bead Scene blog, I thought of the song by Carly Simon. Listen to “Anticipation” here if you don’t remember it. Even though I can’t get the tune out of my head  the lyrics don’t all ring true for me. My take on anticipation revolves more around trust and excitement. Trust that what I believe to be true will produce a positive outcome – and excitement in looking forward to the realization I anticipate.

As a glass beadmaker, I am constantly anticipating. After all, I don’t  see the results of what I create today until the next morning. No matter what else is going on in my life, I  wake up excited when I know there are beads waiting to come out of the kiln. How great is that – like Christmas or a birthday every day!  

Flowers in the Arboretum Before the Snow

I also experience anticipation when scheduling shows in which to sell my creations. This past week the anticipation didn’t pan out as  imagined, since the weather in Dallas was wet, freezing, and it  snowed! The show was cancelled on Sunday, so all that anticipation and expectation of a really good first show of 2010 froze along with the snow flakes. In the case of Artscape, a line from Carly’s song did ring true “I’m no prophet, I don’t know natures way.”

The Arboretum and Tents In the Snow on Sunday

I’m blessed with a loyal following, and  customers tell me how how much they anticipate my being back in their town with all my goodies. Thanks to them, we did  fine in Dallas is spite of the weather, and I took some orders too. Another example of trust and anticipation. These fabulous customers (and you know who you are) -  trust me to make something they will love, and are willing to wait a week or two to receive their treasures. I love doing the orders. I anticipate making the beads,  and the jewelry especially for them. So here’s a little sneak preview of one of the orders I just finished.  This fun bracelet will go out to its owner on Monday. Thank you, and all the other customers who allow me to have the best job in the world!

A true circle of trust, anticipation, and love.

Special Order Bracelet for a Customer

 

Art Bead Scene has a challenge every month. For March, a painting by Van Gogh was chosen. I LOVE this painting, and went to work right away making the glass beads. I didn’t have the exact color blue that I wanted, so I used a transparent blue I had on hand, and then rolled each bead in a deep blue enamel. That gave the base bead a nice painterly feeling. The branches are applied stringer, made with silvered ivory glass. And the blossoms from a mixture of white and very pale pink glass. Two flowers made from clear glass rolled in frit completed the glass beads.

The finished beads hung out on my bead board for a while until I found a little branch Jim cast in silver. Perfect! I pulled out some bits of antique chain, some links Jim made, and others, arranged and rearranged them all, and my “Branches with Almond Blossoms” burst into bloom. Ah, welcome spring.

Meanwhile, Saturday Beads for Sale slid by without a nod. We went to Houston on Friday (always a challenge for us, we are no longer city traffic friendly). However, we did our medical chores, and afterwards, I enjoyed shopping at Rings and Things. I buy a lot of my findings from them, and gemstones as well. I love to pick out the beads I purchase  in person, so I enjoy their once a year hotel show in Houston. Therefore, no torch work on Friday this week, nor Saturday either, as I spent most of yesterday re-painting all my booth displays for my first show of 2010, coming up in Dallas next week.

I’ve been busy as usual, this week I’ve made these with chain links. Some of the links are made by Jim in sterling silver – others copper and steel made by me. All glass beads by me. Enjoy.