Last weekend, Patrick and I took a boro bead making class. We had a lot of fun. The instructor was Marta Bernbaum and she was excellent. She really gave everyone personal attention and tried to help me with more advanced projects as I have already taken a boro class. She inspired confidence in me that I didn't have in my last class. The instructor in that class was not very good and the whole experience was slightly uncomfortable. The coolest thing I did was actually blow a small vase. Marta said the easiest way to put a stand on the vase was to make three legs. Once I had my three legs made, I noticed they looked like two legs and a tail. I then decided I needed to make a monster vase. I started to add arms and realized that I was adding the arms in the wrong place and that became back spikes. I wanted to try to make a head, but that was a little beyond me, so it just ended up looking like a headless monster wearing a turtle-neck. I named him Leonard. I love Leonard.



Patrick and I also made a ton of beads and pendants. My pendants turned out a little wonky, but the implosions look lovely. I also got over my fear of playing with the colors. Boro colors are amazing. Depending how you heat them, how long you heat them and what other colors you mix them with, you get incredible variation. That is the challenge of working with boro. It is difficult to get the same result twice. Once you have a grasp of the colors, even the craziest wonkiest creations can be beautiful. It's kind of like people really. With the right personality and heart, even the craziest wonkiest people can be beautiful.

Red Heart Pendant:



All my crazy color flat beads:



Random pendants:



Pretty beads: