Powdermill Glass

My name is Pamela but my friends and family call me Pam. I have a passion for the arts and music. I began taking guitar lessons at age eight and by fourteen, was playing and singing professionally. Music is the universal language and speaks without saying a word. I know this for a fact. You see, by day I'm a Dementia Practitioner and Director of Therapeutic Recreation in a long term care/critical care facility in New Jersey. I design and implement programs for people with Alzheimer's Disease and other types of dementia. I began my career as a music specialist and saw first hand, the positive effect that music had on people stricken with these maladies. A person with Alzheimer's might not know what he or she asked you a few minutes ago, but they can sing an old song from their past, word for word without missing a beat! I wish you could see their faces. They are empowered and happy. My music background has allowed me to use more music than the ordinary CDP and for this, I'm thankful.

In 2002, I invented and patented a musical reading system for people with Alzheimer's Disease.It's called "The Bell Choir Musical Reading System." It's based on the use of hand bells and a special color coded reading sheet. I have demonstrated it to many new directors and people in my field for quite some time. I have started many Bell Choirs including one in my own facility. It's wonderful to watch and even more amazing to hear my residents play the bells so beautifully! Their smiles are my reward.

By night, I'm the Fire Goddess who sits in front of her trusty torch, spinning a steel mandrel and envisioning the perfect bead! No, I haven't created it yet and really don't know if it exists but I strive to produce a structurally sound and visually pleasing bead for you and me.

I was always fascinated with jewelry. In particular, crystals and beads of all shapes and sizes.When I was a child, my grandmother would sit me on her bed and present me with all of her beaded necklaces to play with. She told me that I was mesmerized and would inspect them for hours at a time. Years later, I was designing large porcelain earrings. I had left a few pairs at a local shop on consignment and kind of forgot about them. A few weeks later, I stopped by the shop to find that every single one of them had sold! That was my inspiration to continue with my jewelry and designs. Perhaps, even up until now.

I co-owned a ceramic studio in the 1980's and taught ceramics to anyone willing to learn. Although I had no love for little ceramic figures, I did enjoy designing tiles for kitchen backsplashes and intricate motifs for ceramic kitchen sinks. Customers would give me a swatch of their wallpaper and say, "make me a backsplash to match that." To me, this was more creative than cleaning, painting and glazing a pre-molded piece of greenware.

Shortly after I closed the ceramic studio, I began working as an artist for a franchise in New York called, "The Elephant's Trunk." It was a children's gift boutique with every kind of paintable treasure known to man. Customers would have me paint either a specific design or an original one on the gift. Usually, it was personalized with a child’s name on it. While at the Elephant's Trunk, I taught fabric/textile design to individuals and groups. I really enjoyed it. At the same time, I was also doing art work for a mail order company called, "Festive Touch." They carried similar merchandise to the Elephant's Trunk but shipped it throughout the U.S.A. I was very busy indeed between two jobs, teaching guitar in the evenings and raising a little girl!

Well, I hope that I've given you a little background about who I am .Please feel free to drop me a line. Let me know what you think about my beads. Perhaps, you're interested in a bead or a beautiful, one of a kind piece of jewelry for yourself or a loved one. I love working with hot glass and have found it to be the most challenging, interesting and limitless medium so far. I learn something new everyday.