Business/Studio Name: Chic Beads
Website: None at this time.
Years Lampworking: Seriously, since Kate Fowle Meleney’s class in January 2006.
Type of Glass: I prefer lampworking.

Tell us...

A little about yourself (i.e. what town you live in, where you grew up, family members, pets, occupation, etc…)? I was born in Anderson, IN and have resided in Madison and Delaware County Indiana all my life.

• I have two daughters, three stepsons, and five grandchildren.
• I live with Heron, my husband, on a four-acre homestead. Our children have finally left the nest.
• Graduated from Ball State University, Muncie, IN with a BS and an MS in Art Education K-12.
• Employed with Anderson Community Schools Corporation for 30 years. Retired in 2006 and currently subbing for Art teachers at Anderson Community Schools.
• Classes taught at the High School level were drawing, painting, cartooning, animation, sculpture, ceramics, photography, fibers, and jewelry.

What are your hobbies besides glass?

• I am professional Middle Eastern and Polynesian dancer.
  I have been studying dance since 1973.
• I have raised livestock for years and raised dairy goats.
  I also helped tend our family farms. After the kids left home I have downsized. I have only three horses, a small flock of chickens and Chihuahua.

How you got into glass? I took one class at the Anderson Fine Arts Center using a hot head torch. I taught the basics of glass making to my high school students. Each student made only 2 to 3 beads. It wasn’t until I attended my first Gathering with Fran Carrico that I had a burning desire to pursue lampworking as an art media. I was amazed how many techniques there are and how every lampworker at the Gathering had developed their own signature beads.

Favorite glass quote or saying and why? My favorite mantra is, “Go with the flow”.

Karen Ovington’s quote explains my approach to my work at this time, which is experimental. I have many techniques I need to attempt and master.

Karen’s Ovington’s quote: “ I never know how a bead will end up. If the bead wants to go in another direction than I imagined, I never fight it.”

What you love about glass?

• Creating a little glass bead gives me immediate gratification.
• I love the look and the feel of glass. Middle Eastern dancers are also known “bead addicts”.
• I am intrigued by the history and chemistry of glass and its impact on various cultures through the centuries.
• I wished I could have studied glass blowing. Two of my uncles were glass blowers at the Aladdin’s lamp factory in Alexandria, IN during the gas boom.

Where you sell your glass? Art Works Gallery in Muncie, IN, Art Fairs and individual purchases. Many of my pieces are given as gifts.

Any publications where you’ve been featured (if applicable)? Not for glass but for my art and my dancing.