I created a few "man-beads" on Friday because there was room in my kiln. This was both a challenge and if the beads ended out nice, they would be given to a few of my friends.
The first point of "Project Man-bead" was to select the colors. What colors are manly (in a bead world)? I thought dark blue, dark red, dark green, medium brown and dark brown. I pulled out some dark lapis blue, medium brown and dark brown glass from the pile of glass on my kitchen table.
The second point of "Project Man-bead" was to see which design elements went well with those colors. I thought dots and lines. For the dark lapis blue bead, I selected a green swirly line. For the browns, it was going to be orange-ish dots.
The third point of "Project Man-bead" was to select a shape. This was one of the most difficult parts because there are so many to choose from. When I started making beads, I would have selected a geometric shaped beads. The ones which were square or a rectangular prism. Now, as I mature in beadmaking, I select a bi-cone shape. This may be with or without a defined center line.
Step one, two and three were done. Now comes the most difficult part, creating the bead. I chose the brown one first. It went fairly easy, but one end was bigger than the other. The second brown bead went really easy. The ends where nice and the center ridge was smoothed out. The third bead, the blue one with the green line, was a similar shape to the brown ones and building it was a joy. The other beads went just as easily.
On Saturday, I went up to Arrow Springs in Cameron Park, CA to purchase a larger kiln and some glass. There was also a bead bizarre in front. My friends and I walked around and there was a only one person who made beads that would pass as "man-beads." His were a similar bi-cone shape and extremely low.
Today, I decided to make more beads. I made some beads headed towards a necklace and still had some room in the kiln. The decision was made, I would create some low "man-beads." Man, it was tough. Not sure if I worked hotter, making the glass more pliable, or the if it was something else completely different. I completed three of them. The first was somewhat easy and took me around 30 minutes. The second one broke bead release when I was nearly done. The third was by far the best and only took me around 15 minutes to create.
I'll be interested in seeing how they really show up when I take them out of the kiln. Will they pass as "man-beads" or will they be scrap-tastic, destined for the jar of bead doom. I'm just happy that I can create a bi-cone shape and that the colors for "man-beads" are fairly easy to find.
