My first beads!

Hello everyone! Well today was and exciting day, and tomorrow will be too. I am taking a flamework beadmaking class at the Livingston Center for Arts and Culture with Wesley Fleming who is an amazing glass sculptor in Bozeman, whose studio is opposite mine! You should check out his work at http://www.wesleyfleming.com.

Anyhow, I have always wanted to do this and boy it is tough..it like juggling, patting your head and rubbing your stomach all at the same time. It is also very tiring on the eyes and body. I have a lot mor respect for the simple round glass bead...that is a tough shape to make! Here are some images of my first beads ever, they are not annealed (so they can crack or break pretty easily) and are rife with sharp edges and irregularities, but nevertheless I am showing them to you all, flaws and all. TOmorrow I will make more beads, with more practice and post them.

I also discovered a charming shop in Livingston called The Drawing Room which is run by Patricia Buckley a loquacious and lovely tea and art connoisseur, as well as a fine artist. Here I bought some AMAZING tea (she has a tea master) and some cool metal earrings by local artist Sarah Lomans (sarahlomans.com). So, I had a fabulous day in the windy city Livingston, and will post more on it tomorrow.