Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Hand Made Beads


Yesterday, when I was making a necklace with some clay and antique beads, I ran across several beads that I made of porcelain.

I've never photographed them before except once, using another bead several years ago, for an article in Studio Potter.

I have several different ones, each hand constructed and made with a different technique.

They are not large as you can see. They're hollow. I used a marble and made a two-part mold to form the ceramic beads, then cut the holes for stringing with either a needle tool or a bamboo skewer.

It's best to let them get leather hard first, put them on the skewer so you can work on the exterior and then enlarge the hole for stringing.

All the decoration is hand formed and placed on the surface using either a very light touch or a needle tool/dental tool.

This bead is bisque, fired on a bead rack in the kiln. The clay is porcelain fired at 04 cone electric.

I've never sold any of these beads--I haven't a clue what to ask for them. Any suggestions?

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