Bead Arts

Artist: Jeanne Kent
Business name: New Terra Artifacts
Location: Windsor, CA

Website: New Terra Artifacts

Jeanne, how do you describe your work and how does it differ from other glass pieces?
I work in fused glass - making jewelry components. I prefer organic compositions of colored glass with dichroic glass for sparkling accents. To me the current craze for pieces that are all dichroic feels one dimensional and my preference has always been for the glow and shimmer of colored glass.

New Terra Artifacts has been my business name since before glass - which is a long time now. Originally it was to be a co-op including a friend who was a potter and we were going to sell “Modern Artifacts”. I’ve always thought I could use it for anything - but I like it a lot and its part of my identity now.

What is your creative process like?
Mostly I am an artist of the spontaneous type. Occasionally an idea will pop into my head while I am out somewhere and have access to pencil and paper and I’ll do a quick sketch, but mostly I go out and handle my materials and do what they seem to want me to do with them. I have a nice stereo system and loads of music of all types from heavy metal to New Age and classical, and will mix and match them according to mood. But often I will go out to work and fall into work, only to discover hours later that I never turned the music on. When I am tired I work in short bursts, going to the studio until I tire in sometimes as little as 20 minutes and then going back to the house for a while. When I am in a blitz of creative and physical energy I may spend 8 or 9 hours straight working with glass.

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I have no art training, but was raised by a mother who loved rocks and lapidary work and partly by an Aunt who was very creative. They both seem to have succeeded in their efforts to get me started, although at the time we didn’t realize it. I became a weaver in my late 20s and did that as a hobby, along with other fiber arts, for about 20 years. When my back got too bad to sit at a loom I took up beadwork and from there sort of fell into a very basic fusing class.

From that moment on I was sunk into glass forever. I love it as a medium. I quickly gave up making jewelry to make glass components for others to create with as the glass was too important to me and all I wanted to do was to work with it. I started making beads for an AOL bead swap and the beaders I was swapping with encouraged me to make them to sell. Once I began that and had an outlet for my work I haven’t stopped, and hope I never have to.

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
Glass!

What inspires you to create?
I have always had a need to be doing something productive and (hopefully) beautiful.

What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
Frankly, these days its the standard need for money to pay the bills. I’d probably let myself take a break now and then to recharge my energies if the month to month needs of the household bills weren’t there.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
Persevere. Find something you love doing - learn it as well as you can - and keep working with it. Don’t become depressed and give up. The bad times are part of the development of the creative process and while they are different for each of us - we all have them. Your work will be better for them.

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?
Life?

What’s your favorite hobby?
Reading. I can fall into books and forget to emerge.

Editor’s note - A tutorial featuring one of Jeanne’s beautiful V pendants can be found on the Bead Arts blog!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media