Swedish Youth Choir & Thoughts on Giving

If you have never made a fancy knot and given it away, you are missing some real blessings in your life. Consider the following experience I had in Oxford England earlier in 2005.

I went to Oxford (England) by train early one morning. Outside the train station was a double-decker tour buss. It was a little tour to orient you to the town and later you could get on and off where you like throughout the day. It seemed like a good idea to me, so I bought a ticket and went to the upper deck for the best view. I was the only one there.

Then, out of nowhere, about 25 to 30 young school children hurried up the stairs of the bus and filled the remaining seats. They were a bundle of energy and excitement as they spoke and laughed. There were a few boys among them but most of the group was 12 to 13 year old girls. Tagging along behind were a few exhausted parents trying to keep up. I learned from one of the parents that they were a coral group from Sweden and that they were going to sing Swedish folk songs in a concert later that evening.

The young girl behind me asked me if I would speak with her so she could practice her English. We exchanged greetings and off we went. Soon, the other kids wanted to join in and practice there English too. Before long, I was speaking with each of the kids. What a great time it was. Then, all of a sudden, the buss stopped. It was their hotel and they had to get off. All the talking came to a stop. The greetings which came so quickly, soon became goodbye’s as each person queued up to leave. My new found friends were about to vanish into the hustle and bustle of the Oxford streets. I decided that I wanted to give each person a small gift. I pulled a bunch of Monkey’s Fist zipper pulls from my backpack and gave each choir member one as they left the upper deck. I receive a wonderful encounter from each of them and they received a small token of appreciation from me. A fair exchange I thought.

Then, just as the bus began to pull away, I heard someone yell my name. I looked over the side of the upper deck and saw the children waving to me. I waived back with a smile. They began waving more vigorously. Then I realized, they wanted me to get off the bus. So I went down the upper deck stairs quickly and jumped off. One of the parents came up to me and with a smile in her eye, asked me to follow the group across the street. As we dodged cars on the busy street, I heard a faint tone from a pitch pipe. The children quickly transformed themselves from a bundle of excitement and random energy into a little structured choir right there on the street corner. Shoulder to shoulder, backs straight with their eyes focused on the outstretched hands of their director. Then came the most beautiful hummmmm I have ever heard. Then stillness and silence filled the air. People on the street began to stop. I asked a parent, “What is going on?” “ You have become a special guy to them. They like you and want to sing you a folk song”, was her reply. And then they began to sing. It was a beautiful song about spring. I didn’t understand a word but the meaning was clear and my heart pounded. What a wonderful gift. Then, off they went to practice for their concert. The entire encounter only lasted about 30 minutes but the memory will last a lifetime. And so began my day in Oxford.

As I have grown in knotting and shared that growth with others, hundreds of experiences like this one have come my way as I travel the globe. It is not just giving gifts. It is making something personal with your own hands. It is the story behind the knot itself. It is connecting with other people. You can have these experiences too. Make something. Tell the story. Then give it away.

I just returned from the International Society of Glass Beadmakers conference

Lately I have been exploring ways to incorporate lampworked and fused glass into my leather braiding. I learned to fuse glass about two years ago and began doing serious lamp work earlier this year. Lamp working is a method of creating such things as decorative glass beads, vessels, sculpture and the like in an open torch flame. It is a very dynamic and addictive process. It's fun too.

I thought it was time I rubbed shoulders with the experts for inspiration in order to take my skills to a new level. So I went to a weeklong conference of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers in Minneapolis. They call it the Gathering and I don't mean that wimpy definition that Webster's uses. This is a group of people totally possessed by anything glass although their primary focus is on making beads. What a Gathering it is. Glass artists from around the world come and show their work, make presentations and perform live demonstrations. Equipment manufacture's sent up their equipment in a studio setting which allows you to actually try and experiment with the tools and torches before you buy them. The manufacturers technical people are right there to help and answer any questions you may have. It's a really cool setup!

But one of the most interesting thing to me were the presentations that individual artists made throughout the Gathering. Their techniques were professionally filmed earlier. When presentations were made to the group, the films were played back while the artist gave live narration. That way the audience could ask questions as the film was playing. It was done very professionally and fostered a tremendous exchange of information.

There was an entire day set aside for the Bead Bizarre. Individual artists filled an entire ballroom with their offerings. Each bead was a miniature canvas upon which a masterpiece had been created. Literally thousands of beads representsing thousands of thoughts born into reality at the fingertips of individual artists. WOW! The the variety and individual artistry was exceptional. It was like walking around with Rembrandt on your left and Michelangelo on your right. It was a bit mindboggling to try to take all in. As I spoke with each artist, I began to realize that I was in the midst of a group of ordinary people doing extraordinary work in a craft that they were passionate about. What better place could you ask to be.

I had a chance to show my braiding to about 100 people and it was very well received. I have enclosed three examples of my recent work.

Photo #1, illustrates a simple bead on a braided necklace chain. The chain is a 6 strand braid of Kangaroo leather.

Photo #2, illustrates a pendant of fused diachroic glass, silver bail on a braided leather chain. I mix my own colors and dye the lace by hand.

Photo #3, illustrates a fused glass pendant inspired by the bone carvings of the Maori's in New Zealand. Each layer of glass is cut cold, matched and then fused. The necklace chain is made from multi-colored round leather from Greece.

You may click on each photo to enlarge it. Your comments and questions are welcome. If you would like to know more about the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, see their web site: http://www.isgb.org/ Next year's Gathering will be in Oakland, CA. Man! I gotta get to work. See you there. Stay tuned for more of my adventures.