Arts In Rhode Island

Wendy: My name is Wendy and I wear many hats. In my spare time (yeah, I have none) I design jewelry. My favorite materials have always been stones, wood and any other natural material. It is my passion, and it is what I would rather be doing at any given moment!

Kim: I am a lampworker. In other words, I play with fire. :-) I've been doing this for about 5 years and it still amazes me that I can take glass rods the thickness of a pencil melt them in a torch, manipulate it a bit....and end up with a little work of art.

Wendy: I have always had a desire to work with lampwork beads, but honestly, at first, this was a little intimidating for me. Kim makes such AMAZING creations! Because I have not worked much with glass, I was afraid that I could not do Kim's beads justice. I decided that I would handle this in my usual way. I took Kim's beads and hung them in front of me on my work bench. This is what I do with stones that I have purchased just because I love them, but don't have a plan for. I work on other projects, all the while glancing at the beads that I SHOULD be working with. For some reason, this works for me. Eventually, it hits me! This is exactly how it happened with out collaboration project!

Kim: When the Arts In RI team members were discussing doing collaborations, I remember thinking that since I make beads it was only fitting that I work with a jewelry person....Wendy.

What inspired you about your partner's art?

Wendy: Everything about Kim's art inspires me! She is an incredibly talented person who I secretly stalk through Etsy. I love to see her new pieces when they are listed! Besides being a wonderfully sweet human being, and so much fun to talk to, she inspires me to learn as much as I can about my art form.

How did you ultimately decide to make what you did?

Wendy: As I mentioned before, I needed to wait for the right idea to hit me! I saw Kim's boro beads working well with blue sponge coral, some blue topaz and lots of other little fun things! In keeping with my natural style, I also added some unique little faceted bronze freshwater pearls.

Kim: I knew from the beginning that we needed to do an ocean themed project....after all, we are from the Ocean State :-) I had made a set of beads in the past that resembled ocean waters and had been unable to duplicate them. Torch chemistry has a definite effect on borosilicate glass. My goal was to recreate them.

Can you give us some insight into your brainstorming process?

Wendy: Kim and I discussed what we would like the end result of our collaboration to say. We are Ocean State girls, so this seemed the natural way to go. I waited to see Kim's work before ever thinking any further in to it. I needed to see the colors, shapes and sizes that she had chosen before I could even think about working with her boro and my stones.

Kim: After some chatting at one of our meetings and then through etsy's email system, it was agreed that I would try to recreate that set of ocean water beads. If I was successful, Wendy would work her magic with them.

Wendy: Absolutely! I had never worked with boro beads before, and I truly wanted this project to be unique! I made and then took apart 3 or 4 different pieces before I was happy with the design.

Kim: I was definitely stretched in a technical way. I really wanted to create beads that would do justice to Wendy's design!

Wendy: Only my lack of confidence at times, but in the end, I was so pleased with the outcome.

Kim: Well, there were some beads that didn't come out quite like I wanted them to :-) But, I persevered and was able to make enough that Wendy could make a necklace and a pair of earrings.

Wendy: This project was very rewarding to me! I really do feel that it forced me think outside of my comfort zone, which I really needed to do anyway! Kim was a blast to work with and I am ready to do it again any time!

Kim: Absolutely! Most of the time, when I send off a set of my beads, I don't get to see them in a finished piece. I was so excited to see them as part of a finished piece, and a gorgeous finished piece it is!! I would love to collaborate with Wendy again!!