studio set up

I've been making lampwork beads for over a year now. I tried torching in several different places. First, I tried the back deck. The problem with that I soon found out is that if it's at all windy, it could/would affect the flame.

I then started working at the kitchen table, which was great unless someone in the household actually wanted to eat a meal at the table. So, every night, I'd have to pack up the glass, torch, tools, etc. for the night. This got to be old rather quick so I built myself a little studio in our 1 car garage. When I say little, I mean little.

I built myself a table top using a piece of wood that someone had freecycled. I lined the walls with wonderboard, which is flame retardant. I even built myself a small cabinet to hold all my glass rods. The square dividers that you see are cut up fence posts. For some reason, the Home Depots around here don't stock it so I had those cut down for me by a fellow lampwork artist in Florida.

My kiln sits on the floor since I have insufficient counter space. What you don't see is my fire extinguisher that's mounted on a side wall within arms reach of where I torch ;-).

Here's another view of all my glass. I just looking at it, LOL!









The next photo shows a revolving plexiglass display that I purchased from Tower Records at their Going Out of Business sale. I love this tower. It's where I keep all my presses and glass frit (ground up glass pieces used to decorate beads). Besides the fact that it rotates, it's on wheels so I can pull it closer to within arms reach when I'm torching.













And here are photos of me actually torching in case you're curious to see.

Chameleon Beads are a hit!

Since the release of the June issue of Bead and Button, I have had orders coming in for my Chameleon beads. I'm frantically torching away at every opportunity to replace beads that have sold and to attempt to build up stock so as not to run out. I have some beads that I made this week that came out great. Just need to clean them up and will be posting new pics on my site hopefully by the end of the weekend ;-).

my piece in June 2007 issue of Bead and Button

I received an advance copy of the June 2007 issue of Bead and Button magazine along with my lariat that was returned to me last week. It's a real treat to see my piece in print. Click here to view the article and an enlarged photo.

brag time....my first published piece!!!!!

I've known this for quite some time, but I didn't want to post until
it was really official, but I got a check for it this past week so I
guess it's official now.....DRUM ROLL.....I have a piece that is going
to be in the June issue of Bead & Button. It will be in the tips & techniques page so you might have to get out your magnifiers to see it, but I'm happy all the same. Here's a photo of the piece:

Where has February gone? Not that I care!

Well, somehow a whole month has come & gone. but, I'm more than ready for spring & the warm weather. YAY!!! I haven't been very good about posting. I always have good intentions, but then somehow time gets away from me.

I have been somewhat busy though. I've been trying to get as much time in on the torch as I can, but with the frigid temps this past month, that hasn't happened an awful lot. I signed up to teach a 4 week course on basic wire jewelry at adult ed. Tonight was the first night & it was a blast. The ladies all seemed to enjoy themselves, frustated though they were at times. They seemed to all get along really well and before we knew it, the session had come to an end.

I also have some very exciting things coming up this summer. My work will be featured in 2 different magazines. One is my personal project, the other is a collaborative piece. We (5 of us) all met on a yahoo group, though never in person & submitted a piece of wearable art to a magazine. I just found out this week that it will be published this summer!

More specifics to come. I don't know if it's permissible to divulge any more info till the magazines come out, but once they do, watch out, LOL!!!

Happy New Year!!!

My Wish for You in 2007

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love
stick

to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your
clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you
across the
face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had, forget
your
home address! May your bead supply be endless, In simple words
............

May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!

NY Botanical Gardens

I know I said last month that I'd post photos of the NY Botanical Gardens in a few days & more than a month has gone by... ;-)). I don't know where the time has gone, but I have a few minutes now. As beautiful as the gardens are, they pale in comparison to Dale Chihully's artwork. These photos were taken in October so you can see the leaves are changing colors in some of the photos. Except for the 1st 2 landscape photos & the water lillies, the rest were all taken inside the Conservatory. Here goes:

Dale Chihuly at NY Botanical Gardens

Being a lampwork artist, I had what is tantimount to a religious experience last week when I went to see Dale Chihuly's magnificent glass exhibit at the NY Botanical Gardens. I was like a child in a candy store unable to get enough. Well, there was plenty to go around. The first piece I came upon at the entrance to the conservatory was the Rose Crystal Tower in the photo to the right.











Another tower is the centerpiece of the indoor pool composed of blue &
yellow swirls of glass in the next photo.

















Enmeshed within the indoor garden are
examples of Chihuly's Ikebanas. These were
inspired by the Japanese art of flower
arranging.













One of several in his Chandelier line, this
spectular piece looms above as you walk through the conservatory. The glass is so thin as to be almost translucent.













Another one of his chandeliers is this majestic gold one,
very breathtaking and regal looking. With glass this
bright and brilliant looking, who needs real light?


















This is one of 2 boats in one of the outdoor ponds that are
filled with Chihuly's Walla Wallas, aptly named after the
namesakes and live lotus flowers. The colors are even
more vibrant in person.

















These purple reeds, green grass sculptures and large round
glass shapes line one wall of the courtyard outside the
conservatory.
















This other boat with glass sculptures resembling a fall harvest is situated in the second pond filled with heartier plants.








Another spectacular outdoor sculpture is this
one, titled, "The Sun". It is composed of over
1,000 pieces of hand-blown glass!















Chihully's installation in the Rose Garden is a
"garden of glass".











These final sculptures are the "Macchia Forest". Macchia, Italian for spotted, is unique in that there is a layer of white opaque glass that separates the complex interior and exterior
color patterns.



I also have some photos of the magnificent
flowers that are still in bloom at the
NY Botanical Gardens. I hope to upload some of those photos in the next few days

It was really a spectacular day. If you have an
opportunity to view any of his exhibits, I strongly
urge you to go.

When combined with this supple bead crochet lariat, the center focal bead just seems to pull the whole look together. This particular focal bead is one of my newest designs. I just love the flow and diversity of this particular style. The focal bead measures approximately 2 1/2". It is composed of Italian glass and has several fringe branches made of seed beads & Swarovski crystals hanging from the center. And now for the piece de resistance...the swirly part that the lariat is wound around is actually a "silly straw" that was reshaped into the necessary configuration. Silly, yet beautiful at the same time.

FYI, I also have some of my lampwork beads up for auction on ebay. They end tomorrow, 11/1/06 . Take a look!

http://tinyurl.com/y3a9kl

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