Mix Color October Artist A. Pellegrini
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Contents of set: 3 glass rods each of approx. 30cm in the following colors:
Effetre:
G00591420 Coral
G00.591026 transp. Petrol
G00.591255M rosa Argento
CIM 511725 Toto
Reichenbach G00.535L6218RB Flamingo
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Interview with: Alessandra Pellegrini
How long have you been making glass beads and how did you get started?
I have been making glass beads since June 2023. I live very close to the Neus Shop, and since we have a dog and go for walks in the neighborhood often, I noticed the course calendar with the glass bead workshops on the shop door. I walked past it for several months and kept thinking that it would interest me. Until I signed up, and I was immediately hooked!
What did you find the most difficult to learn?
In terms of technique, I find controlling the temperature something that requires a lot of experience. In addition, there are certain techniques that I still struggle with, such as stringer painting, twisting beautiful, regular twisters (and then encasing them), or making an encasement that is exactly the same thickness all the way around the bead. Furthermore, I still often struggle to get something actually quite simple perfectly right: distributing dots evenly!
Who is your role model?
Difficult question! I don't have a specific role model. However, the Neus Shop has photos and beads from some artists that I particularly like: I am totally fascinated by the frog beads by Sabine Frank, with the murrini flowers that look like a garden pond. The playfulness and shimmer of Anouk Jasperse's beads also really appeal to me. I also like the pictures and beads by Amanda Muddimer very much and they inspire me. In addition, my instructors Claudia Blättler and Sandra Alder, from whom I have learned so much, naturally inspire me above all. Every time I come into the Neus Shop, I discover something that gives me new ideas again.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From the beads that are displayed in the Neus Shop! But also, of course, on the internet, where I watch videos or look at pictures. However, there are always phases where I think I lack inspiration and I would like to learn a new technique, or combine things I already know in new ways.
What are your goals?
I would like to constantly develop further and bring some "virtuosity" into my work. I would like to perfect some techniques. I don't have a specific goal, but I always need a project I am currently working on – be it making a necklace, a set of appetizer skewers, key chains for friends, a bracelet for my niece, etc.
What do you take away from this challenge? What did you like about it?
It is a completely different approach when you start with a set of colors and have to create something, than if, for example, you have a technique in mind and then choose the colors to do it. For me, it was a new approach that I like very much, as it invites you to experiment and try things out. Unlike the first challenge in 2024 that I participated in, this time I was really lucky with the colors; it was quite easy to combine them. I had a white (Effetre) and petrol transparent glass included – you can do a lot with that. That gives you a good base. I had also combined the coral red with the petrol before. And the two shades of brown were just the icing on the cake.
