Hey, my name is Kathy Dotson.  I am a relatively new bead maker.  Already I understand when I hear others use words like ‘obsession’ and ‘mesmerizing’ to describe how it feels when you are working on the torch with glass. 

I am an adult educator and have spent my professional life doing corporate training and instructional design for a variety of skills and competencies.  I consider myself a lifelong learner with many interests and hobbies.  But, working with glass has taken on a new dimension for me personally.  It seems to be a compilation of many skills I have practiced over a lifetime.

I worked for a large national retail chain in their custom framing division.  I trained color, sales, color, design and oh yes, did I mention color?  I left that experience believing color is the basis for all good design.  I really think you always have to have the extra large box of crayons because you just never know what little punch of color screams to be in a design.

I use a color wheel when I start to make beads and when I design jewelry pieces.  I think doing so is fundamental to producing a wow design.  Many people think color is something you feel or it just happens.  Color theory isn’t hard nor is it magic, but, is a science, and has rules of logic to apply or at least understand.  Life in general, is just better with an understanding of why color works and how to use it to enhance designs. 

I am, without a doubt, the right-brain representative in this team.  But together, we bring a whole-brain approach to using color in your bead working.