Yet Another….. Art Fair Invite

Tammy L Deck : ArtWear from Westmont, Illinois

Hats, Purses, Scarves, Shawls, Garments & Jewelery

Felting, Handweaving, Crochet, Knitting, Fused Glass & Lampwork Beads

Featured Artist: Patty Pulliam

I’ve known Patty for a long time it seems. She makes some simple, beautiful boro beads. She’s a great mentor as well and readily shares what she knows with you. Just ask and you’ve got it. I hope you enjoy what she has to say about lampworking.

1. How did you get started in lampworking? What was the thing that made you interested?

I saw it on TV and was intrigued. When Tammy from TLD called me to see if I wanted to learn, I jumped at the chance.

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2. How long have you been lampworking? Is it a business for you or a hobby?

I think it was Jan of 2001 that I had my first class. It’s mostly a hobby, but I do try to sell my work.

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3. What inspires you? How do you get the inspiration/motivation back when you are in a slump?

Nature is a great inspiration. Nothing is more beautiful than that! It’s tough when the glass muse goes in vacation. Sometimes I look at the gallery at LE to jump start some ideas.

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4. Who are your 3 favorite lampworkers? Why?

Tough one! There are so many great artists out there who I like for different reasons. Kimberly Affleck for her gorgeous seahorses and great personality; Anastasia always awes me with her unique style; Pipyr because she’s so inventive and really thinks outside the box… and she’s adorable!

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There are lots more as well. Too many to list!

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5. What is the best thing about lampworking? The worst?

Best: Melting glass and playing with fire!

Worst: Not getting to do it full time.

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6. What is the funniest or scariest thing that ever happened to you when you were torching?

Well, flinging a hot marble into your lap is always fun!

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7. What kind of set up do you use? Torch?

At home I use a GTT Lynx and 2 oxycons. When I’m teaching at TLD I use a HotHead and bulk propylene.

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8. What is your favorite glass?

BORO!!

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9. What are your favorite color combinations?

I think silvered ivory is my all time favorite. “Dougie Pink” is always fun to make.

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10. What’s your favorite technique? What technique makes you want to bang your (or someone else’s) head against the wall?

It’s simplistic, but I really love using clear frit over the boro reactive colors. It’s so easy and makes some of the coolest results.

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Making good loops on pendants makes me want to scream sometimes.
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11. Is there a shape that you really HATE to make?

Bicones! Can’t make ‘em symmetrical to save my life.

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12. Do you have a ‘comfort’ bead

The boro frit bead. I really enjoy just making simple round beads. It’s meditative.

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13. How do you see yourself developing as a lampworker in the future? What are your goals?

I want to become a more consistent lampworker, with my results as well as doing it on a regular basis. I don’t think I have any articulated goals, but I always want to improve. I guess getting better with sculptural stuff is a goal.

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14. What do you consider as successful? What is the key to getting there?

I would consider myself successful as an artist if I could completely support my habit by selling my work. I wish I knew the key!

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15. What would be your 3 best tips for new artists?

Practice, practice, practice! • Don’t work too hot. • And slow down.

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16. Do you like to take classes from other lampworkers?

Yes!! I love taking all kinds of classes. I would be a professional student if I could afford it.

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17. Do you teach? Will you travel to teach?

I teach classes at TLD Design Center & Gallery in Westmont, IL.

Yes, I’m planning some classes at GiaRosa Creativity Studio & Retreat in Taos, NM.

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18. What other creative outlets do you have?

I like to play with all media. I enjoy paper, fiber, polymer clay,metals, wood… you name it! I also enjoy photography and some digital art. I have Art ADD.

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=^..^=
www.rusticstudio.com

It’s All About Hats

I am on a hat making kick here lately.A girl can never have too many hats.

Next I need to learn to make shoes LOL! My hat making started all because of

my silly 5 year old daughter Emily who LOVES hats! She asked me if I could make a hat bead

so I had to give it a go!

Featured Artist Holly Cooper

I love Holly’s work. She gives a new meaning to stringer control. Visit her website and see what I mean. www.hollycooper.com You’ll have a totally new respect for a Hot Head torch! Read what she has to say about lampworking.

1. How did you get started in lampworking? What was the thing that made you interested?

A confluence of events over a period of time led me to lampworking.

The first thing that happened was seeing a copy of Cindy Jenkins’ book “Making Glass Beads” at the library. I glanced through it and was intrigued. But since it appeared that a lot of special equipment was needed I set it aside. At this point I had been working in ceramics for several years. I didn’t want to invest time and money in another art form and I was happy with the ceramic work.

One day while I was at the ceramic supply store I saw Cindy’s book on display with the glass fusing supplies. I picked it up to flip through it again when a friend walked up. He told me about the Hothead and Blue Moon Glassworks here in Austin. I filed it in my memory, got my clay and tools and went home.

A few months later I was visiting my mom in Columbus Ohio. We stopped in a bead store and I overheard someone talking about the lampwork beads on the bracelet they were wearing. My mom was fascinated and we hatched a plan to take a class together when she came to Austin in the fall.

I only wanted something fun to do with my mom and to maybe make a bracelet. At first I didn’t care for it and probably wouldn’t have stuck with it except for the guilt I felt every time I saw the HotHead torch kit my mom bought me for an early Christmas gift. I didn’t pick it up again until a few months later and I slowly began to get a feel for what I could do with this new medium. (Not long after, I stopped doing ceramics and recently sold all my pottery equipment.)

The thing that finally captured me was the immediacy of working in glass. With clay there is a broken connection as the clay is fired. The piece is dramatically changed in the kiln and the glazing and further firing change it even more. The time between the initial making and the final work can be weeks. I would often lose my emotional connection to my pieces during this transformation and lag time. With glass my work is started and finished in one sitting. Sometimes a sitting of several hours but the piece changes little from the finish through the annealing if I plan it well. Then there are the nice surprises that also occur in the flame that can’t be planned. That’s the immediacy that draws me to glass.

2. How long have you been lampworking? Is it a business for you or a hobby?

I’ve been working in glass for about six and a half years.

I don’t really consider it a hobby or a business as such. I’m an artist by trade and it’s one of the mediums I use among many. I sell my work occasionally from my website but I’m not focusing on it as a business at this time. I want to keep enjoying it as much as I do now and I haven’t found a way yet to keep doing that while earning my living from it.

3. What inspires you? How do you get the inspiration/motivation back when you are in a slump?

I get inspiration from many sources. My work involves much surface pattern and I look at a lot of art from many periods and places that express it with pattern. Most of the glass works I look at are ancient pieces in museums or books. Lately I’ve been narrowing my focus to Ancient Islamic, Greek and Chinese art.

Another thing that inspires me is looking at my own past work. I often see a new piece to make while looking at an old one. The materials and the process themselves are often inspirational too. Discovering a new reaction or process can send me in an entirely new direction.

If I’m not feeling my work is progressing creatively I take a break. Often it’s a long break of several months until I’m willing to pick it up again. During this time I do other art forms. I value the “fallow” periods because my brain needs time to wander. When I start back up again I’m often surprised with new ideas that just come to me. This wouldn’t be possible for me if I relied on lampworking for my sole income. I’ve learned that this is the only way I can work and still enjoy what I’m doing over the long run.

4. Who are your 3 favorite lampworkers? Why?

The artists I look to for creative inspiration are the anonymous artisans of the ancient world. I’m also awestruck by the 19th century French artists such as Émile Gallé and the Daum brothers.

A contemporary artist I admire is Toni Lutman. Her work has such incredible depth and luscious color. Her beads are like fascinating pools with undulating layers of color and pattern suspended in them. Perhaps it’s partly because her work is so different than mine that I’m drawn to it. Toni’s beads are transparent little worlds that change as they turn while my work is mostly on the surface. I’m also fortunate to call her my friend.

I also love Shane Fero’s birds. The fanciful nature of the subject and the use of surface texture and color make me smile.

5. What is the best thing about lampworking? The worst?

Best thing: I get completely lost in the making.
Worst thing: It’s hot in the summer!

6. What is the funniest or scariest thing that ever happened to you when you were torching?

I’ve only had one scary/funny thing happen. One day I had been using transparent colors for a while. I switched to Ivory and while I was heating the rod I looked away for a while. I had forgotten how fast Ivory heats up because I had been used to the transparent colors. I looked back just in time to see a molten gather ready to fly from the rod into my lap. I dropped the glob onto the tile and the crisis was averted. :^) I’m very slow and focused so I rarely have anything exciting happen. (Knocking on Formica)

7. What kind of set up do you use?

I use a HotHead with a bulk propane tank. Up until last year I used the one pound camping tanks. I like the simplicity of the HotHead and it suits my working style.

8. What is your favorite glass?

Vetrofond, Effetre and a few CIM colors.

9. Do you have a favorite technique?

Stringer work is my favorite technique. I like working with line. I also like the reactions I get from silver leaf.

10. What are your favorite color combinations?

Vetrofond Black and Ivory with a bit of Copper Green for color. I’m still fascinated by all the different ways these three colors work together.

11. What’s your favorite technique? What technique makes you want to bang your (or someone else’s) head against the wall?

Finely detailed stringer work. It’s my favorite and it makes me crazy. Two for one. ;^)

12. Is there a shape that you really HATE to make?

There aren’t any shapes that I “hate” to make but I don’t make true bicones because I don’t like the look of the shape for my beads.

13. Do you have a ‘comfort’ bead?

I can’t say I have a “comfort bead” but I enjoy making small round beads with intricate patterns when I’m playing around. It helps me get focused for the larger more complex beads that take up to four hours to complete.

14. How do you see yourself developing as a lampworker in the future? What are your goals?

My plan is to keep doing what I’m doing and see where that takes me. I want to keep open to what comes my way. Sometimes there are wonderful things waiting for us we can’t foresee.

15. What do you consider as successful? What is the key to getting there?

Success is so personal. For me it’s doing what I enjoy doing exactly as I want to do it. The key for me is to follow my inner desires. Sometimes this requires me to pay very close attention. It’s easy to be swayed by outside influences.

16. What would be your 3 best tips for new artists?

1) Become very familiar with a limited palette of colors, say three or so. Do everything possible with these colors and you’ll learn a lot about glass.

2) Limit your tools for a time to the bare essentials. This will teach you how much you can do with each tool. (I have very few tools and use few colors. My set up is very low tech. I think I’ve learned more working this way than if I had every color and every tool made.)

3) Do it, keep doing it, over and over. If you do this you can’t help but get better at it.

17. Do you like to take classes from other lampworkers?

The only class I’ve taken was my initial beginner class. Maybe one day I’ll take another but it’s not a priority for me right now.

18. Do you teach? Will you travel to teach?

I’ve just begun to consider inquiries about teaching. Travel is one of the perks of teaching! I love seeing new places and meeting new people.

My class with JC Herrell

Oh my, what a great class!  JC is an absolute sweetheart, a fabulous teacher and makes some beads that are just TDF.  Know those gorgeous egg shaped beads of hers?  I know how to make them.  hahahaha!  LOL  Know that amazing stringer control she has?  I don’t have that at all but I got better.  LOL

She does the most amazing enamel work.  It’s different from other classes I’ve taken where we’ve used enamels and I loved what we did.  She’s also a stickler about safety.  The nurse in me loves that.  No one should ever be using enamels without an N-100 mask on.  Breathing in minute glass particles is a really bad idea.

I think I’ll just show the pics.  I’m not going to give away any of her ’secrets’ here.  I can’t wait to have some torch time to just sit and play and take notes.

 JC introducing herself and telling us a little of her ‘glass history.’

 She’s the only one of us who looked cute wearing the N-100!

 We were like flies on **** with her gorgeous beads.

  More…

 JC making a bead.

 Back row: Sachiko, Robin and Kathie

                                                                            Front row:  Jennifer, Mari and JC 

I fortuately was the photographer.  I wanted to get a picture of all of us with our masks on and forgot.  I was so fascinated with watching JC actually make the beads that I don’t have pics of those either.

If you ever have a chance to take a class with JC, DO IT! 

What else do you do?

EDITED to ADD:

Come on everyone, I know you do more than just glass!  We all do!  I’d really love to have to go through 10 emails a morning putting them on here telling us all about you.  I’ll even beg.  LOL  I’ll even tell you what I’ve started now. 

 

All of us at MCC do more than glass and I would guess that most people who are involved in glass do other things as well.  These include bead stringing, PMC, ACEOs, bead crochet, wire work, fusing, resin, chainmaille and I’m sure a ton of things I’m just not thinking of right now.  I’m starting to do felting and I’m interested in doll making as well.  We are a diverse group!

I’m wondering what our readers enjoy doing as well as some of the other people in MCC.  I always feel like I know this group so well and then they continue to surprise me.

So will you pop us a comment and share the things that you like to do?  If you’ve got any favorite magazines, books or websites that are related please share those as well.  I can’t wait!

Featured Artist–JC Herrell

Featured Artist—JC Herrell   

Pura Vida…If you know JC, you know that’s her ‘mantra’ for life…pure life, this is life…satisfaction with life.  It must be what gives her that amazing ability that she has with hot glass.  Her beads are beautiful and unique.  I always have to smile when I see them because they are so colorful and cheerful.  And apparently perfect…did I say perfect?  J  I hope you enjoy MCC’s interview with her.

JC will be teaching at Blue Fire Beads in New Lenox, IL May 24 and 25.  I can’t wait for her class and I know I’m not alone.  If you are interested, www.bluefirebeads.com  There are still places available.

1. How did you get started in lampworking? What was the thing that made you interested?

I’ve always been fascinated with hot things. And I’ve always loved watching flowing liquids. And so I can’t remember a time when I didn’t think that hot glass was awesome. The interest was always there. I started lampworking when my ex-husband urged me to find a stress reliever and dragged me to a stained glass store where he knew the owner had a lampworking studio. Upon starting to order the equipment the owner of the store asked me what I wanted to make. I responded by telling him I just knew I wanted to melt glass but hadn’t thought about what I would make. He then confidently told me I wanted to make beads and told me what I need to do it. Beads seemed like a reasonable reason to melt glass (as opposed to tiny teapots, the other option he offered). And since then I’ve grown to love making beads out of glass.

2. How long have you been lampworking? Is it a business for you or a hobby?

I bought my torch in the fall of 2001 but found it so frustrating (and scary) that I didn’t actually start using it regularly or with any real intent until 2004. And when I started to get the hang of it I couldn’t stop. In January of 2005 I quit my job as the director of a non-profit organization and started making beads full time.

3. What inspires you? How do you get the inspiration/motivation back when you are in a slump?

I tend to be inspired in phases of the types and the quantity of inspiration I’m given. I’m either swimming with ideas or feeling creatively dry. When I actively seek inspiration or work to find new ideas I mostly end up frustrated with my self and my glass. Mostly I find that inspiration finds me and that’s a comfortable process for me. It seems that friends and architecture are my two strongest influences, at least of late. I’ve always loved incorporating architectural elements in my work and watching for them in the buildings around me. I also get a lot of ideas from talking glass with friends or picking up a new technique or idea from the people around me. Customers can also be great inspirations with suggestions of what will work for their designs.

4. Who are your 3 favorite lampworkers? Why?

This is a very difficult question. Very. I want to name friends because I love them and I love torching with them and I love their work and being inspired by it. Other than that I’m a big fan of Emilio Santini for his beautiful theories of perfection.

5. What is the best thing about lampworking? The worst?The worst is definitely the physical hazards including but not limited to: back pain, burns, cuts, and all the toxic yucky stuff that covers my bench. The best part? It’s hard to just pick one most awesome thing about lampworking so I’ll say that the lampworking lifestyle is the best thing about lampworking. I love setting my own hours, traveling, meeting people, seeing all the creativity and defining my life the way it works for me. When you consider all this ON TOP of melting glass all day and night… is there anything better?

6. What is the funniest or scariest thing that ever happened to you when you were torching? Another hard question. Scary and funny stuff happens all the time. I think my scariest moment is when I set myself on fire via synthetic fabric. Big, big flames and many bad smells. Don’t wear fleece when torching. 7. What kind of set up do you use? Torch?

I work on a Bethlehem Barracuda. I love it. It’s just big enough to rage a big bead and the versatility of the pin point flame is a total turn on for me. I used to run it on two Unlimited Oxygen M-20 concentrators (which didn’t quite get the torch to full power, but did get the job done). I’ve been traveling for the last few months and mostly, since then I’ve been using liquid oxygen dewars with my shop hosts and shop mates. I definitely prefer the liquid oxy to the concentrators.

8. What is your favorite glass?

My favorite color of glass is probably electric yellow. I love the glow of it under my enamels. It works so well with cool blues green and just as well with oranges and reds. If you ask me it’s the perfect yellow. I also love dark silver purple plum for stringer work and you’ll find that on almost every bead I make (DSP is much nicer to work with than intense black for very thin lines).

9. What are your favorite color combinations?

I have two favorite color combinations. Of course they involve Thompson Enamels. My first love is electric yellow with an orange to orange red to cherry red to dark red enamel fade on top. My second love is an enamel combo that I adore on all kinds of different base colors: grey green to gray blue green to blue green.

10. What’s your favorite technique? What technique makes you want to bang your (or someone else’s) head against the wall?

I have two favorite techniques: drawing with fine stringer and sifting enamel. Making flowers (raised, encased or any form) makes me want to scream.

11. Is there a shape that you really HATE to make?
Hearts.

12. Do you have a ‘comfort’ bead?

I don’t have a particular bead that comforts me but I do have a few beads I’m very comfortable making like berry beads or rainbows. I make these beads when I haven’t torched in a while or while I’m getting used to new surroundings.

13. How do you see yourself developing as a lampworker in the future? What are your goals?

I just love glass. I love melting it. Ideally, sometime a long time in the future, I’ll have the skills and equipment to execute any idea or concept I can conceive of. That’s the ultimate goal. Long term I want to learn more about glass casting on a large scale, and laminating, and furnace work. Short term I have some fusing projects I would like to get the facilities to work on more and I would like to have the time to improve my blown boro skills, too.

14. What do you consider as successful? What is the key to getting there? To me, success is happiness. If I’m happy and content I’m as successful as I can be. The key to happiness? I’m still working on figuring that part out…

15. What would be your 3 best tips for new artists?

Do it because you love it. Do what you love and not what you think you ought to do. Don’t let fear or judgment stop you.

16. Do you like to take classes from other lampworkers?

I’ve sat in and acted as TA in a class or two but I’ve never taken a class. I typically learn in my own classroom of experiments and errors.

17. Do you teach? Will you travel to teach?

I do teach occasionally and will travel to do so… after all, that’s one of the great parts of the lampworking lifestyle. I love sharing, being shared with and traveling to do so. 18. What other creative outlets do you have?

Glass is kind of all consuming for me. Though, I recently bought a skateboard. But unfortunately I spend most of my time melting glass so I haven’t really gained many skills on the board… Just scars.

More Treasure for my Treasure Bracelets!

Does two mean “rut”? Two is usually my limit. I’ll make two of anything – then I consider myself to be in a rut. I’m trying to break out of that mindset, honest! I’m on my second kumihimo braid right now -does that spell death to kumihimo in my mind automatically? We’ll see … but for now, here’s the second of my finger woven treasure bracelets.

This bracelet was made with waxed linen and some beads that I forget the name of! They are some type of wood. Very light, like bamboo – but not bamboo. (Can you tell it’s past my bed time?) It does utilize one of my lampwork beads as a clasp.

Hurry Up and Create, Dammit!

Have you ever felt that way? Last week I was faced with forcing myself to be creative and it was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do.

There is an art show I have attended with my mother every year for the past 17 years. It’s always been a dream of mine to be in the show but I never really felt my work was up to the task.

This year I decided I wanted to apply. I kept rolling the ideas around in my head. The show has many jewelry artists exhibiting and a few lampworkers so competition is tough. I knew I had to really come up with some “WOW” stuff to even be considered. My slides that have gotten me into shows in the past just didn’t seem good enough.

The closer the deadline came, the less creative I felt. It was so much pressure. Like a gun to my head with myself saying “Create Dammit!”. I kept procrastinating, allowing myself to be distracted by any little thing. It was not going well.

As the midnight deadline approached (last Friday) I was sitting at my kitchen table with a huge mess of beads, fibers, cords, wire, you name it, it was in the pile. I had made and taken apart countless ideas that just didn’t work out. I was mad, in tears, frustrated. I knew whatever it was I had to finish it, then take it downstairs and photograph it, then come back to the computer to resize it, then upload it to their site and submit my application.

Finally I got an idea with potential! I’ll bet a light bulb really appeared above my head. I started furiously braiding my cord, bending wire, stringing beads… then I got an idea for a matching bracelet. I was pushing it time wise (it was 10PM) but I could do it!

At 10:30 I raced downstairs and my husband was all set with the lights on and the camera ready to go. With a few quick clicks I was back at my computer resizing… wait a minute! There’s a hair right in the middle of it. Dog hair, cat hair, someone’s hair! Down the stairs again… re shoot the pictures. I can feel I’m running out of time. I’m panicking.

I made it back to the computer to resize again and click on the ’submit’ button and the page just sits there… loading… forever it seemed. Suddenly I was kicked back to the main page and when I tried to resubmit my application I received the error message that the show was closed for entries.

I cried… and cried… and cried. I felt like I had run a marathon all day long and tripped 5 feet from the finish line. I was so frustrated, mad at myself for procrastinating, for not being more creative.

Before going to bed I decided to e-mail the show and just see if they might possibly accept any late entries. I know some will and you have to pay a higher application fee but at this point the site wasn’t even allowing any applications. So I put my whole story out there to this generic e-mail address and went to bed feeling defeated. I was hoping for the best but not expecting it.

I received an e-mail back two days later. She told me she would ‘try’ to reopen the application process later in the week, but no promises.

It’s too late to make this long story short but I’ll wrap it up… she DID reopen that section of the site and I was able to submit my application. Whether or not I’m chosen to be in the show, I’ll always remember how this set came to life and use it as a reminder. A reminder that procrastination is bad… a reminder that creativity isn’t forced, it flows… a reminder to never give up… and a reminder that if a door closes, find another one to open.

I hope reading this helps you all to remember those things too.

I named this ‘On My Horizon’…

Beaded Car Freshener Tutorial. Another use for your lampwork beads!

By: Joanna Mueller

……and yet another use for your lovely lampwork beads!  Add it to your list of quick gifts, and table fillers for craft shows.  These babies move!  You can either sell them as kits for other people to make and give… or you can put them out already made.  Either way, your car will not only smell great, but be adorned with our first love… BEADS!

Step 1:  Make dangles.  Use whatever beads you want and string them on headpins, loop the top and set aside.

Step 2:  Pick a focal bead and string onto a headpin. Loop at BOTH ends.  You can design this part any way you want. Use whatever focal you want to and use whatever accent beads appeal to you.

   

Step 3:  It’s time to put everything (beads) together.  First, attach a split ring to the bottom loop of your focal piece.  Then, place all dangles onto that split ring and let them hang down.  You will also need to attach a split ring at the top of your focal piece at this point. 

 

Step 4:  It’s time to attach the lanyard hook to the auto air freshener.After you do that, you will need to also attach that same lanyard hook to the split ring you just put on step 3 (at the bottom of the bead hanger)  (the dangles help cover the lanyard)

    

Step 5:  You are finished…  Hang it in your car, or wrap gently in a box with tissue paper for a wonderful stocking stuffer gift.  ENJOY!