Notable Artists
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printer friendly versionJulie Anstaett
 | Introduce Yourself:
Everything I see inspires me! Really, I am constantly looking at shapes and colors and trying to figure out how to translate it into polymer clay. I am inspired by other artists, other jewelry pieces, and sometimes just staring out the window in my workroom is inspiring! Never knock daydreaming... My artistic style is really all over the place ... very eclectic. Because there's always something new to try, or some new twist on an idea to experiment with, I don't often do too many of the same thing. My ''egg'' lamp is my favorite design. Really, it was the first ''major'' project I undertook with polymer clay using all my canes and fashioning leaves and pieces. The lamp took me about four full days to finish with all the cane slices, sanding, re-sanding, buffing, etc. It's not a masterpiece to anyone but me, but I still love it! Share Your Background: I started designing jewelry while I was stationed in Turkey. I had a terrific Armenian jeweler who could make anything for me that I could draw! When I came back to the States after retiring, I jumped into every craft I could find ... simply because I had never had time to before. I eventually started making my own jewelry with lampwork, gemstones, crystals, etc. After a couple of years, I wanted to start making my own beads and took a few lampwork classes, but the startup costs proved too much for me at the time. Well, I had a couple of blocks of polymer clay laying around, so I opened them up and threw together the most god-awful beads you could imagine ... but it piqued my interest. So I bought some more and started researching on the internet. Well, a little polymer clay space turned into an entire room in my house, and now that's all I do! I've been buying from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads for so long now, I can't tell you how I discovered them ... probably seeing an ad in a craft magazine. I'll always buy from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads ... inventory is terrific, and they've really got the best customer service I've ever used. Beading Success! The five most important things in my life are:
While I'd love to be able to come up with some sage advice for other beaders, I can't. It all comes down to just finding something I was passionate about and doing it day after day for hours at a time trying to get better at it. I'm not world-famous, nor do I make loads of money teaching and selling ... I just do what I love for the love of it. If that's a success...well, then I'm there! Julie tied for third place in the Kato Polyclay™ category of the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads 2008 Annual Beading Contest with her necklace design, Envy. |
