BeadedLilyGlassWorks.com - Beadmaking Courses In Florence, Italy

Course Descriptions - Private & Group instruction Packages - Beginner & Intermediate

*Beginner

*Intermediate

*Specialty: Hollow Beads

*Personal Observation on Taking Beadmaking Classes

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Course Description - Beginner

1. SAFETY!

While glass beadmaking is certainly safe, a proper understanding and respect of the tools we use is essential. We will begin our class by discussing those safety standards.

Be sure to dress appropriately for the class; Wear long hair tied back, cotton or natural fibers, no shorts or plunging necklines and no excessive jewelry.

Class size is limited to 4 students, which allows for personalized assessment, feedback, instruction and supervision.

2. Equipment
	Using & maintaining gas tanks, hoses & regulators Different gas options & Oxygen concentrators Torches; Order of turning on the gases and lighting the torch Shutting down the equipment when done Kilns – proper kilns for annealing beads, digital controllers Cooling with fiber blankets and vermiculite & the limitations of these methods Batch annealing Basic tools used in beadmaking

3. Ergonomics:
	Proper way to hold mandrels and rods Importance of good posture and taking breaks Workbench set up: Chair height, good lighting, table height

4. Physical and Chemical properties of glass:
	Different types of glass (hard glass, soft glass, different brand names) COE’s and compatibility Stress in glass, thermal shock Annealing, annealing range and annealing point Reduction flame and oxidizing flame

5. Beadmaking basics:
	Avoid thermal shocking rods by warming slowly, perpendicular to the flame Winding glass on, laying down an even “footprint” Importance of slow, even rotation of mandrel Positioning of the hands Adding extra glass Where to work in the flame Using heat and gravity to help shape the bead Making even and dimpled ends How to remove air bubbles Shaping with graphite tools, making different bead shapes

6. More techniques:
	Pulling stringer Making dots, twisting dots, layering dots, feathering and raking Distorting the surface of a bead: poking, squashing, raking, twisting, cutting, etc. Applying stringer Basic encasing

7. Preparations and clean up:
	Preparing mandrels Proper consistency for bead release, how to dip mandrels, and dry release Cleaning glass rods Removing beads from the mandrel Cleaning bead holes

8. Resources:
	Recommended reading or video viewing Information on suppliers of glass, tools and equipment


8. Your beads:
	At course end your beads will be batch-annealed to relieve internal stress and insure longevity. It is best to let the beads "soak" in the kiln and slow-cool overnight. If your travel plans are such that you will not be in town to pick them up the next day, your beads will be shipped to you via First Class Post.

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Course Description - Intermediate

Outlining a general syllabus for the intermediate-level beadmaking course is more difficult as it is varies depending on that individual students beadmaking experience and needs. Therefore, intermediate-level courses will be planned on a case-by-case basis and structured to speak to those needs directly.

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Specialty - Hollow Beads

Wound hollow beads are made by creating two glass "walls" constructed on a mandrel, then sealed together, trapping air between them. When heated, the trapped air expands and pushes out the softened glass walls, forming a puffy, lightweight bead.

Why hollow beads? From the perspective of jewelry designers, less is more.

Hollow beads, by definition, weigh less than solid beads of the same size, making them ideal design elements for necklaces and earrings. From the glass artist's perspective, there's something challenging and magical about making hollow beads.

Originally, I was forced (happily) to learn how to make hollow beads because of a large order we accepted from Chanel of France. At the time we received it I had never made a hollow bead before and the order called for some 1500 of them! To be honest, I found the process impossibly difficult to grasp. I spent many longs days and nights attempting to find the trick behind making hollow beads. Fortunately, I was able to finally uncover the necessary steps and complete the order.

While hollow beads can certainly be maddening to learn, I have found that the learning curve can most certainly be decreased with the assistance of a patient instructor.

Because of the difficulty level, hollow beadmaking instruction is reserved for intermediate students or those who have completed the beginner course and have moved into the advanced studies stage.

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*Personal Observation on Taking Beadmaking Classes

As mentioned in my biography, I took a 1-week intensive beadmaking course to learn the basics of the craft. At the end of that week, certain that I had most definitely found my path, I began the process of putting together a beadmaking studio. You have to understand that Lily & I had only been in Italy a short time at that point and were struggling with language and countless other issues inherent to a move to a foreign land. The challenge of setting up my studio here was made that much more difficult because I had no local support system. I was literally the only beadmaker in Lucca, the town we lived in at the time. Even now, here in Florence, (prior to opening our glass studio teaching facilities) I am one of 2 beadmakers that we knew of in the city. I mention this to demonstrate how drastically different it is here than in the states, for example, where the beadmaking hobby industry is such a huge business. By and large, the beadmaking population here in Italy is based out of the Venetian island of Murano. However, just try going there as an outsider and see how much assistance you can get setting up a beadmaking station! Traditionally, giving out the closely guarded glass beadmaking secrets from Murano was literally punishable by death. And while the punishment itself may have lapsed, the mentality has not. I can't begin to express just how difficult it was dealing with the purchase of tanks, tubing, a kiln... Even glass! And all this was prior to actually sitting down and starting the process of beadmaking itself!

Obviously now that we've been at this for quite a few years we've been able to find our comfort zone both with the language and with an understanding of what is still a very challenging system. My main objective for describing the process we went through in detail was to serve as an example of my true point: The learning process does not have to be so difficult!

I am truly self-taught in the sense that after my initial week of study everything else that I know comes from years of practice, studying, online informational resources and the love and constant support of my wife Lily. While I am certainly proud of my ability to learn my craft and wouldn't give up the experiences I had for the world, I have also found that self-teaching is by no means the fastest way to learn! I am able to say that now that I have begun to teach. (I've found that one of the things I like most about teaching is what I learn)

The presence of a patient instructor to help guide the way can open doors more quickly than anything else. Don't get me wrong; The Student still has to do the work (One of life's great equalizers is that we all have to pay our dues when learning, and there is nothing more deeply satisfying then having done so in the end) but an experienced helping hand can cut months and years off the process.

It took me years to finally decode some of the beadmaking basics that I can now pass on to students in minutes. It is a very different thing to read about a process in a book or online, then to have that same process demonstrated to you. There's nothing like watching someone do it and having one of those "Oh...! I get it!" moments and sitting down at the torch and actually doing it!

A perfect example of this is one of my students, Michela. Lily has said to me that she has never seen someone learn beadmaking more quickly, and Lily has been in the bead-biz for a Long time! Of course that speaks to Michela's creativity and in-born ability but it also says something about working side-by-side with an experienced beadmaker. (And hopefully about my teaching, as well!) Of course it also means dedicating yourself to advanced studies above and beyond the initial beadmaking course. (You can see some of Michela's work on our Featured Artist page)

When considering taking a beadmaking course please bear in mind that you don't really learn how to make beads in that initial course, whether it be at our studio or someone else's. Certainly you will come away with beads you yourself made, and that is something to be proud of. However, the most important aspect of a beginners beadmaking course is that it will give you a basic understanding of the process and allow you to better determine whether or not you want to continue studying this ancient craft. Either way, it's an investment in yourself and in your future.