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Drawing a bead on local art
By AMY OUTEKHINE Sun Staff Reporter	[

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Jill Torrance/Arizona Daily Sun A lampwork bead is heated over a oxygen/propane torch in Von Schroeder's studio Tuesday. To order this photo, go to http://photos.azdailysun.com

They are slick, whimsical and soon to be on the necks and wrists of Sundance catalogue readers, if the deal flies. Two years into creating her own unique lampwork glass beads, Von Schroeder, 50, has received attention from Sundance catalogue buyers for her lime green and turquoise beads, the color combination of the moment.

Living in Flagstaff the last nine months has shown Schroeder that dedication and praise can transform her life and her mind. The one-time sales manager for a health insurance company spends sometimes up to 10 hours a day making these unbreakable glass bobbles. In the process, she's become an artist.

"It's a dream I've had most of my life," Schroeder said. "It's a hard place to get to."

Lucky to have a mother-in-law quarters as a studio above her garage, Schroeder is happy to demonstrate the lampwork glass process to anyone who is interested, and she is officially on the map of artists on the Flagstaff Open Studios tour Sept. 18-19.

The popular Flagstaff Open Studios tour enables art lovers to visit studios, to watch local artists demonstrate their talents and to sometimes try the technique. If visitors are unable to determine which studios they would like to see, an art show with participating artists' pieces opens next Tuesday and runs through Sept. 19 at the Coconino Center for the Arts.

FEAST ON ART

To whet your appetite for the tour, "Appetizers for the Visual Feast -- Inside Open Studios 2004," an opening reception for the tour, will be Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. Tabbed as "Flagstaff's biggest free art party of the year," the evening event will provide a tasty art sampler of local talent featured in September's Open Studios tour.

The following three Saturdays, different docents will give guided tours of the art exhibit. The docents, well-known local artists and teachers, will discuss and explain the art styles, media and techniques on view at the show, as well as answer questions about the Open Studios tour. Lori Santos will be the docent on Aug. 28, Elaine Dillingham will be the guide on Sept. 4 and Kathy Greenwald will be a docent on Sept. 11. Tour hours are 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. each Saturday.

More than 50 artists are expected to display their work and open their doors. Participants include Mary Albright's watercolor pastel and lino print, Roberta Dawson's watercolor and acrylic, Sondra Francis' fused glass, Gallina Franza's pine needle baskets, Shelly Shaffer's acrylic on wood blanks and Jocelyn Van Belle's oil paintings.

LEARNING TO BEAD

Schroeder is a first-year participant in these events, happy to be included, but she wishes she could also take the studio tour. Next year she may get a bead-demonstration substitute so she can visit the art outlets. Teaching someone the beading technique is not extremely difficult, Schroeder says.

Each lampwork bead begins from a rod of imported Morretti glass from Italy. An oxygen/propane torch is used to heat the glass rods to a molten state. The glass is then wound on to a stainless steel rod that has been coated with a clay-like bead release. Different colors of glass are used to create patterns as well as other processes that cause unique changes in the surface of the bead. When the bead has been completed, it is placed in a 960-degree kiln for up to eight hours. This annealing process stabilizes the glass, adding strength and durability.

Beads typically take 15 minutes to make and are eventually compiled to make sterling silver necklaces, earrings and specialty vessels.

Always interested in glass, Schroeder transferred her artistic energy to beads after watching a co-worker search for lampwork glass on the Internet.

She subsequently ordered a $25 starter kit and a torch. Schroeder then decided "to focus in on jewelry."

Ultimately, she invested $1,000 to set up her studio and learned the subtleties by trial and error. Always comparing her work to master jewelers, she believed her pieces to be festive but not award-winning. At the April 18-19 St. George Art Festival, however, her submission was awarded first place in the jewelry division.

CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE

Currently her work is for sale at Stephanie's Diamonds in Logan, Utah; The Smith-Klein Gallery on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colo.; at Spirals in La Jolla, Calif.; and at Michelle's on Main in Park City, Utah.

Bracelets cost between $80 and $160 and small pendants are $10 to $35.

She had a booth at the downtown Northland Hospice Fair of Life art show this summer, travels to other arts shows and is beginning to find home shows to be fun outlets. For a home show, a host invites Schroeder into her house so that friends and neighbors can look at beads and personalize a piece. Meeting people and sharing her art is what she most enjoys.

Moving from Logan, Utah, in November with her husband, Chris Lauver, a quantitative ecologist for the National Parks Service, she wants to know more people in Flagstaff, and thus far she has felt welcomed.

Originally from Kansas, where she baked bread and pies endlessly in her restaurant, Schroeder is glad life is now saturated with the projects that occupy an artist's time: photographing her work, updating a Web site, taking custom orders. She also wants to keep her flower garden fully stocked.

If a bead does not properly release from a rod, Schroeder pokes the glass-adorned metal into her front-yard garden. Passersby have swiped all of the sticks.

"Oh, I have to make more," Schroeder said. "I love the fact that people want to take these home."

More information about Schroeder's beads can be found at www.totodesigns.net.

The Appetizers and Open Studios Web site is www.flagstaffopenstudios.com.

The Coconino Center for the Arts is located at 2300 N. Fort Valley Road (Highway 180) in Flagstaff

Jill Torrance/Arizona Daily Sun Von Schroeder, a local artist, heats the Morrett glass over a oxygen/propane torch to make her lampwork glass beads Wednesday at her studio. Schroeder is participating in this year's "Appetizers for the Visual Feast" and Open Studio tours. To order this photo, go to http://photos.azdailysun.com

Article from Logan, Utah Paper 2003

by Jason Bergreen

Photo by Mitch Mascaro/Herald Journal

March 15, 2003

For Von Schroeder, glass is not just for drinking water out of. It is the medium she works in to create art.

By heating rods of colored glass, Schroeder shapes and designs her won glass beads, which she fashions into jewelry. The process for making the beads is called Lampworking.

“ I have wanted to be a full time artist my entire life,” Schroeder said, smiling from the second story room in her home that she uses as a studio.

Schroeder’s creative journey began two years ago. She was already contemplating retiring from the health insurance and Medical Savings Account company she worked for in Overland Park , Kan. , to devote herself full-time to creating art. There was just one problem. “I didn’t know what kind (of art),” she said. Even though she had dabbled with other mediums, she was unsure that they would make a viable living.

Schroeder’s interest in lampworking came one day when she noticed a co-worker viewing lampwork glass beads on the Internet. “What are those?” she asked the co-worker. The small pieces of shaped glass intrigued Schroeder so much that she ordered a small starter kit and a $25.00 torch. “ I went down in my basement and started melting glass,” she said. “From the first moment I started, I was hooked and knew that I had found my medium. One that would provide constant stimulation and learning for the rest of my life.”

Schroeder became serious about her art when she and her husband moved to Logan , UT just over a year ago. “I thought it was now or never given I could not replace the job I had in Kansas .”

Schroeder spent up to 14 hours a day in her studio last summer designing new beads for necklaces, bracelets, pendant and earrings that she displayed at Summerfest. People were so supportive during this first show and many were not familiar with lampworking.

“I think that it is not as common here in Cache Valley as it is in some of the other states,”she said.

To make the beads, Schroeder uses an oxygen and propane torch to melt the glass rods. When the glass reaches a molten state, she winds the glass on to a steel, clay coated rod, which in turns creates the center of the bead. Different colored glass is then used to create designs on the bead. The finished bead is then annealed and cooled slowly in a

kiln over the next 6 to 8 hours. This process removes stress from the glass giving it strength and durability, making it possible for Schroeder to guarantee all of her beads for life. “The point is that you will have a piece of original art that should be around

forever.” Schroeder said she loves to wake up in the morning and check the kiln to see what “Christmas goodies” are there.

Lampworking is something that can be done at home and costs roughly $1000.00 to set up a good studio. Schroeder taught herself the art of lampworking in about three months by reading a book and later watching a video. Much of her craft has been learned through the process of trial and error. “I wish that lessons had been available in my area. The students that I am teaching are light years ahead of where I was in three months."

Everyone possesses the ability to learn and I don’t consider myself to really have that much talent,” Schroeder said …talent is all about just not making the same mistakes. If you draw an apple 20 times, eventually you’re going to get something that looks like an apple. The talent part takes care of itself. I am just thrilled to be helping others learn to do something that I take so much joy in.”

Von markets her work by doing Juried Art Fairs, Home Shows, Galleries and a Web site at www.totodesigns.net. The Home Shows are by far her favorite as they allow her to develop relationships and create custom work with her customers.