Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Creating Eclectic

When I started my lampwork journey I was very focused on making beads that matched, I worked hard to create sets that were evenly sized, its good practice to get into, it certainly helps to develop skill. The down side is it can become very restrictive, perfect for days when your mind doesn’t wander and the results are fabulous when you see a bunch of uniform beads that work perfectly together. 
This post is about an unravelling of sorts, when you’ve been in that focussed place for a while it can be really hard to let go and just explore. To make the transition easier I decided to work within a colour palette, giving me structure, with these sets I have explored working with different sized mandrels (the steel rods lampwork beads are formed around) different patterns and textures, shapes and sizes, and I worked on something completely new for me, off mandrel hearts (these are formed directly on the end of a glass rod and the hole is pierced through with a hot tungsten tool) 


This set is my favourite in terms of colours. 

This set just screams summer beaches to me. 

I love these warm heathers and soft teals. 

I am really quite pleased with where these sets have taken me, they have given me the freedom to explore a new way to make bead sets, I think they could be great for the eclectic jewellery maker mixed with some polymer clay, wooden beads and cords. 
I have been adding to my personal stash too, just because I love seeing them all together in my bead trays :) 


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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wonderful to hear another artist express their thoughts and process! It's really helpful.