Okawa Bead artisans


Here area few of the bead artisans.

Our beads are hand rolled, or pressed into molds, then fired once. After the 1st firing, the beads are hand painted, glazed, and fired again at a higher temperature.

The process may sound simple, but it's actually very labor intensive, and the learning curve to get the firing right is a steep one. None of the beads can touch in the final firing, or they will stick together. Also the wires one puts them on, tend to sag in the high fireing heat so it is always a guess how close to place the wires.

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