Spotlight on Maggie Smith
Hello Fellow Dragons!
My name is Maggie Smith and I live on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. In the mid 90’s I was a full time School Nurse, and stayed busy raising two kids with my husband. Our middle school age daughter and her friends were into collecting and trading beads of all kinds. Luckily for me, a wonderful lampwork bead maker started a small studio in our town, and she was offering classes. Her beads were incredible! I’d never seen anything like them. I couldn’t imagine doing anything like that….but I closed my eyes and took the leap. After 2 ½ days of torching I was hooked. My husband was a HS Shop Teacher, and he put my basic studio together. It still well supports my lampworking practice. My first teacher? Andrea Gurino-Slemmons.
That was 30 years ago. Again, luckily, I live in an area where hot glass is….HOT! I live close to Frantz Art Glass and in the early days I could pick out my glass in person and take advantage of the workshops and classes that they offered. I’ve also been able to take in person classes with great teachers like Michael Barley, Corina Tettinger, and Larry Scott. Pilchuck Glass School and Pratt Fine Arts Center, offering hands-on experiences, are close by as well.
After a while my daughter and I decided to start a little cottage business we named “Baci” (which means a little kiss in Italian). I make the beads and she designs the jewelry. We show and sell our jewelry at a few local events each year, which gives us special time together and funds an occasional trip to the Tucson Gem Show.
We live in a marine environment called the Salish Sea. For the past 40 years our family has spent summers on sailboats and small watercraft in the San Juan Islands and Coastal British Columbia. I am also a lover of dogs, and for several years I raised puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Nowadays, I take my dog to the local primary school for the 2nd graders to “Read to Rover”. Another activity that I’m enjoying in retirement is making birthday cakes for kids in foster care through an organization named “Cakes4Kids”.
In spite of the difficult adjustments we’ve all had to make during these past 2+ years, an unexpected gift has been the wonderful online tutorials and zoom classes that have been created. One that I enrolled in was Jelveh Jaffarian’s “Silver Glass Tips and Tricks”. That was where I “met” Kelly Six, and was introduced to the then “Florida” Glass Dragons. The creative support and interesting classes that are offered by the members of this group are really inspirational. They are keeping me connected to a practice that I have loved for many years.
A future challenge for me is to learn to take good pictures of my beads! I’m including a picture of my daughter and myself at our “Baci” holiday booth, and a few small beads and earrings that we make.
I’ll look forward to connecting with more of you in the future through zoom meetings and the newsletters.
Maggie
