Interviewee:
Lisa Richardson-Bach (She/Her)
In your own words, tell us about your business, organization, or initiative.
Seaside Glass and Beading is all about the flow and movement of glass and bead work. I fuse glass pieces in my kilns to create anything from tableware to art sculptures. With my bead weaving and embroidery, I make day to day jewelry and I make wearable art. Every day is new and different. I do repeat designs, but there is usually something different, color, texture, slight shape change, that makes each piece unique. My work tends to be practical or totally outrageous so one needs to see all that I have to offer to get a real sense of my art. Most of my work is what I create, but I do commission work as well as teach classes.
Tell us a bit about you and why you do what you do. Share your passions for your business, organization, or initiative.
I am an Aerospace Engineer by education and an artist by choice. When I was fed up with blue print blue, steel grey and fluorescent lights, I discovered glass, first in the form of stained glass and then in the form of kiln formed or fused glass. Fused glass combined a technical aspect with color, creativity and art. I fell in love immediately. I took class from some of the masters and began my journey learning everything I could about fusing glass. Eventually I began creating some fused glass jewelry but always had the same issues with glass and glue. Sooner or later the glue fails. This lead me to learn bead bezel setting, bead embroidery, and bead weaving. Both the fused glass and the beading let me express myself in color and line and let my creative juices flow. The technical aspect of both, firing cycles, fracture mechanics, fluid flow, geometry, all keep my engineering mind active. Best of both worlds!
What is the last thing you read, watched, or listened to that had an impact on you?
The Underworld by Susan Casey It is all about traveling to the deepest parts of the ocean, the history of deep sea submersibles, the abundance of life at these great depths and how we know very little about the oceans which cover most of the earth. It also brought home the fact that the oceans are the main absorber of CO2 and if we do not take care of this resource, well you know what will happen. One of the dives to the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in all the oceans found a plastic bag. Something to think about.
What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you or your business?
When we did a genealogy search of my family in England one branch supposedly went all the way back to an illegitimate son of Richard the Lion Heart. So the family joke is we are royal bastards! Not really but pretty funny!
What is Creative Collective?
Creative Collective delivers comprehensive business services – marketing promotion, technical assistance, business consulting, and advocacy at all levels – for Essex County entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators. We support the whole person, not just the business, through a collaborative community where members learn from each other, not just from us, because we know thriving businesses are built by thriving humans supporting each other. Learn more and join Creative Collective at www.creativecollectivema.com/join
