I have always loved the work from both of these artists and marvel at the way they collaborate with their art. Each compliments the other so beautifully.
I loved hearing the story of Wayne's journey, which surprisingly to me has only been 15 years of glass making. He has mastered his craft so beautifully, always pushing the boundaries and learning more. He described the process of making one of his frogs sitting on a bead. A three hour process during which there can be no interruptions or the bead will fail! I have a new found appreciation for his sculptural work. Both Judie and Wayne are the type of artist I so admire with their willingness to constantly explore new mediums in order to create their vision.
Wayne was making totem heads (unbeknownst to him at the time) and not knowing what to do with them, they were collecting in a drawer. When Judie discovered the draw, they were brought out and mixed with steel and polymer and fashioned with jewelry and spears. The finished totems stand two feet tall and are incredible.
Typically at shows, we will see smaller beads and jewelry, all exceptional, but it was wonderful to see slides of the large pieces, wall mounted shadow boxes with glass sculptures and beautifully fashioned stands to support the large glass pieces. Wayne's photography was also brilliant capturing each piece in beautiful light.
I did buy a lovely pair of earrings,
and ahem....a 4th frog.
But this one is smaller and I am working on a ring base for it.
Also in the presentation Wayne showed several pieces that other artists created using his glass as a focus. There were incredible felted animals from Kim Antwerp, and beautiful pieces of jewelry from Cynthia Lohry (the current President of the Bead Society) and my friend Ms. Rachel.
I'm so glad I took the time to go to the meeting and had the opportunity to see both Wayne and Judie and visit with many friends! We followed up the meeting with lunch at the Prado before I headed back to the studio for more Bead and Button preparations.
Wayne and Judie are delightful! I visited their booth at a show recently and was awestruck by how beautifully everything was displayed. Of course, the work itself was incredible, but the booth itself was also a work of art.
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