Here I am...

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!

Still Hoppin'!

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!

A Catch-Up Post

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!

Hard Candy!!

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!

State of Bliss

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

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!

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!

Cruelest Month?

I actually think April is not so much the cruelest month, as August is. Or, maybe this particular August. It's too hot, the summer holidays are over, and school doesn't start for a month yet (around here, anyway). We have no real vacation planned, and the things there are on the schedule to look forward to don't come til the very end of the month.

I don't much feel like melting glass, and even the knowledge that I have a fairly large outdoor show coming up in six weeks isn't enough to motivate me. I *am* occasionally the Queen of Procrastination, though, so you can bet I'll be all in a tizzy come September, trying to get work made. Hopefully then it will be a lot less than 100 degrees so I can be really productive.

It's interesting to me that the older I get, the more I learn about myself and the way I work. I guess that is the point, right? To learn as we grow, even into adulthood? Good thing I'm at least paying *some* attention.

My Muse seems to be encouraging me to try different things lately. Right now, I am on a run of mixed-media work....painting, altering books, stamping, collage. I don't really know what the heck I am doing, which is fine, but I have some interesting visions in my head and I am trying to make them come alive. So far, so good.

I gessoed over a previous painting last night (just like the old Masters used to do!), and I am deciding how best to go about turning it into my vision for a 3-D mixed media work. Trees and women, and goddess symbols and mythology have been swimming around in my brain for some time, and I am slowly, slowly starting to turn the visions into actual work.

Oh, a picture would be nice, wouldn't it? Here is the start of my recent altered book. It has no title as yet.
The trees and star will all have a cover of paint and glitter (probably) to tone down some of their obvious plasticness.

Here's one of my favorite parts, in the beginning stages....a niche cut into a stack of glued-together pages:
I'll post some more pics after I get a few more pages done. I think this will be an ongoing project, like a journal, instead of an all-at-once thing. I'm finding, with painting, there's a lot of standing around waiting for stuff to dry, so it's really easy to get started on another project while you're waiting. I already did that. My next project-in-process is a set of altered tarot cards. They have been sanded (to rough up the plastic coating), and gessoed and had their backgrounds painted. I already know the plan for these, but I think I'll share when I have something to show.

Anyway, that is what I have been up to lately. I expect that the month of August will be a little light on blog posts -- well, maybe -- so I'll see you all soon!

*I'm so SO looking forward to ArtBliss in September! Gonna meet so many of my favorite online art jewelry buddies!

Here's what you need to do....

Okay, so....if you haven't heard already, registration is NOW OPEN for the ArtBliss Inaugural Event this September!

I'll wait while you go over to the site and get yourself registered for some AWESOME workshops.....

.................

...............

.........

....

..

.


All done? Okay, great. You are in for a creative treat the likes you have never experienced. Cindy Wimmer and Jeanette Ryan really know how to put on a workshop, and the classes and fun stuff they have on the schedule will blow your mind.

I'm taking Melissa Manley's 'Hard Candy' class on Saturday, and considering her evening class on the same day.

This is all part of my 2010 plan to get educated. So much of what I do is self-taught, and that's fine, but it's also nice to not have to learn everything the hard way, ya know??

It's also part of my 2010 plan to get to know people in the art jewelry world and sort of make my way into it as an artist. Everyone always need more friends, right? And how better to make new friends than by going to places where there are like-minded people? Plus, I know I am going to get to hang out with some of the coolest jewelry and metal and glass and mixed-media people there are!

So, go on! Go get registered for a class and join me in an adventure!

(So? What did you register for?)

Ahhhh....Bliss!!!!!

I have to let you all know about something fantastic that is happening right here in Virginia this fall!

Two of my very favorite jewelry designers, Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio, and Jeanette Blix Ryan, of Fundametals, have joined forces to create ArtBliss! It's a fantastic new undertaking designed to bring nationally-known art, jewelry and mixed-media instructors to the East coast, specifically, the Washington, DC metro area.

Their inaugural event is going to be held in September, and it will feature several OMG-awesome instructors! Go to the ArtBliss site to check it all out! Oh my gosh, lampworking, jewelry-making, enameling, mixed-media and altered art...it's like art heaven!

And the best part is, it's CLOSE. (well, for me anyway. The DC area is only about an hour and a half from Richmond -- two if there's traffic -- but it's easily accessible from all up and down the coast!).

I have already decided to alter my plans for that weekend. I'm going, one way or another. :D You should, too!

I see a metal and enamel class in my future.....what are YOU going to choose?