The Bead Tree.net | Index | Melanie Moertel Class 2010

When I headed to the college for class, I was surprised to find a brand new classroom for glass bead making. This is a picture of it as you walk in. There are torches on both sides of the room, vents for the glass fumes & a garage door at the back that can be opened to circulate fresh air.

Of course, the first thing I had to do is get a shot of the teacher & I (nerd!). Melanie obliged because she's a very sweet lady. Do I look a little giddy here?

After finding a spot to sit, Melanie had us all head to her work station to introduce ourselves (all 10 of us) & then she proceeded with the first demonstration, one of many to come:

Here she is demonstrating her marble bead, which was the bead I was most excited to learn how to make. As a kid, I coveted, collected, traded & played marbles all the time so of course, I wanted to learn how to create them in bead form!

Melanie showing the finished bead. It's still hot & will go into the kiln from here.

When she takes it out, it will look something like one of these:

Wonderful, wouldn't you say?

We spent the next 5 days watching demos & working. Each demo was preceded with the story on how she came up with the particular style of bead she was showing. I have to say those stories were one of my highlights during that time. I was fascinated by how each of her beads was born, so to speak. I never really think about how I come up with one design or the other, but I will now be more conscious of that. It's so interesting to know the thought process behind the beads.

While watching the demos, it was really neat to see her fine "stringer" work, which is the use of almost hair thin glass on top of the beads as decorations. I wanted to capture Melanie working with one of these very thin pieces of glass:

Can you see it? She is applying the small glass stringer with the use of the flame, but just on the very outside as to not completely melt the glass. This is a challenging thing to do, but I found the hardest part of working with such thin glass was to not break it as you're holding it.

Above, all the demo beads Melanie made through the course. She had a raffle at the end & each one of us got to take one home as a keepsake, which is so darn nice! I won the top left bead.

Melanie also had some beads for sale & this is the one I bought for myself. I was drawn to the multi-dotted circle with all the tiny dots around it. It reminds me of a sunburst.

As you can tell, her beads are very graphic with lots of doodle-like designs, which is one reason they're so charming. I think she comes by it naturally, look at how she designs paper:

One morning she made the word "IDEA" on a paper plate with lots of little designs all around the letters (kind of like with her beads). On the plate she had tiny pieces of paper folded up, all of them with a different suggestion for a glass bead, which you could grab at any time for inspiration. I thought this was a pretty good "idea" in itself. If you're ever stuck with what to do, make a plate/jar/bowl/whatever of ideas to grab at to kick start the creative process!

I've now been to the Red Deer College 3 different times for week long classes & I've never shown you the dorms before. There is a reason for this, they are rather sparse. But still, perhaps you'll find it interesting to see where the students can stay in residence for only $40 a night, right beside the school. Incase you ever take a class there. The residence are townhouses lined up next to each other with each one having 4 bedrooms; 2 on the second level along with a bathroom & 2 on the lower level along with another bathroom; a living area & a kitchen on the main floor.

So here's some pictures of my dorm:

Above, the living area. This is the place to invite other students by to discuss jewelry & beads over a glass or two of wine.

And above, the kitchen with a table. The dorms have no dishes in them so you have to bring cutlery, plates, pots & pans from home if you want to do any cooking. The first night I arrived, I went to the store to pick up some sandwich meat, bread & fruit for lunches, but every night after that, many of us students went out for dinner so there was no need to cook.

Above, the stairs leading up to 2 bedrooms & the stairs leading down to 2 bedrooms.

Here's my room with a little desk & chair, a closet & a bed:

I brought the night table & light from home as I was already aware of the monastic qualities of the rooms.

So not much to see as far as a dorm goes, but you could always look outside for a beautiful view of a sunset:

Here I am with Leanne, who I've taken 2 previous courses with. She lives in Red Deer & took me out one night for dinner at a wonderful little Thai restaurant. We also did a little shopping in downtown Red Deer & then I came over to her place to see her studio. Leanne lives in the most charming neighborhood I think I've ever visited. It's right along the ravine with house after house decorated with pretty gables, colored shutters, fancy doors & beautiful gardens. I fell in love with the place!

Leanne makes wonderful stuff & runs a website called Charmed Beads. At the moment, she's into making beautiful hollow bead pendants, which I tried to buy one from her, but she insisted I keep it as a gift:

I love it! Thank you Leanne.

~ The Class Photo ~

Front row (left to right): Kathy, Christina, Nancy, Trish, Me & Leanne

Back row (left to right): Jennie, Jen, Melanie, Muriel, Cynthia

And finally...

All the beads that I made in class. Swirls, satellite island beads, marbles, a heart with flowers, lady bugs, penguins, an Indian elephant & some fairy beads.

I learnt some wonderful techniques that I hope to incorporate into my own style. I definitely enjoyed using so many colors that I normally stay clear from & I loved the tiny precision glass stringer work & of course the marbles.

What a treat that class was! If you ever want to take any classes at Red Deer College, here's the link to the Summer Sessions. They have all sorts of cool classes ~ photography, painting, glass blowing, pottery... the list goes on!