Business/Studio Name: Kybeadmaker
Website: http://www.kybeadmaker.com
Years Lampworking: I’ve been melting glass since 1999
Type of Glass: I use only soft glass for lampworking. I like Vetrofond, Moretti, ASK and CIM.

Tell us...

A little about yourself (i.e. what town you live in, where you grew up, family members, pets, occupation, etc…)? I grew up in Fairborn, Ohio ,a small,one high school town. After a year at Ohio State University I enrolled at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, Ohio and became a registered nurse. Have you ever noticed that many beadmakers are RN's? I have been married 39 years TO THE SAME MAN and we have three grown children. Two of them are married and we have 3 grandchildren. We have a special needs daughter named Sara. She has cerebral palsy and is mentally retarded. She lives in a community of her peers right here in Louisville, and we feel very blessed to have her so near to us. We lost our sweet Scottish Terrier of 12 ½ years early this year, but we have a new one coming to live with us in mid April. His name will be Gus.

What are your hobbies besides glass? I love any kind of needlework and quilting. I would go to the cross stitch store and just stand in front of all the flosses and drool over the colors :) I used to feel about fabric like I now feel about glass. I just like to look at glass and touch it. Right before I started making glass beads I was an oil painter. I loved working in oils because you could control the paint, and I liked to have very precise detail in all my paintings, which I am sure has carried over to my beadmaking.

How you got into glass? I was at the St. James Art Fair in 1999 and saw a glass bead bracelet for sale. It was $94.00 (more than I could afford at the time) but I bought it because I had never seen anything like it. I realized that the people selling them had made their own beads. A week later there was an article in the paper about Bonnie Blincoe and her beadmaking classes. I was hooked after my very first class. I called Arrow springs and got the basics and took off on my own. I attended several Gatherings and took more classes and it’s been a love affair ever since. I was lucky to take one of Jim Smircich's classes early on, and I learrned so much about heat control. I think everyone should take one of his classes. I actually took it two times, several years apart and learned invaluable lessons both times.

Favorite glass quote or saying and why? “It’s never too late to be what you might have been” ~George Eliot. I’m 64 years old and still learning new things everyday about glass, and myself and I am developing new and better ways to make my beads.

What you love about glass? COLOR. I am head over heels in love with color! I love all the frits and enamels that make it possible to get the hue I want when it isn’t available in a rod. Glass just makes me happy!! I’m a flower person and when I painted or quilted I always had flowers as part of my subject matter. When I found out that I could make flowers on beads I was estatic !! The second thing I love about glass is the people it attracts. I have so many cyber and real life friends that I never would have known with out this media. Glass has just been a great blessing in my life!

Where you sell your glass? I sell my glass on ebay and etsy. I also take special orders. I sold many pieces in galleries for a while, but just couldn’t make myself pay a 50% commission.

Any publications where you’ve been featured (if applicable)? Yes, I was featured in the ISGB Bead Release in the Summer 2006 issue and the first Bead Review 2005.