Oct 6, 2021 1:30 PM EST - Gillie Hoyte Byrom, enamelist ** One week earlier than usual **

Meeting at 1:30 pm

We continue to meet virtually via Zoom. TBS members will be sent the link via email the week of the presentation.

Because of the time difference, the meeting will be at 1:30 pm in the afternoon (6:30pm England time). We sincerely hope you can rearrange your schedules to be able to personally experience the presentation midweek afternoon.

Thanks to technology and good will, we are very fortunate to have celebrity artist, Gillie Hoyte Byrom, present for both bead societies of Toronto and Grand River on Wednesday October 6th 1:30pm EST.

Gillie Hoyte Byrom, an artist of over 500 portrait miniatures in vitreous enamel for a world-wide clientele, agreed to speak to us beaders and tailor her presentation to our interests!! Her talk will be about her enamel portraits: "Miniatures Tested by Fire” and will touch on techniques of portrait miniature and general enamel painting.

Gillie Hoyte Byrom hand paints enamels for a world-wide clientele. She works mainly to commission to create portrait miniatures using traditional vitreous enamel skills taught to her in Barcelona in 1990. Gillie has further developed these techniques using precious metals to produce jewel like heirlooms, treasured for future generations.

Vitreous enamel is glass fused to metal in a hot kiln. The base could be copper, silver or gold depending on your budget. The glass paints are applied by hand with the finest sable miniaturist brushes.

In Brief: Each enamel portrait miniature is painted in a sequence of thin layers. The likeness and detail are achieved using a microscope and miniatures can be magnified to life-size. The advantage of enamel over other media is this – the glass colours remain the same from the final firing and will never fade over time, so the miniature can be displayed in sunlight. Enamel miniatures are jewel-like heirlooms to be treasured in your lifetime and by future generations.

Gillie teaches onglaze vitreous painting by book, course and video master classes. Her website:  enamelpainting.co.uk. will give you a better idea of this art form and the master who tackles historic figures, and contemporary topics. What a treat it will be to hear her stories behind the commissions!!!

Breathe.

The "second wave" Breathe. exhibit is at the Art Gallery of Guelph until October 10. TBS members Naomi Smith, Lisa Carlin and Christina Kappas Dufrene have masks at this exhibit.

On July 8, 2021, the Art Gallery of Guelph hosted a virtual conversation with artists from the Breathe collective, including founders Nathalie Bertin and Lisa Shepherd, as well as Teresa Burrows, Don Kwan, Naomi Smith, and Taalrumiq, who reflected on how resilience can be redefined through collective artmaking. Together they discussed the varied creative approaches to the masks on view in the exhibition Breathe, exploring how the activation of craft in a shared digital space can promote generative spaces and processes of communal healing in the 21st century.

You can view this conversation here.

The AGG is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12 to 5 pm. Before visiting, please inform yourself of our COVID-19 protocols.

Or you can visit the Online Exhibit.

At our September 2020 meeting, Metis artist Nathalie Bertin talked to us about "Breathe." a facebook group she co-founded with Lisa Sheppard which turned into a touring museum exhibit. The original collection is now at the Royal Alberta Museum.

The Spirit Of Beads Sharing our Stories

In person visits are available by appointment. Find out more about it here.

At our November 2020 meeting, Maria Rypan and Naomi Smith presented their experience as featured Artists at a current exhibition at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch, The Spirit of Beads Sharing our Stories. This exhibit was created in partnership with the Native Canadian Centre and explores shared imagery, symbolism and technique in historical artifacts and pieces created by contemporary Ukrainian and Indigenous artists.

Photos Photos Photos

A big Thank you goes out to all our past, present and future photographers!
	Thank you to all the people who brought in their work. See your photos below! 2021 Bag o' Beads Challenge ← Newest Photos 2020 Summer Lockdown Challenge 2020 Spring/Summer Palette Challenge 2020 Bag o' Beads Challenge View the full TBS Photo Gallery.