Copper and Fire: 2018

Ania Kyte creates beautiful beadwork jewelry and is a veteran of Britannia Mine Museum’s Copper & Fire art event. Ania’s studio is located in Mission, BC, and she finds that the distance is not too far to travel for the chance to display and demonstrate outside. She enjoys being surrounded by beautiful scenery and other artists and believes that the show is a fantastic exhibit of local artisans – she is honoured to be included in such fine company.

Ania feels a fine sense of satisfaction when melting glass to create her own artglass beads – especially glass turtles – and finds happiness in using her own beads to create unique jewelry. When asked what she finds attractive or unique about her medium, Ania notes that the “glass is beautiful to work with and the colours are fascinating – they all have different properties which interact together in different ways (sometimes with unexpected results!)”.

Ania says that Copper & Fire is “usually full of inquiries and I enjoy setting up my torch and glass to demonstrate my artform, educating the public on working with glass”. At Copper & Fire, Ania can speak to the public directly and explain the process behind how her artwork is created. She also loves passing on the glass addiction to others by teaching private lampwork/beadmaking classes in her bright glass studio.

This year at Copper & Fire, Ania will be setting up her torch and glass workspace in order to demonstrate how she melts glass to make artglass beads. She will also make small sculptures such as tiny flowers and icicles, provided the weather cooperates as there can be problems if it’s too windy or raining.

Ania’s advice to aspiring artists is to keep to the mantra of “Practice, patience, and perseverance! And repeat.” She says that “going back into the studio, especially after an unproductive session at the torch, the easel, the clay, etc., is particularly important – doing something basic is best to get past any creative blocks and into a more experimental phase where the experiments might turn out just the way you hope.”

You can meet Ania and view, purchase and/or watch her demonstrate at Copper & Fire on Saturday, September 15th from 10:00AM – 3:00PM. Click here for more information.

Ania Kyte’s Biography

A glass turtle for everyone! That's the current motto of Canadian glass artisan, Ania Kyte, of Mission, B.C. 

Ania had been making beadwork jewellery for several years, and loved all kinds of beads. In 2000, she attended a bead show on the Pacific Coast, and watched an artist demonstrating the art of making lampwork beads and sculptures. Ania realized she could create her own artglass beads and took a beginner beadmaking class with a local artisan – the obsession took over! Ania has been improving her skills at the torch since 2002, and enjoys using a variety of glass and glasswork techniques; since the turtle is her totem animal, and she has two live turtles in a studio aquarium, she has been focusing on creating "a glass turtle for everyone!"

Ania is highly involved in her community as the current President of the Mission Arts Council, and past president of the Pacific Pyros Glass Beadmakers organization. She has a busy schedule creating glasswork, teaching beadmaking classes, and keeping up with her two busy boys. Her bright glass studio is always full of work-in-progress as she prepares custom orders alongside inventory for shows and exhibits. Ania welcomes studio visits by appointment and you can see her work online at: www.turtlebeads.com.