Effectively Efficient: The Value of Production Work - Learning about Striking Reds

One of the things I'm learning with doing the same bead over and over and over is that I get to know the nuances of everything... the glass, my tools, my environment. In the first four mandrels I pulled from the kiln, I saw the clear evidence of the value of making the same beads over and over again to learn how to work the glass to gain consistent results.

A little background about the glass I use

I use glass from Effetre, and Italian glass company based in Murano, Italy. The other glass manufacturer I enjoy working with is Creation is Messy, an American based company working with a chemist in China that manufacturers the glass. Their colors fill in gaps on the Effetre palette. I also use Vetrofond (Italian) and Lauscha (German) in small amounts.

Learning about Striking Reds

As you can see, I did different things to the glass and obtained a variety of results from the same glass. That's because most reds in glass are what is called "striking" red... you get different results based on heating, cooling, re-heating, shaping, etc. Some of my earliest experiences with striking reds back in 2009 were extremely disappointing. I couldn't get any consistent results. But, I also didn't do a lot of experimentation. I worked in small batches and kept moving on to new things. By making large quantities and doing very basic beads as I build up a stash for the Bead & Button show, it's forcing me to slow down and learn.

For the color family I created that I'm calling "Santa Fe" with Reds and Turquoises, I like the variety of results that are produced. But, when I get to a point where I want to create very consistent results (for example, if I wanted to create a set of transparent beads for a necklace), I need to pay attention to when and how I work the glass in the flame and how to work it so it produces the specific effect that I want.

I started using Lauscha Red but it wasn't quite the red I wanted and I found my stash of Creation is Messy Sangre. Creation is Messy has a range of red colors, but this is their base color and it is much more consistent and easy to strike and get pleasing results than the other reds I was working with (well, for me, as a newer glass artist).

The top mandrel is the closest to the original rod. The second mandrel shows the three different results you can get from the dark burgundy red, the transparent red, and the basic opaque red.

Research on how to create colored glass

Here was an interesting article on the basic formulas to achieve different colored glass. In the lamp work world, we rely on manufacturers to come up with the formula for the glass colors and we buy rods of glass in those varieties.

This last mandrel with the tiny spacers shows how light the glass can get... I have some beads that are so light they are almost clear with a slight orange/yellow tint. Some are yellow. These show orangey-red. If you're trying to show a more dynamic color way, this is a way to get those high lights and low lights and a range of colors around a base color. 

More information from highly experienced artists

Creation is Messing - testing page 
Laura Sparling
Kandice Seeber - Color Addiction

Working with striking reds has been a huge learning experience.  and I look forward to another long play session as I get to know this valuable tool of working with striking glass to achieve the results I want.

Effectively Organized: Challenges of the Business of Creativity

There has been much discussion over the right side of the brain being creative and the left side being analytical. I just read somewhere about recent studies showing that there really isn't a divide. Whatever. In my world, Creativity and Analysis live very different lives.

Analysis is the preferred skillset in the business world. Creativity is welcomed, but only within a 9-5 business mentality. The thing is. Creativity doesn't live from 9-5. It’s 24x7. My creativity simmers. Percolates. Strikes in blinding flashes of lightning. And for me, the soaking rainstorm of creative productivity happens between 8 pm and midnight. Some creativity might go to work from 9-5, but drowning in a sea of “must-do’s,” it has very little time to make an appearance. Even if it had time to muse and meander from 9-5, I think most creativity lives outside of the structured box as the factors that influence creativity and innovation can be triggered by anything in our life.

I’ve just given Creativity free reign during my creatively productive hours. It serves many purposes: to turn my brain off to a stressful day, to keep the focus off the pain of a migraine, and just simply for the joy of creating. But now that the artist has been unleashed, I can turn my hobby business into a more active small business. Even as a hobby-business, it still needed the analytical side to manage mundane things like expenses and income.

Now the trick is to get my Inner Artist and Inner Analyst to play nicely together and have fun. I mean, it’s my business. I don’t have to banish Creativity when the business of Business is front and center. Why can’t I figure out a way to make the onerous tasks more enjoyable? Like bookkeeping. (Ugh.) Or filing. (Almost as bad.) I know other people don’t mind these particular tasks as much as me. I think I mind them because I dislike routine. I also hate balancing checkbooks…unless I have software to do that for me.

So, I’m going to resurrect my newsletter in the next few months, reconfigure my website, and develop a series of articles about making the mechanics of my business more streamlined, less intimidating, less annoying. My real life experiences as a girl geek project manager has de-mystified a lot of business processes for me or at least made them less intimidating (like reading a contract, researching copyright or intellectual property, organizing my workday). If possible, I want to find ways to make myself more willing to engage in the parts I really don’t like (bookkeeping, filing) and even inspiring, pretty, or fun. Creative Self, meet Analytical Self. Play nice.



And for a little "Cotton" eye candy...

Harvest Time

Reminiscent of a wagon trailing bolls of cotton, this necklace is for the woman who enjoys the rustic rambling of various materials comprised of the necklace and earrings.

Necklace: Copper and Argentium Silver (.925) strung on cords of suede and festooned with hand-made glass beads.

Earrings: Argentium Silver (.925), Copper Washer and hand-made glass beads. 1.25”

I am working on developing a permanent Cotton Inspired line of jewelry designed to be souvenirs of the South Carolina Cotton Trail. I haven't decided which pieces will be part of the permanent collection or if I'll continuously re-invent a collection for a season. I'm still figuring this part out.

Effectively Focused: Project Management for the Small Business

I'm back! (I think.) I've learned during my second year in Hong Kong that July-August is going to be busy. I have visitors, my entire creative routine is disrupted, so I'm going to try something new and just go with the flow. I will most likely be MIA during the summers if this pattern continues. I'm hoping to return to regular posting soon.

On another note, I've been mulling this little project in my head for a long time. My day job is as a project manager and project management really touches (or has the opportunity) to touch many parts of a business. It can touch on budget, contracts, schedules, supplies, to name a few things relevant to a small business.

My qualificiations? I have my Project Management Professional certification and Certified Scrummaster certification. The PMP certification creates a common language when it comes to talking about projects (it does not give you a step-by-step plan on how to do a project). The Certified Scrummaster gives you training in a specific way to do a project. In general, I like this method because it embraces simplicity. However, I view both certifications as a "bag of tools" that I can use depending on the situation. I have used bits and pieces from both schools of thought depending on the project.

I've been struggling with this series because I didn't know where to start. I remember being a rookie project manager and wanting the "magic ingredient" about where to start. Heh. No magic ingredient. Just persistence and hard work. Why do I think this is relevant to a small business? When I was first self-employed about 17-18 years ago, I was overwhelmed with making sure I did everything right like contracts and reporting taxes. I think my PM experience has given me the broadest look across a business that I've found helpful to me. I know there are several other blogs that have business advice and I highly recommend them. Most are on my blog roll to the left. I will specifically point them out in a future post. My view is looking at your business as small projects. I'm not sure how regularly I'll post on PM ideas, but I'll try to share things I'm using and finding useful.

While there is no magic ingredient for managing your small business, I will say there are two concepts that can help make your life easier:

1. Keep it simple
2. Expect everything to change

Keep it simple. Don't go overboard writing every little thing down, unless that's what you need to do to remember something. And use Post-It notes. You might even want to take stock out in 3M (kidding...sort of). After all this work I put into learning "methods" and "tools" for project management, the Certified Scrummaster training took me back to simplicity. And it makes so much sense. The first class I took, we just used post-its for planning our projects. Of course, when the projects got large enough, we switched to software for tracking, but in the humble beginnings, Post-It notes are sufficient and maybe all you'll ever need. Why?

Expect everything to change. I fell into project management because I have a natural inclination toward organization and planning and then following through on the plan. The pitfall for me was realizing that plans are subject to change. A LOT. Your starting plan will look nothing like your finished plan. Oh, yes. You can learn from each project you do, but every one is unique. It was so frustrating to have a nice, pretty plan...only have to it wrecked by someone who forgot something, or changed something, or something got delayed, or...well, you get the picture. Post-Its are fabulous because you can move things around and it doesn't ruin the pretty picture.

Style Whiplash

In other news, I have been working a lot in polymer clay and my style has changed so drastically, I think it will give you whiplash. However, I've been experimenting with things I can find at the local art store and I found pearlized inks...below are my first experiments with small beads in the copper and silver inks over various colors. Purty, ain't it?

Then, I've finally figured out how to eliminate the whiplash by being more conservative and working in smaller beads. Sorry for the low light, but these are small beads (about 8-9mm) in mottled, earthy red that pairs nicely with antiqued brass findings and copper beads.

Stuff I Find Amusing in Hong Kong

Bumblebee socks anyone? I think this is the uniform of a messenger service because he came with a matching shirt.

As opposed to Ugly Wallpaper? Is there a store for the Ugly stuff?

Okay...that's it for today. Happy creating, y'all! ZaiJian for now.