Hager Studios News

I was looking for another way to use a cylinder bead in a bracelet and came up with this design. It uses the same type cylinder sets that Kathy's Bead & Button project does but instead of chain maille, I used tiger eye, carnelian, and citrine chips. Since there was so much brown in the bead, I decided to go with copper beads and bead caps with a black nickle clasp. Can't you just see this in rose quartz, turquoise, and amethyst chips with one of the other beads in the series? Mmmm. I had a couple of cinnamon colored spacer beads left so I think I'll make a pair of earrings, too, just for fun!

I had such a GOOD time demonstrating encasing to the members of the Southeast Michigan Glass Beadmakers Guild on Sunday!  What a great bunch of people they are. I made this encased "stripy" bead which exploits the characteristic of the encasing glass spreading out the dots to little lines, i.e., glass magic. Teaching is always so rewarding--if you really want to know something, teach it to someone else. Preparing to teach always results in some "aha" moments for me--those moments of awareness of what you do and how you do it. And if you write it down in a handout, the way I did for Sunday's demo, then you have to organize your thoughts and thoroughly describe your process in written form which helps you refine the technique even further. I even challenged myself to get out of my comfort zone and demonstrate some techniques in which I didn't feel as confident. Of course I practiced them before demonstrating them on Sunday. The neat thing is that a couple of those techniques, which I hadn't used much before, will definitely become part of my bead-making repertroire from now on. So probably, in retrospect, I learned as much, or perhaps even more than those who were at the meeting and that's a good thing.

It's been a busy week and I've been in the studio making beads. Mostly, though, I have been "practicing" my encasing technique so that I can give a good demo to my friends at GlassAct on Sunday. Oh, the pressure! I do make a lot of encased beads but I am by no means a master of all of the possible techniques. Those of us who make glass beads are challenged by many of the technical requirements for creating our art beads and encasement is one of those challenges. Casing or encasing a glass bead means that a layer (or several layers) of transparent glass is placed over a base bead such as the one shown here. The transparent layer magnifies whatever is beneath. Some brands of glass are better for encasing than others. All of us try to avoid the dreaded scum, unwanted bubbles, smearing, cracking, and wicking. Everytime a layer of glass is applied, one can smear it, crack it, or get it just right. The answer to the old joke--"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice, practice, practice--is not just true for musicians for for bead artists as well!

My issue of Bead and Button arrived today in the mail. I was so excited that Kathy Petersen, chain maille artist from Toledo, Ohio, and my bracelet project was included in the issue. Whoohoo! Kathy and I met at Bonita Bead Boutique, owned by Ann and Anita Tristan, last February after one of my trunk shows. She was teaching a chain maille class at the store. After speaking with her for awhile, I suggested that perhaps she would consider using one of my new cylinder beads in one of her chain maille designs. The rest, as they say, is history. We have very much enjoyed collaborating and I look forward to many more projects in the future. Bead and Button editor, Lynne Soto, has prepared a video, available on the Bead and Button website, that explains in detail how to make the full Persian chain maille. The full instructions are in the latest (February, 2009) issue of Bead and Button magazine, now on newstands and in your favorite beadstores. The two bracelets pictured above are even more beautiful than pictured! Way to go, Kathy!

A lot has happened this past year. Each day was an exciting adventure and the time just flew by. Last night, we spent the evening with a wonderful group of friends, sending out the old and ringing in the new. As time has flown, we have all transformed over the years, still recognizable as the essence of ourselves and yet each different as we change. The Mistletoe series started in my mind two years ago when I made a few pieces of Christmas jewelry for special friends of mine. The prototype of the series resides in a friend's private collection. I had the opportunity to look at it again this week. It was so interesting to see how the bead began and what it has transformed into now. Originally the bead was not a series but was a  smaller square tile accompanied by green stringer and white berries. Now it is a full-size tile in two sizes, decorated on both sides, with hand made vining cane creating the greenery. The companion beads are small round beads, the bead pictured here--a full tapered barrel that makes into a beautiful pendant, and matching spacers, of course. So, in reflection, my life has transformed just like the Mistletoe series. Today's world is a series of transformations, some more dramatic than others, some almost imperceptable. Here's hoping that all of your transformations in the coming year are wonderful. Happy New Year!

I had planned to spend the day in the studio but as with many best-laid plans, things went awry from the first. Not that it was a bad day, it just was a different one than planned. One of the exciting things that happened was that the "Women in Glass" issue of "The Flow" magazine came in today's mail and two of my beads were included. Whoohoo! But then, of course, I realized that I needed to upload some more images of beads that I made into my gallery just in case someone saw the magazine and decided to check out my web site. Nothing like waiting until having a little extrinsic motivation to move something higher on the priority list, I always say :-). So I shall head down to the studio a little later than planned as I do have some orders that I need to fulfill before the day is over. I hope you enjoy my gallery exhibit. It is a new feature on my web page and I just love it!

We're back from a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Yesterday, we picked up the bead and jewelry inventory from our Bonita Bead Boutique trunk show and today will be a day of playing with fire in the studio. I can hardly wait. My mind is full of new ideas resulting from visits to a couple of art museums and a botanical garden. I want to make a few more beads for Kathy and my Bead and Button project plus play around with my new ideas. I'll also lay out all of my trays of beads and jewelry on the dining room table and start to do my end of the year check to see where I need to fill in. It should be a good day! I hope that yours is a good one, too.

Today I uploaded new images of cylinder beads with coordinating spacer beads. These beads are used in Kathy Petersen and my chainmaille and focal bead project in the upcoming February 2009 Bead and Button magazine. I will be making some longer cylinders after Christmas, but for now, I am taking a little break from bead-making now that the last show for the year is over and the final custom order is ready to go out in tomorrow's mail. As the first year of my life as a full-time glass beadmaker and jewelry designer comes to a close, thank you so very much to all of you that have been part of my exciting new journey. I am having a great time in my new adventure! Can you tell? From all of us at Hager Studios, here is wishing you happy and healthy days in the year to come. Hopefully, we will see you at one of our 2009 shows. Until then, God be with you until we meet again.

Most of my shows are over for the year and it's time to pay more attention to my website! Things look a little lean as I have removed many items tonight that have been sold out for some time now, but if you stop by during the next few weeks, you will see some changes. My New Year's Resolution is to pay more attention to posting. You won't see everything that is in my inventory--I travel with a minimum of 24 trays of handmade glass lampwork beds and 18 trays of jewelry and that does not include the pieces I have in stores and galleries. My new plan is to have specific items for the web and not worry about posting everything on the net.--just because I have found out that I can't :-). My latest news is sent out every month to my newsletter subscription list, so be sure to sign up if you are interested in upcoming shows, new beads, a recipe from my kitchen, or just the latest from the studio. That's it for now... Be sure to check back after the first of the year to see my latest beads and jewelry designs. These earrings are a brand new design. Hope you like them.