Monday, September 22, 2014

Wrightstown Demo



This past Saturday I attended an SCA demo that was part of a much larger weekend  long Renaissance Faire. I have not always enjoyed demos  in the past, however, because of the large crowd at this event, there were a lot of people who stopped by to watch us make beads!



Because the crowd was so large, we roped off the front of my pop up to prevent people, and the many children who were in attendance, from getting too close to the fire.

I was also pleased that remembered to bring a picture of a reproduction early period bead kiln with me. This visual helped when I was explaining to people that while we were using modern tools to make our beads, the basic method we used was the same one that people used in earlier times.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

River War 2014


I first learned how to make glass beads at River Wars, two years ago, so this event is somewhat of an anniversary for me! We had a bead making artisans row space again, which was good. Although the windy weather made bead making difficult at first, it calmed down later enough for us to let some people try to make beads.

Erica, Bruni, and Erlan (not pictured, Elizabeth and Aurddreilen)
I was asked twice today about how beads were made in period. I was able to describe the kilns that were used, but I did not have pictures with me, which is something I think I want to bring with me to demo's in the future. Below are a few videos of people working with reconstructed period bead kilns. Two basic types of kilns have been reconstructed by reenactors.

1) Volcano Kiln: opening at the top (this is the type of Kiln Bruni and I attempted at Pennsic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIreddPywfU&list=PLXBSIh9PcqLK96Ex09aPZCmnDjvnfKnl3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBvkz3IWUA&list=PLXBSIh9PcqLK96Ex09aPZCmnDjvnfKnl3&index=5

2) Beehive Kiln: side opening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HSFgO8TzxVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cniQ9VStwTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BCYdD5trNys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0tUBowpqlw

Friday, September 12, 2014

Phoenician Beads

I found some nice pictures of Phoenician Beads online and have been playing around with making a few. I love the color combinations on these beads. I will have to make a necklace of these some day.


Edit (November 11th): Additional links to historic beads from the Corning Museum (a more authoritative source!)



I started out looking at European Celtic/Iron Age Beads (so I could have an excuse to practice and play with stacked dots), but found the Phoenician beads which were similar in design/color. A line in Lois Dubin's History of Glass Beads book notes that the Phoenician beads were traded around and they ended up influencing the Celtic designs. However,  I have to order the book on Interlibrary Loan to trace down her reference, as I just have a photocopy of that page. The face bead, on the other hand, just looked like fun, and I have not tried much sculptural bead making yet.

Edit: Dec 22nd-- Some background on the Phoenicians and Phoenician glass making

The Phoenician's is a more modern historical term for the people who settled on the cost of the Mediterranean where modern day Lebanon is (along with parts of Israel and Syria) by about 3000 BCE.  Through the second and first millennium, they expanded their influence, sailing, trading, and setting up colonies across the Mediterranean, and as far away as Spain. Early in its history the area of Phoenicia had commercial ties to Egypt, and it was also a tributary to Egpyt, until Egypt lost control of the region in  the 14th century BCE (Britannica).

It is from Egypt that the Phoenicians learned about glass making, and they were able to set up their own glass industry due to an abundance of the necessary raw materials, such as sand which contained a large quantity of quartz in it, along with good sources of soda, either from Egypt's soda (Natron) lakes, or by using the ash from local saltwater plants. Glassmaking factories were set up in Tyre and Sidon, two Phonecian cities, and it is there that the first transparent glass was made. Unlike the Egyptians, for whom glass was a luxury good, the Phoenicians produced enough glass to sell it at a lower price and to trade it all over the Mediterranean world  (Herm, 77-80). Evidence for this trade in raw glass and finished products can be found in correspondence from Egypt and from shipwrecks, such as the Ulu Burun (Markoe, 156).

One style of decorated Phoenician beads were their eye beads, composed of dots stacked on top of each other either raised, or melte din flush with the base bead. The eye motif was found in Egypt Egyptian glass during the second millennium, and it also appeared in Phoenician beads in the later part of the second and the first millennium (Simone and Gennett, 24). Much later, in the late 7th century BCE, the Phoenecians began to create glass pendants in teh shape of demon masks, animals, and male and female heads. These "head beads" were also used as protective talismans on necklaces much as were the earlier and simpler eye beads (Markoe, 157).

Sources: 
Phoenicia: Historical Region, Asia- Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Phoenicians- Glenn E Markoe
The Phoenicians- Gerhard Herm
Simone and Gennett, (Spring 2013). "Tracing Eye Beads Through Time" The Flow. p. 24-26

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

ASO Article- The Social Meaning of Anglo-Saxon Glass Beads

I submitted an article to the East Kingdom A&S Newsletter.  The information in the article came from research included in the documentation for several of the A&S entries  have entered into competitions thus far. The idea to explore the social meaning of Anglo-Saxon glass beads came from a comment left at one of my A&S displays encouraging me to include a bit of this type of information in my documentation.

http://eastkingdomgazette.org/2014/09/01/newest-issue-of-ars-scientia-orientalis-available/

Monday, September 1, 2014

Metalsmiths Symposium 2014

This year at MSS I did a lot of one-on-one teaching at the bead bar. I also signed up to teach two classes. One was the same class I taught at Pennsic this year, the other was an Anglo-Saxon Glass Bead Roundtable. The full class description for this is below.

A few organizational thoughts about the bead bar:
1. I should label all my tools. Things get shared around, which is great, but I want to get it all back at the end!
2. I forget where I first saw this done, but I've been putting masking tape  on the end of a mandrel after a new person has made a bead, and writing their name on the tape. This is SO incredibly helpful, and it makes sure everyone gets the bead that they have made.
3. I think i want to have some different color frit out next time for new people to play with, as that is the easiest way of decorating a bead that I know of, and would not really require me teaching them any new skills (such as shaping and stringer work).

A few thoughts about teaching one-on-one
1. I think i should turn the flame up a bit higher than i have been doing for new people. It will be easier for them to get the glass to melt and to make sure it stays melted as the wind on the bead.
2. When teaching younger children, I think it helps for me to participate with them in making a bead the first time, by either twirling the mandrel or applying the glass. I think having to only worry about one hand at a time will make it easier for them to learn.


Erica and I at the bead bar at MSS


Anglo-Saxon Glass Beads: An Overview and Resource Round Table
Lady Elysabeth Underhill
This session will begin with a very brief overview of what the instructor has learned about Anglo-Saxon glass beads. The projects the instructor has completed and the resources she has gathered will be discussed and shared with attendees. After this introduction, others are invited to share their own resources and knowledge regarding Anglo-Saxon glass beads. Attendees can then look in more detail at the instructor’s resources, and the class can take some time to discuss how certain beads were made. We can then retire to the bead bar for hands on demonstration, if desired.