Monday, July 28, 2008

Confessions of a WireHead


Challenging myself to approach color differently made me think about the beginning. What brought me to glass as a medium? How did it all start?

It was a piece of wire. Yup that's right, wire.

That lead to making headpins, clasps, and chains. I started to haunt the local bead shop and take all their classes in wire - not bead stringing as most people did, it was wire.

I was becoming a WireHead.

Not the science fiction kind of Wirehead but an avid wire bender. But I wasn't alone, most of the bead shop employees were Wire-Heads too. They taught the classes, I took them. We looked at the pretty colors of the seed beads and said it was one step from cross stitch, we were too edgy for that! (But I spoke too soon because they caught me in their colorful spell later on.)

We made the trip to the glass studio and all agreed we had to stay away from it, it was an addiction waiting to happen.(How little did I know!!)

I bought copper wire in all gauges for practice, then I bought sterling wire and twisted my way into the beginnings of carpal tunnel. I couldn't put it down, it was a compulsion - just one more link!

So, I show you my very very very first piece of jewelry, an earring. I bought the pressed glass beads and made the loop in the headpin. I attached it to the purchased french wire.

Wow.

Not.

But I had to start somewhere and this is what I started with.

Wire.

How did you get started in your crafty endeavors?

2 comments:

angelinabeadalina said...

See, even before you made your own beads, you were into some bright and lively colors! I tried stained glass, sucked at making cuts. Then, I finally started talking to my cousin more about the glass beads she'd been making for three or four years before I started. As soon as my own torch and worktable were set up, I was hooked by the glass melting bug! What a great way thing to do just as I turned 40!

Cindy Gimbrone said...

Awesome story, Angela! I'm very glad you were bit by the glass melting bug!

Cindy