Alexx Cheng's Class ~ October 2006

This is Alexx, a fellow Canadian & a wonderful & inventive teacher!  I had a one day class with him on Thursday.  That's his torch, which I think is called the Phantom & it rocks!  I am definitely considering upgrading after seeing what his torch can do.  Alexx is a very efficient glass bead maker & says this torch doubles production, not to mention the options you get for different flames (reduced, oxidized, needle-point thin, fat, feathery...). 

Like I mentioned, Alexx is very inventive & one of the cool things he did was use a bamboo stick, suspended in midair, fingers locked around it, to give his hands stability.  It looked very difficult to do, but he swears by it - it's a great technique for steadying the hands for precision work.  I personally, have a wrist rest, made by my first teacher, Phil Neary, that I love & think works perfect for me, but this was a really cool technique. 

There's that beautiful torch again, he's adjusting the flame to get more heat out of it (look at the picture above to see a thinner, lighter flame for detail work).  Notice the Bunsen burner below it.  He uses that to heat other glass rods while he's working, to flame anneal beads, to keep a bead warm while he's applying detail & to warm up tea. 

Here's a box full of Alexx' beads.  He makes bright, big beads, mostly

pendants with gold leaf, dichro (sparkly glass) & lots of dots.    

These are the beads I made in the class.  With some of these beads, I've made similar ones in the past, but there were all these different techniques that Alexx showed.  Little things you can do to help make the application easier or more effective. 

The coolest moment in the day for me was when I saw Alexx making a bead & had a thought regarding an old necklace of mine.  My mom, after coming back from a trip to Alaska about 6 years ago, brought me back a really cool necklace (above photo).  For the longest time I don't think I put it together that it was a lampwork bead (basically because I didn't know what lampwork beads were about at the time) & I thought she had actually purchased it in Alaska.  Then, about 2 years ago, I was wearing it & we got talking about it & how it was funny that I had this necklace & didn't know it was a lampwork bead & here I am a lampwork bead artist.  It was during that conversation that she told me she bought it at the Vancouver airport on her way back from Alaska. 

During Alexx' class it dawned on me that my necklace was probably made by him!  So I asked him, "did you ever make clear beads with ivory dots & black dots on top?".  He replied, "yes, along time ago."  I asked, "did you ever put them on black cords with silver beads & silver coils?".  He answered, "yes".  Then I said, "I think I have one of your necklaces, my mom bought it about 6 years ago on a trip to Alaska."  He said, "I used to sell necklaces out of the Vancouver airport, so if that's where she got it, yes that's mine."  Isn't that crazy?  It was a full circle moment for me, to own a necklace, bought 6 years ago made by my current teacher that I didn't know until now.

Oh & here's the full picture of the bead that you clicked on to get to this page, made by Alexx.  He actually gave this bead to me & he gave everyone in the class a bead.  That's because Alexx is extremely generous, thoughtful & sharing.  It's a wonderful pendant, don't you think!?  He offers workshops in Nanaimo, B.C. so if you're in that area or interested in taking a class with him, email him at geminico@shaw.ca.