Tigers are the popular (big) cat to do, but I love working with frits and powders, so I made these little (25mm or less) hollow leopard heads. I photographed these beads 9jun2010, so they were probably made shortly before then.
glass kitty.
Like all of my cat heads, they're originally based on Joy Cichewicz's tiger heads, which she makes by casing an ivory bead with ivory and black twistie, and then casing in amber (SOP for making ‘tiger’ beads). However I've messed with the formula a good deal to achieve my own look, though I'm still using the colored transparent to build the nose. The muzzle is Loren Stump's method of laying down black, then three dots for each of the cheek pads and chin and letting them flow together to make the black chops. One change I've made to Joy's design is to case the ivory parts of the muzzle in clear to make it flow better into the rest of the bead, which Joy does not, as she prefers to have a sharp, graphic distinction.
The scum and bubbles (especially evident in the ears) from working too hot or using crummy glass are all my own, however.
3/4 view.
I used fine blue goldstone frit and a special coarse white enamel my friend Cindi B gave me to represent snow or clouded leopard fur.
almost profile
Unfortunately, Cindi wasn't precisely certain where she got this wonderful enamel—she told me the name of a teacher, but the woman had no memory of it.[1]
Obviously I liked this one a lot:)
I contacted Fusion products, who are still waiting on me to send them a sample of this stuff, to see if they can duplicate it. But they had no records of anything this size either, and it's a very strong, opaque—not at all fritted 204, which is translucent at that size.
I'm pretty lazy about signing my beads, but occasionally, I do, particularly if they have an obvious ‘underside’ as these do (and I'm really happy with the way they come out, of course.)
Side view, golden eyed version.
Side view of a golden eyed snow leopard. This bead is not quite as good, and I got tired of loading images...really it's pretty similar.
14apr2018 —added caption to last photo, as its lack was borking the page indexing.
A baker's dozen pumpkin carving levels. 24oct2022
Joy Munshower and Maria Richmond's beautiful work, combined. 18sep2022
multiplying boro bunnies 21apr2022
2 pairs of spot and streak xmas earrings 08jan2021
2 green beadcurtain horsehead beads. 20apr2020
Can't see the answers till I learn to frame the question. Fugly horseheads II. 17apr2020
Fridayfugly horseheads. On Monday. 16apr2020
friday fugly unicorn 03apr2020
St Patrick's day charm bracelet with parrots. 17mar2020
dead mouse with jellyfish 04may2020
2019 UFS unicorn horn xmas ornament 04dec2019
UFS 2018 unicorn horn ornaments 03dec2019
the 2018 murrini cane for UFS 02dec2019
2nd in a series of 2018 April dead mice featuring birdie focals. 13apr2018
1st in a series of 2 bird themed dead mice I made in April. 12apr2018
lamp pull with speckled cat head. 26apr2018
light pull with animal head 17feb2018
super long aquatic dead mouse featuring nautilus shell bead 20apr2018
Eileen Miotke requested her synergy pix from 2012. 06nov2017
Dogwood necklace in lampwork & leather cord. 30may2016
mini-beadcurtain strand has a somewhat insectile appearance. 28jan2016
Third in a series of mini beadcurtain strands. 27jan2016
Summary of my experiences with Joy Munshower's Surf'n'Turf class 26oct2015
dead mouse featuring a blue cat head. 21aug2015
Sculptural (non bead) bird. Like, a mini-paperweight. 21mar2015
Last of the spacerbar bracelets. Completed 29jul13, 10apr2018
Collects the beady sculptural pages. (This is where all the birdie bead links went, btw...) 17apr2014
I use a birdie as the focal in this blue, green, and white multi-strand necklace. 09apr2014
2 views of pink parrot themed dead mouse. 21may2020
The December bead challenge has a palette of red, green, white, black and/or grey. Metal color: silver. Bribe: cardinal birdies. New technique: building on wire. 15nov2013
Robin, symbol of spring 15apr2013
Frances Ross' instructions for glass bead bunny rabbits. 04apr2014
Pink bird with silver leaf: a custom order 18mar2013
St Patty's Day Parrots. AKA, the march bead challenge. 17mar2013
Made what was supposed to be an all-purple bird, with something of a parrot like beak 22feb2013
A purple, green and gold birdie made as a hostess gift for a New Orleans themed Fat Tuesday party. 21feb2013
I make a bunch of heart-breasted beads to satisfy a Valentine's challenge and practice sculptural beadmaking. 16feb2013
I take a break from spacerbar charms to make a skull for a day of the dead bracelet 26sep2023
In which I attempt a Margaret Zinser style glass-painted scarab beetle. 23oct2015
Sara Sally LaGrand's corsages are great fun to make. 22feb2012
I'm featuring a bunch of kitty cats and one horsie for B&B. 08jun2010
In which I discover why casing ivory with effetre 068 transparent pink is not A Good Idea . Originally posted 13feb10. 13feb2010
In which I dig out the acid etch to good effect . Originally posted 27jan10. 27jan2010
Scaramouche or Severus Snape, this fella with the lank black hair and big nose has provided me with hours of beadmaking amusement. Originally posted 06jan10. 06jan2010
Wendy Zollars and I participated in a collaboration as part of the joint GLBG/GlassAct challange, exhibited at the Lawrence Street Gallery in November of 2009. Originally posted 04dec09. 04dec2009
One of a series of `magnificent' tigers that went off to China. Originally posted 12jan10. 12jan2010
Sculptural abstract pink bead vaguely reminiscent of a sea creature. 06may2009
So, Easter morning, cuz I'm so good at planning ahead, I made the f2 generation some easter-themed gifts from these bunny beads . Originally posted 13apr09 13apr2009
I got inspired to try tigerheads again, and was actually not too ashamed of this one. Originally posted 09apr09. 09apr2009
Originally posted 30mar07. Collection of posts of my weird sculptural heads. 30mar2007
second in a series of sculptural head beads for 2007, which is perhaps the third time I've returned to this theme. Originally posted 16mar07 15mar2007
Third set in a 2007 series of sculptural head beads . Originally posted 14mar07 14mar2007
[1]Actually, I'm inclined to believe Cindi was correct, as her memory, like so many people who are not obsessive list makers, tends to be very good—whereas a teacher, teaching hundreds of classes over the years, could easily forget a long ago material.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
