NZGBA – New Zealand Glass Bead Artists

It is with great pleasure that we create this post. Firstly we would like to give an enormous thank you to our sponsors for this years prizes for the Annual NZGBA Bead awards. We cannot express enough how much your participation not just as sponsors but as judges means to our community.

Annie Rose sponsored the 1st prize for Lampwork bead category with a Wild Cat torch which Karilea won by a half point with her entry Fireball, the very close and equally deserving runner up, Andrew Firth with his amazing Dawn Elemental Bead which was so precisely created and perfectly exacting that we cannot wait to see Andrew’s entry next year. A special mention is Judith’s bead “Fire” which was also in the to tier (Judy has gone overseas so we will only have a photo available later).

Claudia Borella sponsored the Fused bead section that was won by Vicki Leismann and her amazing concept “Lighter than air” with again a close runner up Karen Irwin with her incredible “Night fire and Burning embers” (unfortunately we do not have a photo, Karen please add it to showcase), a special mention to Michelle Anderson who was in the top tier with her amazing piece (again the piece was taken on the night so no photo, Michelle please add a pic to showcase for everyone)

Gaffer glass sponsored the Kiln formed category which was won by none other than Greg Smith with his bead “Bullet”. Greg we cannot get over the quality of your entries and we are looking forward to next years entries.

The Bead Hold sponsored the jewellery section which was won by none other than Karilea Lindsay-Beale with her incredibly detailed “Bountiful earth” that also won Viewers choice on the evening. Highly Commended goes to Isla Osborne (again photos will be provided when we get the piece returned to show everyone)

The Beginners category sponsored by Born to Bead was won by Holly Budge, a special mention should be made that the bead was created with only 5 hours of torch time!?! amazing well done Holly we look forward to great things from you. Highly commended went to new member Shirlee Wilton who made an amazing “Octopus Bead” again great skill and we look forward to seeing your entries next year.

The AGM was quick and painless which is always a plus, please click here to download the minutes.

With no further ado, the photo from the evening as well as the competition entries that we have been able to get photos of…