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.

OK so here is my Kiosk.

The Etsy store is a happy place too.. I had not imagined how far afield my work would go out of there.. Australia, Canada… This is the wonderful result of working so hard to build it up. Things are quiet in Arizona in the Summer, so if my work is already attracting attention, things can only get better as the Fall and Winter seasons approach.

At this time of year, I begin browsing my favorite magazines to find the latest trends in fashion colors for the upcoming season, so that I am ready to match them for you in my lamp work bead making and jewelry design. This change in my life is proving to be a good one.

That’s because I have been overwhelmed in keeping my own Gallery, “Uptown Tribal” Well, things are cnanging and I am working realy hard at building my Etsy Shop.

I am closing the gallery after nearly eight years and trusting my work to Internet sales because I notice that as a result of increasing gas prices and other factors, people are learning to enjoy shopping on line. So 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 when you are not able to get to Bisbee… after all, it is a bit of a long ride across the desert, and beautiful as it is, that is a bit of a jaunt! (Don’t get me wrong though.. it is always fun to come here and we have all kinds of new galleries opening up, and of course there is always lots of good music too..!)

Oh.. I am going to keep my original little kiosk (remember that??) in the Convention Center by the Ice Cream Shop (!) 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 three pupils at each three 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.

So…please visit my online store at  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. Now there are at least 200, I’m told and more each year.

Four years ago 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 Alpacca 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.

I teach 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. It took me a while to decide join this lovely Internet showcase, and now I will do my best to keep a constant flow of fresh work accumulating in it. This means inventing a 48 hr day instead of 24!

CLASSES IN WIRE WORK AND BEAD JEWELRY DESIGN AT MY BARN/STUDIO IN BISBEE ARIZONA.

The other news is that I have had lots of work done on my lovely large barn/studio and am ready to give classes there.

Various reasons. I want to pass on my knowledge. Time marches on and I have so much to teach.

I am interested mainly in helping those of you who are already in the bead jewelry and/or lamp work bead business and are perhaps in need of some guidance. I want those of you who are working hard and wonder why things are not going quite the way you planned. There is so much to know. We are going into a pretty worrying time now and are having to adapt in many ways.

People are going to do their shopping on the Internet more frequently now as travel becomes more expensive. I think it is wise to sell there, but I want you to know that my gallery is still going strong and that is because many people still love to be able to touch and choose their treasures from boutiques and galleries.

Silver has rocketed in price, so we need to adapt there too. No worries, there are ways of designing bead jewelry that work with copper and silver mixes for instance. I see that PMC is bringing out a new copper product. I love it, though I don’t teach it. Jewelry has always been fascinating to us and we will prosper if we bend with the changes.

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.

CLASSES IN LAMP WORK GLASS BEAD MAKING, INTERMEDIATE .

My lamp work classes will be limited to four pupils at a time. I do not believe in teaching larger classes because obviously I can give each pupil really special attention if the class is really small.

I will be offering classes in making beads with stained glass remnants. I have been promoting this work for nearly fifteen years and I think you will be fascinated with the mixing of colors I have developed. Working with this glass will lead you to new ideas when you return to the rods. I can teach both, but prefer to give classes in one or other glass at a time.

In my studio also have lots of Plowden and Thompson and Lausha glass in case you want to give them a try.

If you are interested in this class, I would like you to send me pictures of your beads so that I can see if you would benefit from it…I don’t teach beginners any more, but you don’t have to be very advanced to qualify, so don’t be afraid!
Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have about the classes. I will have a list of open dates available within the next few days.

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!