I just got back from the 2009 Gathering. For you non bead people, this is a convention for the International Society of Glass beadmakers. Yes their are enough of us to have a decent conference.This was my sixth conference and they just keep getting better. Due to the economy this one was a little smaller, but I still got to meet a lot of new people.

If you are into making beads, this is the place to be. You can always find the heavy hitters sitting and talking to people who are new to the art form. The gathering organizers did a great job this year and the socials were fun and interesting along with all of the artist who put on some wonderful demos and lectures. ( I was one of them and I survived with out embarassing myself on stage).

You missed my demo on "using the masking tecnique to create squares and angles". I know it does not sound exciting, but these are the skills I am currently using to make my work, and it is all about designing hard geometric shapes to blend with the graceful curves of the bead. Below is an example of what I made in my demo.

My head is still swimming with the suggestions I got in late nite bead talks down with the ladies of room 806, so look for a few minor new directions in my work. As always the ladies would like to see more colors.

Thanks to everyone at the conference, see you in Rochester.

For more info on the conferences and the great organization that puts them on got to www.isgb.org