I can't make beads

truegem · #1 2013-05-01, 12:49am

I am honestly not trying to beg for compliments here. In fact, I don't want them. I just can't do it. I sit behind the torch and I would say only 10% of what I make is actually decent. Last night zero beads were decent. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I make the same beads that I have made in the past and they are almost all crap. My sight isn't what it used to be, could that be it? Nothing dramatic, though. Maybe I'll start wearing my reading glasses while I torch. I have to say also, I feel like I did better when I had a hothead, but why? I don't understand it. And I refuse to go back to the hothead. I have a mini cc....is there anything about this torch that would be an issue?
I try even the simplest stuff and even they tend to be useless. Seems like the only thing I can make are spacers, lol!
Tutorials - I follow the instructions and for the life of me nothing turns out. I have only had some success with a couple tutorials.
I've tried lowering my heat. I've tried reeeeally concentrating on what I'm doing. I've tried wine, lol.
Suggestions welcome. Should I maybe start from the beginning and make very simple beads and work my way up? I am at a complete loss and not sure why this is happening. It's not a creative slump because I am creative in other areas.
Thank you

GlassAlias · #2 2013-05-01, 1:49am

Maybe replace the wine with some Brandy?

steiconi · #3 2013-05-01, 2:04am

Did the problem start as soon as you switched to the new torch? Or have you been on hiatus and just started up again, using the new torch this time. I didn't torch for 7 years, and it took a while to get going again.

You don't say what is going wrong with the beads. Are they smoked or cracking (torch issues), or is it that lines and dots aren't where they should be (sight issues)?

I wouldn't be able to make beads without reading glasses. You can get lenses that stick on your tinted glasses, and ones that clip on.

eBay search for magnifying lenses:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...enses&_sacat=0

dla · #4 2013-05-01, 3:34am

I've had the same thing happen and for me I just started from the beginning again. It took the pressure off completely. I just made spacers and disks for probably a week.

Yeah, I ended up with piles of them but it was worth it. Gives your mind, hands and eyes time to re-adjust to whatever it is you're needing. I would suggest doing whatever it is that's easy and gives you pleasure doing.

Now, if you need glasses, that's something altogether different. Get your eyes checked.

I do believe you can be in a slump in one area of art/crafts and nothing else. Again, something I myself have been thru. I just left behind making beads for a while. Did other things and when I came back to making beads I felt refreshed and got right back into it.
I hope you find what you need.

Sue in Maine · #5 2013-05-01, 3:50am

My advice is also to go back to the basics. Make some plain spacer beads and don't even think (or OVERthink) what you are doing. Just relax until you notice you are enjoying the spacer beads.

Then move up to whatever next step you feel comfortable at.

The hardest part of all is to relax. Take a deep breath and rediscover the joy in your torch.

Hugs,

Sue

deena · #6 2013-05-01, 4:48am

Patti, I love my mini cc. I tried a hothead when I started about 6 years ago. After switching things got better for me as far as beadmaking. In a few weeks hopefully you will love your mini to.

Box E Creations · #7 2013-05-01, 5:32am

I was on a HH for years and would intermittently make beads. All I could do was a small donut. I decided to get serious or quit. Bought a real torch. Struggled for a while as I had to relearn heat control. Then one day it just all clicked. I think one of the things that helped is trying new techniques with tools - bead rollers and presses. I could make a nice, larger bead with the help of a tool. It gave me more confidence and all of the sudden I could do things I have never done before. Are they great beads? No. But they are a lot better than anything I have ever made before and keep getting better. I just try new things until I find what works for me. If something doesn't work, I set it aside to try again at a later date. I'm not a talented lampworker and have to work hard for what I get. In my old age, I have also learned to re-align my expectations. I make beads because I enjoy it. If I don't enjoy a technique, I don't do it. I'm finding MY style and not comparing myself to other lampworkers.

Elizabeth Beads · #8 2013-05-01, 6:15am

Get Corina's book. Start at the beginning and work your way through it. Make each bead until you are reasonably happy with it.

Some days at the torch are just going to be better than others. If I get a few beads in and nothing is clicking, I give it up for the day and just pull silvered or goldstone stringers. Also, sometimes taking off a few days helps me over a hump.

Liz

gemsinbloom · #9 2013-05-01, 6:42am

Wear a head magnifier. It changed my work dramatically and a few lampwork friends after my suggestion has said the same. No one usually listens to me but trust me, I would never lampwork without it.

http://head-magnifier.com/

allicat · #10 2013-05-01, 6:55am

Couple of things.

Def get the eyesight sorted. It may or may not play a role here, but it's an easy thing to deal with (unlike the dentist!) and, well, good vision is important anyway. I always torch with my reading glasses on, but that's cause my near vision is horrible otherwise.

Why do you feel you had more success with the HH? Maybe figuring out what the difference is may help your negativity towards the Mini CC. And, never say never! Maybe revisiting the HH to see what works for you there may help figure out the issues with the Mini. I have to admit, I love my HH and what I can do on it. I do have a Minor packed away for when I can set up a more formal studio, but it will be an addition to the HH, not a replacement.

And I agree, if you are creative elsewhere it is likely not a creative slump. It sounds more like frustration & exasperation to me. One other thing you might like to try is a pro/con list for both the HH and the Mini. Maybe that will help you figure out where this is coming from.

HTH
Alli

allicat · #11 2013-05-01, 6:55am

Whoops. Double post!

cgbeads · #12 2013-05-01, 6:56am

I'm with everyone else. I virtually stopped for about 4 years, now that I'm starting back into it I realize I can't just 'continue' from where I left off. I tried taking inspiration for everyones eye candy, but found that I was best to just revert back to my beginning days and doing what I knew best in the beginning.

-D

truegem · #13 2013-05-01, 8:10am

First of all, thank you all for your kind, generous advice! Second, thanks for not saying "but your beads are great" because that is seriously the last thing I needed to hear.
To clarify one thing, I have had my mini cc for years! Years, I tell ya! No hiatus, unless one month is a hiatus. But the problems have existed for a while.
I'm not talking about cracking issues. And I can get dots in the right places and stuff...for the most part. It's like, I make a rose bead and sometimes they are gorgeous and flowy and other times they are mis-shapen and just...amateurish looking. Sometimes they are only gorgeous the first time, and then I can never acheive the same results again.
Rubino, sometimes it's such a pretty light color and other times it gets too dark. Or maybe I want it dark and it goes really pale. I don't know. Many issues with glass. I could say something about almost every color. I often forget what didn't work last time until I finish and say to myself "oh yeah, that didn't work last time." Duh! Are there just too many rules for me to remember?
I could go on and on about my problems with Raku, or my inability to do implosions, or red turning black no matter what I do, etc, etc....something goes wrong almost every time!
I refuse to adjust the kiln temp for certain glass. Is my stubbornness the problem?
How does one "not get the bead too hot" when melting it round after encasing? Doesn't it have to get pretty darn hot to melt round? Mine end up glowing every time, and then, of course, screwed up, but I can't imagine how one would get it nice and round without enough heat.
I have picked up Corina's book, but I tell ya, it's like I have gone backwards!
I'll stop now because I could write a novel, lol!
I will start over, take notes, take a class, pour some brandy, and go to the eye doctor.
I really want this to work!

Allicat - the only thing I can think of is more heat w the mini. I really do try to lower my heat. But I admit, I am impatient when I lower it and have been known to increase it....oy!

cgbeads · #14 2013-05-01, 8:41am

I think you may be forcing yourself. I wish I could be Leah Fairbanks, but I can't. I make the kind of beads that I can make, not what I wish I could make. Every once in a while I do an awesome flower, but organic messes are what I'm the most capable of.

Try stepping back and just making what you make best. If that's spacers, then it's just spacers.

-D

Lorraine Chandler · #15 2013-05-01, 8:47am

Patti, I am a licensed CA. nail tech. I did awesome nails and airbrush art. I worked in my own little salon full time.

One day I couldn't do nails. I messed up every set, couldn't airbrush, I tired several different products over the course of a few months none of them were any good. It was just awful. I hung up my license

and went into home health care.

A few month after I started my new job I mentioned the hill about 5 miles from our house and it being covered with shrubs, my mother said those are trees. What!? Trees???

I went to the eye doctor and he said my eyes were doing the 44 year old quick change. Almost over night and not for the better. He said not only did I need glasses but I needed to wear them while driving too.

When I picked up my eyeglasses they warned me on the drive home I would feel overwhelmed by all of the signs and movements etc. I was. There was so much I had not seen that was always there. I cried all the way home. Partly for joy and partly for losing my nail career.

I saw the trees on the hills, they really were trees. Leaves had sharp edges on my trees in my yard. Pines needles weren't in clumps. It went on and on. I was like a kid in a candy store and I started doing nails at home for my friends daughters for graduation and proms. I could knock out four beautiful sets in an afternoon.

I guess what I am saying is it could be just your eyes. Go now don't wait.

I hung my shield down from over head on my Barley box and taped over it is a large square quilters magnifyer. So far so good.

I hope you figure it all out soon.

FosterFire · #16 2013-05-01, 10:50am

I once read an article that was in response to another article. The first article was how to work on your weaknesses. The second article said we spend too much time working on our weaknesses when we could be playing to our strengths. It's food for thought. My main takeaway from that was not to beat myself up for the things I can't do.

harperdesigns · #17 2013-05-01, 11:19am

I would consider myself a full time lampworker. I do lots of shows, making the same beads over and over and hitting walls like you wouldn't believe. I have to keep producing though, even through those doldrums. A great inspiration is to pick up an art mag, like Ornament or American Style, flip through quickly take a page with art on it and try to copy it in glass, or your version of it. Forget all the rules...round is over rated..don't worry about perfection, this is for your eyes only. I find that I am not worried about the outcome, my results are much more rewarding. This has really opened up endless possibilities for me and I am certainly not the first to do this. Before I know it my skills come back because I forgot I was worried about it.

allicat · #18 2013-05-01, 2:19pm

*grins* I hear ya Patti. Patience is NOT my virtue. And there are time it really shows, especially with the HH.

MissTiff · #19 2013-05-01, 4:29pm

Im Sorr If This Is A Stupid Question Coeinas Book You Are Refrencing What Book Is That? Sounds Like As A Newbie I Could Gain Allot But Not Familiar

Sue in Maine · #20 2013-05-01, 4:34pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissTiff

Im Sorr If This Is A Stupid Question Coeinas Book You Are Refrencing What Book Is That? Sounds Like As A Newbie I Could Gain Allot But Not Familiar

"Passing The Flame" by Corinna Tettinger

Look for it on Amazon. This is the ONLY glass book I refuse to lend to friends.

Sue

MissTiff · #21 2013-05-01, 4:41pm

Thanks Sue Do You Think This Is Good For A Newbie?

Lorraine Chandler · #22 2013-05-01, 5:01pm

It is the best book for a newbie IMO. Start with chapter one and just do everything Corina tells how to do chapter by chapter.

By the time you get to the end of the book you will be experienced. I also would nevver loan this book out and I refer to it often.

growinginspirit · #23 2013-05-01, 5:52pm

I loaned out my Passing The Flame and then had to go borrow it from our local glass group library!

I agree about the eyes - I cannot see the flame depth, so my stringer work is the pits. I have to put a sheet of black glass or graphite under my flame to be able to see where it is. I also use magnifiers for close work.

truegem · #24 2013-05-01, 7:12pm

Gosh, maybe it is my eyes! There is hope!
And yes, CG, I probably need to slow down. I have tried the "just make what you know" concept, but there are still issues, even with the beads I already know very well how to make....so I'm thinking it is my vision.
Thanks, everyone. So helpful. You've helped me to zero in on what might be the problem.
And yes, Passing the Flame is a great book for newbies. I LOVE that book!

Lisi · #25 2013-05-02, 12:46am

It's probably your eyes, so start there. Also, there is nothing wrong with going back to the HH torch. In fact, I will be honest and tell you that I made much better large round focals on that torch than I could now. I have a Bobcat, and used a Mini CC before someone broke it for me.

Maybe the HH, so you can slow down a little bit? I loved it for that, and those large beads I used to make were perfect. If I try that now with my Bobcat, they are going to be "off", as in the hole being dimpled in on one side more than the other. Hotter is not always better. This is why I make small beads.

sangita · #26 2013-05-03, 12:18am

truegem please let us know how you overcame this because I am going through it right now.

LemonwoodStudio · #27 2013-05-03, 4:23am

Patti - before you do anything else - get your eyes sorted/tested. That will make so much difference to anything else that comes afterwards. Then take care of the rest bit by bit!

clan tabby · #28 2013-05-03, 8:27am

As far as encasing beads, aren't you supposed to have the underlying bead perfectly shaped & set up the way you want it & then let it cool enough so that, when you put on the encasing, it won't deform at all & you should never heat that part up again? I say this because it all sounds so counter-intuitive & impossible to achieve; I can never do that & I totally understand your frustration with encasing.

And some of the finicky colors - I understand it doesn't take much to tweak some of them into their more unappealing colors: working them a few seconds too long, or with a bit too much heat, or not enough, too little oxygen, not enough ..... And then, of course, every batch reacts differently. Some lampworkers are skilled enough to be able to finesse these colors with exceptional dexterity; others, not so much.

I hope the eyesight issue is resolved in a way that gives you more ease at the torch. I use my reading glasses when torching like others here, & it definitely reduces some squinty-eye tension.

Good luck!

Lorraine Chandler · #29 2013-05-03, 9:05am

If you are familiar with Patti's beads you can see that she has great control of the glass and is a seasoned pro IMO. It isn't that she doesn't know how or that she doesn't have the muse or desire.

It is all there, everything she has always had except the end result has changed. VERY FRUSTRATING!

It was exactly what happened to me with my nails as I explained and it happened over night. ( not really but the point where I noticed was overnight) Not knowing what it was I thought it was the product so I kept trying different products. I guess in this instance one would be trying different torches and different glass but it really was my eyes.

I agree that a medical eye exam is in need right away. It is an easy fix...could be expensive though because frames are not cheap! That opens up a different kind of frustration, what to buy!?

I like these. Prada on sale

http://www.buyeyeglasses.com/prada-vpr10f-eyeglasses/

allicat · #30 2013-05-03, 4:51pm

Good point Lorraine; glass of any sort adds up LOL

Zennioptical.com has great deals for vision glasses. You can get a basic, single vision pair for as little as $12 (including anti-scratch and UV protection). I've ordered a number of different pairs from them, and they've been great.

Alli