By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/YachatsNews
Susan Hanson’s life is a story of multiple reinventions, starting with moving to a new continent when she was 11. Now she owns two businesses in Seal Rock — Heartsong Beads and Dancing Coyote Gallery/Art Studio.
Hanson’s family moved from Wales to Vancouver B.C. for better jobs for her father and education for her and her sister. But life can be rough in middle school and Hanson was tormented by her fellow students for her British accent, so she quickly learned to drop it, carrying that first reinvention even further.
After some false starts in careers that didn’t fit she worked as a stockbroker on the Canadian Securities Exchange but was overcome by the stress after a few years. She fled to Hawaii in 1990 to escape the pressure. A busy art supply store was available for sale, and Hanson purchased it with a partner, glad for the opportunity to stay on the island.
Hanson was on the verge of purchasing a home near the ocean in Hawaii, but while on vacation along the Oregon coast she found oceanfront property that was equally as beautiful and much more affordable. After five years she left Hawaii behind to move to Yachats, where she had purchased two properties, prepared to start anew.
Hanson converted one of the homes she had purchased into an inn/bed-and-breakfast which she ran by herself for five years. In 1995 one of her first guests introduced her to lampworking, the process of making glass beads. She was so fascinated that she set up a small studio for bead-making in the inn, gradually learning a multitude of techniques.
In 2000 she made another leap, closing the inn and opening Heartsong Beads. And in 2019 she decided to focus on painting and making one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, liquidating much of the bead inventory.
Question: Your store was previously a bead store only. How did you decide to add an art studio/gallery?
Answer: I learned so much about art while I owned the art store in Kailua-Kona. We had all kinds of art supplies, and many artists taught classes there. I learned by osmosis and started painting myself. Initially I did abstracts in acrylic, but I experimented with almost every medium. Now I would say that my paintings are all mixed media.
I stopped painting almost entirely for about 20 years while I was enchanted and engrossed with making glass beads. Then, like many artists, I simply decided to change my focus, and that’s when I went back to painting and began making more jewelry. My shop still has thousands of beads, but now it’s filled with jewelry and pictures, too.
Q: You have had a shop in Seal Rock for 24 years. How has the retail community changed here?
A: Seal Rock used to be a much busier retail area. It was a bit of a destination because there were three or four antique shops, a post office and more small shops. Now several buildings are empty, and foot traffic is minimal. My shop is still well-known to people who make glass beads, and I always know when it’s a lampworker who has come through the door. They glance around for only a moment, sigh happily, and then spend a long time perusing the beads. I love the lampworkers, but now I’m more excited when customers come to inquire about my jewelry and paintings. And having an on-line business presence has become more and more important.
Q: What is your biggest challenge as a business owner right now?
A: The challenge is continuing to modify my business plan. More reinvention! I started a YouTube channel and have been concentrating all my effort on growing it. There are 284 videos on my channel right now, and I am very close to having 1,000 subscribers. When I reach that number Google will start paying me “ad cents” and my goal is to begin offering classes via YouTube. Both of those will be revenue sources.
The videos cover a multitude of art, jewelry making and beading topics. They are anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes long.
Learning to create a successful YouTube channel has been extremely challenging. The learning curve is steep. Among my many mistakes, more than once I have recorded a whole video only to discover I hadn’t turned on the camera. There have been tears of frustration from time to time, but I do feel much more confident now. I am looking forward to offering my first online class soon.
Q: Describe the process of making glass beads.
A: Glass for making beads comes in rods; most are about 15 inches long. First, I heat the end of the rod with my torch, which has been heated to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit, until it becomes soft and round. Next, I gently wrap that soft, round piece onto a small stainless-steel rod called a mandrel, continuously heating it. While keeping the glass continuously in the flame, I add layers of other colors using different colored rods, and I add swirls and dots by heating thinner glass rods called stringers. When it’s as big and colorful as I want, I put it into the kiln, which is heated to 960 degrees Fahrenheit. The kiln anneals the glass, making it strong. Later I remove the mandrel, which leaves a hole for stringing the bead.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not painting or creating jewelry?
A: My work usually follows me home. I have three studios there, one for silver work and lampworking, one for painting and one with a camera for recording the videos. I do look forward to a warm vacation in Arizona each year.
Tell us a secret.
Like many British people I love cottage gardens … gardens lavishly planted with hydrangeas and dahlias and daisies and the like. Especially dahlias, they are my favorite flower. I have had a cottage garden in all the homes I’ve owned, although as I get older mine seems a little overwhelming. I’m consolidating the flowers a bit, cutting down on the work.
- Dancing Coyote Gallery and Art Studio and Heartsong Beads: 10343 N.W. Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Rock
- Website: www.heartsongbeads.com
- Website: www.susanhansonart.com
- channel: youtube.com/@susanhansonart
- email: susanhansonart@gmail.com
