The Eyes Have It

I've been painting a lot of eye tiles -- open eyes, closed eyes, realistic eyes, stylized eyes, and cat eyes, ... and wrapping them onto base beads. I'm a tad frustrated that the new Mini-CC torch I bought that improved my success rate on the bird vessels so much is proving problematic for the painted enamel beads. It's very disappointing to have a great tile turn into a poor bead. Time to get the old torch outfitted so that I can quick change.

Oh, and beyond eyes, I've been trying my idea for a "Northern Lights" bead, the theme of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers Gathering coming up at the end of July. I'm painting pine tree silhouettes to wrap around an aurora sky base bead. So far I've figured out what NOT to do: mix up the green glasses and put a luster glass under the encasing. EEEWWW!