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“
Color is my passion...”
Kandice Seeber has been making
beads for approximately four years. A native Oregonian, she resides
in Western Washington with her husband, Ken, and kitten, Pumpkin.
Her studio is a converted utility room boasting a view of Mt. Si
through a huge bay window.
Kandice first discovered beads
while working in a fabric store. “The colors just blissed me out,”
she said; adding, “I began by doing bead embroidery onto fabric; I
then worked my way up to jewelry making.” Admitting that she
“immediately fell in love” with lampwork when she first found it
online, Kandice says that she “was compelled to learn how to make
them.”
With a seamstress background,
Kandice found fabric colors and patterns to have a huge impact on
her when she first started making beads - particularly quilting
fabric. “Color is my passion. Making jewelry inevitably followed
and progressed into bead making,” says Kandice. When asked what she
has found to be most interesting in the process of working with
glass, Kandice replied “Color! The sheer variety of color
combinations. The way colors change when the glass is hot, and
after it has been worked. The ability to make colors change in
different flame environments, and the reactions you can get when
combining different colors.” Kandice is known for her simple
raised florals, and pinks in whimsical feminine designs.
Kandice took a beginning bead
making class in Portland, OR, which was her first experience at the
torch. She then apprenticed with Paulette Insall of SPIglass for a
couple of months. Kandice declares, “I owed her everything – she
taught so well!”
Along with Paulette, Kandice
says she is inspired by the works of Donna Mehnert, Kim Miles,
Kimberly Afflek, Kim Neely, Kalera Stratton, among many more.
However, Kandice maintains, “Color is a major inspiration of mine.
I focus on coordinated sets and use color as my main design
element.”
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Although you will find
Kandice making a piece of jewelry from time to time, right now
her fulltime job is making beads. Selling her beads through
her website and online auctions, she is totally supported by her
family. “My husband carries my business cards with him, and
also a really old beaded pen I did when I first started,” says
Kandice. She adds, “my mom and sister love getting jewelry as
presents, and are always talking about me to their friends.
It’s really cool that they all support me.”
Kandice uses a Nortel Minor Burner with
Moretti/Effetre, Vetrofond, Lauscha, and Bullseye glass.
Kandice states, “What people find odd about me is that I don’t
use enamels, metals or powders. I rarely use frit. It’s
strictly the glass.”
Kandice feels that she has
progressed delightfully when comparing her current works to her
first beads. When asked if she still has the first beads she
made, she laughingly replied, “Nooooooo. Ew. My first beads
were… well, my first beads.”
Kandice’s tips for to those
just starting out in this craft are; “Safety, safety, safety!”
She suggests reading all you can, stating, “This can be a
dangerous craft if you are not careful.”
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Please join us in the forum to
congratulate Kandice, ask her questions, or just say
hello!
click here to go directly to the thread.
You can view more of
her work on her website,
www.lampwork.net.
Kandice is also our featured seller on the Auction
Boutique, please check out her current offerings
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