5-11-08

Happy Mother's Day!  Whoo-hoo! It's a beautiful spring day, the scent of lilacs in the air... I drove past a park to see a man in a suit patiently flying a kite. Too cool.  It's enough to ignore the rain and wind storm. 

 

New stuff's up now, and if you were always wondering how the heck my categories are ordered on the right side?  It's in order of appearance... I made sheep, then frogs, etc...

 

5-7-08

 

I'm having a great torch week already - I made a new sort of alien (ZOMG!) that's amusing the heck out of me - he's a bit, um, twisted... *grin*  So hopefully we'll have a nice selection up sometime this Sunday.  I'm reposting something I put on my MySpace page a while back, because I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for stopping by!

 

One point of view stated that you cannot call yourself an artist, someone else must dub you with that title.  Well... That would lead to some very amusing Monty Python-style discussions.

"So, what do you do?"

"Well... I create things.  Works of *nudge nudge wink wink* art."

"So you're an artist?"

"YES! Oh thank the merciful heavens, yes, I am!"

(I'm imagining all sorts of frolicking dances here, maybe the Hallelujah chorus echoing through the background.)

Well... Faulty logic, that.  And if it's just being called an artist, I think everyone who's ever brought home a glue and macaroni encrusted piece of misshapen cardboard to a proud Mom has that title. 

Also, we're totally forgetting the possibility of being a bad artist. I could name a lot of examples, but... Does Yoko Ono suffice?  Oh wait, let me rephrase that for politcal correctness... Disregard the previous comment, take the next one instead.

Being called an artist is still different from being a popular artist, and everyone's tastes are different.  For instance, when I go to the Cleveland Museum of Art, I always go to the Modern Art section.  Do I like this style? Well... Not particularly.  But there's a gigantic white piece of canvas with a grid drawn on it - basically a huge piece of graph paper.  For years it had a thick black line on the ground in front of it, with a polite little sign letting you know that if you got too close to the artwork, an alarm would sound.  The information posted next to the piece went into detail talking about how each square is a different color, and what this symbolizes. (Each square is white.  Just white.  Seriously.)  Again, do I like this work?  Not particularly - but I always had to go see it to remind myself that if someone could sell a museum an oversized portrayal of graph paper so valuable that it needs to have it's own alarm, well... I certainly have no doubts about calling myself an artist. 

As a final note, before I even thought of calling myself a glass artist, I was dubbed the Sheep Goddess.  I will, as needed, suffer the approriate demotion to be an mere artist.  

5-3-08

Close personal online friend Roger Child is offering his absolutely wonderful bead stands again, so I need to share a pic and a link.  I have a few (or... a colony...) of his dragons sitting on them, they look like thrones! 

 

 

 

4-27-08

I realized my work surface had a few too many inches thick of assorted glass, so I vowed to just create from what was directly in front of me... I've been doing it for a week, and the variety is almost embarrassing.  I did have to snag some white stringers and one rod of Vetrofond pale ivory through the course of the week... On the up side, I'm starting to see bits of my table!   Oh, and did I mention new beads are up?  Thanks for stopping by!  Did you click on the voting link above? *wink*

 

4-26-08

It feels like the world is coming to life around me.  Ferns unfurling like some prehistoric beast awakening, lilies of flame, ahhh...

(Look familiar, Mom?)

 

 

 

 

 

4-23-08

I added a new article.  It's basically notes on the class I taught Sunday - I like doing the notes afterwards as I'm never sure what direction the class will take.  I will be teaching another Beginner class at Artful Hands on May 3rd - contact Jan if you would like to register or have any questions.  She's typically easier to reach by phone, contact info is on the site.

While teaching, I also mentioned one of the charities I am proud to support - Beads of Courage.  They're a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with serious illnesses.  I donate beads there, and run auctions on eBay through MissionFish to help support them.  The site will, very possibly, make you cry. It also makes me want to help in any way I can.  They accept donations of annealed, clean beads with no cracks or sharp points.  It's a great place to send studio cleanout beads or practice beads that didn't quite turn out as you wanted.  Of course, as with any non-profit charity, they appreciate monetary donations as well. 

 

4-20-08

And then I said, "Let there be New Beads!" Voila!

 

Class rocked today, thanks to you lovely ladies if you stop by!  I'll do up notes in the next day or two - there are a few tutorials hanging around from previous classes in the articles section. 

 

Psst... Sneak preview of my favorite bead going on eBay tonight...

 

 

4-19-08

I'll be updating here on Sunday evening, and eBay on Tuesday, by the looks of things right now... (Here for sure, still debating about eBay... Maybe some Sunday and more Tuesday...)   In the meantime, here's a glimpse of spring here - and yes, the promised lamb's ear is included, which I was just informed is weed-like once it takes hold.  Super.

 

 

 

4-17-08

I just stopped off at a local bookstore and picked up a copy of the magazine Beads 2008.  It contains a fabulous group ad with one of my aliens tucked into it!  (I'm acting surprised, but really, I'm not...)  If you stopped by due to that ad, thank you!   The routine is that I typically update on Sunday evenings with new beads here and in my eBay auctions, which close on Sunday evenings also.  I have a nice selection of work to view right now in my Gallery and Sold items, and more will magically appear over the weekend.  Stop back, please!