Inside the Studio with Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive, we offer a prize each week to encourage you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries. And here are the results from last week!

Congratulations to #6 - Susan Marling!  You have won a surprise package of wonderful beads from Mary Harding.  Please contact Mary to claim your prize.

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My ceramic bead studio has been in high production mode for some time now.  The second half of December through the end of January was all about creating beads, pendants, buttons and cabochons for Cherry Tree Beads to take to Tucson with them.  They already represent my line on their wholesale website, so I was really excited for them to take them to the To Bead True Blue Show with them.  They should of arrived home from the show a day ago, so I haven't found out how it went, but hopefully many of my beads found new homes!

Every January and July I redesign my bead show trays.  I have had a lot of fun doing that this past month.  I pretty much split things up into sea life themes, nature themes, spacer beads, cabochons, earring pairs, bracelet toppers and my new sets.  Sets will be a focal pendant, bracelet topper or earring pair with matched up accent beads.

When I produce, I pile up the beads that I want to be a certain glaze color.  I place them on skewers so my hands stay away from the paint and place them in a wood holder to dry.

After they dry, I take a wet pipe cleaner and run that through all the holes or wire loops.  This helps prevent them from sticking to the bead trees while firing.  My last load is cooling in the kiln right now. I have my first bead show of the year this weekend in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Here is a kiln load still warm....

So I can fit quite a few beads in my kiln.  This load is white earthenware with cone 06 glazes which is a firing temperature of 1,855 degrees.  My kiln is digital and I usually fire on the fast schedule, which completes the cycle in a little under 4 hours.  But then I have to be patient during cooling.  It is another 8 hours later that I can open my kiln, which is around 150 degrees.  

I hope you have enjoyed reading a bit about my bead show production.  Now for my question.......

Since sets are a new product for me, I'd like some jewelry designer input.  Besides the focal, how many side beads would you like in a set?  All ceramic or a combination of materials?  I definitely don't want to take my set idea to a kit level Lol.  Please leave a comment below and a winner will be chosen by random number generator next week.  The lucky winner will receive one of my new sets!

Inside the Studio with Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or

inspirations.  We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments!  As an

added incentive, we offer a prize each week to encourage you to participate.  The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries.  And here are the results from last week!

Congratulations to Erin S

She was number 21 out of 27 that was chosen by Random.org

Erin S has won a special focal bead, custom made by Julie Wong Sontag of Uglibeads, from her "boreal forest" series.  Please contact Julie to claim your prize!

I am a vendor in Artisan Alley at Bead Fest in Philadelphia next week.  So I have been creating ceramic beads, pendants, cabochons, bracelet toppers and earring pairs like a wild woman!  I do give myself lots of time to create and design fun new things for my display.  Because I have been vending there for 5 years now, I often get the "What's new?" question.  Well, I don't want to answer "nothing."  So about 6 weeks out from the show, I take slower selling designs out and introduce new things to my customers.  I enjoy that part.  I pay attention to trends in fashion and on etsy and Pinterest.  Plus, I have to dig it!  But, no matter how much time I think I have given myself, the "I'm running out of time panic" sets in.  That's where I am now.  But, I manage to get things done, even if I am firing my kiln the night before I leave for the show.  

I also sell my beads wholesale, and I have some wonderful businesses that sell my beads for me.  One is Cherry Tree Beads and I received an order for 192 beads three weeks ago.  Yes...I can do it!  This is what the order looked like before I wrapped it up for shipping

What a relief when that box went to the post office!  

 This is a tray of green ware or non fired ceramic cabochons and a few beads.  These go into the kiln for the first firing at 1920 degrees to turn them into bisque.  Then they look like this:

 This is how I produce for a show.  I get out the glaze color and lay whatever beads I want to paint that color by the jar.  It is faster and produces a nice assortment of bead designs and colors in my display.  I use wood skewers to hold the bead while I am glazing and stick the skewer in the wood holder to dry.  It keeps the bead and my fingers neat!

My husband hung these shelves in my studio for my show trays to sit on.  I can see what trays are low or what colors I need to fill in the display with.  The top shelf is too high to easily see, so I put random stuff up there.  Don't we fill up every inch of space in our studio?

This is a fun owl bracelet that will be part of my jewelry sample display at the show.  I made some more owls to put in my bracelet topper tray so people can take them home with them.

 These are still green ware, but I have plenty of time to finish them, right?  Lol  Thank you for reading about my show prep and please visit me in booth 550A if you are going to the show. 

So my question to you is, Do you work well under pressure and deadlines, or do you prefer a more easy going approach?  Leave your comment below and next week someone will win a $20 gift certificate to my etsy shop, www.fireflydesignstudio.etsy.com

Inside the Studio with Mary Harding

Welcome to Inside the Studio!

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congratulations Michelle W.! You have won a set of heart pins in your choice of finish:  6 in Sterling Silver or 10 in copper, antiqued or shiny or a mix of both from Rebecca of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop.  Please send Rebecca an email with your information so she can mail these out to you!!

Today we visit the studio of

Mary Harding

of

Mary Harding Jewelry

My studio is inside of an 1850's dairy barn.   There was a time about 20 years ago that we had an operating dairy farm.  Where I work in my studio was once where our beautiful Jersey and Holstein cows lived. 

photo of our cows in the field in the fall

And before we lived here several other families had Holstein dairies housed inside.   So I feel that my studio has very good Karma.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures of the structure of this lovely barn that has been saved from the fate of many in this large rural county in Northern New York.  All the work  has been done by my wonderful husband and with the help of friends. 

This first picture gives you a glimpse of the very large beams that were used to make this barn.  The part that I am in is just to the right of this section and is actually the older part of the barn.  

This picture is taken from the oldest part of the barn.  Those burgundy doors lead into my studio.  They are kept latched to keep out dust and cats etc.  They also give me a much needed level of privacy and quiet.  If you look up at the ceiling you will see more of the rough hewn beams that were used to build the barn.  Also of note is that the ceiling is fairly low about 7 feet.  Right above the burgundy double doors you can see one of the very large  beams. The ceiling height at the top of the double doors is about 6'2".  Not sure why the ceilings were so low but it did help keep this part of the barn warmer and allowed for more room above for storage of hay.

Another view of the very large rough hewn beams.  You can see the axe marks on the edge.  They were roughed out by hand.  Note how they are given additional support from the steel posts under them.

Upstairs or above my studio and this part of the barn, my husband is making a book store.  This is the area where  we used to store two thousand hay bales.  Notice the dark wood above the shelves.  The large beams have been integrated into the book shelf structure.

an upper level in the bookstore to be

Back to my Studio

My studio set up.  This table closest to you is where I do the hand painting and glazing of my ceramic beads, buttons and pendants.  I try to keep this area very clean.  Clay can be quite messy and the dust from clay can cause serious lung problems.  It is best to wear special small particle mask protection and clean up dry clay with a wet cloth so the dust is not dispersed.  Dust bits can also get into the clay glaze and distort the surface of a piece.

Here is a picture of one of my ceramic kilns.  All three of my kilns have digital controls which  means that a ceramic clay firing program has been keyed into the computerized controls and will go through the steps of the firing without out any help from me.  In the past kilns had to be  turned up for each step of the firing and then turned off at the end.  Many potters have gone over to the digital method but some still prefer to hand manipulate their kilns and use actual Orton cones to determine when the clay is ready.  All ceramic clay needs to be fired i.e. heated up to its chemical maturity in a kiln.  Clay matures at temperatures that are much  higher than can be achieved by a kitchen stove or a toaster over.  Ceramic kilns are built to handle these high temperatures and are made with a special kind of ceramic brick that can withstand these hot temperatures.  For example, one of the clays that I like to use which is classified as an earthenware clay needs to be fired to at least 1820 degrees Fahrenheit  to mature.  Many ceramic bead artists use stoneware and porcelain clays and these require even more heat to mature:  about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.   

Recently I have been working on making a number of toggle clasps and hearts.  Some of these will be going to the Bead Cruise.

All of these  have been fired 3 times in my digital kiln.  Each firing has a special purpose.  The first or bisque firing it to initially harden the clay enough so that it can be colored with glazes.  I like to do a second firing after I  have used stains to color the white clay and add contrast to my image.

These 2 hole beads are drying in a food dehydrator and then will be sponged off to remove rough spots and put in the kiln for that initial bisque firing.  These bead seem  hard at this stage but they break easily and if they come into contact with water they will dissolve into mud. and just wash down the drain ( not a good idea for your plumbing.)

These beads have been through that initial bisque firing and then have been stained and fired a second time. Now they are ready for the hand painting and the final glaze firing.

Leaves which have been hand painted and are awaiting the 2 coats of clear glaze  they need before the final glaze firing.

Now that we have had a tour of the barn and  my studio, I have a question for you.  As you can see my studio is not inside of my home.  I love that it is in a  place that can handle messes and keep the clay and glazes away from my living space. I also love being able to focus totally on my creative work when I am in my studio as there are few distractions and I can't exactly double and triple task while I am there.  On the other hand, on days when it is very cold outside, or when I have a lot to do in the house, I think I would like my studio to be in my home.

Where do you think is the best place for your creative activity? and why?

  Tell us by leaving a comment below and I will enter your name to win ONE of my ceramic leaves like the ones above.  But of course they will be all glazed and bright and shiny.  Like these below.

ceramic leaf pendants by Mary Harding

Thanks so for stopping by.  The winner will be announced next week.