Feature Designer

Susan Hood is an expert lamp work bead artist of long standing. She has been developing her skills since 1987. She is located in Yarmouth, at the southern tip of Nova Scotia. She has always lived by the sea which naturally inspired her Phantasea collection.

This stunning necklace using her lamp work creations made it to the cover of the Toronto Bead Society's 2008 Calendar . It's easy to appreciate why out of 80 entries, her design made the coveted spot. She will be featured next on a local magazine called Open to the World about Nova Scotian businesses. Her work can be found be found in Japan, Australia, Paraguay, Chile, United States, Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Hong Kong and naturally, Canada.

She, like many creative people, is accomplished in more than one artistic pursuit including stained glass work and painting. Only by painting with glass though has Susan finally found the one endeavour which gives her so much satisfaction and joy. Perhaps that is why her website is called the Glass Harp Gallery. Each bead sings its own beautiful song.

Susan also teaches students from beginners to advanced, in the art of hot glass lamp worked beads using Italian Effetre (Moretti) soft glass. She even offers 2-day courses with B&B, private lessons and extra studio time for those keen to learn the art. Interested but Yarmouth is too far to visit? Try the Cranberry Studio and Supply in Halifax. Susan instructs there too. One past student I know praised Susan as a patient teacher. For more details and her bead designs, check out her website.

Photo with kind permission from Susan.

Design note : Focal beads such as lamp work are centre stage in a jewelry design. For more jewelry design inspiration using centre stage beads, I recommend a new project book by Sara Connell called One Beautiful Big Bead (Lark Books).