Student Creativity at Lodi's Beads

In February I wrote about the joy of teaching that comes from seeing your students go beyond the initial learning to create on their own.  My students at Lodi's Beads in Bosque Farms New Mexico "wrote the book" on creativity and initiative; it will take me several blogs to describe all of their work that was built upon the classes that I previously taught at Lod's shop.

Last year I had the opportunity to teach a design of mine called "Tucson Bangle II," at Lodi's Beads.  It incorporated Delica beads and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.  Ten students took the six hour class and completed one or two units of the bangle. Instructors always leave classes like this with some trepidation knowing that some students will not go home and continue working on the project, and then at a later date they may have forgotten the technique resigning the  materials to the "unfinished" bin.  Not so with Lodi's students; they not only completed the project (some in record time), but several students expanded the design with creative twists.

Several of the students commented that they do not like bangles, but prefer bracelets with toggles instead.  Christina Tolendino very neatly turned my A Night To Remember bangle into a bracelet by adding a slide toggle. One student, Pat Mc Niel, cleverly inserted a toggle between the units of another of my designs. Further, she opened the bangle at two other locations to use her new design as a watch band. (See photos below)  Initially Pat was uncertain  about modifying my design and thought that it may violate the ethics of beading. I pointed out that techniques are not copyrighted and she simply expanded upon her learning from me, and did not in any way "steal" my creation.

Another positive aspect of having students "run" with my designs, is that I now can take my students creativity into consideration and incorporate toggles or clasps into my future bangles as an option.

Pat Mc Niel

Christina Tolendino