Today was a brilliant day, you’ll know if you regularly read the blog that I’ve discovered a creative side to me. I’ve always been interested in arts and crafts and even more so in trying them out for myself. So today I went to a glass bead making class at Graham Reid Design.
Graham is based just outside Sligo town and I first came across his work in The Cat and the Moon. I also met his partner Ruth last year when she had an exhibition in the Leitrim Sculpture Centre. I was so intrigued by her work and she inspired me to go off exploring.
Anyway I arrived at Graham’s studio this morning and joined a class with four other lovely ladies. I’ve always been fascinated by flames and fire so this was a little bit of magic.
Over tea Graham explained to us all about glass, how pliable it can be and how it can shatter under pressure (sounds a bit like me) and he demonstrated how to make glass beads. It’s amazing because you start with a just a glass rod and with heat, hand movements and a bit of luck in my case you end up with a bead.
We made four beads each and had tea and a chat as we left them to cool. It was like Christmas when we got to see the cooled down beads because they look completely different to when you are working with them.
The sad thing is that due to Brexit and insurance costs this may well be the last class that Graham runs. It’s a crying shame because he’s a brilliant teacher and I would recommend this class to everyone. It was interesting, informative, relaxing and exciting all at the same time.
I’d love to try more classes like this one and I really enjoyed my morning. One day I’d love to see a building for creatives where they can be based and run classes for members of the public.
You can see Graham’s website here.
Magnumlady Blog 
Sounds like a great adventure!
It was brilliant