![[Under Construction]](images/kalgifta.gif)
Jeri Warhaftig
Artist and Instructor
My mother always
believed that it could be fatal for a child to go even a single day without an
art project! She instilled in me a fascination for the arts, and a love of beads
and jewelry. Over thirty-five years ago I earned college spending money selling
beads at folk festivals and crafts fairs. (And now my 17 year old son sells
macramé hemp necklaces with my lampwork beads!) My interest in lampworking
evolved from my work with African American porcelain dolls and my pursuit of
historically accurate reproduction beads. Shortly after that, porcelain dolls
were “out” and the torch was “in”! About 12 years ago I decided to concentrate
solely on lampworking and teaching. I sell my beads at area bead shows and I
teach workshops in my studio and around the US. My work frequently involves pushing the boundaries
of a bead through the use of metal inclusions or surface treatments such as
enamels. Recent work has explored grinding, sandblasting and mirroring.
Beads are a wonderful art form. The are beautiful, portable, tactile and
decorative. They offer something to the superficial viewer and to one willing to
expend the interest and effort to look even closer. I have been lucky to meet
creative and exciting people in this field, as teachers and friends.
