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"What fascinates me about glass is that it is made from sand, which is the most common material in the crust of the earth, and then we, as artists, impose upon this common stuff our dreams, visions and inspirations. We uplift this common material until it has become something that it would not have randomly evolved into throughout the entire duration of the universe."
Tom Boylan has been making beads for the last 20 years. He started making beads before there was a bead movement and before there were bead stores to offer contemporary glass beads to the public. Tom credits the rise of the bead movement with providing him the opportunity to introduce his beads at bead stores and bead shows nationwide. Nancy Wall, Beadworks Founder discovered Tom and his extraordinary beads when he first started making them. Beadworks has always showcased Tom's beads and our customers have always recognized their unique beauty and collectability.
"I did not set out to be a glass artist. It happened completely by accident. I always wanted to be a painter. I look at landscapes everywher I go and think "how would I paint that?" But painting never really happened for me. Somehow it remained too abstract. Glass is very physical. Heat is ery physical. Hot glass sags under the force of gravity, so movement and timing come into play. The whole thing is like dancing with a fire breathing dragon, and you dare not miss a step."
"I like the idea that the art we as bead makers make is not hidden away in some vault or museum, but rather is worn in the open, as adornment for all to see and appreciate. I am thrilled when people tell me that when they wear my beads people stop them to ask and to comment about the beads."
Tom is a self-taught bead artist. His designs are entirely his own unique creations. Tom does not employ "elves, fairies, or barefooted and illegal immigrants" to help in the making of his beads. Tom does not consider his beads a "production" commodity. He focuses on quality, rather than quantity, and so does not pump the beads out in volume. They are made by hand, one at a time, via a sometimes pains-taking process that Tom developed himself. Tom mixes some of his color, and buys the rest for commercial glass companies. he would prefer to spend his time making beads rather that taking the time to make the glass to make the beads.
"I have an absolute love/hate relationship with the glass. Each day I crave to walk away from it and never return. But each day I am drawn back to it and work through whatever the problem was, and them I am amazed at what can come forth from the mind and soul that has been cleared of its resentments and is allowed to just express itself."
"If when blowing glass, all you are doing is making another stinking bead, you will soon burn out. But if, with each new one, you are making an offering of beauty to the world, then you will renew yourself with each one, and in the end, you will come to know God. This is yoga."
Tom has no tolerance for "shock art", schlock art" or "garbage art". He feels it serves no purpose, it does not raise the viewer's consciousness and it does not bring forth from the viewer a response of appreciation of the manifest beauty and the underlying wonder of the universe. When Tom blows glass he compares it to a priest offering the Mass. He considers his studio to be his chapel where he places his own spirit, his truth, his love and his aspirations into each bead. He offers his beads to the world as a lasting memento and memory of his life and his art.
"There is much misery, pain, deliberate ugliness and violence in the world brought to us by science, technology, commercialism, capitalism and yes, sad to say even by religion, that it becomes necessary for someone to stand forth with a deliberate creation of something positive, beautiful and uplifting. We artists are the ones commissioned by the universe to stand forth."
Tom closed with the following quote from Philo of Alexandria:
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is engaged in a tremendous struggle."
Source:
Tom Boylan
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