Flame December 2015
Find us at www.gbuk.org
Ursula
Heather
Scarlet
Russ
Colette
Debbie
Your new committee
Contact us: Chairman (Colette) Secretary (Debbie) Treasurer (Heather)
@gbuk.org
Membership (Russ) Events (Scarlet) Webmaster (Ursula)
The Committee would like to wish all our members happy and healthy 2016
Torchlight on …
Page 4-6
GBUK
Page 7
GBUKmarket
Page 8
Members’ beads from last month’s challenge: Page 9-10 Colour testing…..transparent blue - medium and dark… by Ilsa Fatt Making murrini
Page 11
Annual competition
Page 13
Page 12
No pressure, no prizes, just fun Make a bead, set of beads, focal, mixed media, on or off mandrel piece using the theme of
or ‘murrini’ Post your photos on our Facebook page by All members' photos will be included in the January issue of the GBUK
Rebecca Weddell I came across lampwork glass beadmaking – something I didn’t know was even a ‘thing’ – in summer 2003, and in that moment a life-lost-sight-of gained renewed purpose. I’d been ever so ill for ever so long, and as a reason to get me out of the house during my recovery my parents took me to Art in Action one day in July. Cold that summer, the warmth of the glass tent was no small attraction, so that’s where I went. I walked past a table where two little girls were watching an artist – Diana East – wind a simple bead out of teal glass before their – my – very eyes. It was magical.
After the demonstration I hung around. I picked up a gorgeous circle of beads – all different – and asked the price. ‘It’s not for sale’, I was told. ‘Those are my tuition samples’. They fascinated me. ‘What a shame’, I thought. And put them down. ‘You could make some of your own’, Diana said.
So, that autumn I booked on a two-day class with Diana at Creative Glass in Rochester, and, utterly inspired, immediately loved working with glass in the flame. I was tempted to spend my life savings, such as they were, on the starter kit offered by Creative Glass that weekend, but was persuaded (it’s always good to take one’s mum along on courses!) to hold back. ‘Perhaps do another course, and then see how much you really do want to do this’. Back we went in January 2004, and did the same course again. And thanks to my flexible friend and many repayments later, I found myself kitted out with my own beadmaking workshop that April. I wasn’t into beads or jewellery, to start with at least. It was the flame and the action of melting glass that really grabbed me – letting fire inspire was my thing. And I wasn’t bothered about intricate patterns or intricate shapes – I found beauty in simple, shaped-by-gravity, round beads with holes located precisely in the middle – and that is still what I strive for today.
I love to play around to learn what glass does, but I’ve had help and support over the years from the beadmaking and glassworking communities. In addition to continually learning online, from books and indeed via my own beadmaking students, I’ve taken classes not only with Diana East but also Kate Drew-Wilkinson, Jennifer Geldard, Manda Muddimer and Andrea Guarino. At the moment I’m loving making glass that doesn’t look like glass. ‘Real’ pebbles, as if straight from the beach, confound people. ‘Are you sure they’re glass?’ Masses of glass mixed at the flame to produce random effects that are more than the sum of their parts are just fascinating to me. Enamels, silver, metal oxides and the work of the kiln fairies create unpredictable, often inexplicable, results. Matching the colour of the outfit that was made for my wedding last year with beads was a delicious challenge – I got there in roundabout fashion with a combination of steel grey, clear, teal and white glass and wore them as earrings and in my hair.
I’m now in my third workshop, having graduated from two sizes of garden shed to purpose-fitted detached bricksand-mortar business premises in the heart of the rural East Sussex village where I live. There are four permanent workbenches, and I offer a variety of classes to up to four students at a time, as well as pay-by-the-hour torchtime sessions for keen lampworkers without their own studios (http://rebeccaweddell.co.uk/tuition/).
Last year I was even invited by Creative Glass to teach their two-day beginners’ lampwork glass beadmaking course – so back I went to the place where I learned all those years ago, this time to inspire others!
I teach students from far and wide in my own workshop – my secret is to have some very tempting unputdownable tuition samples on my table at every event I do… after all, that’s exactly what attracted me to learning this captivating craft in the first place!
http://rebeccaweddell.co.uk http://chiddinglyartists.co.uk http://2knoyle.co.uk
You have your own page in the Gallery? Haven’t got one? Email webmaster@gbuk.org with a short bio and up to 5 photos. Send a link to your own website so visitors to GBUK.org can find you.
Photos of winning beads from past winners of our annual competitions can be found here too.
There is a members only area with tutorials and techniques - please feel free to send us any tips, tutorials or techniques to share with our members.
Do you teach? Let us know so you can be included on our ‘Classes’ page so prospective students can find you.
Are you on Facebook? Come and ‘like’ our page. W have lots of non-members that show great interest in the content we post - your beads will be seen by them.
We are still working on
GBUKmarket
A dedicated online marketplace for all your beads. Each member will have their own shop. One basket, one checkout for multiple members’ purchases. No more to pay - cost inclusive with your membership fee (must be a current member to qualify) Sell your beads, sculptures and gifts online
‘Red’ Ilsa Fatt
Colette Ladley
‘Shards’
Ursula Mann
Colour testing Effetre Dark Turquoise is a lovely, strong colour. It is prone to bubbling and pitting if heated too quickly, so needs to be warmed gradually, rather than subjected to direct blasting. Like the opaque turquoises, it is highly reactive with Ivory. Layering it over ivory creates a deep sage green, with dark edges, and the ivory striations visible underneath. I love it. CIM Pulsar is very similar to Dark Turquoise, but darker and stronger still. It is even more prone to bubbling and pitting. This creates a bit of a conundrum, as it's one of the stiffest transparents I've come across, so one wants to give it a good heat blast to get it to melt. Still, it's worth the extra patience, as it is a very lovely colour. It has the same effect over Ivory, but, as one would expect, gives a slightly darker shade of green. Effetre Cobalt Blue is the famous Bristol Blue Glass and is a gloriously rich deep blue. It is a very dense colour, and works best layered over either clear or white glass, as otherwise it can look almost black.
by
Ilsa Fatt
Effetre Intense Blue - I wouldn't describe this colour as particularly intense, but it is a lovely colour. It is a slightly paler version of the Cobalt Blue, meaning that the colour shines through, even when it is used for several layers. Neither Cobalt Blue nor Intense Blue are particularly reactive. The same can't be said of CIM Sapphire. In colour, Sapphire is a calm mid-blue, tending towards grey. It's behaviour, however, is anything but calm. To start with, it bubbles furiously when heated, even more so than the transparent turquoises. Then, it has a weird reaction with silver, darkening to a deep grey without a hint of blue in it. This came as a complete surprise, as blues generally don't have a reaction with silver.
Left to right:
Effetre Dark Turquoise CIM Pulsar Effetre Cobalt Blue Effetre Intense Blue CIM Sapphire
Over silver leaf: the silver showed beautifully under the Pulsar, Dark Turquoise and Intense Blue (or would have if I hadn't accidentally burnt some of it off). It hardly showed at all under the Cobalt, which is too dark to work well as a silver encasing. And the Sapphire just turned a weird dark grey. With Ivory: both the turquoise colours show a strong reaction with Ivory. The other blues did not react, though dotting on Ivory showed what a pale colour the CIM Sapphire is when used in a thin layer.
Murrina (murrine) is an Italian term for coloured patterns or images made in a glass cane (long rods of glass) that are revealed when cut in cross-sections. Murrine can be made in infinite designs—some styles are more familiar, such as millefiori.
Make a barrel at the end of the rod or uncoated mandrel and lay stripes of stringer in a contrasting colour, depending on the look you would like. Melt the stringer in then attach a punty to the other end. Heat the barrel being careful it doesn’t start to twist, then remove from the heat, allow time for the glow go leave then pull slowly, much as you do stringer. Varying diameters of cane give different looks so don’t worry if this happens. Once cool chop into slices with cutters.
Top tip: Start small. The more layers used, the heavier and more difficult to control it will become.
In this video, Teresa, from Tuffnell Glass, is making murrini using their optic mould (a tool to shape the glass as an aid) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpFw24wZ6 The following video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8s13ctCdN8 shows one method of applying a murrini chip to a bead. Murrini can be very simple, just two colours, or amazingly complex. Murrini is available commercially and can cost just a few pounds to several thousand for one slice!
Next year’s themes are:
and The deadline for entries is 29th February 2016 More images to get you thinking …
The categories are as follows: * Newcomer – any form of entry is valid. Newcomers may enter this category OR enter any/all of the main categories. *
Focal bead – on mandrel, single bead.
*
Set of beads – on mandrel, multiple beads.
*
Sculptural – on mandrel.
* Other – incorporates anything else not included above e.g. cold working, dioramas, off-mandrel. Members are welcome to enter multiple categories with different pieces of work, except the newcomer category. No one entry can be submitted for multiple categories. * Jewellery – one entry per person, or collaboration group, which must include lampwork beads. This is a good one to suggest to your customers – they can enter the competition using your beads as you do not have to be a member of GBUK to enter the jewellery category. You need to be a paid-up member on 29th February 2016 to enter any category other than Jewellery. Entries need to be received by email and be in the post by midnight on Monday February 29th, 2016 The entry form and rules are available in WORD or PDF format from the website http://www.gbuk.org/pages/gbuk-bead-jewellery-competition-2016/
Do you have a tutorial or article to share with members? Contact secretary@gbuk.org.
www.gbuk.org