Gail Crosman Moore Class, Day 1

Ooh, I've had a great day :)
It is so nice to be in the company of dedicated beadmakers all day, torching away for hours.

We made 6 beads today, all in Gails lovely style. My first beads, we made 4 in a row on one mandrel, were quite wobbly and unevenly spaced, but after that it went very well, and I can't wait to see my beads again tomorrow.
Gail is a lovely woman, and everybody were very focused, working constantly at their beads all day long.

Here is Gail, working on one of her fabulous pod pendants






As for working in boro - the colours are just wonderful. Nice muted tones, just like I like them. Laying down lines of stringer is much easier than in soft glass, but shaping the base bead can take a while. The boro hardens much quicker and must be reheated a lot. Also, the bead while being shaped, is radiating a lot! of heat. It is not easy to get close to the bead when laying stringers or dots.

I am still undecided as to weather this is something I would like to invest in at this point, but since it will require a new pair of glasses, not just the glassrods, and probably new beadrelease too, I think I will have to wait for later. I'd love to try to make implosion marbles in boro, but I guess I could practice in soft glass first, then upgrade later if I like it.

Tomorrow will be interesting too. We have been asked to bring inspiration (pics, objects what have you), and our own works that we would like to develop on. I am not really sure what to bring, but that I must think about in the morning.

P~