An Evening with Ali VandeGrift
Intense Stringer Design
Friday, December 18, 2020
When Ali makes beads, Ali makes B.I.G. B.E.A.D.S! She is also the master of stringer control. When Ali gives her demo/chat with us, she will be talking about her background in glass and her current body of work in beads. Her main focus in bead making has been intense stringer designs on large, many unwearable, beads.
She will show us her studio and will also demonstrate how to make a round bead on a 3/16” mandrel with scroll, line, and dot patterns. You won’t want to miss the incredible talent of Ali VandeGrift! In addition to their glass collaborations, she and Brennan have collaborated to produce the cutest little girl in the world, who will probably make an appearance as studio assistant Diddy, pending as Ali said, any naps/meltdowns!
To learn more about Ali and see more of her work, visit her website
After the Demo Update!
(If you missed it, remember that members can watch the recorded demo on the Facebook Members’ Page, check it out! And if you aren’t a member but would like to be, visit the Membership page)
Ali has been working with glass for 16 years, with a background in scientific glassblowing. She has always loved glass, but had to wait until she was 18 to take any official classes. Luckily, Chris Coffman introduced her to making beads, and she did that at her home until she got older. When she graduated from high school, learning more about glass was her goal. She went to Salem Community College and got a degree in Scientific Glass Technology. Later, when the Oakridge National Laboratory was hiring, she took a job with them and worked as an in-house Scientific Glass Blower for five years. Her partner Brennan had an idea to make big beads in the hot shop and for Ali to do stringer work on them, and it was a success. After a few years, she moved to Seattle. There, she still works with quartz glass for a local company while making her beautiful stringer beads at her home studio. In addition, Ali also collaborates with the talented Brennan in his hot shop!
For her demonstration, Ali made a round bead about 1” in diameter, and did her intricate stringer work design on it for us. She gave us some tips about working so long in the flame, and keeping her bead release intact and strong while she decorated the bead.
She made it look effortless as she did a combination of spirals and a herringbone design, then completed the intricate look with some small dots. It is amazing to see her work!
Thank you Ali for sharing your time and talent with the Dragons. We enjoyed it immensely, and it was a special treat to meet your family. Diddy is a darling little girl, and will be a great little helper when she gets a little older!
Visit Ali’s website to see more of her work.
If you would like to show some appreciation for her generosity in sharing her skills with us, you can send Ali something for her tip jar to thank her.
Dragon members have access to this recorded presentation, found on our Facebook Members Group.