A Hot Piece of Glass

New stuff to see!

2012-02-10T07:34:00.003-05:00

A dear friend of mine is going out of town on her first "Girls Weekend" since....forever. Kelly was in the peace Corps, and worked overseas for years with Habitat for Humanity, and made many, many friends (she also speaks fluent Romanian, which is awesome!). A few weeks ago, Kelly asked me to make bracelet and earring sets for her to give to the friends joining her on the Girls Weekend, and of course I happily obliged! Here is the end result of my imagination, some yummy colored glass, and her faith in my creative vision:

UnMatched bracelet and coordinating earrings - bright blue glass with sterling silver

UnMatched bracelet of hot pinks and purples, with coordinating earrings - sterling silver

UnMatched bracelet and coordinating earrings in bronze and amber -- in copper

I am happy to say Kelly loved the work I did for her, and *I* loved that she gave me the colors and the metals she wanted, and let me go for it. Simple pieces, but pretty and different.

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In other news, I traded in my beloved Hyundai Santa Fe, which I have adored and driven for seven years (longest of any car I've ever had!), and bought this:

A 2012 Mazda 5 in Copper Red! Three rows of seats, great gas mileage, excellent reviews. I really like it a lot, although I do admit to shedding a few tears for the Santa Fe. I never once had any problems -- never! -- with my Hyundai, but at 145,000 miles, time was running out on it. And we needed a car that all 5 of us could sit in comfortably. My poor teenage daughter was jammed between the little kids in their booster seats in the Santa Fe, but now she will have an entire row to herself! And I won't have to put truck tires on it -- this one takes regular car tires!

I know all my show stuff will fit in there easily, too, so this makes me happy. I need to get leopard-print seat covers for it, though, as the interior is a VERY light tan -- not a fantastic color when you have little kids eating in the car.

And there's the news for now! What have YOU been up to lately?

Here I am...

2012-01-24T09:44:00.003-05:00

See? I didn't fall off the planet, even though it probably seems like it.

Since Christmas, it's been a bunch of rushing here and there, getting stuff done, getting a routine back after the holidays, all that stuff. I've been enjoying my kiln thoroughly, and I've been making beads like crazy lately!

See?

I do have a bit of (hopefully) interesting news and general stuff to share, so here we go, in bullet points for brevity:

* I started an undergraduate-level class in Art History. First step on the path to graduate school and possibly a new career. So far, I LOVE it. LOVE love love. I've never been so happy to write a paper before!

* My application to Arts In The Park was accepted, and I will be a vendor there for the first time this year! It's a huge two-day show at the beginning of May in Byrd Park in the city of Richmond. Maybe this will be the year I upgrade my torch!

* I am working out a schedule of creating enough stock for this show -- and I'm terrified I won't have enough. Ack!

* OOH!! I'm going to take a class from Richard Salley this May!! ArtBliss is coming up again, and I. Am. Going. (At least in May...) I am beyond thrilled that I will finally be able to stop trying to teach myself how to rivet and solder. Mastery of those skills will. be. mine. Plus, RICHARD SALLEY. He seems so awesome, and his work is fabulous!

* My oldest daughter has applied to the local arts magnet high school in visual art. I am hoping against hope she gets accepted, but I am worried her portfolio is going to be a little short. I can't get her to stop drawing dragons and mythical creatures!

* I am almost done knitting the Doctor Who scarf I started back in November as a gift for my oldest daughter. That thing is easy-peasy, but BORRRRRING! That's what's hanging me up -- boredom. I promised myself NO new knitting projects til this one is done. I have enough UFO's of all kinds already.

* This so-called "winter" is making me very unhappy. No snow, and a change to spring every three days is annoying.

* I am going out on Friday night!!! (just thought I'd throw that in there)

* Been playing around with baking soda as a way to make new, funky beads. I haven't totally figured it out yet (and I'm sure if I actually read something about the technique, I could master it), but so far, my experiments look pretty good.

* I'm also playing around with a way to try out different color combinations using paint chip samples. Sometimes I can't decide what to make, and then I sit at the torch and make a bunch of junk. Maybe preselecting my palettes will help me branch out, and also avoid getting stuck.

Hmm....I think that might be it for now. I'm NOT participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party this go-'round, and although I admit to a brief twinge of "Aw, I didn't get picked!", I'm actually relieved to not have been chosen this time. I just can't fit one more thing on my plate at this time, and I'm happy to let someone new play! I'm looking forward to the big reveal in March!

Okay, I have to get to the museum and photograph some works for my paper. Glad to be back after my long break, and I hope all of you are enjoying the start of 2012!

2011-12-24T23:34:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas!

My wish for all of you is a joyful, peaceful season, and a happy New Year filled with hope and love and lots of time to spend making cool things!!

See you soon!

XO,

Christine

Holiday break

2011-12-11T07:25:00.003-05:00

Good morning, friends!

I know my blogging has been sparse lately....it's the time of year! The kids are all busy with activities, and I have been spending a lot of time at the museum lately, getting ready for a practice tour I had as an assignment. The tour was completed successfully, and the kids have one more week of school before Christmas break, so I am busily trying to get done all the things that need doing while the kids aren't home. And my husband completed another semester at the University of Richmond, and I am very proud of him. My youngest turned four right after Thanksgiving, so there was a party:

And then my middle daughter turned six, and there was another party:

My oldest tested for, and received, her green belt in Tae Kwon Do this weekend, too.

The period between Halloween and New Year's Day is a ridiculously crazy, family-event and holiday-filled time that always simultaneously makes me feel so good about all that I can do for my family, but also sucks the creative juice right out of me. I wrote about it in a post on the Studio Mothers blog the other day.

The kiln is still awesome. I can't believe the beads I can make now! Discs, and huge hollows, and beads with parts that stick out....all kinds of stuff that needs immediate heat and careful cooling after working. Now I need to work on getting my new torch (a GTT Bobcat is what I'm after!), and then I'll be set.

So, I'm still here, but taking a bit of a break for the holidays. I promise to return as soon as I can with pictures of new beads and other fun stuff. Until then, I hope everyone enjoys a fabulous holiday season, and best wishes for a terrific 2012!

Guess what I'm doing....

2011-11-28T11:59:00.004-05:00

I am running my new kiln!!

So far, so good. I've never had a kiln with an electronic controller before, and the annealing cycle is programmed in it already....so there's a lot of anxious running back and forth while I watch the temps go up and down and try to figure out at what point in the cycle we're at. I wish I could turn on my torch, too, and make some beads, but my son (who's 4) is home with me. Not a good idea to play with fire while little ones are around. I guess I can wait til tomorrow or later tonight. Maaaaybe.

Anyway.

We had a fun and relaxing family Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday night of last week.

I know what you're thinking...."Isn't Thanksgiving on a Thursday??" It is. But the custody schedule with my older daughter has her needing to be at her dad's by 2pm on Thanksgiving Day every year. We didn't want to miss having her join us for a holiday celebration, so we just have our big dinner on the night before! Then we can all watch the Macy's parade on TV the next morning and eat leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast. We've been doing this for years and it works out perfectly!

Mmmm....pumpkin pie....I think there's still some in the fridge.....

I hope, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, that your celebration was a fun and relaxing one. I sure am thankful for each and every one of you, who reads and comments on what I write, who supports my work and encourages me. You all are a blessing, and I appreciate each one of you!

Stay tuned for some new work from me later on this week (I hope). I am dying to make some disc beads that don't explode from thermal shock!

It's Been A While...

2011-11-13T12:09:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the radio silence of late....life got busy and blogging kind of took a backseat for a while.

Last week, we took our kids to Disney World for the week, which was awesome. Exhausting, but awesome. My son (3) and my middle daughter (5) did not know they were going on this trip (my 13yo daughter did), so it was a fun surprise for them. Of course, we had hoped for a more enthusiastic reaction than we got when we told them where we were going, but we did drag them out of bed at 4am for our flight, so I guess you can't expect too much energy by 10am.

Cinderella's Castle was absolutely breathtaking at night, all lit for Christmas. It was fantastic. The kids had a great time, and I loved seeing them see all my favorite things for the first time. My older daughter and I got in our 'missions' -- to ride Space Mountain and The Haunted Mansion each at least once. My son seemed to enjoy rides that were outside, but it was hard to capture him smiling. Disney World is a lot of noise and sights and commotion, and I think he was overwhelmed by it all. We don't visit amusement parks and ride on rides as a general rule, so this was his first experience with anything like this. It was beautiful to see him smile SO much on the Flying Dumbo and Aladdin's Magic Carpet rides, though.

I'm already planning our next trip, in three years. I love love LOVE the Disney Parks, especially the Magic Kingdom.

Let's see.....what else....

Still training at the museum. Still loving it. I did my first couple of practice gallery talks already, scored well on them, and had a ton of fun. Last session, we were shown how to use the library at the museum (dangerous for me!), and I am so excited to get in there and do some research for my upcoming three-object "tour" in December.

I'm done with shows for the season. Yay! Now to make a ton of inventory for a huge local spring show that I am applying to.

My kiln has not yet made an appearance. Boo! Some parts were back-ordered, so I hope to get it later this week.

In case you didn't see this on Facebook, I scored BIG at an estate sale a few weeks ago. The estate was apparently the home of a hobby jewelry maker who managed to own materials for just about every craft or art I like. There were shelves of jewelry books -- most brand-new -- and at $5 each, I was pulling them off the shelf in handfuls. I got a Pepe jump ring winder for about $45, sheet metal, wire (gold filled, sterling, brass, and copper), hand tools, a texture hammer (for $8), and a bunch of other stuff. Someone was definitely looking out for me, because most of what I got were tools and things I have had on my wish list for a long time. It was insane how little I ended up paying for a lot of this, and the only conclusion I can draw is that I was meant to have it. I am sure the previous owner of this equipment would be happy to know that it went to a jewelry artisan and metalsmith.

Now if only I could carve out some time to play with everything...that would be fantastic.

Oh, and because I don't do *enough*, I'm also trying to teach myself to crochet so I can make this scarf. How insanely cool is that!? I love that scarf, and I want one. So I will (hopefully) make one, before the weather turns warm again.

My tea is hot, and my to-do list is sizeable, so I guess I should get going. See you real soon! ;)

New work!

2011-10-22T08:38:00.004-04:00

I haven't been totally without time to create....

For your viewing pleasure, behold a bracelet made from the headpins I mentioned in my last post:

And made from a recent estate sale find, this necklace, called 'Relic', from my own copper tube beads and vintage glass and metal beads, mixed with my own lampwork:

And the matching bracelet:

Some heavy-gauge copper wire -- working on my hammering and shaping skills.

I especially love that fall leaves bracelet. I keep intending to put it in the shop, but I haven't yet....telling myself that the pictures aren't good enough, and waiting for a sunnier day to take more shots...

And that 'Relic' is one of the longest necklaces I have ever made -- 26". The photo does not do it justice.

I need to make a bracelet with those pumpkin headpins....THAT is really cool-looking in my mind....I just haven't had a chance this week to sit down and work it all out.

Art Bead Scene's October challenge is awesome, and I want to enter it (I already made appropriate beads), but once again, haven't had time to work out the design. Must learn to design in my head, on the run, so I can knock out the piece in one go when I *can* sit down to the work table (ironing board).

Okay, that's it for now....hopefully I will have more soon!

Last Time

2011-10-12T12:05:00.003-04:00

I'd show you pictures of what I've made at the torch recently, but.....I can't. In my hurry to get the headpins annealed (it's a BIG fistful of headpins now -- I made even more!) so I could make something with them before the autumn was over, I shoved them all into the kiln, along with the cool ivory-black-olive dot beads and the teeny tiny hedgehog and fired them all up.

They're annealing as we speak.

My little Evenheat HotBox kiln is probably batch annealing in my garage for the very last time.

...

....

.....

WOOHOOO!!!!!!!

Why am I so excited about this?

Because on or before November 1st, The Glass Hive will be shipping me my new kiln!

I ordered a Wide Guy kiln way back in February of 2010. Yes, a year and a half ago. The Glass Hive has a fantastic layaway program, which I took advantage of, since putting together the entirety of the cash for the purchase was going to be difficult. With my last show, I finally was able to make the last payment, and now my kiln is being built!

No more babysitting the kiln. No more running out to the garage to check the temp and make minute adjustments with the infinite controller. No more being bound to the house while the kiln runs. No more waiting for a full bowl of beads to be made, and then trying to find a day when I don't have to go anywhere so I can run the annealing cycle.

No more making fabulous beads, and then not being able to use them right away.

Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! Of course, I have to figure out the logistics of where to put the kiln and my torch stuff so I can work and put beads directly into the kiln, but that's minor. :)

Soon....soon....I can hardly imagine what it will be like to fire up the kiln, fire up the torch, make my beads, put them directly into the kiln, and let the kiln complete it's cycle with no intervention from me, and then stop all by itself. Beads will be ready the next day, no more waiting.

Can you tell I'm thrilled!?

Wedding jewelry and other stuff

2011-10-06T09:09:00.007-04:00

I don't know if you are familiar with FlockShop, which is Interweave's new shop. They sell great craft and art supplies at a discount, sort of like Woot or 1-Sale-A-Day, if you're familiar with that format.

Anyway, because I received so many wonderful comments about my use of fiber in making my Bead Soup challenge piece this year, I decided to give fiber a try for some other works. FlockShop had an unbelievable deal on beautiful fibers recently, so I splurged and bought three packages of different colors:

Gorgeous, right? They're killing me, though. I have ideas, but I am afraid to cut into/use them because they are so pretty. Hmm...

In other news, I completed a set of jewelry for my friend Kelly, who is getting married at the end of this month. Two necklace and earring sets for her bridesmaids, and three pairs of earrings for junior bridesmaids and other helpers.

The day I shot the pictures was alternately overcast and brightly sunny. I couldn't seem to get the shots when the sun was actually out, so they are a little dark.

I really love making hollow beads, but I'm limited in glass color and type, only because it takes so flipping long on the Hothead to make them this size that the glass burns/devitrifies/reduces/oxidizes before I get the thing finished. Thankfully, this amber and purple glass is pretty stable. Kelly picked up the work last night, and I think she liked the pieces I made. They are much more sparkly than these photos do justice to, and of course, I was so happy to be a part of Kelly's wedding celebration! Thank you Kelly, and congratulations!!

In museum news, I have been studying Rococo painting like a crazy person these last few days, preparing for my first gallery talk. I'm speaking on Giovanni Pittoni's 1720 painting, 'The Banquet of Cleopatra', and I'm scared. I am a confident teacher, capable of teaching a wide range of subjects, but this really makes me nervous. It'll be okay, I know, but still.

There's a stack of art history books on my kitchen island about a foot high. I'm reading. A lot. I'm not making as much jewelry as I had been, but I sure am happy!

Quickie New Work Post!

2011-10-02T20:46:00.004-04:00

Hey there!

So I set aside some time at the torch for me this past week (a minor miracle that I actually GOT to fire up the torch!), and I decided to try something different.

I made a bunch of glass headpins!

Check it out....

What do you think?

Nights at the Museum

2011-09-28T08:27:00.004-04:00

Hi guys! I'm back.

I know it's Bead Table Wednesday, so quickly, here is a shot of my ever-crowded bead table (jewelry table, wire table, sewing table, mixed media table....):

What? Doesn't everyone sew and work metal and make jewelry on their ironing board??

The bathroom remodel this summer has rendered the garage workbench a little inaccessible for the moment, and I haven't had time to clean it off as yet, so that is why some of my metals stuff is in front of my (poor neglected) sewing machine.

But BTW is not what this post is about....no.

Most of you know that I was accepted into the training program to become a docent at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It is a prestigious and comprehensive training program that lasts a whole year, and includes art history lectures, gallery exercises, training in basic museum education, and programs on the collections and holdings in the museum. It's a volunteer position, and I am undergoing this extensive training willingly, and without financial compensation. The rewards are much greater than that for me.

So far, we are three weeks into the training, and have completed lectures on ancient art and the ancient art collection in the museum. To say that I am happy is an understatement.

The first week, we were allowed into a gallery with our instructor and a security guard after the museum was closed. It was quiet and cool, and the halls were lit and the marble gleamed and outside it was dusk. It's an amazing experience to be so quietly surrounded by works of art created by countless hands and minds from across the centuries -- and millennia. All those people and all that creating....people we can identify and have images of, and people we only know as "the Virginia painter" or "R", or people we have no idea about at all, whose identities are lost in the passage of time. I was overwhelmed by the existence of these people and what they have left behind, by the magnitude of what we do creatively as humans, and by the seeming enormity of the task before me.

But now I see why it is that this appeals to me. Oh, it always has, the history and the concept of a museum, and the reading and learning. But for the first time in....years?....I sincerely feel that this is what I'm meant to be doing.

On some levels, it's intensely frightening.

On another level, it fills me with a joy I can't describe, and that has spilled over into the rest of my life in these last few weeks. Even in the midst of the chaos of three children starting school, husband in college, and work and family life activities. 'Go placidly amidst the noise and haste' has never been so applicable to my days.

I have a couple of years to spend working at the museum in this capacity, but my mind has already started to wander to "what's next?" as I find myself idly surfing the course listings for Virginia Commonwealth University's Art History department.

We'll see; I have plenty to do and to think about before I go get all fired up about any further schooling for myself. But for now, I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing, and looking forward to the future eagerly.

Still Hoppin'!

2011-09-21T07:37:00.009-04:00

Wow! What an amazing Bead Soup party this time! So many beautiful works, so very many blogs to visit! I'm still working my way through all of the blogs on the list, and I have a feeling it's going to take a few more days at least. Wow, you guys are seriously talented!!

And thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who left such lovely comments on my work! Knowing how many blogs there are to visit, it really means a lot that you would stop and offer kind words about my necklace. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

To any of you who are newly subscribed to this blog -- welcome! Now that the kids have started back to school, and September's whirlwind is settling down, I hope to have more content posted here, as well as on my other blogs, The Medieval Glassworker, and The ScooterMom!

Enough housekeeping and business...how about some news and pictures?

So....here is what I've been up to lately....aside from cooking up the Bead Soup!

I helped a friend who needed a funny baby gift...and made a baby bottle into a ketchup bottle:

It was pretty simple, but I was impressed with myself when it came out actually sorta looking like the real thing!

It's not designed to be functional, just purely a joke between friends.

The school-year schedule is in full swing around here with activities just about every night for someone in this house -- tae kwon do, Girl Scouts, my husband has two night classes....it's crazy, but we're handling it. Oh, and my night of training at the museum. Now THAT is something I am really in love with. That's a whole separate post of it's own, though. More later.

Remember these vintage suitcases I bought last spring?

I thought they'd be great for a tabletop show display -- and they are -- but there is so much neutral in my display that nothing really stood out. So, I painted them!

A couple coats of spray paint and they were much better. I'll have some good photos of my display after this weekend. I've changed it quite a bit, and I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out. One of the very best things about using working suitcases as display props? Storage! Those things are FULL of all the little props I use on my tables. It makes for fast and easy setup at shows, too, which is fabulous, since I am always alone at shows for setup.

Hmm...what else?

I've been so busy, but haven't had a chance to photograph anything really interesting...guess this means I need to be running off to get started on prep for my busy weekend. I'm not going to ArtBliss this year (boohoo!), instead I am helping out with a local SCA event, and then on Sunday is Arts Around The Lake at the University of Richmond. I doubt the arts will actually be around the lake this year, since it's supposed to be rainy, but I am hopeful. Come out to see me and a bunch of other fine artists and artisans, if you're local to Richmond, VA!

Ta - DAAAA!!!!

2011-09-17T13:43:00.005-04:00

As my contribution to the Bead Soup Blog Party 2011, I give you...

Washed Ashore

While I admit to being a class-A procrastinator sometimes, this particular project sparked ideas immediately upon receiving the bead soup. For a few weeks, I toyed around with a variety of ideas, auditioning countless methods for achieving the end product I had in mind. Finally, FINALLY, late on Wednesday evening, the week of the Hop, I came to grips with exactly how I was going to execute this design.

It was a challenge. I never use fiber in my designs hardly anymore. But I knew I wanted a look of something tossed up on the shore of a beach after a storm (fitting, given the recent hurricane here). I think I achieved it.

So, after you have enjoyed my post, please go and visit my partner, Elizabeth Woodford, and see the beautiful necklace and earrings she created with the soup I sent her!

And then, after you've done that, start making your way around the Hop and check out ALL the fabulous work! There are over 300 participants, so it will not be a quick hop, but you will enjoy it. Here is the list, on hostess Lori Anderson's page.

Enjoy!!

Bead Soup is simmering...

2011-09-16T22:46:00.003-04:00

I *just* finished my Bead Soup piece, and I am SO. excited. to show it to you! (nothing like waiting til the last minute, huh?)

However, I haven't photographed it yet, and I am going to be out all morning at a local farm market.

SO.

Come back here after about 2pm EST to see the piece I made. :)

Countdown beginning....

2011-09-15T15:32:00.003-04:00

Watch this space!

On Saturday, September 17, I will reveal the piece(s) I have made for the Bead Soup Blog Party!

Go here to read about the BSBP.

And as a reminder, here is the 'soup' I am working with....pretty darn tasty!

And I canNOT wait to see what my partner, Elizabeth Woodford, comes up with!!

Power-Full!!

2011-09-03T08:31:00.003-04:00

Hooray!!

A company called Riggs-Distler was assigned to work in my neighborhood on Thursday afternoon. The really nice work crew walked around and reset transformers and inspected lines for an hour or so, while the kids played in the sprinkler on the front lawn (because the generator was occupying the backyard).

I ventured forth to inquire of these gentlemen what we might expect in terms of restoration, and one of the guys said, "Oh there's nothing broken here. Just a couple of limbs on lines. Should take four or five hours, max."

I refused to get my hopes up too high, because we'd been having them raised and dashed over and over again. We had to go and find some dinner and take Wren to her kindergarten orientation, so really, it was best to just proceed as though nothing was going to change.

A run through Sonic for their fab hotdogs (and a cherry limeade for me!), and then we were off to meet Wren's teacher and see her classroom. We left the school just at dark, and drove anxiously down our street.....are there lights on? Is that a generator? Our neighborhood has a funky arrangement of electricity and just because certain houses are dark doesn't mean ours will be. But the mile-long cruise down our street yielded.....darkness.

Sigh.

We fired up the generator and started to get the little kids ready for bed, resigned to another hot night of sleeping, and more fun and games with the breaker panel.

Then my husband noticed a streetlight on at the corner. We have our generator jacked into the house power, so the main switch was off. He ran downstairs and flipped off the generator and turned on the main....and there was LIGHT!!

We let the little kids watch cartoons until 10pm, while we waited for the hot water heater to do its job. Hooray for electricity and modern conveniences!!

(this means that I can now return to art-related posts! And I will show you what I made in the dark, while wearing my husband's LED headlamp!)

Power-Less

2011-08-30T08:25:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody...

Just wanted to let all know that we have been without power since Saturday afternoon because of Hurricane Irene. I'm writing this while the generator runs our router so at least we have brief periods of internet. most of my internet time involves Facebook so I can keep up with news and friends, and obsessively refreshing the Dominion Virginia Power outage update pages so I can find out when we might have power back.

Also in the last few days, my oldest daughter turned 13 and I threw a party for her, in the dark (more on that later). Now that that is done, I can turn my attention to other things, like searching the area for power crews working on fixing lines, and cleaning out my fridge and freezer. :)

I'll be back soon!

Bead Soup has arrived!

2011-08-18T16:10:00.007-04:00

I love getting packages in the mail, especially when they contain such wonderful goodies as what my Bead Soup Blog Party partner, Elizabeth, sent me!

Check THIS out:

There are SO many gorgeous beads in this Soup!! Beads made from recycled glass in Tanzania, a gorgeous focal from a fellow Virginia glassworker, Linda Campbell, freshwater pearls, shells, glass beads with gorgeous finishes....the minute I opened the box and saw the beautiful goodies, I immediately had about a zillion ideas! I'm working out the logistics on the vision in my head right now.

I certainly hope the Soup I sent to Elizabeth is inspiring to her, too. Here's what I sent:

Elizabeth and I live about an hour apart, so probably by the time she sees this post, her package will have arrived. At least, I hope so!

This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!

Puzzles and Works in Progress

2011-08-13T21:26:00.004-04:00

First, I want to direct your attention to a wonderful podcast I was listening to in which Rice Freeman-Zachery interviews Sharilyn Miller. The podcast is at this link. She talks a lot about herself and her work, but also offers some really interesting insights. Personally, I love her work, so I am always eager to read and listen to anything I can about her and what she is doing. Someday, I would love to go to one of her Wild Wire Women retreats.

****************************

Somehow, today I have been able to get a few things done in the workshop. I have a long (LONG) list of 'stuff to make', and things I want to try out, so whenever I get some time to create, I never feel like I get enough done. Not to mention the fact that I have to shift between workspaces all over the house (metals in the garage, beading in the office, anything with water in the kitchen...). But I did get a few bits of copper enameled, some washers hammered and heat-patinated, and a decent start on some wire wineglass charms.

It's those wineglass charms that have been giving me the puzzling issues. I know in my mind's eye what I want them to look like, but getting there is....well, most of the fun, but still seriously taxing my engineering skills. I'm not even sure how much of a market there will be for them, but there are two wineries that are vendors at the market I am doing, so maybe I'll actually sell some. But first, I have to make some that work right.

But I'm always grateful for some time to make things, even if I wish I could work faster or make more things. :)

What are YOU making?

Bead Soup, Baby!!

2011-08-09T21:28:00.002-04:00

It's time for the Bead Soup Blog Party to get going! I got my partner, and I'm pretty excited about it!

Elizabeth Woodford is going to be my partner for this dance!

I looooove what I have been seeing of Elizabeth's work on her blog and Facebook page, and I know whatever she sends me is going to be a lot of fun to work with. I have already been at the torch making a set of beads for her.

Soon, she and I will be posting our bead soups and working on our creations. You'll just have to hang on til September 17th to see what we make with each other's soups!

A Catch-Up Post

2011-08-08T06:36:00.006-04:00

The time just gets away from me! I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted.

So, let's catch up.....

I will be part of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party again! She is an amazing woman, and even more so to put this whole thing together. Over three hundred people are swapping beads and making a jewelry piece with their partner's beads. The last go-around was so much fun, and it's astonishing the creativity that people possess! Stay tuned, because I'll be posting more as time goes on.

I had a dismal sales day at the market this past weekend, which was funny because the market was busy and the weather was fabulous! Oh well. The good part is that I had a great time, chatting with other vendors and talking to folks attending the market. Every day can't be a zillion dollar day.

My enamels order from Fundametals came in and it was like Christmas! Jeanette is a wonderful person to do business with, and I highly recommend her shop for enamel, mixed-media, and metalwork supplies and tools. I got transparent and opaque enamels, and some Klyr-Fire. I had to wait til yesterday (Sunday) to play with everything, but it was SO worth it! I remembered most things from Melissa Manley's Hard Candy class at ArtBliss last year, and I made some nice enameled discs for pendants and earrings.

Apparently, yesterday was a Muse day, because somehow I made five new bracelets, one after the other. Awesome. I love it when that happens! Effortless creativity, using materials that have been sitting there all along, but finally decided to show me how they come together!

Some copper was etched, and this is the unfinished result....starting work on Halloween stuff, too.

Oh, and my shop has been updated with some more pieces. I'm trying to get my stock up before holiday shopping, so look to my Facebook page for updates!

I think that's it for the catch-up....for now, anyway!

Have a great week, everyone, and I hope to have more to show you in a few days!

One Bite At A Time

2011-08-02T13:59:00.007-04:00

This is the message board in my kitchen. I like to change the message from time to time to reflect things we need to think about, post messages to congratulate members of our family, encourage each other, or just inspire someone to do their best.

Lately, I've had quite a lot of GOOD in my life -- good news, good happenings, positive outcomes. I've told you some of it already. I'm so thankful for all of it.

Lately, though, I've also had a lot of NOT-SO-GOOD. In July alone, one of our dogs nearly died and required expensive emergency vet care, the master bathroom shower leaked into the living room ceiling and caused a catastrophic failure of the drywall, resulting in a huge 3' square wet hole in my living room ceiling and the total destruction of my master bathroom, and the air handler for our upstairs heat pump backed up and began leaking into the ceiling of the master bedroom. You can imagine how that went.

The work that I do as my 'day job' has slowly crept up to a level that is overwhelming. I've gotten many parts of it under control, but for a while there, I was seriously stressed and managing WAY too many teeny tiny details. Add to that the kids being home, and getting enough time during working hours to handle everything is nearly impossible. Thankfully, my boss is awesome and trusts me to get the work done.

My middle daughter was having a hard time grasping some of the finer points of appropriate school behavior.

Somehow, I hurt my foot enough that walking is painfully difficult.

We have to choose contractors for the bathroom remodel. I have to pick out tile and cabinetry and paint and accessories for a project I wasn't planning on doing.

It's all been a lot (too much!) to handle.

BUT.

In all of this, just when I thought the Universe was all about handing me a big bucket of crap, I realized I was also getting handed a bucket of good stuff, too.

People starting coming out of the woodwork with recommendations for tile guys, and drywall people, and plumbers.

The sales guy at the tile place helped me narrow down my choices and choose a selection of really pretty and complementary tile for our teeny master bathroom.

We found out we might be getting a decent refund from a previous homeowner's policy we weren't supposed to be paying on.

I got a raise at work!

Wren had a great day at school yesterday.

My foot pain (that I thought might be a stress fracture) is actually plantar fasciitis. Soft tissue injury, difficult to heal, but not as bad as a fracture.

I got some copper pieces ready for etching.

And my husband brought me flowers on Monday.

So, when I take everything together, there really has been a LOT of good along with the not-so-good. Staying positive is a good thing, and it helps. I'm so grateful for the support of friends and family, including my virtual 'tribe' -- you guys! Sometimes, it's true. When you have a LOT on your plate, you just have to remember to deal with one thing at a time so it all doesn't overwhelm you. Eat that elephant one forkful at a time!

AND, to bring some focus back on art and jewelry, here's my Bead Table Wednesday contribution...

I've moved things to my sewing space to try to keep my kitchen island from becoming a beady, coppery wasteland of in-process projects.

I hope you all have a terrific Wednesday!

So Many Great Things!

2011-07-29T08:05:00.005-04:00

I've got a bunch of really great things to talk about today, and maybe even some pictures, too!

First, I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this, but a few weeks ago I was notified that I was accepted into the docent training program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts! I wrote about it on my Facebook page, but I guess I didn't say anything here...I'm SO excited, though! Training will start the second week of September, and run through next year.

Second, I finally went ahead and ordered some postcards with jewelry-care information on the back. I used one of my very favorite photos of my enameled beads, some wire and glass, and the brass plaque I stamped 'creative'.

I got them done with VistaPrint, and they're not bad for the first go-around. I'm thinking of putting that image on my business cards, too. It captures most everything I do with my jewelry these days -- metalwork, wire, glass, enamels, stamping -- so I think it would be a little more 'iconic' for my business.

Does anybody use MOO cards as business cards?

I made beads this week, braving the heat to do so. I'm getting really frustrated with my torch setup these days, because I have so little time to make beads and I want to knock out a big bunch at each torch session. Unfortunately, with the HotHead, it takes a long time to melt the glass, which translates to extra time roasting over the flame and fewer beads made in an hour. Roasting me, as well as the glass, some of which doesn't take kindly to roasting and turns all kinds of funny colors, or just flat out burns. Sigh. Someday, someday I will be able to move on from my HotHead to something that will get me where I want to be, glasswise. I am starting to feel very limited, and that sucks.

All I need is money, though.

Quoth the Raven...."Got to get started on some Halloween ideas!"

Chickens and eggs for the market

Blue beads for a necklace idea I had.

Those grey transparent beads? Those are supposed to be crystal clear glass beads, but thanks to the HotHead, that's what I get. I look forward to the day when I get to work with clear glass again.

Other good news...I was invited to blog at 'Studio Mothers', which is a wonderful community of support and inspiration for creative moms....and not only moms! I've really enjoyed reading it, and now I am thrilled to be a part of it! Check out my intro blog post here.

I added dates to my schedule at the Manakin Market, so I will be there twice a month for August, September and October. The market ends the last Saturday in October. I will also be at the University of Richmond's Arts Around The Lake show on September 25 (oh please don't let it rain like last year!), and Whimsical Wares, in Richmond, which will be sometime in November.

I think that's the update for now. Lots of things going on around here, but it's also August, which means my kids are home all day (no camp/summer school/activities!). I'm trying not to get too stressed about having less time to myself, and instead trying to figure out how I can fit in little pieces of productive time to make jewelry and get stuff done. I'll get there, I'm sure.

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If any of you are local to Richmond, VA, and interested in having your own private A Hot Piece of Glass Trunk Show at your home, please get in touch! I'm starting to book dates for home sales, and I've put together some great hostess benefits that will get you some free and special-sale jewelry and accessories. Whether we want to believe it or not, Christmas shopping season will be upon us soon, and a Trunk Show is a great way to get some shopping done AND hang out with friends! Email me for details.

It's Hip to Use Square!

2011-07-23T21:23:00.004-04:00

Today I was at the farmer's market in Manakin, VA. If you've heard about the weather we've been having here on the east coast of the US, you will know temperatures have reached over 100degF for the past few days. The heat indices have ranged from 105degF up to an amazing 116degF yesterday afternoon. It's unbelievable.

And I was a vendor at the market today. Yikes. Thankfully there is shade in our market site, and a fairly decent breeze (which started to feel like a blast furnace around 11a.m.).

But that's not why I'm writing.

I set up at the market, and immediately made two sales to the market managers of some glass chicken and egg earrings. It was so hot that I was pretty sure those would be my only sales today. During the long lull in business, I decided to play around with my iPad and see if I couldn't get a better handle on my credit card acceptance application, Square.

Some quick backstory: I had a credit-card processing account through my bank, complete with the old imprinter and carbonless charge slips, and the need to telephone each card transaction in at the time of the sale, meticulously typing in looong strings of numbers. I hated it, but it was inexpensive and it worked for the limited amount of credit card transactions I did. Recently, my husband and I purchased iPads. Another artisan friend uses and likes Square on her phone, so I got the 3G version of the iPad so that I could use Square when I was at markets or art shows.

I had received my (free!) Square device (it plugs into the headphone jack on your phone/iPad), signed up for an account and linked it to my business bank account. At my first market, back on July 9, I got to use it for the first time. Of course, I hadn't really read the instructions, figuring like most technology, it would be fairly self-explanatory. It wasn't totally, but it was fairly easy once I figured it out. The sale was completed, and the money, less Square's processing fee, was deposited into my account within a day. So far, so good.

So at the market today, I was prepared to use the Square again, this time being pretty clear on how to use it. I decided to fiddle around on the website to see what else I might need to know to make transactions better. Good thing I took the time to read the FAQ!

I found out that I could use the device and application as a cash register, inputting cash AND credit card transactions. It would even tell me how much change to give back (yay for those of us who don't do math on the fly very well)!

You can make an inventory list, complete with photos, so when a customer makes a purchase of an item, you can attach that inventory entry (with thumbnail photo) to their transaction and email their receipt with a picture of what they bought!

Customers sign their transaction slips by using their finger on the touchscreen and can opt to have a receipt sent via SMS or email. In your account, you can see a list of all the transaction you have processed. So cool!

I haven't even really begun to fully explore all the things I think this application can do. Granted, I've only been using it for about a month, but consider me a happy client of Square. If you are looking for a credit-card processing method, I recommend trying Square.

(These opinions are mine alone, by the way. No affiliation with Square whatsoever, beyond being a happy client of their application.)

Market Day!

2011-07-10T09:20:00.005-04:00

My trip to the new market was a really successful day for me! I ran late leaving my house in the morning, which always makes me nervous and irritated (I abhor being late for anything), but it almost couldn't be helped. Torrential rain put a damper (ha!) on my typical evening-before-a-show preparations of loading the car.

I arrived without trouble at the site, and found the market manager, Lisa, friendly and helpful, showing me to my assigned place, and letting me know how the market worked and where to park. It was a glorious place, my spot, in the inner ring of vendors, under the trees. Lisa had said the site was often breezy, and yesterday was downright windy at times! But the sun shone and the temperature was perfect, so I couldn't complain. The only issue might be the presence of poison ivy (to which I am spectacularly allergic) in the occasional spot under the trees. Yikes. Turns out there was one small plant in my tent that I didn't notice, and of course, my kids ran through and over it constantly while they visited, but so far no one seems to have been victimized.

I was really happy with my new display:

Sorry for the into-the-sun shots....was the best I could do at the time.

I couldn't believe it, but I sold that necklace on the denim pillow...it has one of my etched trees on it, and I really wasn't sure I wanted to part with it, but...I was happy to have it go to a really nice woman who admired so much of my work. I very nearly sold the hollow bead necklace to the left to another jewelry vendor, and I may yet, but it wasn't in the cards on Saturday.

The market sales for me were pretty decent -- just as good as my best day at any other of the local markets -- and I did learn a few things that I want to have well in hand before my next day there on the 23rd:

I need to make up some jewelry care cards. A no-brainer, but I haven't done it, especially since my printer has decided not to print on cardstock anymore, and I'm occasionally terribly frugal about business supplies.
I need to make up a postcard with my next show dates on them. Now that I am involved with this market, I have shows coming up!
This market has LOTS of vendors with chickens, rabbits, sheep, and alpacas. These lovely people need earrings. And maybe charm bracelets or pendants.
As usual, this type of market does well with lower price point items. This means more bookmarks, zipper and cell phone charms, and single-bead pendants, and earrings.
There are wineries vending at this market. Wineglass charms! Wine bottle stoppers! Cheese knives? Hmm...

As you can see, I have lots to do. I need to make a list, because at the moment, I don't even know where to start! But it's all for the good. Yay! Good sales and lots of appreciation for my work is like a shot in the arm. I feel so much better about everything.

To Market, To Market...

2011-07-08T09:51:00.003-04:00

After a yearlong hiatus, I've decided to go ahead and do another farmer's market here in the Richmond area. I applied to the new market in Manakin-Sabot, My Manakin Market, and was notified that there was a place for me, beginning this Saturday (tomorrow!!). So, I will be hauling my show stuff out today and tonight and getting things ready. I'm really glad I had just done that gallery show with my girlfriend Carolyn a few weeks ago, because most of my stuff is organized and intact.

I'm also going to try out my new iPad and the Square for accepting credit cards. We'll see how that goes. I have the 3G 32GB iPad and I will be activating my 3G data plan for the first time. It should be a learning experience.

I know that farmer's markets may not always be the best venue for artisan jewelry and accessories, but I'm going to try it. I need to sell some work, and I need to expand my customer base in the Richmond area, and markets can be a cost-effective way to make that happen. We'll see.

I'm hoping this is going to be a good thing.

AWOL

2011-07-07T08:28:00.004-04:00

It's summer, and so that means my time to create and be creative is limited and short. I'm sorry to say I have nothing really new to show.....it's been hot and I've been busy, and spending time with my kids while they are home this summer has been a top priority.

My middle daughter started summer school this week, though, and that has been a bittersweet experience. She'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, and this past spring when we registered her for school, we learned about the School Readiness program that was being offered (free!) to rising kindergarteners. It's mostly designed for helping kids who have not had preschool experiences get ready for 'big school', but Wren certainly could benefit from the structure. Plus, she is really REALLY ready to start school AND she could ride the bus! What's not to like?

New backpack, new lunchbox, and she's happily off! The first day, the bus driver took the kids to the wrong school, but that little adventure got straightened out and all is rolling along well now.

I didn't even cry that first day, when she climbed those bus steps and waved to me from the window. I *was* monstrously choked up, though. My baby!

*deep breath*

One thing I have been obsessed with lately is making fresh mustard. From scratch. You know my deep and abiding love for medieval history, right? Mustards have been around a loooong time, and a friend took a class from another friend who did some of her own research into period mustards. Well, now that we have the technology and the source for the mustard seeds, it's ON! The other day, I made honey mustard, peach mustard, a garlic and herb mustard, and a pepper spice mustard (with cloves and cinnamon!). Yesterday is was dark blackberry mustard, and today might be a wine-infused spice mustard. It's fun, and we have been buying our household meats from a custom butcher lately, so there is NO shortage of tasty grilled and smoked things to put the mustards on. YUM. I might be giving people homemade mustards for Christmas this year!

From left to right, top row: Pepper spice, peach, honey

Left to right, bottom row: plain ground brown mustard, garlic-herb, blackberry

In other news, I have been anxiously awaiting news from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, to see if I was accepted into the docent training program. The person who interviewed me said they'd make their decision and notify people by July 7th.....and it's July 7th! I think I will have to find something to do so I am not constantly refreshing my in-box.

Maybe Noah and I will go to the bookstore and peruse the jewelry magazines. Or to the spice store for more mustard seeds.

Frank and Jane Go To The Gallery

2011-06-25T21:07:00.007-04:00

Remember Frank and Jane? They got to go to Art Works for a gallery show last night!

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Fourth Friday gallery opening reception at Art Works gallery. My friend Carolyn, who is a muralist and polymer clay artist, has a studio in the gallery and she invited me to set up a small display in her studio for the opening last night.

Not having done a show of any kind in months, I was really looking for an opportunity to revamp my display and try out a few new things I had in mind. My work has been evolving steadily since I started selling it about three years ago. I think it's really getting to a place where I feel like it is truly an expression of my skill and talent and vision, instead of an attempt to co-opt someone else's 'thing' and make it my own. Granted, there's really nothing completely new under the sun, but I really think most of my recent work has had more of a stamp of ME on it than anything else.

I'm defining my media, for one thing.

I adore copper. Truly I do, almost as much as glass, as a medium, and I have also discovered I love manipulating metal. Well, duh! What with all the pounding and shaping and mangling of sheets of copper and brass....one would hope I love it!

Etching has also become a new thing for me, and I am finding ways to use that process to bring out my own vision in the work I make.

So....copper, glass, etching, metalsmithing...yep. Now I just needed to find a beautiful and enticing way to display it all.

Remember those vintage suitcases I bought at an estate sale a while back? Got those. Also a mannequin hand, Frank and Jane, some basic necklace stands, a pillow I made for my couch, and some wooden cigar boxes. Much finagling and fiddling later, here is what I had:

In the background is one of Carolyn's murals, on the back wall of her studio. She's fantastic, and last night showed me once again how crucial it is for me to have like-minded artist friends that I can hang out with. It was fun to be in the studio with her, drinking some champagne (one glass each -- we're lightweights -- but the cream puffs? We put a hurtin' on those) and talking about pretty much everything under the sun.

Oh, there's Jane. She was hiding behind a lamp, and pointing out the hollow-bead necklace, 'Roman Holiday'. Carolyn's dad is a blacksmith, and he made that gorgeous lamp, by the way.

The picture quality is not the best, because I had to use the flash or else they were too dark. Sorry about that. I did love hanging my bangle and cuff bracelets off the edge of the train case, though, and standing the earring cards up in the cigar box was MUCH nicer than using my usual oak earring rack. All in all, I really like the direction i am taking with display stuff, so hopefully by the time my next 'real' show rolls around, I will have something really nice all worked up.

I have to confess: I made about five bucks last night, but the greater riches were gained in spending a couple of hours with a friend. Thanks, Carolyn!

Shop update and other bits...

2011-06-10T07:20:00.000-04:00

Hi guys....just a really quick note to let you all know that I am busily updating my shop with earrings, AND the pieces I made for the Fairy Tale blog hop. Finally.

(The Faerie Queen earrings are already gone....to a really good home....thanks, Katie!)

Here's the link to the shop, or check it out on the left sidebar.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments about my recent work! It means so much to me to know you are reading and taking the few minutes to leave a comment! I'm still working my way around the rest of the blogs, but so far, everything I've seen has really been gorgeous!

An update on the hammered copper bowl (from Memorial Day weekend) is coming soon...

Fairy Tale Blog Hop!!

2011-06-04T21:47:00.003-04:00

I know, I know....I'm late to the party. *hides*

I received such an amazing stash from my partner, Tara Plote, of Newbie Beader, and I was able to make three pieces with the beads she sent. ALL of the beads were 'challenge' beads for me, as I don't really "do" shiny or sparkly or precious. *grin*

I was stumped for a long time as to what I should make....I kept thinking silver was the only metal I could use, because the beads were so light in color and more dainty than what I typically use. Also, I am completely out of silver (what with it being so costly), but then it hit me! I can use my old favorite copper and make some gorgeous things with an unexpected bead and metal combination. So, here is what I made...

For The Faerie Queen

Night Garden

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I feel like I made some successful pieces, and I really like the way they came out for several reasons: One, since I NEVER use any kind of faceted, sparkly bead, much less one with an aurora borealis coating, I was pleased with how easily I could integrate them with my 'signature' metal, copper. I'd never really considered the more dainty, sparkly look with earthy copper. Another thing I like is my use of fiber in the Midsummer bracelet. I have not really used ribbons in any of my work, much for the same reasons as I didn't use "sparkly". But I really like the eclectic look of that bangle and how the beads and charms mingle with the ribbons and the forged copper bangle.

You'll have to check out Tara's page for what she made with the beads I sent her....but she has broken a finger on her dominant hand, so it may be a few more days before she can get her creations done. I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop, though. See below for links!

Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads

Courtney Breul, Beads By Breul

Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta

Evelyn Hall, Dragon Lady Evelyn

Sandy Richardson, Sandy's Coloring Box

Dana James, Dana's Jewelry Design

Tara Plote, Newbie Beader (My partner!)

Christine Brandel, A Hot Piece of Glass (You are here!)

Lisa Sittniewski, Alterity Art

Joanna Matuszczyk, Filcowe

Jenni Connolly, Jenni Bead

Geneva Collins, Torque Story

Elisabeth Auld, Beads For Busy Gals

Sally Russick, Wireworked

Mary McGraw, MK's Creative Musings

Norma Turvey, Moonlit Fantaseas

Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found

Stephanie Haussler, Pixybug Designs

Shai Williams, Shaia's Ramblings

Johanna Rhodes, Fire Phoenix Creations

Sandi Lee James, Do Be Do Bead Do

Sweet Addy Designs

Valerie Norton, Hot Fused Glass

Teacher's Gifts 2011

2011-06-02T21:14:00.003-04:00

Every year, I've always tried to make nice and thoughtful gifts for my childrens' teachers. Having worked in school systems, I know what teachers are usually given, and what they really do and don't appreciate. Since I've always been crafty, I've made a variety of things over the years. Since I learned glassworking and metalworking, the last few years have been jewelry gifts.

Jewelry has always been a very personal thing in terms of style for people, so I don't get too trendy or 'out there' when making pieces for people I know, but don't know well on a personal level. And I've always tried to choose themes that have meaning beyond the whole pencils-crayons-an-apple-for-the-teacher thing.

This year, I focused on the proverb, "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow." For the ladies who teach my little kids preschool, I made a series of simple copper necklaces featuring either a hollow glass acorn, or a polymer clay acorn, both of which I made myself.

For my oldest child, who is in middle school and has many teachers each day, I'm still working on gifts for those teachers. Her English teacher is male, so a necklace is Right Out. I'm thinking bookmark and gift card instead.

Of course, now that I am laid up in bed after having several outpatient surgeries on Wednesday, NOW I'm getting all these great ideas. Right when I have no energy to do them. Thankfully, Kira has a couple more weeks of school so I have a bit of time to get things done.

I really like the way these necklaces came out, and I'm thinking of offering them as glass or polymer clay pendants in my shop. It's a bit late for teacher gifts for this year, but not for this coming Christmas and for next year.

I think I'll list those earrings I wrote about recently, now that I have time on my hands and no ability to really do anything too involved.

What do you do (or have you done) for teacher gifts for your kids and their teachers?

Memorial Day Metalsmithing!

2011-05-29T20:08:00.008-04:00

Some of you know of my love for medieval history, and the fact that I participate with theSociety for Creative Anachronism periodically. Memorial Day weekend in my local group means it's time for a Gem Joust event -- a large tournament held over the three days of the holiday weekend. Every year, my friend Don Downie, who is a silversmith and goldsmith, makes the tournament prizes, and delivers them to Richmond directly to the tournament. He usually stays with us over the weekend, and for the last few years, this has resulted in metalsmithing lessons for me.

Last year, I mentioned I wanted to learn to forge a copper bowl, so he told me what tools and supplies to buy and taught me to saw, hammer, shape and anneal. We used 16ga copper sheet, and it was a bear to hammer, even after annealing. I didn't get nearly as far as I hoped, and the bowl is still not finished. I love it, though, because it was my first.

My first copper bowl, May 2010

This year, I had been talking to him about soldering, but I still wanted to work on my copper-forming skills. We went to the tournament on Saturday, and hung out with people, schmoozed, chatted and had quite a few laughs with people I don't see often enough. Right before the prizes were awarded to the winners of the tournament, I photographed them for him. These are silver with rose gold accents and set stones -- a ruby and a sapphire. They are solid and heavy and beautiful!

Aren't they fantastic? Don's work is really amazing. And, he's a great teacher and wonderful friend.

Sunday, after we dragged ourselves out of bed, had breakfast and generally woke up, Don and I talked about raising and sinking and the things he had been teaching other people lately.

With an 18ga copper disk and a homemade dishing "stump" and a couple of hammers, he taught me to do this:

I'm hammering a raised design into the bottom of the bowl, so it has several more cycles of hammering and annealing before it's done. My arm is tired! It's really physical work, and I love it. The design will be a spiral tree, a motif that is really prevalent in most of my work already. I'll definitely post more pictures when I'm done.

In addition to the actual teaching Don provided, he also gave me my very own portable dishing 'stump' and wooden forming stake.

A landscape timber cut to about two feet and drilled deeply with a paddle bit becomes the stump where you begin to raise the bowl.

A deck finial, drilled, becomes a forming stake.

And you can conveniently screw the stake to the stump to make working easier and to keep things together.

Needless to say, this, and learning the technique of hammering a raised design to sheet metal has set my creative fires burning. I think some quality time with the sketchbook is in order.

And I need more hammers. And more sheet copper.

Good grief!

2011-05-28T08:05:00.004-04:00

FINALLY.

I finally am able to access my Blogger account and post something. I don't know what the heck is going on with Blogger, but I am not pleased. granted, you can only be but so upset with a service you aren't paying for, but I am beginning to think I might switch this blog to another platform, like Wordpress. I don't know, it's more of a gut reaction at the moment. Still considering the details.

For those of you who have been having trouble with Blogger, what do you think? Planning to stay? Switch? And if you switch, to which platform are you going?

Anyway, I've been making earrings. Still in love with copper!

I think the last set is my favorite. I love those hammered disks and the blue beads. I hope to get them all listed in the shop soon, but if you want any of these pairs, let me know!

Have a great weekend!

End of the year....

2011-05-20T09:15:00.003-04:00

I'm being totally swallowed up by the end of the school year stuff for my kids!!

Thanks for the support on the Tardis contest; I'll be back soon with something (hopefully) interesting to share.

OOh! before I forget.....I think most of you know that I applied to the training program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to become a volunteer tour guide. Applications were accepted until the end of April this year, and then museum staff chose from the applicants a number of people to come in for an in-person interview. I was selected to interview, and will be doing that this Tuesday morning!! I'm so excited!

I have no idea what to wear.

TARDIS

2011-05-11T08:45:00.004-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a great big geek. I have a particular love for the BBC television show 'Doctor Who', which has been on the air for YEARS.

Central to the show, besides The Doctor, is a vehicle in which he travels, called the TARDIS, which stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. It's shaped like an old British police box, in which one could call for the police if help was needed on the street. In the show, the TARDIS shows up in many likely and unlikely locations as the Doctor travels across time and space.

This year, the BBC is holding a contest for fans to make their own TARDIS, and put it in an interesting place. My whole family loves this show, and I thought this would be a great project for myself and my eldest daughter and my husband to make. However, we promptly forgot about the contest until recently. The deadline is May 15, and in the form of a last-minute brainstorm, I single-handedly created our entry.

If you go to this link: Where's The Tardis?, you will find photographs and a description of my entry. Please click the 'Like' button if you are so inclined. I really, really want to win this contest!

(The winner gets a private screening of Doctor Who for 50 people, AND copies of ALL the Doctor Who episodes currently available on DVD.)

Thanks, guys!

Oh, and for those of you hardcore fans, I am currently working on Dalek beads, smaller versions fo the TARDIS for earrings, and a weeping angel. What else should I try to make?

State of the workshop

2011-05-06T15:38:00.003-04:00

I posted the lovely shot of my "bead table" for Bead Table Wednesday the other day, and I thought, you know, that isn't the only place I work on my art. Lacking a real studio or my own dedicated workspace, I take over various places all over my house. A corner of the kitchen is my jewelry-making space. My lampworking stuff is set up along one wall of the laundry room. And my 'metals shop' is actually all over my husband's workbench in our small garage space. My little kiln is in there, too, and the poor guy has no place to work on his own stuff.

Someday, I will have my OWN studio space, where I can put ALL of my art stuff in one place, leave things out while I work, and keep them there til the project is done, and not worry about little hands or animals messing around with my stuff.

Until then, I have this:

My dad, who is a contractor, saves me all his leftover compound wire

Kiln doubles as stand for handheld torch station

Sawing, pounding, quenching, pickling

And my trusty bowling pin. I don't like to be without that!

Yeah, it's messy. But at least I have a little space. It could always be worse, right?

BTW

2011-05-04T20:50:00.002-04:00

It's Bead Table Wednesday....and this is my current bead table in it's current state. Actually, it's the space next to my fridge. Note the detritus of 'real life' all around. And my sketchbook. One of them, anyway.

BUT!

I've been making stuff! I got about six pairs of earrings made, and as soon as I get some good photos, I will show them to you. And then I will list them in my shop. Yay!

What I've been up to....

2011-04-28T08:10:00.005-04:00

Celebrating

Loving

Being goofy

Coloring

Gardening

Sorry....

2011-04-22T09:57:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone....sorry for the distinct lack of fascinating and captivating content (riiiight!) and awesome photography (HA!). My laptop is out of commission for the time being, until I get a replacement power cord. So, I can't really upload pictures or do any real writing like I want to until I can access my OWN computer (I'm using my husband's).

HOPEFULLY, the new cord should come in today or maybe tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed...I have a bunch of stuff to show you!

Until then, enjoy your day....and Happy Earth Day! And peace to you on this Good Friday.

(and it's also my birthday)

XO,

Christine

Muse-ic

2011-04-14T08:47:00.004-04:00

From my torch session yesterday morning...

Storm

Sakura

Spring

Gypsy Rose

A good friend reminded me yesterday that sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. It is.

Bead Table Wednesday (and other stuff)

2011-04-13T08:17:00.004-04:00

Ok, you guys. This is the first Wednesday I have had NOTHING on the agenda for the morning. I've been going to, or taking kids to, various doctor and other appointments every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the last, oh...four weeks? All necessary, but since my only free time is in the mornings when kids are in school, that's when I schedule all my stuff.

The good news is I got new contacts and avoided the dreaded bifocals for a while longer.

The crown on my broken molar is fixed and intact. Finally.

The test results were negative. (which is good)

My blood pressure is perfect.

Lingering (and annoying) problems are starting to look like they have solutions, finally.

All is right with the world.

SO, here is my contribution to BTW!!

The weather in Virginia has been glorious for the past few days, so I have taken my 'work table' outside to my deck. All the better to bask in the warm spring sun, and watch the kids play in the yard! The bonus is that the arms of my Adirondack chairs are wide enough to hold my pliers while I work, so everything is right at hand.

This is my tray that I work on. There are any number of potential projects, in-process projects, and fiddly bits I'm playing with on this tray. As you can see, I am still in love with copper, and plan for this to be a long-term relationship.

So there you go! Kinda boring, I know, but that's what I have been up to lately.

*******************************

I've been sort of a slacker about jewelry-making lately. I've made a few pieces here and there, but haven't been able to muster up the enthusiasm for really going nuts and getting my work out there. Truth is, I'm sometimes slightly envious of other artists who seem to have lots of materials and supplies at their disposal, or who can go buy whatever it is they want to try out or work with. I can't afford to keep up with the latest trends in jewelry-making that involve new, cool supplies. I also know that everyone's situation is different, so there's nothing to be upset about. I don't need to keep up, I just need to do what I do best -- be myself. But I'm also having a very hard time focusing on just about anything lately. Lots of projects get started and then not finished, across all of my creative realms. I don't know why. Hopefully this will resolve soon enough. But in the meantime, I hope all of you are finding joy in your creative endeavors.

And the other stuff...

2011-04-03T09:01:00.006-04:00

I wrote about the custom order I recently completed for a friend of mine, the Encircled neckalce and earrings. In addition to those pieces, I had also made some pendants for her. The pendants were to be gifts for friends of ours who were involved this past weekend in cooking a very large meal for a large medieval event in North Carolina. It was my pleasure, and a whole lot of fun, to create this assortment of food-related beads and turn them into pendants:

All in all, I made about fourteen or fifteen different items, including some loaves of bread that didn't quite have the look I was hoping for (and so are not pictured above).

My personal favorites were the beer mugs, of course, and the turkey.

My eldest daughter had suggested waffles with syrup, a few weeks ago when I had been stumped for other fun foods. They turned out to be another favorite for both of us, and I just might have to make more of those:

I didn't post about these pieces before because the event was held this past Saturday, and I didn't want to spoil any surprise in case any of the intended recipients were reading this! But, now that the event is done, I am anxious to hear how they were liked, and definitely interested to know which of my friends received which pendant!

I love making the food beads, and now I might have to make a series of necklaces or bracelets that are meal-themed. I can see a breakfast one: eggs, waffles, a coffee mug....and dinner: a turkey, veggies, a wine bottle. Fun!

Up next, some work for another friend's bridesmaids, and a Tiffany-style beaded bracelet for another friend. Maybe I'll own my kiln by the end of this year! ;)

Encircled

2011-03-30T19:11:00.008-04:00

I just completed a custom order for a friend that included a necklace and a pair of coordinating earrings. It is one of my 'Industrial Revolution' series pieces that I started a year or two ago. I don't go in for all-out steampunk style, but I do like an overall industrial feel to some of my work.

This is the necklace, 'Encircled':

And these are the earrings that go with the necklace:

Have I mentioned just how much I love working with copper? I love it.

Watch This Space

2011-03-26T11:49:00.003-04:00

I'll be back later this week with an update. I just got home from spending the week in my hometown (Rochester, NY) in order to attend the funeral for my Uncle John. I'm tired and emotionally spent and still wearing my pajamas at noon on Saturday, so I need a bit of time to spend with my kids and husband, since I had left them at home.

I promise pix of pretties soon.

Lucky

2011-03-17T06:59:00.008-04:00

With all the worldwide events in Japan, Egypt, Afghanistan and numerous other places, having my XM radio receiver stolen out of my car night before last definitely falls into the category of "First-World Problem". It was still upsetting and left me angry and disappointed.

But then I made this, knowing that is it true. I am so very Lucky.

I thought about Ireland's "Forty Shades of Green" while I put it together, and used up a number of green and yellow and gold beads in my stash. I love a project like that.

The necklace is in the shop right now.

Today I will be making pizza for dinner, and Nigella Lawson's Guiness Cake for dessert (just 'cause). I'll pray for the people of the world who are going through rough times and disaster, and for friends who have lost loved ones at home and abroad, and I'll remember just how lucky I am, and thank God for my blessings.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring is Springing!

2011-03-14T07:07:00.007-04:00

I am so glad it has started to get warmer and be sunshinier here in Virginia. As much as I adore winter, I am very glad for the days that mean I can be outside with my kids without a mountain of coats, scarves, gloves, boots, etc.

This weekend was nearly perfect. The sun was warm, the breeze was blowing, and we even got out to fly kites on Saturday. I love flying kites, and it was great fun to teach my little ones how to get their little kites in the air without running!

It was also a terrific weekend for estate sales around here. Noah and I had spent out Friday together hitting a couple sales (instead of making our usual Friday-morning grocery run), and I found a set of matched vintage suitcases for cheap. Not wanting to commit to them on Friday ("What will I DO with them?" Where will I put them?"), I passed them up, but then couldn't stop thinking about what I WOULD do with them, and went back on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, they were still there, having been stuffed into a closet in the house. SCORE!

That's my dog, Ruby. She helps.

I love the little train case! It needs a mirror (no problem!), and all the cases smell a teeny bit...funky...but it wasn't anything a day or so in the sunshine couldn't handle.

Right now the cases are in my dining room. One is stacked on the antique sewing machine with my mannequins, Frank and Jane, and the other two are stacked on the floor next to my hutch. I know they would make FANTASTIC display cases for my work, but I am at a loss as to how to retrofit them to display jewelry, and how to keep them open on the table. I'm thinking a small sandbag weight over the back, and some jewelry stands inside to show off my work.

Now all I need is some work. And a show.

In other news, I did some copper etching yesterday, and I'm not totally thrilled with the results. Rather, the results were not what I was hoping for when i was all done. I don't think I let them soak long enough or left them in the pickle too long, or something. I dunno. More experimenting is required.

Happy Spring!

On Acceptance

2011-03-07T08:50:00.005-05:00

Now that the first quarter of 2011 is nearly over, I think I have stumbled onto what my Word of The Year is going to be.

Acceptance

This past year, from my birthday in 2010 to my upcoming birthday, has been one of personal exploration, decisions, failed (and successful) attempts, and refining of artistic visions. I tried a lot of things (submitted to magazines, taught classes, did shows), was successful with some of them, and not so much with others. But through it all, I realized that I was allowing myself to get mired in negative thinking, spending way too much time comparing myself with others, and constantly thinking that whatever I did in a particular moment was somehow just. not. enough.

Which is ridiculous.

I mean, really.

So I hit a giant 'reset' button somewhere after the holidays, and took everything back about eight hundred notches. I thought about my plans and what I really want. I'm pretty happy with what I've been doing lately, which, compared to last year, isn't all that much. I've got a couple of custom commissions going on at the moment, and I was just asked to create bridesmaid jewelry for a friend's wedding this fall. And I'm making some personal projects that aren't all in the artisan jewelry realm. I'm also exploring my interest in art history, and dipping my toes back into the waters of my medieval living history hobby.

I have no plans to submit to magazines in the near future. I didn't do Lori's recent (and OMG awesome!!) Bead Soup Blog Party, but I am planning on joining the next one. I have signed up for no spring and summer shows. I'm taking it easy. Very easy. And it's nice! I'm finding that when artistic vision and inspiration really strikes me, I'm so incredibly productive, it's almost scary.

I can see now that there are only two more years before my littlest ones are in school full time, and after that there will be MUCH more time to get involved in all these things: shows, magazines, online stuff. Right now, I am doing what comes up and what I feel led to do in the moment, and that means accepting that what happens or what I do is simply enough.

It came to me over the weekend that 2011 is all about Acceptance -- of me as a person, an artist, a mom, all my various roles. Whatever I am doing is the best I can do at the time, and it's what I am supposed to be doing, and ALL I am supposed to be doing.

I guess this means I really can't Do It All.

Do I feel the insistent pull of "Sign up for shows!Submit to a magazine!Get yourself Out There!Be Involved!!"? Of course I do. I am a goal-oriented, responsible, achieving, first-born child! It's my Job! *snicker*

But I am consciously reminding myself (pretty much daily) that the most peaceful and happiest path I can be on right now is one in which I possess and define boundaries that allow me to not feel rushed, stressed, overwhelmed, ragged at the edges, and creatively spent. I don't have to be everything to all, and I don't have to do everything to be a successful person. Sounds like comprehending that would be a no-brainer, right? I mean, duh! But it's remarkably hard for me to grasp that and integrate it.

It's all good, though. And it's going well.

Oh, and here's a shot of my latest custom order....

Fun stuff!

So, my question to you is...how are you doing with your chosen path this year?

We Have A Winner!!

2011-03-04T22:12:00.003-05:00

And the random number generator says:

The winner of the Beachside bracelet is

Carol!!

of Dillman's Dallies!

Congratulations, Carol!

Email me your postal address so I can get your prize in the mail to you!!

And thanks so much to all of you who support me and my work!

One Hundred!!

2011-02-27T10:32:00.002-05:00

Woohooo!!!!

I officially now have one hundred followers for this blog! It feels like a milestone, and I am so blessed and honored to have so many people reading what I write and commenting and being so supportive of my writing and my work.

SOOOOOO...

It's time for a giveaway!

(I've never done one before!)

Because it's almost, almost spring, I would love for one of you to have this bracelet, Beachside.

It's a Viking knit bracelet, with four of my own lampworked beads, finished with a sterling silver clasp. To get it, all you have to do is:

1. Become a Follower of this blog (if you aren't already), AND

2. Leave a comment and tell me where in the world you'd most like to be right now.

That's it!

I will draw the winning name on Friday, March 4 at noon!

Good luck!

Shawl All Done!

2011-02-21T07:49:00.005-05:00

Just a quick post this morning to show the end result of all that knitting....

Ta-DA! Wildfire!

I've been trying to figure out what to knit next. Something small, probably -- fingerless mitts or a hat, socks, or something -- but I can't decide on a pattern.

Now I think I need to make a shawl pin....a copper pin would be beautiful with this shawl! And maybe a couple sets of stitch markers for my shop. Maybe I will try to do that today. Hmmm...

The ideas keep coming, but the time to do these things still escapes me. At least the weather is warming up -- that means more chance to get into the garage to saw and pound some metals!

My friend Ken reports that my work did very well at the auction Saturday night, and the group overall did raise nearly $7,000 for their trip! Yay!

Enjoy your Monday off, if you are off for the US's President's Day holiday!

Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks

2011-02-15T07:25:00.005-05:00

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was hard at work on a few pieces for a silent auction fundraiser for a friend of mine. Ken is a good friend from college, and he is a teacher in the theater department of the Rochester School of the Arts in my hometown of Rochester, NY. Ken is a fabulously talented artist and designer, and a gifted teacher. When we were in college, Ken was often responsible for beautiful lighting and scene design on stages I performed on, and I am thrilled to now have the chance to support his work with my art.

A little background on this worthy cause...

The theater department at SOTA was selected to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer, as part of the 2011 American High School Theater Festival. if you know anything about theater or about the Fringe Festival, you know this is a major honor. The school was chosen to be one of 75 schools to attend and perform at the festival, out of over 2,200 applicants.

If you've traveled overseas (or anywhere!), you know this is not an inexpensive undertaking. They have a goal to raise $125,000 to finance this trip for students and teachers, and represent their school and their district in Scotland. One of the fundraising efforts is a benefit concert this weekend in Rochester, and along with the concert, a silent auction. I created a necklace and earring set for the group to offer in their silent auction this Saturday.

'Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks'

These pieces are entirely copper, with my own lampworked glass beads. I think I showed you the etched leaves in an unfinished state a while back, but here they are, looking MUCH better now!

I'm so incredibly proud of this work, I could just burst! I think these are my favorite of all the pieces I have done recently, and although I never repeat work, I might just have to make a pair of earrings like this for myself. The oak leaves are really fantastic, and now I have a million designs all clamoring for attention in my head. Oh, and can I just say how much I adore using my Lortone tumbler on finished work?? How did I ever get along without it? Everything comes out SO shiny and beautiful, and work-hardened (a blessing if you make copper earwires with 20ga!)!

But I digress....

So, if you happen to be in the Rochester, NY area on Saturday, and you want to hear some live music and support a fantastic cause, then you should go to the Go Plaid or Go Mad benefit concert and check out the silent auction. It looks to be a great time, and if I were going to be anywhere near NY this weekend, I'd totally go!

And if you CAN'T go to the benefit concert, you can still help out by making a donation to support the group. Go here to make your donation.

Thanks!

2011-02-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

(the kids and I were making cards with heart-shaped potato stamps)

Book Destash!

2011-02-06T09:35:00.007-05:00

I've been cleaning out my extensive library of craft and sewing books, and I've come across a few I don't need. I'm building up my funds for classes and to pay off my kiln, so if there are any books you would like, please email me at ahotpieceofglass AT yahoo DOT com. First come, first served!

Here are the titles, all are in good or excellent shape, and I will be happy to ship for $5 in the US (let me know if you really have to have one of these books and are overseas, so I can figure out a good shipping rate).

$ 8.00, hardcover with dust jacket

by Wendy Rosen, $12

$10 (in new condition)

Beader's Bible, $12 (in new condition)

Advanced Beadwork, $8

If you've got any questions, please let me know!

January has been a month of hibernating and reorganizing and doing other things while it's too cold to work with metals and glass. February is starting out much the same, although I am working on a piece for a fundraiser. As soon as I am done with it, I'll tell you all about it!

Not much else is going on here; I feel unfocused on metal and jewelry stuff, and taking that lack of focus and directing it at other handcrafts that I enjoy -- like knitting and sewing.

Here's an in-process picture of the shawl I am working on. It's not meeting my need for instant gratification, and I should have chosen a smaller project to make my re-entry into knitting with, BUT I am determined to finish it. It's the Herb Garden Shawl, and it's on Ravelry.

Sorry for the unglamorous lumpy, undefined shot of it. I was outside in my jammies without a coat this morning, trying to get a picture of how it looked so I could post it here, and couldn't get a good shot! Ack! I need to practice photographing knitting!

Anyway, you can see the rows and rows of garter stitch. It's really pretty and it will be beautiful and warm when I am done. I am hoping I will be done before it gets too warm to really need it this year! Next on the knitting queue is a hat or socks or arm-warmers or something smaller. :)

I refuse to start another project, though, until I finish this one. I want to be able to say that I'm a knitter, and finishing a project is part of that! Right?

That's the update from me for now. I hope everyone is staying warm (if it's cold where you are) and enjoying the beginning of the year. More later...

Indoor Fibery Goodness

2011-01-26T21:08:00.005-05:00

So no metalsmithing and no torching of glass or enamels....much too cold for all of that. And apparently, now that I have gotten to this age, my hands now swell and my joints hurt periodically. I hope it's just a function of winter, but regardless, it's annoying.

I've turned to my sewing machine for comfort. Bernina never lets me down.

What with the new year and all, I needed a new planner to keep track of all the things I keep forgetting. But the cheapie planner I got (which suits my purposes perfectly) was a boring as HELL plastic-covered thing that cried out for cosmetic help. Being the magnanimous person that I am (with a killer stash of fat quarters), I obliged my little planner. And now, no longer an Ugly Duckling, but a beautiful Swan:

It's perfect! I love it!

And then I decided that I HAD TO make a new purse. I just wanted one. I'm a bag lady and I love bags, totes, purses, containers of all kinds. So I saw this pattern in one of my RSS feeds, and although it was cute, I modified the entire thing to suit my particular tastes.

Originally the pattern called for the bag to be kind of tall and skinny, but I wanted something that would fit my planner and sketchbook, and be more like a messenger style bag. I also wanted the flap-over top. I did really like the easy interior construction, though, so I kept that. It's a fun bag and I actually completed it just about all in one day -- while ALL 3 of my kids were home on a snow day!! Unbelievable! That was about as astonishing as anything.

Plenty of room for 'stuff'. I love it!

And it's pretty cute to wear. I made the strap long enough to wear cross-body, but I am working on a way of making the strap adjustable for a shoulder bag and for a handbag, without using d-rings and buckles. Still thinking on it.

One of the best parts is that I got the home-dec fabrics for the lining and the outside of the bag for $3/yard at Hancock's the other week. I love that. And I couldn't help myself, so I bought about $12 worth of flat-fold fabric (remnants that were off the bolt)in the home dec department for my next few bag projects. I'm already thinking of a custom knitting bag/handbag/shoulder bag thing. Just got to nail down the design.

Anyway, this is what I have been up to lately. Much warmer than metals right now.

Casting on

2011-01-15T20:37:00.005-05:00

Look! I'm knitting!

It's been ridiculously cold lately, and my joints have not been up to standing on cold concrete, or working with cold metals, so I have been satisfying my creative urges with indoor fiber-related activities. Also, with all the crappy weather we've been having, I have to choose things that I can do while I eyeball the kids. It's hard to mess around with sharp objects, torches, acids and hammers when you have little kids running around.

I actually learned to knit a while ago, but I have a heck of a time finishing projects because I get SO bored. Recently, I had an urge to start another project, especially after seeing so many of my knitter friends' great work. So, I cast on some chunky Lion brand Homespun yarn in the color 'Wildfire', and got to work. It's a pretty simple shawl, but I am enjoying it so far.

I'll be back soonish with more coppery goodness, no worries! If the weather is cold and miserable where you are, I hope you are staying warm!

Back At It

2011-01-07T08:13:00.008-05:00

I hope everyone has settled back into a good routine of things since the New Year and holiday celebrations. I've got one more party, tonight at my daughter's karate dojo, and my mom and her husband coming over Saturday for belated family Christmas, and then the holidays are officially over at my house. I love Christmas and the season, but I am happy to move on once everything is done. No year-round Christmas tree in this house! ;)

This week has afforded me some extra energy and tolerance for the freezing temps in my garage workshop. So, I have been able to work on some copper projects and ideas I've had kicking around in my head. I promised pictures of my etching work a while back and never got around to showing them, so here ya go!

Done with a cheapie rubber stamp and ferric chloride, this image is HUGE (2") and I LOVE it! I particularly adore the hammered look it has after I domed it on my leather sandbag that I covered with a piece of acrylic fleece. It's been pickled, but not patinated yet.

And this is what happens when you leave a piece out exposed to air that has been in contact with the ferric chloride. I love the green and copper, but it's a thick layer of dust, essentially, so I couldn't keep most of it. Must play around with this some more...

I mentioned in my last post (I think) about a silent auction fundraiser I am going to donate some work to. This is the preliminary work. Sawn copper leaves for a pendant and earrings that I etched (again with ferric chloride), and then formed. Also not patinated as yet in this photo.

Some foldforming experiments. Not my favorite, and I think I am not annealing things enough, or using too heavy a gauge sheet metal, but all in all, not terrible. Earrings, or some dangle charms here.

And finally, working on some valentine's and heart-themed stuff. Hand sawn, formed, embellished. Love!

So, what are you working on this year so far??

2011

2011-01-02T09:22:00.006-05:00

Last night, after a rather lackluster and fairly contentious New Year's Day, my husband asked me what I wanted to accomplish in 2011. I don't make resolutions, because I am trying to get away from requiring so much of myself all the damn time, and at first, I didn't know how I wanted to answer that question.

But really, I do.

I want to get accepted to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's Docent Training Program.

I want to attend both of the ArtBliss events in 2011, in March and in September (if there IS a September event...)

I want to take a college-level art history course.

I want to walk every morning. Or at least 5 mornings a week. Let's be reasonable, some days I won't be able to.

I want to stop thinking: I should do this or I should do that, or I have to do this or that, or do this because someone else (or a LOT of someone else's) are doing it. I also plan to stop paying so much attention to people who say those things to me, if what they say doesn't resonate with my heart and soul. There's a difference between taking a suggestion because it feels right to me, and doing something because I feel like I MUST.

I want to dress more adventurously, and care less about what people think of it, especially if it makes me happy to do so.

I want to play with my children more, ride bikes with my oldest daughter, and go out on kid-free dates with my husband (more than twice in a year).

I want to garden a little less lazily.

I want to let go of a good portion of what I do for my business, and only do the things I want to do for it. Luckily for me, I don't need my art business to make household/life money, I have a very part-time job for that.

I want to redefine myself in terms of my art-making -- for this year, it means to focus on what brings me inordinate amounts of joy -- metalworking and all its associated techniques, glassworking, and writing/photography.

I want to have my kiln paid off and in my workshop.

I'm not even going to say anything about the torch and oxy concentrator. I've been talking about them for the last two years, and talking hasn't gotten me any closer to having.

The list seems long, but really, when it all is taken together, it represents a change in the way of living. Or at least, a road map for a different kind of journey. I'm tired of trudging the road I have been on. It sucks the life out of my soul. I am weary of the demands and requirements and expectations I have placed on myself for most of my adult life -- expectations that nobody else has placed on me. So, I am going to try living without most of them.

The end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 represents a period of intense learning for me, about myself, about who I am at this stage in my life, and where I am and want to be headed. So many doors have closed, so many fewer things and experiences are realistically available to me, but the road is still wide and long and filled with adventures and journeys that were not possible before now.

"LET THE UNIVERSE show you the way via your impulses and instincts that appear as you take inspired action."

Cheers!

2010-12-31T22:06:00.002-05:00

Thank you all so very much for being a part of such a fantastic year for me.
I wish only the best for all of you as we head into 2011.

Cheers!!

Happy Winter!

2010-12-26T19:38:00.005-05:00

The snow is really coming down today and tonight. We've had over 5", which I realize is not much for those of you in the North, but for those of us south of the Mason-Dixon Line, it's a pretty decent amount. The above picture is of our house, taken around 1pm this afternoon, when about 5" of snow had fallen, with more coming down.

We had a fantastic Christmas at home with our kids. Santa was good to everyone this year! My husband really knows me well...I got a Lortone tumbler that I had wanted, and a disc cutter set, and also this:

Yes, that is a starship Enterprise NCC-1701 pizza cutter! I adore it, and I think pizza will be on the menu for dinner tomorrow night so I can use it! I'm a great big geek, I know.

My husband is home all week with us, so we are planning on lots of family time. Tomorrow is definitely for playing in the snow and for having hot cocoa. My daughter has requested to go ice skating, and I would like to go see the Victorian Christmas decorations at Maymont House. I probably should work at my office, too, at some point. The little kids both got board games, so we will likely play those, and build train layouts, and make things with Legos, and play cars and play 'kitchen', too. My oldest is at her dad's for the week, and I am sure she is having fun hanging out on her dad's horse farm. It's shaping up to be a good week, I think.

I've got some jewelry ideas brewing, and some plans to try out some more ferric chloride etching on copper. I'm working on a design for a fundraiser project for a friend's school (more on that later), and I need to order some stainless steel shot for my tumbler....lots to do.

And I'd like to spend some time this week meditating on what I want 2011 to look like for me and my art. Lots to think about, and many plans to make.

I hope all of you have had wonderful celebrations and spent peaceful time enjoying this end of the year season.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T09:19:00.011-05:00

I love Christmas! And with three kids, there's a LOT to love about the holiday. I'd like to share some of it with you...

I hope that all of you are enjoying a warm and wonderful holiday with your friends and family, and that you are surrounded by love, light, and the beauty of the season.

Thank you for all of your blessings, comments, love, help, and community this year and every year. You are all so very much a part of all that I do, and create, and I am grateful to each of you.

I will be back soon, or in 2011, whichever comes first!

2010-12-18T09:59:00.002-05:00

I had a HUGE post written about things I've been thinking about and paths and directions and journeys.....

I wasn't sure I wanted to post it, so I left it alone, knowing the Blogger autosave would have saved it for me.

Well, somehow it didn't. Augh!!

I KNEW I should have put it in a Word document...grrrr.

Out My Winter Window

2010-12-13T07:46:00.002-05:00

December 13, 2010
Richmond, Virginia
7:30 a.m.

(I'm in the middle of craziness, getting ready for Christmas....sewing preschool Christmas pageant costumes, making some of the scenery, and recovering from throwing my daughter's fifth birthday party this weekend...I'll be back soonish with jewelry-related and/or art-related stuff...I promise...)

Glass in all its forms

2010-12-07T14:00:00.009-05:00

When I was on my odyssey of discovery at Liquidation Warehouse the other week, one of my purchases was a few crackled-glass ornament balls. I love glass in all its forms (no! really!?), and these ornaments just really spoke to me. I've wanted, for a while, a few of the blown-glass witches balls to hang in my kitchen window, but I've never found ones I liked. Since Christmas is almost upon us, I thought these would be beautiful instead.

Some of my very favorite glass colors are blue and red. These are so good-looking in the light of my window that they may just stay there through the winter.

Isn't that red just stunning? I love love love that deep ruby red. Just delicious. (and for the record, I hate the word 'nummy'...)

And the blue....at some angles it is almost cobalt, at another, it appears violet. Straight on, it's one of my current favorite shades of transparent blue Moretti glass -- dark blue tranparent.

(This is the part of this post where I wish I had something better than my little Panasonic Lumix camera to take my blog pictures with....oh Santa, I wish you could bring me a Nikon like Cindy's!)

Ahem.

Next year's large purchase will have to be an oxygen concentrator, to go with the torch I haven't bought yet. Of course, that is after THIS year's large purchase, a Glass Hive kiln, which I also have not finished paying for...

But I digress...

I also wanted to show you all some of the results of my studio time. My glass beadmaking Muse apparently is elsewhere today (maybe playing in the snow at Kerry's place!), but in an effort to not let myself get sucked into the negative that goes with a crappy torch session, I decided to salvage the time and make frit. I've wanted to make frit for some time now, not being able to justify buying crushed glass when there are so many awesome rods to buy. There are a couple of methods to crush and mix your own glass, but the one that seemed to make the most sense, and was the simplest to deal with, is the water-shock method.

Basically, you heat the end of a rod to glowing, flatten it into a paddle at the end of the rod, reheat the paddle til it's hot, then plunge it into a jar of water and let it shatter into tiny bits. You then strain it out of the water and spread it on a plate or something to dry out so you can use it.

I made two small batches today, one a blue-green mix that I am hoping will be sort of an underwater-looking blend:

And the second batch, which is my end-of-the-day mix of all the rods I used while beadmaking this morning:

Let's see...what's in there....CiM Sangre, dark ivory, CiM Ghee (which normally looks terrible for me), Moretti dark trans blue, Moretti electric yellow trans, some CiM Peace, and I think some dark and light topaz. Oh, and some medium brown, I think. I was practicing making chocolate hearts for Valentine's Day.

So, the frits are currently drying, and I hope to get some torch time tomorrow to play with them. If anything comes out interesting, I'll post pictures. The rest of this week will likely be taken up with birthday party prep and sewing costumes for the preschool Christmas pageant.

I think it's time for more tea.

And Another One...

2010-12-06T13:37:00.004-05:00

So, I'm in the December issue of Bead Trends, too. Just a simple pair of earrings, but they are so nicely photographed! They're also easy to make, and I think they'd make a terrific last-minute gift!

There are several fantastic projects in this issue, including a number of excellent pieces in the Under $15 section (where you'll find my earrings!). Check out the great feature on designer Mary Jane Dodd, too. Her work never fails to inspire me.

I'm currently in the grip of holiday and birthday party preparations. My middle daughter turns five on Thursday and has her first real birthday party with friends on Saturday afternoon. Yikes! Must prep goodie bags and order the cake and make sure we have enough plates and utensils and figure out the games and prizes....and, and, and.....!!

More to come, I promise! Hope you all are enjoying the beginning of the holiday season too!

It's Here!

2010-12-01T08:51:00.003-05:00

Today is December 1st, and the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry is now on the magazine racks everywhere!

I mentioned before that I was going to have an article and some work in this issue -- and I do -- but I am also accompanied by some fo the most fantastic artists I have ever seen! I mean, really, MY work in the company of people like Melissa Manley, and Barbara Lewis, and Denise Yezbak Moore and Cindy Wimmer and friends? Really? It's an honor, truly, and I am so incredibly happy to be among them.

(OMG, I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!)

Go pick up the magazine for yourself...it's chock-full of fantastic ideas and beautiful pieces of work.

Experiments in the Workshop

2010-11-28T21:18:00.006-05:00

This weekend I got some time to fool around in the workshop a little, playing with sheet copper and some discs I got in a few weeks ago. Inspired by an article in Art Jewelry Magazine, I tried out some foldforming and played around with heat patinas.

These will become earrings:

It's really hard to capture how really cool-looking the heat patina is on these....all shades of blue and purple and yellow...really, really cool. I wish I could tell you exactly how I did it, but really, heat patinas are fickle. I'm just happy they are similar enough to become earrings. They will be sealed with lacquer to keep the patina.

I also made this, a pendant. It was made out of a 2" copper disc, and the same foldforming and heat patina. It came out way better than I had imagined!
Again, really hard to capture the patina in a photograph. I haven't decided what the rest of this piece will look like yet.

I did some really outstanding etching on copper, too, but I didn't photograph that yet. Maybe in a few days. I need to make the beads for the necklace the etched piece will be, so I might just make you wait til I get that all done. :)

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend, if you were celebrating, and enjoy your week!

OOH! I almost forgot....I am looking to upgrade to a digital SLR camera....something not too terribly expensive, but that will handle macro photography as well as general-purpose family and landscape photography. Anybody got any opinions on this issue? Email me if you'd rather: ahotpieceofglass AT yahoo DOT com.

Birthday man, and Cupcakes!

2010-11-26T09:42:00.007-05:00

Sorry I have been absent....the holiday this week has sucked up most of my time and I really needed the relaxation and hanging out time with the family. It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving with fun family time, plenty of leftovers and yummy good things to eat. I think today some of the turkey is becoming curried turkey salad, and I'll probably bake some bread later on. I don't do Black Friday shopping at all. I hate the way (some) people act and I don't really feel up to being in a crush of people. There's nothing I really want or need at the store THAT much.

Well, except for some 'Cars' plates and napkins, and maybe a bunch of balloons. Today is my son's third birthday! I can't believe this little guy is three already!

Here he is, all ready to go to a birthday party last Saturday for a little girl in his preschool class. We'll be having cupcakes and dinner out and a few presents later on today, and then my mom is coming tomorrow for even more cake and presents. It's a lot of cake, but I am a FIRM believer in marking one's birthday with cake ON the actual birthday. Every birthday should be a celebration.

*******************************

And now for the jewelry and glass content today...

I make glass cupcake pendants, and some of you may remember this summer, when I started selling them wholesale to a local cupcake bakery, designed to look like their cupcakes. I didn't know how well it would work, but people do love my cupcake necklaces. Imagine my surprise when the owner of the shop called me a few Fridays ago and placed a large order for necklaces and rings! I delivered them on Tuesday, and here is what I made them:

Ten of their 'Plain Jane' cupcakes on sterling silver ball chain necklaces:

And ten of their 'Red Velvet' cupcakes also on sterling silver ball chain necklaces:

Then eight silver wire-wrapped rings, four of the 'Plain Jane' and four of the 'Red Velvet':

If you are local to Richmond, Virginia, then get thee hence to Pearl's Cupcake Shoppe, on Grove Avenue, near Libbie. They have some of the most fantastic cupcakes ever, and also my necklaces, which make great stocking stuffers and gifts for little AND big girls!

When You Give Some Kids Some Mannequins....

2010-11-20T08:27:00.014-05:00

....you have the Brandel Family "Adventures of Frank and Jane"!

This is Frank.
...and this is his lovely companion, Jane...
They came to live with us this week, along with their two little friends, the Red Imps...
Everyone seems to be getting along well, although there have been some issues with the Imps and attempts to push each other off the ledge...
I think Jane got a little bent out of shape about their behavior, too because this was the scene yesterday afternoon...

Shoving the Imps into the basket of pinecones was a noble attempt at silencing them for a while so Jane could at least TRY to read a magazine.

Frank just doesn't know what to make of all of this....

(and my oldest daughter cannot resist a goofy picture attempt)...

Honestly, Jane was exhausted from dealing with them, and Frank wasn't really much help.

Eventually, though, things got under control. One of those Imps even helped Kira with some homework last night...

...but they do get bored easily, and are prone to bustin' a move, even when there's no music...
Jane worked out her frustrations with some exercise and yoga (modified reverse plank)...
...and that helped, along with some quality time hanging out with Frank. Ultimately, though, Frank and Jane survived their first day here, and it was definitely a cause for celebration!

Stay tuned for further Adventures with Frank and Jane!

Shopping Neverland

2010-11-18T21:59:00.013-05:00

A friend of mine recently told me about a fantastic place in our city where I could indulge my love for thrift stores, junk shops, and decorative arts. It's Liquidation Warehouse (whose web address is actually shopneverland.com -- how cool is that!?) !

Right near Virginia Commonwealth University, downtown in a section of old, old buildings, is this gem. The buildings are incredible; HUGE with massively high ceilings, and are all brick. Walking into this place is like walking into a huge costume and prop department on some movie lot or theater campus. The woman who greets you as you come in even says, "have fun! Let me know if you need help with anything....and don't forget to look UP!" The ceilings are indescribably high and all kinds of interesting stuff is hanging in the space above your head.

It's amazing in there! There were some antiques and stuff like that, but mostly there were piles and piles of stuff that used to be display items and decoration in large big-name department stores.
This picture is at the entrance to the 'Christmas Room', where there are tons and tons of sparkly and beautiful decorations of all kinds. This photo does not even remotely do justice to the extreme sparkliness of this place. All the lights and shiny Christmas ornaments, glittery trees and garlands...it's wonderful! And, one of the owners tells me this section of the building used to be a public icehouse. So fascinating!

I know there's someone out there who needs a bust of Napoleon with a neon hat brim...

Recognize the old Bloomingdale's shopping bag logo behind me??

There were more kinds of manniquins than I knew existed....and they had huge boxes of just parts...hands, legs, arms, heads...

For you, Kerry! Lots and lots of cool-looking (but a little too expensive) old suitcases!

Oh, and if you were wondering where Cloud 9 really is...I think I found it...

There was TONS of great stuff, and so much of it could have found a home with me, but I was good, and restrained myself. My total haul consisted of four heavy crackled glass ornaments for my kitchen window, two really fun wooden poseable mannequins, and a "neck" plastic display -- I needed something to photograph necklaces on, and this will work great! I just need to paint it or cover it in some way.

I think I'm going back tomorrow, with Noah. I got an idea for a Christmas present for someone...

2010-11-18T08:38:00.005-05:00

These earrings:

And these earrings:

went up in the Etsy shop the other day...if you want to wear them for Thanksgiving, order 'em quick! I'll even ship for free (for those earrings) if you order them now!

Just sayin'.

**Convo me when you make your purchase and I will refund the shipping fees!**

Monday Musings

2010-11-15T07:39:00.005-05:00

So it is Monday once again......

*Got to get back in the saddle this week and get stuff listed in the shop.

*Don't know the outcome yet of the show I had work in this weekend. Hope it was decent! From all reports, the traffic was good, and sales numbers were not too shabby.

*Spent Friday night through Saturday night on a trip to North Carolina to visit some of my husband's family. It was a great time, but I am STILL recovering! Lots of food and family, and beautiful weather down near Charlotte!

*The hotel room we had was terrible. Ugh. Awful. Thank GOD we only stayed one night.

*I've been thinking a lot about how to move my business up to the next level....what exactly that entails, what I *want* it to be like...what I can plan for next year, how to manage the finances so it's self-supporting...

*All this thinking can be exhausting, and overwhelming.

*I forgot to show you all my Halloween necklace this year....and it didn't make it into the shop because I was...well, I forgot...and I like the necklace so I might keep it.

*Hoping for some studio time later today, but so far, it's not looking good.

*I feel terribly disorganized today.

*But, there's potato soup cooking away in the crock pot. That's a good thing.

Whimsical Wares!

2010-11-12T12:27:00.009-05:00

Today (Friday 11/12) and tomorrow (Saturday 11/13), my work will be in a great new art and craft show that is being held here in Richmond, Virginia. I'd like to introduce you to Whimsical Wares!

This great show is being held at the Smoketree Community Center, which is located at 11100 Smoketree Drive in Richmond, VA 23236. The show is open from 11am to 7pm today, and on Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Lunch will be offered in the cafe, and there will be a huge variety of beautiful work to fill all your holiday shopping needs. We have original paintings, printmaking, mixed-media sculpture, ironwork and blacksmithing, woodworking, jewelry, cards, unbelievable pottery, and some of the best polymer clay millefiori work I have EVER seen! Amazing stuff, all of it made by a group of local artisans (including me!).

I took a few quick cell phone pictures this morning just before the show opened...sorry for the less-than-stellar quality...everything is SO much more amazing in person!

My display

The amazing polymer clay millefiori work done by Carolyn Schallmo

The stunning pottery of Steven Summerfield

The show!

Yes, this is my little Noah, helping out!

So, come on out this weekend and get your holiday shopping list taken care of, have some lunch and enjoy a unique shopping experience. Your loved ones will get a terrific handmade gift that is one of a kind, and YOU will be helping to support local artists and artisans.

Well, it's Tuesday

2010-11-08T14:27:00.003-05:00

So, I've been working on my Art Every Day month pieces, and truth to tell, I haven't shown any here because I haven't finished any yet. I've been grabbing a few minutes here and there to work on some journal pages and some jewelry pieces, but nothing is completely done enough to show. I'm occasionally scatterbrained when I get several good ideas all at once!

Anyway, I realize that I actually HAVE completed a few things in the last few days....if you look at beads being 'complete' even if they are not made into jewelry. For some reason, I have been very interested in focusing very intently on the beads I am making over the last couple of days. By this I mean that I have been spending a lot of time in my head, rummaging around in there, and so the beads I have been making have been detailed, large, complicated to make on my torch, and have consisted mostly of very very small dots and thick layers of encasing. I love working with dot designs, as most of you may know, and encasing is one of those skills that I feel you really have to work on and practice. The base bead has to stay warm throughout, but develop a solid skin on the outside so that the encasing layer can be applied without smudging the base. I've also been playing with a variety of methods to get the encasing layer to go on evenly and cover the base bead as completely as possible.

And the dots....I am a huge admirer of Brad Pearson's work (and he even lives in Richmond! I need to take a class from him someday), so I have been trying to incorporate some of his detail and technique into my own beads. Of course, compared to his work, mine look like they were made while I was drunk, but, hey, practice makes perfect, right? (and kids, don't drink and torch. Bad idea.)

Anyway, that has been my focus for the last two beadmaking sessions. I've been trying out different color combinations, too. I think some of these are successful. Some, not so much.

I'm liking this current focus on focusing. I am feeling very insular right now and spending a lot of time thinking. My favorite way to deal with a 'mood' or an introspective period like this is to hole up with some loud music directly into my head and something to do with my hands. Somehow I think this helps me work out whatever it is that's in my head. My mood and state of mind definitely informs the work I make at any given time.

At this point, I am going to sing the praises of Pandora. I absolutely LOVE listening to my Train station (ha!), and now that my husband has bought and installed our new media server, I am thrilled to be able to listen to my music in the house like we have a real stereo system! (How dated do *I* sound??) Music is an essential component of life, especially mine.

Oh! For any of you who are local to Richmond, VA, my work will be available for sale at Whimsical Wares, a new art show and sale that will be held this weekend, November 12 and 13th. It will be at the Smoketree Clubhouse on Smoketree Drive in Richmond. Open from 11-7 on Friday and 10-3 on Saturday, there promises to be a lot of really great work for sale -- jewelry, painting, ceramics and other fantastic gifts. You should go check it out!

Celebrate!

2010-11-03T12:42:00.003-04:00

Oh, there are so many things in life to celebrate! SO many! Just the fact that the weather here has gotten cooler and we are now coming into the holiday season is enough for me to celebrate!

But I think in this post, I am going to take a few minutes to celebrate what I think is a major accomplishment for me this year, although for some in the art jewelry world, I'm sure it's pretty minor.

Publication.

I have always been an artist at heart. Always. When I was younger, it was only applicable to whether I could draw. I sure as heck could dance. I was thoroughly trained and beautiful. Plenty of recognition in my world. But that didn't make me an artist, really, said my young adult self. What baloney! Thankfully, I realized what was at my heart before I got to the end of my life! Now, I am an artist, in multiple media, to be sure, but that is how I describe myself, because *I* believe it. I don't really need to have anyone else acknowledge that fact, because it's essential to my soul.

Outside validation, though, is still pretty darn cool.

So today I am celebrating something I never thought would happen. In 2010 and early 2011, I will have six pieces of my work featured in five magazines. Two of the publications are out right now....

First was the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends magazine:

And the second is the October/November issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry:

And the third should be available on December 1st, according to the website. I will be in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry! That would be exciting enough, but what really takes it over the top for me is that two of my friends are also in the same issue -- Cindy Wimmer and Melissa Manley! I am so thrilled to be included in a publication along with such fine artists!

Edited to add: I just heard from another friend, Barbara Lewis, who is ALSO going to be in the Winter Belle Armoire Jewelry! That makes it even more exciting! I {heart} Barbara Lewis!

Check this out!

There's a little sneak preview for you, of one of the two pieces that make up that article. I have to admit it was a complete shock to see this, and I am thankful to Cindy Wimmer for sending it to me, otherwise I would still be in the dark about it! I cannot wait to actually hold the magazine in my hands and see the photography for my pieces....and see what Melissa and Cindy have in their articles, too! Only a few more weeks til it's out!

Sigh. I love celebrating things. This has been an especially fruitful year for me, personally and professionally, and I am just thrilled.

What are YOU celebrating today?

Art Every Day Month!

2010-11-01T09:21:00.002-04:00

Today is November 1st (wow! HOW did THAT happen?!). It's All Saints Day, the Dia De Los Muertos, the first day of Samhain, and various independence and national days for a few countries. It's probably also the official start of the holiday shopping season, and there are only 60 days left until the end of 2010.

Today is also Art Every Day Month, which is an annual challenge event hosted by Leah Piken Kolidas, designed to encourage creativity and daily artmaking among all of us. I've been a subscriber to her Creative Every Day blog for a long time, but never have "officially" participated in AEDM. This year, though, I thought I would make the effort to really do a piece of art every single day in November.

So, today is the first day. It's 9:30a.m. local time, and I have created nothing yet, but a dream of my new kitchen island (which will be red). I'm debating between just making something every day, versus doing something structured every day, like a page in an art journal, or a piece of jewelry. I don't know yet, but hopefully by the end of today, I'll have something. I'm optimistic, if nothing else.

So, stay tuned and see what I come up with! The kids are out of school for two days and they are already hopped up on sugar from last night, so we'll see what ends up happening.

Hmm,...candy wrappers....

The Green Man

2010-10-25T07:14:00.006-04:00

I received a request from a friend of mine to create a Viking knit bracelet that has some beads shaped like the Green Man on them. This friend has an affinity for this Celtic motif and uses it in her home and even has a Green Man tattoo. Of course, I love a challenge and I also love to sculpt in glass. Some of you who read my blog entry from October 7, about soul-filling, have already seen the beads.

The finished bracelet looks like this:

It's on the way to my friend in Illinois right now. Enjoy, Katie!

Edited to add: The lovely wirework endcaps are a creation of the brilliant Kerry Bogert. I want to be sure to give her credit for the design of those!

Travelogue, Day Four: My Hometown

2010-10-21T07:04:00.018-04:00

The shore of Lake Ontario

I was born in, and lived in, Rochester New York for half of my childhood. My extended family still lives there, and I have many, many fond memories of that city. It's fairly rare that I find myself able to travel "home" very often, so I knew that a trip to Corning (only an hour and a half from Rochester) would mean a definite side trip.

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful -- sunny and slightly chilly and just perfect for looking at all the gorgeous fall leaves along the way. We made good time getting up to my grandmother's house, which is in a suburb of Rochester, literally right on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was great to see my grandmother, who is 85 and getting along in years. I brought her a photo album stuffed full of pictures of my family. Her memory isn't what it used to be.
The great thing about my family (well, one of the great things, anyway) is that we all live fairly long lives and most of us maintain our ability to be physically active long into our 80's. That makes me happy. Gram is doing great, and I wish I could see her more.

Kitty and I also spent some time on the lakeshore, which was incredibly windy and blustery!
I have such amazing memories of this beach, from childhood and from college years. I have always loved it, and always spend time skipping stones and looking for beach glass and heart-shaped rocks. I found both, plus some shells tossed up by the nor'easter.

On our walk, I discovered that the house I have coveted since I was a little girl is for sale. It's a beautiful 1907 house with incredible views of the lake and a loooong stretch of property that includes a portion of beachfront. It faces the lake and it just breathtaking. Alas, it is only 3 bedrooms (not enough for my family) and it's way out of our price range. Still, it was fun to think about.

After time at Grandma's, we met up with the wonderful Kerry Bogert for an afternoon (and evening!) of antique/junk/thrift shopping, the BEST margaritas and Mexican food I've ever had, and general hanging-out fun. I got to meet her beautiful children and terrific husband, see her house (I know, you are all jealous after seeing her pictures), and take lots of pictures.

Oh! I forgot! I took a quick side trip on the way to Kerry's house...I drove through the neighborhood I lived in when I was a kid. Seeing my old house is always fun. It's even red again (it has been red and brown over the past 30 years)!

227 Albemarle Street

I even remember our old phone number there. Isn't it funny how some things just stick with you? Of course the house looks smaller, and the driveway much less steep than it did when I was riding my bike down it as a child, but overall the feel was the same. The Japanese maple I climbed, the brick steps at the neighbor's that we all used as "base" for endless games of tag, the carriage house that was the garage...all there, and all the same. I wish I could have seen the inside and the yard, but I was polite and didn't want to intrude on the current owners.

But. I digress.

Back to the shopping! We visited Antiques and Old Lace, All That Jazz, and Rehouse, then went to Maria's in Webster for food and margaritas. Yum!

It was a fantastic day, and I was so happy to hang out with great friends and scour some really outstanding shops for great old stuff! I only bought a few vintage Rochester postcards from the early 1900's, but I was happy.

That night, we stayed at my aunt's house in Webster, and then got up really early to begin our trek back home. It was the end of a terrific, soul-filling trip, and I was happy.

Thanks for sticking with me through my travel stories! Back to art and jewelry in a few days, I promise!

Travelogue, Day Three: More Medieval Glass and the Tour De Nostalgia

2010-10-19T15:44:00.015-04:00

On Friday, Day Three of our Upstate Adventure, we woke to some pretty typical mid-October weather. Cold, rainy, windy....yeah, it was a nor'easter blowing in. Thankfully, I had the forethought to make sure we brought real coats and umbrellas and gloves and scarves with us, just in case. We needed 'em.

In the morning, I had signed up for a lecture in which we were to learn about the comparison of medieval material culture with ancient material culture, and the importance of glassware in relation to other table utensils. Unfortunately, the scheduled speaker had some travel issues resulting in his being stuck in Philadelphia, so a change in the lecture was made. Fortunately, once again, I had the distinct privilege of listening to a joint presentation by Dr. David Whitehouse and William Gudenrath on the specifics of making blown glass vessels in period. Dr. Whitehouse discussed a variety of different objects, how they were used and what they represented, and then Mr. Gudenrath showed specifically how most of those objects were actually made. He showed several videos in which he himself was creating a replica claw beaker or enameled beaker or carafe. Unbelievable! I just cannot truly express just how exciting it was to go over the actual process by which a modern glassworker was able to exactly replicate a medieval object using pretty much ONLY the tools that were available in period. And then see it happen before your eyes. Seriously. I was a total fangirl and managed to sneak a photo during the lecture...

That's William Gudenrath on the left and Dr. Whitehouse on the right. I found out, by surfing the Museum webpage, that Mr. Gudenrath has two degrees, neither of which have anything to do with glassblowing or history or the Roman period. They're in MUSIC, of all things, and one of his degrees is from Julliard. He gives me hope. :)

I also wondered how totally ridiculous it would be to ask for a photo with the both of them...I was too chicken to really do it, but I wanted to.

After my lecture, I took a few minutes to do some souvenir shopping for my children (kaleidoscopes for everyone!), and headed back to the library to finish up some research there while my friend Kitty went to another lecture right before lunch.

As a short aside, and for your viewing pleasure, let me show you some images of 19th century lampworking paraphernalia:

The sign on the door of lampwork artists, Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka in Dresden, Germany

Their lampworking lamp

Nineteenth-century jars of frit!

Any of these tools look familiar?

At lunchtime, we hopped in the car and drove up to Geneseo, which normally is just barely an hour from Corning, but in a nor'easter, it takes longer than that. The wind and rain were pretty impressive, actually. Thankfully, my college friend, Ken, whom we were meeting for lunch, was patient and waited for us. It was terrific to see Ken again -- it's been nearly twenty years since we had seen each other -- and the turkey subs at Aunt Cookie's Subs in town were still as delicious as ever. It was great to walk through the Brodie Fine Arts building on campus again -- it looks the same, it smells the same, it feels the same, except in some ways it seems so much smaller than it was when I was in college. Still, it was nice to just steep myself in the nostalgia for a while.

After our visit, we drove back to Corning and spent a little while longer in -- you guessed it -- the library! Crazy. I know.

Then, back to our new favorite restaurant for dinner:

After yummy burgers, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel. Saturday, the last full day of our trip, promised to be just as packed as the previous days.

Next up: A day in Rochester, NY, the Flower City!

Travelogue, Day Two: Dipped In History

2010-10-18T13:49:00.013-04:00

Corning, NY, on Thursday morning, right outside the museum.

I should preface this next installment of my travelogue with a few remarks about WHY I made this trip and WHAT the heck the big deal about medieval glass is, anyway.

Well.

I have long been an enthusiastic student of medieval history. I didn't study it formally, as I have both of my degrees in speech pathology, but I have always loved the material culture of the period between 300 AD and oh, about 1600 AD. A huge span of time, to be sure, but there is something to really like in each identifiable period. I learned to make some of the clothes, did some medieval re-creation, and in particular, studied glassworking of the various times. Along about the time I learned to flamework, I began getting more and more interested in glassmaking and how people with FAR less technological and material knowledge than we have today could really do this type of stuff. I've been researching certain topics for years, finding out information and making some replica pieces, but I hadn't had a chance (or the resources) to really delve into it all. Then the Corning Museum announced it's Seminar on Glass with a medieval focus, and well, there was no way I *wasn't* going to go to that.

That's the basic, short version. :)

SO! On to Day Two, Dipped In History!

We arrived at the museum early in the morning, and of course I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots of the outside of the building.
It really is a beautiful piece of architecture, even if, like me, you are not a huge fan of contemporary design. We registered for our conferences and received conference badges on museum lanyards (squee!), and a huge folder of information and brochures about the conference and museum. There was a little time to kill before the seminars started, so we took some time to go through the GlassMarket and check out the amazing things for sale.

And of course, we could not miss seeing the world's largest glass pumpkin! It really is an impressive piece of glassblowing -- it's something like eight feet in diameter!The video for how they created it is here. If you understand anything about working with hot glass, you'll totally get why it is such a difficult task. Check out the guy in the flame-retardant suit who moves the piece to the kiln and puts the stem piece on once it's in there. HOT!

Our first lecture was an hour on what is currently known about the glasswork of the medieval period, complete with excellent slides of pertinent pieces. It was titled, "Glass and Glassmaking in the Middle Ages", and was presented by Dr. David Whitehouse, the executive director and curator of ancient glass for the museum. He is a fantastic speaker and possesses a huge depth and breadth of knowledge of glass. It was a fangirl's delight, really. I was so thrilled to be listening to a lecture by one of the most prominent scholars in this area. My notetaking skills were definitely tested, however, as I wrote and sketched at lightning speed to capture everything he said.

After a coffee and pastry break, our second lecture was provided by William Gudenrath, historical glassblower and adviser for the glassblowing school at Corning. He discussed glassblowing techniques in the context of actual medieval pieces that are in the museum's collection. What was mindblowing about this particular lecture was the videos he showed of himself actually reproducing museum pieces because he has spent time figuring out how the medieval work was made by experimenting in the hot shop. SO. Cool. Plus, he teaches in the Museum's glassblowing school periodically. I dream now of taking a class on period glassblowing methods with him someday.

If all of THAT weren't enough, after lunch, Kitty and I headed into the museum to see the exhibits, especially the newest one on medieval glass. I have been to the museum once before, but Kitty had never been, and really it's astonishing to someone with a deep love of history to be as close to some of these works as we were. I took about 200 pictures of items in the galleries, which I will post on Flickr this week, but here are some highlights:

A cast glass dress and evening shawl by American artist, Karen Lamonte.

The huge Dale Chihuly sculpture in the lobby of the museum. There are a couple of Chihuly pieces at Corning.

Roman amulets and beads. SO interesting to look at! And such amazing detail, given what they had to work with.
Roman glass vessel.

Medieval prunted glass beaker -- very common style during the medieval period.
Sixteenth century enameled glass. The detail on this is incredible!

There is so much more in this museum, I can't even begin to show it all to you, but this is a start, at least. After we were completely saturated with historical glass, we headed down to the hot shop to the Make Your own Glass studio, where we got to blow glass pumpkins. Both of us having hot glass experience, we hoped they would let us do at least some of the furnace parts -- dipping from the crucible, or doing some benchwork, but really we only just got to blow the glass. Still, it was unforgettable, and the closest I'd ever been to a glass furnace.

Our glassblower guy was Bryce. He was so much fun to work with!

(Sorry for the blurry picture; I had my flash turned off for the museum, and forgot to turn it back on.)

The pumpkins went into the kiln for annealing and we picked them up the next day.

Following the glassblowing, we went to the Rakow Research Library to do some work on finding sources for period glass. I started with a general overview of Roman glass, but quickly got sidetracked into Roman small objects, jewelry, beads, rings, and cameo glass.

Having never worked in a research library, I was overwhelmed by the opportunity to use some reference material I had only heard about. The librarians were more helpful than I have ever known a librarian to be, and actually asked us about our topics and went and found amterials and brought them to us. !!!!! And photocopying was free -- color AND black and white -- so we went nuts copying pages and pages of material we knew we'd almost never have another chance to get our hands on. It was amazing. A-maze-ing. I even had a question about something that the librarians could not find an answer for, so they offered to ask the museum's research scientist the next morning. And THAT gentleman didn't know definitively, so he referred me to someone else! I don't think I've ever known people to share their work so readily, especially with people, like us, who are not affiliated with an institution professionally or as a student.

While there, we met several other people doing research for their jobs in museums; one was an American woman living in Qatar who was planning an exhibit at her museum on ancient glass along the Silk Road. It was all so interesting and so very overwhelming; when we finally left the library when it closed at 7pm, we were drained, but in a really, really satisfying way. I was in heaven, truly.

That night for dinner, we found a wonderful local restaurant, Holmes Plate 54, in the Gaffer district in downtown Corning. The burgers were phenomenal and they had sweet potato fries that were truly to die for! Service was outstanding and so friendly (we met the owner, Kim Holmes, who seated us), and we loved the atmosphere so much, we went back Friday night too!

Friday was promising to be a very busy day again, with museum and lectures and library, and a side trip up to my alma mater, SUNY Geneseo!

Stay tuned!

Travelogue, Day One: Pilgrimage to Mecca

2010-10-18T13:15:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday last week, my friend Kitty and I set out on a long drive to upstate New York. The destination? Corning, NY and the Corning Museum of Glass. We were going to attend a lecture series on medieval glass, and make some side trips further upstate to Geneseo and to Rochester.

The drive was fairly easy, all thing being equal. It's about seven or eight hours from here to there, and I don't usually stop that often for very long. We got on the road around 8 in the morning, and pulled into our hotel around 4:30 or 5 that evening. Not bad.

All along the way, the leaves were changing, and as we drove further north, they got more and more brilliant. It was gloriously sunny all the way up, and perfectly chilly (for ME, anyway!) when we got out of the car in Corning. The company was excellent, and we really never ran out of things to talk about the whole way up there. It made the more boring parts of the drive much more tolerable, that's for sure.

Beware of sloping parking lots and partially full baggage carts. You might find yourself running when you hadn't intended on doing any such thing. Just sayin'.

Even though the drive was long, we were beyond excited about what we had come to do, so the intensity of this trip started the minute we arrived in town. If Corning, and the Corning Museum, the Rakow Research Library, and Corning Industries are not Mecca for the glassworker/artist/historian, then I don't know what would be. It's an amazing place, really.

After checking in and getting our stuff upstairs in the (really nice!) room, I introduced Kitty to the wonders of Wegman's, the best grocery store chain in the world! We got dinner there Wednesday night, and lunch on Thursday, and I was happy. Their food is so yummy!

Upon returning to the hotel, we did the girly thing and discussed outfits for the next day's lectures, and how much makeup to wear or not wear, and which shoes to wear with what. I arranged and re-arranged my tote bag and purse, trying to decide what I needed to carry with me. I settled on just my large purse, with my camera and a 5x8" spiral notebook, and a few pens.

Finally, I tried to sleep, not really realizing just how significant the next few days would be.

I'm BACK!! (sorta)

2010-10-17T21:20:00.003-04:00

I got home from Corning, New York, this evening. The trip was unbelievable! I will have many more photos and a whole lot more to talk about after I have hugged my kids more, spent more time with my family, worked at my day job, and sorted through my photos and memories and travel stories.

More to come, I promise!

Getting Out of Town!

2010-10-11T06:50:00.003-04:00

It's Monday, and I realize I have two full days to get all my stuff ready before I leave on a road trip up to New York state! Yikes! I should probably pack a few things in a suitcase, huh? (or a 'soupcase' as my 3 year old son calls it...)

My friend Kitty and I are headed up to Corning, New York, to visit the Glass Museum and take in a few lectures on medieval glass and it's historical context. This is very excited for us, as we are both big fans of the medieval period of history, and we are both glass artists. Her medium is more kiln-fired glass, stained and leaded glass, with a little bit of flameworking thrown in. While we're up there, we're going to do a little glassblowing (YAY!), a little shopping and sightseeing, and a trip up to my alma mater, SUNY-Geneseo, and to my hometown, Rochester.

I'm looking forward to immersing myself in nostalgia, learning some things about glass, visiting family and friends, and just generally having a good time in a place I love. I'll definitely be coming home with tons of pictures, and I'll share when I get back.

Right now, I've got to get the family up and moving on this fine Columbus Day Monday. If you don't hear from me before I go, enjoy your week, and I'll talk to you all when I get back!

Oh yeah....how do you like the new blog header?

Soul-Filling

2010-10-07T14:14:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was sitting next to a colleague in a meeting at the company I do some work for, and he was talking about treating patients (we're therapists), and he was saying, "My soul is filled by working with these people. I love it. I can't imagine not doing it."

My soul is filled by...

I wrote it down in the margin of the pad I was taking notes on, because it struck me so significantly.

It occurred to me that I did not really know how to complete that sentence. Not that day.

It's an interesting and necessary concept for me....this filling of one's soul...because I believe that all of us are creative people, and that creativity is drawn, like water from a well, from your soul. Granted, it's difficult to make water appear in a dry well, but your soul can be filled up again when it goes dry, if you just allow it to happen. How? By paying attention and being present to what and who you are, and how you live your life, and to the million little things that go on during the day around you.

Be present.

Be mindful.

Observation can bring knowledge and insight when you need it most. But I think the hardest thing is for us to be still and listen and see and just be.

So I realized, over the course of spending time with creative people and going to classes and learning things and trying new thing out and experiencing new ways of thinking and seeing, that MY soul is indeed filled, too.

Not by treating patients, as my friend's is, but by the act of creating.

I think I've known this for some time, but I tried so hard to narrow it down. Creating? Just creating? Why couldn't my soul be filled by a specific thing, like flameworking, or making jewelry, or baking bread, or sewing? I do all those things; why doesn't ONE stand out?

Well, because it's ALL of those acts together that replenish me. I live my life as a large creative event, I've noticed, and if I actually am mindful of what I am doing, it can ALL fill my soul.

Elusive, this knowledge of self, isn't it?

Kind of like the Green Man here, hiding in the oaks....

So.....how is your soul filled?

On a Roll!

2010-10-04T15:35:00.007-04:00

It's been a couple of days since I talked about the Hard Candy class at ArtBLISS. I promised at the end of that post to talk about the second class I took with Melissa, her evening 'Roll Playing' class, which was all about learning to use a rolling mill and trying out various textures on metal.

If I wasn't a total tool junkie before, I sure am now. Must. Have Rolling. Mill.

Oh my goodness, so much fun!! I had no idea that you could put such cool textures on metal just by running it through a machine that looks like a pasta maker on steroids!

For those of you who are uninitiated, this is a rolling mill:
The picture doesn't show the arm of the mill, but it's long, and physics is your friend here, because this sucker puts some *serious* pressure on stuff! Pretty much everything that gets run through here is destroyed (except your metal sheet!) when it comes out the other side. About the only thing that managed to not get totally obliterated by the rolling was a spiral of 16g bronze wire. It survived at least my two rollings, and at least one other person rolled it. Even still, it got really flattened.

So, Melissa explained how to use the mill, and what and how to put through the rollers. Then we were off to the races, annealing metal sheet, and running it through with all kinds of added "stuff". I LOVED this! It was so amazing what you could do!

Here is one of my favorites, a piece of annealed bronze with a skeletonized leaf impressed on it:

After I milled this, I punched holes in the top for linking into a necklace, and then I hammered the edges and background area around the leaf. A dunk in some liver of sulphur and done! Nice, huh? I already have a vision for the necklace that goes with this. :)

Next I rolled some sheet copper with a piece of plastic onion bag, and some small leaf stickers, and got this:

I love the onion-bag texture! And I was amazed by how thin something can be and still make a really good impression! Amazing!

And here is this, one of my very favorites:
Some leaf stickers and a piece of tulle! I had to burn the stickers off with a torch, they were practically embedded in the copper!

And finally, the bronze wire I was talking about:
I actually ran both these metal pieces through with the wire sandwiched in between. one piece of copper had some wallpaper on it, which is how I got the texture on the piece on the left.

Cool, huh?

I can think of about a gazillion ways to use the patterned metal, and it's just so much fun to try different things! And because I certainly AM a class-A tool junkie, this new tool has gone on my wish list. Santa probably won't be bringing it to me this year, because I have need of a few other things first, but definitely next year, my goal is to get one. Contenti has one (the one in the picture at the top of this post) for about $200, which really isn't bad when you think about how heavy and massive a tool this is.

Oh, and tomorrow, my hole punch and soldering stand should be here! I have some enamels, some copper discs, I got a small torch at Home Depot, and look out, it's gonna be ON this week!

I can't wait to make some cool stuff!

Hard Candy!!

2010-09-30T08:45:00.015-04:00

More about the ArtBliss retreat.....

So, when we last left me, I had attended the Meet and Greet reception for instructors and students. After the reception, in which a glass of Chardonnay and a huge brownie was consumed, I retreated to the utter silence and calm of my hotel room. (side note: if you have not stayed in a Hampton Inn recently, you should. Beautiful!) I poked around on the internet for a while, submitted a piece of jewelry to another magazine, and watched some of a Will Smith movie. It was a bit of heaven for me.

When the alarm went off early the next morning, I was ready and SO looking forward to my class.

Melissa Manley is a fantastic instructor. I can't say enough great things about her, so you're just going to have to listen to me gush about it all for a while. I was lucky to find Melissa Meman was in my class, too, so we grabbed a table together and bemoaned the fact that we did not bring all of the tools we wish we had!

Note to all you who may attend a retreat or other jewelry class like this: BRING YOUR TOOLS, even the ones not officially on the 'required tools and supplies' list!!! I was so clueless, and I didn't realize I should have just loaded the darn entire toolbox up instead of paring down to the bare minimum, especially since I drove to the event! I wasn't without the necessary tools, but having mine would have helped, since we shared a lot of stuff.

But I digress...

So, here we are, all ready to start metalsmithing in a hotel conference room...

(That's my friend, Melissa Meman on the left!)

We listened to Melissa Manley talk about metals and her background and a bit about what we were going to learn, and then we just got on with it!

One of the things I like best about her classes is that she is a very epxeriential learner and teacher -- always ready to try stuff out and not get caught up in "what you're supposed to do".

So, we annealed metal, and cut it, dapped it into domes, enameled it, and then learned how to tube rivet it into beads. Along the way, we learned annealing, pickling, torch-fired enameling, sawing, filing, hole-punching, decorative techniques, tube riveting, and probably a zillion other things! It was amazing! Here are a few action shots compiled together in a collage....

From left to right, top to bottom: Melissa demonstrates sanding the discs; Using the disc cutter (note the hydraulic press and rolling mill!); Dapping; Pickled and halfway finished; Enameling; Assembling; More tools!; So very happy!; Finished work!

And here are my finished beads! I can hardly believe *I* made these! I mean, really. I am on a creative bender now, desperately searching for and ordering all kinds of tools so I can do MORE of these! And the jewelry and wearable art possibilities are amazing! I cannot stop sketching all the fabulous ideas I have that pop into my head pretty much all day (and probably all night, too). My sketching skills are....well....sketchy, at best, so I hope that what I've been drawing still means something to me when I finally get around to making everything.

My actual life keeps getting in the way, though. Very annoying.

Well, not my kids. Or my husband. They aren't annoying (ok, maybe sometimes...).

By lunchtime on Saturday, I was so completely full of adrenaline and creative energy...being there in that workshop and meeting and talking with so many creative souls was like feeding every appetite I have. Well, almost all of them. I felt like I was hyperventilating all during lunch, trying to take everything in, process it, learn, watch, listen, talk, dream, think... talking to people about what we were doing and what *they* were doing, seeing everyone's work from the morning, and dying to get back into the room to do MORE! It was overwhelming, but it a really, really good way. That kind of energy comes from a pure place in my soul. It's exhausting, and I can't live there every day, but when I can get to that place...oh! It feeds me and fills me, and makes me more ME.

I sound slightly insane, don't I?

I wish for a long, uninterrupted stretch of time over several days to get some of this banged out (pun TOTALLY intended!). That's not going to happen, so I really, really, really need to sharpen my focus and hone in on what needs to be done step by step so I can actually make progress on this work, and not just flounder around in a sea of creative angst.

And Barbara Lewis has re-ignited the fire about a book idea I have had for a long time....I need to make that proposal and get it out to someone who can actually help me make that a reality.

And the copper....the metals are just calling me. I have SO MANY ideas.

Thank you, Melissa, and thank you Cindy and Jeanette, for facilitating a wonderful experience!

(and I haven't even talked about the evening class, 'Roll Playing'....but I will. Soon.)

ETA: Most of these pictures were taken by the wonderful Cindy Wimmer, of Sweet Bead Studio and the cofounder of ArtBLISS! Thanks for the great shots!

Remembrance of things past

2010-09-29T07:07:00.006-04:00

I'll get back to my adventures in metals at ArtBliss in my next post, but first, I wanted to write about something for my Art Bead Scene Carnival post for the month. The topic is Remembrance.

I have been making glass beads for about seven years, and selling them in my own jewelry designs for about the past three years. It's always funny (funny-haha, AND funny-strange) to look back on my own work from those beginning days.

When I see pictures of pieces I made back in 2007, I don;t know whether I should be alarmed or wistful. I clearly didn't know much about working with wire or metals then, and I certainly didn't feel like I was *really* expressing myself. I'm going to embarrass myself here a little and show a picture from those early days...like this one, a purple and black Viking wire necklace that just....didn't work:

THAT, my friends, is an abomination of photography AND jewelry design. I had a concept in my head, and definitely was going somewhere with it, but somehow it got lost along the way. I probably refolded the map incorrectly or something because we did not reach the artistic destination here. Ugh!

I still have this necklace, and recently, I thought about taking it apart and remaking it somehow. I love the wirework, and the bead isn't too bad, but it looks like a Gothic nightmare when put together!

Over the past little while, though, I have learned a few things about photography as well as jewelry design and my own inclinations as an artist. First of all, I don;t have to try so freaking hard all the time. A lot of my better work springs from not actually wrestling with the materials. Here's a more recent Viking wire necklace that I think works a little better (and has some MUCH better beads in it!):

Much better, in terms of photography, beadmaking skill, and design. I actually DID get to where I was going with this one, and it garnered a lot of attention (alas, but no sale) at my recent show.

As an artist, I think it's important to look back periodically and see where you have come from. Perspective is always a good thing, and it helps you figure out where you are now, as well as see how far you have come. I know that I am always amazed at the difference three years makes, and I am excited to see where I will be three years from now. So many good things have happened in 2010 for me that I think truly anything is possible in 2013!

What do you look back on and remember that gives you perspective for today?

State of Bliss

2010-09-27T12:01:00.000-04:00

On Friday, last week, I headed off to the much-anticipated ArtBliss retreat in Sterling, Virginia. I was there to take Melissa Manley's 'Hard Candy' class and soak up as much metals knowledge and skill as I could manage in one day. I was also there to finally, finally, FINALLY meet Kerry Bogert, who I have been friends online with for like TWO years!

The weekend was capped off with my first-ever juried show (on Sunday). It was a hell of a great weekend, that's for sure! I am going to take a while to recover from this level of activity, definitely.

But first....after the busy week of making things for the show, getting irritated at my torch, and packing, packing, packing.....FINALLLY it was 3:00 and I could drop my little kids off with my girlfriend, kiss my oldest goodbye, and get down (or up) the road!

In this post on my Adventures in Living! blog, I talked about leaving/traveling and my thoughts about it. Really, though, it was pretty awesome to get in my car knowing I had a two-hour, radio-blasting drive in which I had nobody who would be yelling at me from the backseat.

I turned up the XM radio and the first song was an old George Michael song, Freedom, from about 1990, I think. Heheheheheh.

So I was set for music....LOVE my XM radio! And off I went, rolling up I-95, just singing along:
Northern VA is notorious for terrible, terrible traffic, particularly on Fridays in the rush-hour period (which can start around 3pm!). I was worried I'd end up sitting for an hour someplace and missing all the fun at the Meet & Greet Reception, but in reality, I made some smart route choices and got to the hotel in record time (two hours, no stops!).

I was so glad, too, because when I checked into the hotel and walked up to the registration desk for the event, Cindy said something to Kerry, who was sitting on a couch behind her, and the next thing I knew, Kerry jumped up and hugged me!

She is very tall. Just sayin' :)

(Actually, everyone is tall, to me. I'm only 5' 3")

I ended up chatting with Kerry almost all evening. It was fantastic! I felt like we had known each other forever.....have you ever had that experience? Meeting someone in person and hitting it off so well that it's like you've always been friends?

So, the reception. I have to admit, others with much better cameras probably got better pictures.
We ate some of the best brownies I have ever had in my life! Oh. My. God!

Kerry signed copies of her book, and sold kits for some of the book projects.

I got to have a wonderful conversation with Melissa Manley about going to art school and about whether or not it would really be worth it for me. (hint: I can totally make my art without a Fine Arts degree)

And I snagged a picture of one of the fantastic organizers of this blissful weekend, Cindy Wimmer, of Sweet Bead Studio!

Kerry and Cindy and I went around and took some video of the reception, using Kerry's amazing camera. Kerry did a bunch of editing and put it up on her blog later that night. Go here to see it!

I won a beautiful pair of Melissa Manley's earrings in the drawing (a good bit of serendipity!), and had a glass of wine and just reveled in being there. Later, I retreated to my lovely hotel room, and slept like the dead all night long.

Up next: Metals and enamels, oh boy!

My Whirlwind Weekend

2010-09-26T18:53:00.002-04:00

I spent the weekend at the first ArtBliss event, learning metalsmithing and enameling techniques from one of the very best teachers I have ever had, Melissa Manley. The event was extremely well-organized, the workshops were fantastic, and I even won a couple prizes! Oh, and the brownies? To. DIE. For. OMG!

I have MUCH more to say about this event.....but you're gonna have to wait a bit til I recover.

Because the ArtBliss retreat coincided with my first-ever appearance in a nice local juried show, I couldn't stay all weekend, but drove home laaaaate on Saturday night. The show was....not great, but not horrible...and right now, I am so completely exhausted I am not sure how I am remaining conscious. My knees and ankles are killing me!

I promise to tell you all about my adventures in metals and how I am completely in need of more tools.....but I have to ask you to wait a bit, til I can organize my thoughts and not feel like I am scraping the bottom of the energy barrel.

More to come, I promise.

AAARGH!

2010-09-22T08:10:00.004-04:00

Please tell me it hasn't been over a week since I posted last! *sigh*

I've been caught up in the whirlwind of getting ready for Arts Around the Lake on Sunday, and prepping to go up to northern VA for ArtBliss. I knew it would be a challenge to jam both events into the same weekend, but it is necessary. One of my goals this year was to take more metals and jewelry classes (Melissa Manley! OMG! I am taking her class!), and also to get into better and bigger shows. Funny how both goals seemed to converge on the last weekend of September this year!

To be honest, I have made a few new things, but I haven't photographed them. Really, I feel like I don;t have time to fiddle with pictures, and if the items don't sell this weekend, I'll take the photos and put stuff up on Etsy. I know I promised to add this necklace to my Etsy shop a while back, and it hasn't made it there yet, mostly because I needed it for inventory for the show. The one thing I did do, however, was set up my display in the yard as a test run for working out the arrangement of things. I also wanted to use it to see how much inventory I needed to cover my available space, and see if there were any 'holes' that needed filling. Here's a quick-and-dirty look at the booth overall:
It's a 10x10 shade, with two of the collapsible banquet tables. I only have the two tables, and I usually set them up this way, putting myself either behind, or off to the side. I don't own the side walls for this tent, and I wish I did, because now I can't find them in white (it's a Quest brand shade from Dick's Sporting Goods), so I use white bedsheets instead. The biggest problem with that is the fact that they blow all over and billow like sails. I have to weight them with clamps. I also don't have enough to cover more than one side. It'll have to do for now, though.

One thing I am really thrilled about is my new earring card racks. I found a couple of tall slatted shelves at a yard sale a while back, and my husband cut them in half widthwise for me, and hinged them together so they stand up. My large earring cards fit perfectly on them! I made some sandbags to weight the bottom in case of wind. You can sort of see the top of the stands in back of the table. When I took the picture, I hadn't figured out how I was going to make them work, so there's no picture of them yet.

Don't worry, I promise pictures of my totally put together and dressed-up display after Sunday's show.

I'd promised myself I wasn't going to get stressed out about this show, about prepping for it or about being in it, OR about it being the same weekend as ArtBliss. I want to do both, I CAN do both, and it will all work out fine. Yesterday, however, I found myself descending into the depths of craziness, and it colored my whole day, leaving me exhausted by the end of it.

My torch and tank setup decided that yesterday was THE day to go all nasty on me and cover my glass and beads with a layer of grey, sooty crap. Over everything I made. And on my 'make list' was a set of pink beads made with CiM's Gelly's Sty, a color I typically don't have trouble with at all. Here you can see (the horror!) the difference:

On the left are the original beads, made with Gelly's Sty a few months ago. On the right....the nastiness of yesterday. Same batch of glass, too. Yuck.

I've decided that I don't have time and energy to mess with it right now. I am going to disconnect the torch and hang the hose up for a couple of days and re-evaluate. I have beads to make into more work for the show, so that's not an issue, really. I had planned to make some sets to offer at ArtBliss, but I may have to bag that.

And if you've stayed with me all the way down to here in the post....wow! :)

At any rate, i ended up making a bunch of earrings yesterday and getting them put on cards and into my inventory box was a huge relief. I wish I could say the transition from Plan A (beadmaking session) to Plan B (making earrings) was a smooth and seamless one, without gnashing of teeth and railing against the injustice of it all, but at least I got something done. Right?

So. I am totally TOTALLY looking forward to seeing some of you at ArtBliss this Friday night! Safe travels, if you're traveling, and see you there!