I was working my booth at an art show last year when I overheard a visitor in the booth next door. The "artist" in that booth created large bronze and metal sculptures. The visitor was inviting him to enter to show his work at an art showing or exhibit of some kind and giving out an information postcard. When he came to my booth and I greeted him with my warmest smile he said "I'm sorry, this is for real artists only". OUCH! I replied as evenly as possible "I am a glass artist and I make all of my own glass beads by hand in the flame of a torch". He replied with a simple “oh, okay” and sheepishly handed me a postcard just before turning to leave my booth just a quickly as he could manage without tripping over himself.

Admit it... when you hear the word 'artist' you conjure up some image of someone standing in front of a large canvas with a palette of colored paint in one hand and a brush in the other. Maybe a potter sitting at their wheel sculpting a lump of clay or someone chipping away at a large sculpture of some kind may also come to mind... but a jeweler? No way! As a lampwork glass artist who uses glass rods, glass powder and chunks, some hand tools and a flame to create small wearable works of art I have to tell you that I do indeed consider myself a real artist. I must admit though that I do not consider those who take prefabricated pieces and string them together into jewelry as true artists, no offense to those of you who do this. I recognize those folks as creative people and I applaud their creative endeavors.

Webster’s defines the word artist as 'a person skilled in one of the fine arts' or ' one who is skilled in or who makes a profession of any of the fine arts'. The fine arts are considered to include drawing, painting and sculpture. I defy anyone to take a glass rod about 7mm x 20", some colored glass chunks, silver wire and foil so thin your breath will blow it away, some hand tools and a metal stick and turn it into an attractive, wearable bead that someone would want to be seen wearing without using the art of painting, sculpture and creative talent. The only difference is that I paint with glass. I sculpture tiny works of art out of glass. Oh yeah, and I have to do all my work on a canvas less than 2" and in the flame of a torch to keep my sculptured painting around 1000 degrees!

So next time you see a jeweler at an art show, ask them if they make their own beads or do their own metalwork and silversmith. If they do, you have just met an artist.