Jennifer Geldard Class At Southern Flames Atlanta

As the class organizer for our Southern Flames ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) Chapter, I am pleased to announce Jennifer Geldard's two  2-day classes in Atlanta Georgia on October 6-7 and 8-9, 2011.  The title is, "The Art of Play - Surface Design - Form and Structure".


Jennifer has been chosen by Bead & Button to make this next year's commemorative bead as well as teach a master class, which I think is similar to this one being offered.

We will hold our class lottery for Southern Flames members tomorrow night and then any extra spaces can be filled in another week for non-members.  You can circumvent waiting simply by joining Southern Flames, which is $25,  the difference in the cost for members versus non members. (And wait til you see the class price!)

Click here to our Southern Flames website for more information.  Tell them, Marcy sent you!

Class with Jen

I'm still gathering photos, so I haven't written about my awesome 5 days last week at Bead Camp in Tennessee.

But I did find Jen's website, so I can include this tidbit about two really fun half day classes that I took with Jen, while I was there.

Let me start by saying, that Jennifer Geldard has always been high on my list of wonderful beadmakers. Her unique style and never ending creativity always enchants me. Do you have some favorite beadmakers who just give you a beatific grin every time you look at their work? Well, that's what Jen's beads do for me.

I've taken a 2 day class before from her in Atlanta. But I was lucky to have gotten into her two half days in Tennessee. The first day we did her ornate beads. Here's a link to show you an example. It's a multi sectioned bead with a different design in each section. Jen said it's always popular among students. And the second day, we made birds.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I love birds of all shapes and sizes. I've been making birds for a long time, but not like hers. It was pure delight to learn her style and make a bunch of them while there and trying to add my own "twist", so they weren't carbon copies. The photo shows you one style and we did a second one too. I've already given away a few of the ones I made, but I'll try to get a photo to show you. Here's a link to her very reasonably priced tutorials.

So now comes the second stage of classes. What parts of the newly learned beadmaking do I incorporate into my beadmaking, so it isn't too similar to the teacher, but still enhances what I already do? For me, that's the fun part. Sometimes my "aha" moments are not the bead, but a tool, a technique, or even part of the teacher's philosophy. This is something I'm going to need to mull over a little bit more and get back to you. But meanwhile, I'd love to hear about teachers who you have learned from, where your "aha" moments were not the bead itself, but something else. It could be an online tutorial, a class or even a demo you watched. Tell us about it. I know it will be interesting.

See you tomorrow!