Hi, I’m Kay Bolden. My studio is located in Poquoson (great marsh) on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. I have always loved art, color, design and working with my hands. I started off doing Stained Glass, moved to glass fusing and then to making glass beads. My jewelry design work just followed in its wake. It had to do something with all the beads I was making.

Working at the torch making my beads just seams to fit my creativity with its spontaneity and instant gratification. I like experimenting with new ideas and with different techniques. Glass is an amazing medium you can do almost anything with it. I like using different types of glass because of the different effects each type of glass shows. I even use some of my stain glass cut into strips, which can produce interesting color hues in different beads from the same strip. I am a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers and a member of “Lampworker’s Local 757” here in eastern Virginia. We have a wonderful group of talented Beadmakers. Each month we have a challenge on a technique or idea and put our beads up for auction on eBay. The challenge really stimulates my creativity and keeps my focus on a technique.

I am always thinking how I can use my beads in jewelry. Jewelry designs have many layers and is constantly evolving. With any one technique you can just change it a lot or a little and continue build on it. I am also a member of the Bead Society of South Eastern Virginia and get much inspiration from this talented group.

Check out my most recent discoveries in my bead making and jewelry designs. I am always exploring my creativity and trying new ideas.

Kay