Q: What challenges did you face in the beginning?

A: In the beginning, the biggest challenge I had was not being able to make beads right away, because I didn't have the equipment yet, so I kept a journal of drawings and ideas that I could refer to later, made business cards, registered my business, and did some other business preparations while I was waiting. The other thing that was difficult was that in my mind I had a vision of the way I wanted the bead to look, but I did not possess the technical skills to create exactly what I wanted.

Orchid Ovals

Q: How did you overcome these challenges?

A: Practice, and putting the time and energy into working on the torch. I feel that my skill level improves every time I work on the torch. I am always buying books on flowers (since that is my specialty) and always have live flowers in the house, where I can study them closely.

Q: Have there been major turning points throughout your career?

A: Attending the first bead gathering in Prescott, Ariz., was one turning point. There were all of these different points of view, expressed in glass. Everyone was coming from a different place artistically -- that really helped me define my own style and showed how I was different. Other turning points have been when I have traveled. For example, just this past year, on a trip to Japan, I was introduced to the glass artist Mr. Fujita Kyohei, who is a Japanese National Treasure.

Q: Who is the market for your work?

A: The people who buy my work are a mixture of bead and glass collectors, designers and others who love fine jewelry.

Q: How do you reach them?

A: I promote myself through magazine ads, interviews, bead shows, my bead representative, when I teach and through my Web site.

Wheat Goddess Necklace

Q: Has your Web site affected your business?

A: My Web site was a creative experiment -- I wanted to see how I could relate my art to people over this new medium of electronic communication. I have had the site for about two years. It has been wonderful for me because I am able to reach people all over the world. I get requests for my work from collectors, sometimes specific pieces from overseas and different parts of the United States.

Q: How did you first get your work into galleries?

A: I first started to get my work into galleries with my fused glass bowls, plates and jewelry. When I first wanted to get my work into galleries I did two different things: I cold-called galleries and made appointments to show them my work and walked into galleries with examples of my work. Getting my glass beads into galleries was a natural transition. I started with those galleries where my work was already being sold, and since then have had a lot of galleries get in touch with me for my work.

Q: What, in terms of business insight, have you learned to do or not to do over the years?

A: I think there are several important things that you need to be aware of when you have your own business. My advice to a beginner is not to quit your "day job" when you first go out on your own. Establish your skills and build up your clientele before you take the plunge. I would say that the most important thing to me is being accountable to my own inner voice, and putting in the time and commitment to define and refine my ideas in glass.

Q: Do you see any disadvantages/advantages (or challenges) specific to bead artists? How do you get around them?

A:I think the biggest disadvantage that most bead artists have today is new bead makers who take the developed style of an established bead artist and claim it as their own idea. There are endless possibilities of what you can do to a bead. For me, exploring new ideas is a part of the joy of making beads, and I am constantly surprised when I see "knock offs" of not only my own work, but also several other well-known artists. I am looking forward to a new generation of glass artists. Just think of how many possibilities there are; I believe we are just at the beginning of this medium.

Q: What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered in your line of work?

A: The most difficult thing for me would be the health problems related to this profession. Because lampworked glass bead making was basically unheard of in this country until recent years, there has been no significant health research. So, unfortunately, because of this, there is very limited information available about the possible health hazards of this medium.

Iris Oval

Q: When, how and why did you begin teaching?

A: I refined my skills and started teaching after I had been making beads for a year. I enjoy teaching because I like to meet people and work with them on a one-to-one level. My mother and aunt were both school principals, and my sister is a school teacher, so teaching runs in my family. I get invitations to teach all over the United States, but I have become more selective about where and when I teach due to the demands on my time with my own work.

Q: What do you like most about your life/career?

A: I have a very interesting life due to my art which enables me to meet unique individuals. I have developed life-long relationships with a remarkable group of friends I have met through my work. There are pockets of creativity where people are working all over the world.

Q: What would you change about your life, if anything?

A: I would like to be able to make more beads in a day! I am now working on a system that is increasing my productivity, which I am happy about, however, I cannot make enough to meet the demand. I will start working on a theme, evolve it to its limit, and then I will let go of that, pick up another theme and start evolving that.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Leah Fairbanks Gardens of Glass Handmade Glass Beads 12 Bayo Vista Way San Rafael, CA 94901 (415) 485-1369 e-mail: leahfair@netdreams.com Web site: www.leahfairbanks.com/

Q: Where do you expect your life/work to go from here?

A: I am beginning to do collaborations with other artists. I want to continue doing this and to keep honing my skills as a glass artist. One area I am really fascinated with right now is working with textile and fashion designers. There are people who are working in fashion the way that I am working in glass -- creative one-of-a kind, limited lines of clothing designs. They take traditional forms of dress and change them into their own artistic vision, which is what I am doing with my glasswork. The collaborative possibilities are endless. What if a bead inspired a gown, or the other way around? It is as if writing the story for a movie based on a film score -- the music determines where the story will go.

Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.

FEBRUARY 1999:

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