Mix Color October Artist A. Pellegrini
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Set contents: 3 glass rods of approx. 30cm each in the following colors:
Effetre:
G00591412 dark yellow opaque
G00.591008 transp. amber
G00.591264 ivory light
G00.591214 Nile green
G00.591444 fawn brown
G00.591268 light gray
CIM 511424 tapestry
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Interview with: Alessandra Pellegrini
How long have you been making glass beads and how did you get into it?
I have been making glass beads since June 2023. I live very close to the Neus Shop, and since we have a dog and often go for walks in the neighborhood, I noticed the course calendar with the glass bead courses on the shop door. For several months, I walked past it and kept thinking that it would interest me. Until I signed up, and then 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. Furthermore, there are certain techniques that I still struggle with, such as stringer painting, twisting beautiful, regular twisters (and then encasing them), or creating an encasing that is exactly the same thickness all the way around the bead. I find the combination of colors another challenge: I sometimes find it difficult to experiment with new color combinations and often stick to my tried-and-true favorite colors. In addition, it takes a lot of experience to know how each color reacts, which ones are softer and flow more, and which are harder and therefore easier to use for certain techniques.
Who is your role model?
Difficult question! I don't have a specific role model. But this beautiful glass sphere with the encased murrini flowers and the frog sitting on it, which hangs in the Neus Shop, has totally fascinated me since the first time I saw it. It's like looking into a garden pond. I always thought that I would like to be able to do something like that one day. I also really like the pictures and beads by Amanda Muddimer, and they inspire me. In addition, of course, my instructors Claudia Blättler and Sandra Alder, from whom I have learned so much, inspire me the most. Every time I come into the Neus Shop, I discover something that gives me new ideas again.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
From the beads exhibited in the Neus Shop! But of course also from the Internet, where I watch videos or look at pictures. However, there are always phases where I think I lack inspiration and would like to learn a new technique again or re-combine things I already know.
What are your goals?
I would like to constantly develop myself and bring some "virtuosity" into my work. I would like to perfect a few techniques. Although I don't have a specific goal, I always need a project that I am currently working on – be it a necklace, a set of appetizer skewers, making keychains for friends, a bracelet for my niece, etc.
What do you take away from this challenge? What did you enjoy about it?
It is a completely different approach when you start with a set of colors and then 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 really like because it invites experimentation and trying things out. With my colors, I had the big challenge that brown, red, and yellow all look the same when they are hot. So, sometimes I no longer knew where the red, or yellow, or brown dot was. More than usual, I had to keep waiting for the beads to cool down to see how they looked, to see if they had turned out well. Furthermore, I had to try things out for a long time to realize which of the colors were suitable for the base bead. At the beginning, I thought the gray would work well, but then realized that it looked very pale. Instead, I chose brown or ivory, which seemed more appropriate to me. The transparent amber is also interesting as a background color. Another challenge was that the monthly colors were all colors that I don't usually use, so it took me some time to get used to the colors and the beads – even though autumn is my absolute favorite season! While creating the beads, I was therefore inspired by the impressions of autumn: the golden and colored foliage, the clear yellow light, the wind, the fresh air, but also the musty smell. I tried to incorporate these images and smells into the jewelry I created.
