Bead artist Kimberly Rogers from Numinosity Beads
Q: Can you tell us a bit of the beginning of your career as a glass/bead/jewelry artist?
I have always had a bit of a crafty side and did play with beads during my high school years along with weaving and embroidery. I didn’t work with hot glass until after the mid 90s. I was in Alaska and had a lot of exposure to the native seed beadwork on smoke-tanned moose hide. I had a friend that showed me the seed beading technique. I began with making key chains and amulet bags. I needed beads to hang off of the fringes and began seriously collection beads for that
purpose. Soon I had enough to start making jewelry.
A friend of mine that had gone to a glass art school mentioned that he had taken a class in glass bead making and I was intrigued.
Eventually I discovered a beginner class in my town and had my first try at lampworking using a hothead torch.
I admit I wasn’t sold on it until I met another glass bead artist that was using a more sophisticated torch set up with oxygen and propane. She assured me that I would enjoy it more so I took a one-day class with her and decided to take the plunge and invest in a full studio set up.
Q: Do you work full time as an artist?
I work full-time as an artist now but when I started out I was a heavy equipment operator with a full-time job on the state road crew plowing and patching roads. And then doing building maintenance work primarily doing landscaping at government buildings.
I retired from that job early so that I could pursue my art full time and also because I was getting married and moving away from my job.
Q: You work with glass, metal and polymer clay. Is there a medium you like working with the most?
I really like working with glass and trying to come up with new effects and components to share.
The polymer clay was kind of experiment just to try out Ginger Davis Allmans (Blue Bottle Tree) rustic beads tutorial and I was pleased with the result. It doesn’t take the same sort of focus as the torch work so it was fun for me.