I am going to be offering a Seminar in Intermediate to Advanced Lamp Work Bead Making, Jewelry Design and Marketing, in Bisbee this September.
These are early days in the planning but I think some of you might like to know about it well in advance.
The Seminar will be six days long because I have to much I want to teach.
There will only be four participants because I prefer not to teach a room full of glass workers on torches, but rather,concentrate on giving my all to a few pupils at a time.
I think you may find this Seminar valuable in many ways..
I will be teaching those participants how to turn their beads into jewelry,

How to go into production with other kinds of beads, how to prepare to market their work, and above all, what really sells and why.

The point about a good seminar is that it is not just a series of classes, but rather an exchange of useful information too, so that everyone benefits from the companionship, experience, and tales of adventure we all bring to the table.
I have been making bead jewelry for nearly forty years and during that time, it has been my only source of income.

I will need to see the work of applicants so that I may choose those who will benefit the most and who have already shown themselves to be at a point in their work where my teaching can carry them forward.

Accommodation in Bisbee is varied and charming, and September is a beautiful and vibrant month to be here.

We will be working in my glass studio, which is large and well cooled and then on the upper level we will work at enhancing your techniques in bead jewelry design and construction. 

I do not use a torch in making jewelry, everything is wire work, knotting, working with chain and generally useful for those of you who want to be able to make jewelry on the go, rather than being tied down to another torch and the timeless and complicated work involved with setting stones etc.

You will learn to make beads with Stained Glass Remnants… Mixing those colors is fascinating and of course if you love the work, glass is much less expensive because boxes of it lie under tables in most Stained Glass Art Studios and Stores.
I
I have taught classes at the International Bead Conferences in Washington DC. Sadly there have not been more than three in all. Maybe one day, there will be another…

The Seminar will be Monday Through Saturday 9am -6pm daily.
Tools and Lunch included with two breaks.
Cost: $4,000
For more information, contact us at katedwbeads@gmail.com.

It was open 7 days a week for eight years. Time for a change. Many of you already know how my jewelry feels in the hand and have visited me over the years, so I hope you will enjoy having more ready access to my work through the Internet, on Etsy, and shortly, back again on Ebay.
Oh.. I am going to keep my original little kiosk in the Convention Center in Bisbee, so you will be able to find my work there too…I felt that simply closing the gallery and disappearing seemed too sudden…
I am going to start offering a few Intermediate and Advanced classes in Lamp Work…Please contact me if you are interested… they will not be frequent and I will only teach four pupils at each six day session. I have not taught glass work in the United States for over ten years… I always taught in England and sometimes France, in the Summers only….so this is another change.

Please visit  KateDW.Etsy.com  … and if you have time, I would love to hear from you and get your reactions or criticisms! We are all in this together…Peace.. Kate.

I stay every year with the owners, Barbara and Richard Beadman at their home… a special treat.
In 1907, before I taught my first class we had to import 5 Minor Bench Burners from Canada and set up the work room. There was no kiln and so Richard took specifics from me, a totally unscientific me, and in a few days there it was…handmade, lined with fire bricks, but functioning, even though at the time it had the simplest heat timer.

In 1997, there were only four bead makers I knew of, and two of them had been taught by me at home in Arizona.. that year I taught 25 more, in groups of 5. The following year we had a week intensive at Plowden and Thompson for 40 people with other teachers participating, including Diana East, who had studied with me in Arizona and was now a teacher too. Actually, several of my first pupils are now teachers in the UK, and glass bead making has taken off.
Later I was invited to teach at The Old Kennels, in Devonshire, ( www.theoldkennels.co.uk/) by Tracy Bell. Wonderful art center, check it out… they teach all kinds of rare and wonderful traditional English arts… and Tracy breeds Alpaca so I thought you would enjoy a picture of them rather than looking at one of my classes!

Staying there for a few days, teaching both glass bead making, and wire work, was so special because I went to boarding school nearby when I was ten years old and everything brings back memories.

For several years, I taought the making of beads with stained glass remnants at the Old Kennels and I know this is the first time these methods have been taught in the United Kingdom.

Well, I must move on.

Well, as you can see from the link on my web site, I now have a store in Etsy.

Soon I will be back on Ebay too, where Internet selling began for me in 1998.

Here is a picture of the signed tools I have been selling for many years now… they will be available in my jewelry classes.Here’s the Egyptian Clasp.. you can learn to do this too, if you like!

In my jewelry making class we will see how to design elegant pieces giving respect to how the new, the old and even ancient glass beads were made and how to bring them into contemporary, wearable pieces.

So here is that yellowed old fax sent to me by Plowden and Thompson on 26 Jun 1999.

BEAD SOCIETY AGM 1998

Unless indicated otherwise, all beads on loan from the artists. * indicates on loan from the
collection of Kate Drew-Wilkinson.

Strung beads

Left
whole necklace by Kate Drew-Wilkinson
Donated by the artist to Broadfield House Glass Museum, 1997

Centre, starting from top left blue/gold bead, clockwise.
Patricia Frantz
Dudley Gibberson*
Lark Dalton & Corrie Haight, Olive glass x 2
cay dickie*
Donna Milliron*
Janice Peacock
Tom Holland
Della Armstrong, Dancing Rabbit Designs
Lucinda Lesuer Brown
Nancy Pilgrim
Lynne Elliot
Loren Stump*
Kristina Logan*
Mary Kennedy*
Kristen Frantzen Orr
Derek Jones & Sally Hanson
Tom Boylan*
Michael Barley, Hori Designs
Linda Burnette
Patricia Frantz*

Michelle Boeck (centr angel)
Julie Wuest, Leopard Heart Glass

Right: starting from top right, clockwise:
Art Seymour*
Robert Jennik, Pilamaya Glass
Janice Peacock
Rowena
Andrea Guarino*
unknown
James & Neva Wuerfel

Asha* (centre)

So, if any of you see this and either think or remember lending me a bead for a show in Europe when the Best Bead Show was still happening at, er, was it the Red Roof or a Howard Johnsons round about 1997 probably, get in touch and when the beads come home,I can give you back the loaners. I will probably have the whole collection with me at the Bead Expo 2007 in Oakland in April, along with the book,or catalog from the Museum, of the show. Not very clear, but I’m workin’ on it…

By the way, there were lots of others in the expo too, beads that I carried during this new century!

Dear Kate,

When I told you my husband and I were taking a trip with Overseas Adventure Travel
to Africa, you sent me off with five of your wonderful Beads. I was to place each of them in the most beautiful, meaningful location I found in the countries we were to visit. The following is a bit about each Beads placement.

Bead Number One: South Africa

Our first camp was in Kruger National Park in South Africa. It is named Parfuri Camp and, in our opinion, the best camp we stayed in. Perhaps it was because it was our first. Perhaps it was the people. There we found the entire staff very friendly, always cheerful and most eager to help make our stay pleasant, informative and memorable. One woman, Toko, was an absolute dear. She shared many of her native customs with me and spent a lot of her time explaining about her life with her husband, who is Chef at the camp. Her enthusiasm, knowledge of her country and life in general endeared her to me. On our last day there, I presented her with the first Bead. As I placed it around her neck she had tears in her eyes and told me she?d wear it until she died. I was very touched because I believe she will.

Bead Number Two: Botswana

This Bead was given to a young woman with a rather serious young man in her life. They love each other, but perhaps will not be allowed to marry. He must present himself to her Uncle and, in turn, the Uncle and other relatives must decide if this marriage can take place. The young man, if he receives the blessings of the family, must then give the father 14 cows before he may marry. All of this was told to me with many soft giggles and a shy demeanor. I gave the girl the third Bead with the thought this might in some way help her situation. Who knows?

Bead Number Three: Namibia

Here we visited a traditional native village to learn more about how the natives of yesterday lived their everyday lives. We were shown how millet was pounded into flour, how tools were made in their wood burning blacksmith hut, the way the leader of the village lived, the musical instruments they made were played were played for us, the role of the ?grandmother? in teaching the young girls how to make baskets, to sew and at the same time, prepare them for a future marriage. We were even shown how they catch mice by using a large flat stone, a short stick and some twine. These mice were then used as bait for larger creatures. Dances were performed for us in their native dress. During the latter, one of the young dancers left the group and entered a nearby thatched hut. She returned with a beautiful baby and placed it on a blanket away from the dancers. The baby began to cry and the mother again left the dance group to pick up her child and tried to dance holding it. I went over to her and, through gestures and a smile, offered to hold the child. Mom passed her to me and I knew I had found the place for your third Bead. After the dancing I placed the Bead necklace around the childs neck and explained as best I could to the whole group of ladies that had gathered, it was for her to have and keep. They seemed quite touched. How long the Bead will stay in the possession of the mother and child is impossible to know. But the bead is placed.

Bead Number Four: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

There was no doubt where I wanted this to go. When we got to Victoria Falls I wanted to toss it in the raging water. Not knowing how close we?d be able to get to the actual falling water, I feared perhaps I?d have to place it somewhere near by. This is where our dear tour guide helped me. He?d seen me place some of the previous Beads and when I told him my wish to place this one actually in the water he led me to a spot along the trail where, with a good heave, I could reach the water with the necklace. With Arnold taking the picture I threw the Bead as far as I could. Of course, with the roar of the falls, I had no way have knowing it reached its destination. But be sure, with the rains just starting there in Zimbabwe, in a week or so the Falls will double in size and surely collect the fourth Bead and carry it on its journey to the sea.

Bead Number Five: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

This was the special bead I?d worn around my neck for our entire journey through southern Africa. It was to be presented to our hostess for the family meal we shared in Victoria Falls. At this meal there were seven ladies entertaining and preparing our meal. I felt it would be rude to only give one of them a Bead. I?d decided to give it to the young woman working in the kitchen who was about eight and a half months pregnant. Then I realized there was another kitchen helper who appeared to be about seven months pregnant. I couldn?t give it to one and not the other. So I decided to just keep the Bead around my own neck for awhile longer..
As we were leaving our last stay on this wonderful trip I realized the most generous, helpful, knowledgeable, beautiful person I?d met on the whole journey was Valentine. He had provided all of us with 24/7 care and concern throughout. When the weather was too poor for us to fly to a distant tent camp, he quickly arranged for a Plan B, which was a 4-hour drive to the camp. He not only made the change, but also kept us all happy about it with his good cheer. If some of us needed batteries for our cameras, he arranged a stop where he knew we could buy them. We never saw him angry or frustrated in any situation. He was my choice for the final Bead. To preserve his manliness, as I placed it over his head, I said it was for his wife, whom we hadn?t met. But she must be a very lovely person and I wanted them to have this special Bead.

I thank you Kate for the opportunity you gave me. Without the Beads I might not have been as observant of all the beautiful people I met on our journey to southern Africa.

Most sincerely, to my new friend Kate, I am,

With practised ease
My teacher takes a wand,
The mandrel.
Heating rod,
She slowly winds a bead
A bead,
Before my very eyes…
Time races by,
Colored glass curls round,
Cooling in the soft end
Of the flame.

At the end of the day
My fingers with familiar grace
wed gold and glass,
And, smiling,
See new earrings born…
The dream become reality.