Steep Learning Curve

Glasstock was an amazing opportunity to learn from so many people - not just the instructors, but each and every participant had something to share, and everyone was so generous with sharing their knowledge and techniques. I tried to pick classes that were in areas that were totally new to me, and it was challenging and a lot of fun to try so many new techniques. I took an off mandrel pendant class with Otter, a fish sculpture class with Deb, mini blown vessels with Patty and I faceted some pre-prepared beads. I also got to try Boro for the first time, thanks to the help of the boro girls and boys who got me started. So here are my class and open torch pieces - I had such a lot of fun with them, and I cant wait to get back to the torch to work on them further.

My first 2 off mandrel pendants from Otter's class

The last pendant from class, and my first real implosion, which I did at open torch that night.

I made this one at open torch too - I was very happy with the shape.

A close up of my implosion pendant. Watching the boro boys make marbles paid off.

This was my last vessel for the class - after struggling with the previous 2, I made the walls thicker and managed not to blow a hole in the side.

The hummingbird I made in Deb's class. Originally I placed the beak too high - I had to point out I have no real idea what a hummingbird looks like :).

I was happy with this little guy as my first fish, but I don't like the way the Psyche glass has reduced, or the way it affected the purple. His lips look awesome, but the rest of him is getting etched when we get home!

Fishy number two

I made this fish at open torch the next night, while walking someone else through the process. Teaching someone else helped me remember the steps, although I did accidentally put my hummingbird tail on the fish, before I realised.... I just twisted it around the right way - no harm, no foul. :)

My first ever Boro - had no idea what the colours would do, and luckily the red struck in the kiln. We all thought staying on the mandrel for my first foray into boro was a good idea, but I actually found the pendant I made next easier. I was really happy with the construction - unfortunately the colour I thought was black for the back was not, so the dots got a bit lost in a similar colour. Still I was pretty stoked - I took a new skill and applied it to boro my first trip out of the gate. I have a lot of beginners luck - not sure my next effort will work so well. I'm not even sure I can melt Boro on my Piranha with 1 oxycon......

The grinding class was fun, but it showed up a lot of issues with my encasing - next time I'm planning on faceting anything, I will be more careful with every layer of glass! I'm going to look into lapidary clubs when I get back home - this is a great affect, but the grinders are NOT cheap. Ouch!

Glasstock 09

What an amazing experience the last few days has been. It has been crammed so full of glass and friends I haven't had time for blogging, but all good things must come to an end, and Glasstock is over for another year. I realised when chatting with my husband online the other night that money isn't the only impediment to me returning - I also need to get leave during term time, which isn't always easy. I will be back though - I cannot believe how much I learnt and I was absolutely loving the way my mind was connecting the dots and thinking of ways to use boro techniques in soft glass, off mandrel techniques in beads etc. So much cross pollination. The open torches were so much more meaningful for me when I was practicing and confirming new techniques I had learnt that day, rather than just playing around like at the gathering - not that I torched at open torch then, I think it was more intimidating than the environment at Glasstock. Everyone kept saying it would be a life changing experience, but I didn't really expect the way it affected me. It really was a very special time, and I know that I will grow as a glass artist because of it. I cant wait to get back to the torch when I get home and see where it all takes me.

Beautiful Oregon & Beautiful People

I arrived in Oregon yesterday. After a 14 hour flight to LAX and a 4 hour layover, I hopped on a flight to Portland. I was met by Maggie, a wonderful lady who had offered to put this stranger from Oz up for the night and drive me down the coast to Glasstock the next day. On the way home we had great lunch, and stopped at the Dahlia farm for some photo opportunities.

My room for the night was Maggie's adorable studio, which has an amazing view.

As does the hot tub I had a good soak in before bed. Ahhh, this is the life. After 31 hours up, with only catnaps on the plane, I was ready for a good 12 hours of sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go.

Today we drove down the coast the Newport, stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery. We got some great views od the coast before the fog started to roll in.

We went to the opening party at Deb's, and then had a very late dinner from the local fish and chip shop. Not quite what I'm used to from the local place at home - the one thing I recognised off the menu was calamari... I didn't expect full tubes and whole octopus with tentacles, but it tasted good....

Off to bed now - Glasstock starts tomorrow!!!

Adventure Beckons...

Months of planning and anticipation are finally coming to a head, and I am off on my month long trip around the US on Tuesday. The last week has been beyond hectic - realising I needed to write all my reports weeks early, worrying about a health scare and rushing between work and the hospital for tests, Jason going away for work and mum moving out of the house that she has had since long before I was born.... crazy. But I have survived, and this weekend is for me to get all my last minute things sorted, pack, and spend some quality time with Jason before I go.

First stop is Portland, Oregon, where after a few hour drive down the coast with a new 'online' glassy friend, I will be taking part in 'Glasstock', and Annual glass workshop which goes for 4 days and will have 70 attendees. Then its on to Phoenix, and some quality girl time with Lisa, (and Sondra!) a trip to a Tucson bead show and all sorts of 'fun in the sun' of Arizona. Then this lucky duck heads to New Orleans to stay with another dear online friend. I have to keep reminding myself that Deanna and I haven't actually ever met, as we have been friends for years now. It will be amazing to finally meet Deanna, Greg and Rebekah. I am fully intending to go into tourist mode in New Orleans (whilst hopefully still finding time to learn to make marbles!). The adventure continues, and from New Orleans I am off to Tampa, Florida, to stay with Fay. We have plans to jetski and swim with manatee (and make face murrine, another skill I'd love to come home with.) Finally, when I'm all torched out (as if!) I will head to San Fran, for 4 days as a tourist. I am staying with an old friend from Melbourne, and hopefully I will also catch up with some other beadmaking friends while I'm there.

Thanks goodness I have a week when I get back before term 4 starts!

As usual when I travel, I will be blogging regularly, and as I'll have my laptop this time, I'll be able to upload pics straight away too.

I have a lot of lovely new beads to share, but most of them are for gifts or trades, so I might post some pics when I get back. As I hate to make a post with no photos, I'll leave you with a recent pic of my fuzzbutts - Mojo seems to be convinced that Monty is his personal jungle gym.

21 days and counting till I take off for the USA, and I am getting very excited. I have been feeling very out of sync in the studio lately, feeling like nothing was working, but the urge to get gifts/trade beads/stock for the market has meant Ive been in the studio almost every day for the last 4 days and I'm feeling like my groove is coming pack. As I am well aware, torching is NOT like riding a bike, repetition definitely helps in a big day and torching regularly is the best way to get over a hump. Now I'm feeling confident that I will be able to keep up at Glasstock and come home with a wealth of new ideas and skills to try. I am also excited that I have had some jewellery accepted at Philip Stokes Studio Glass Gallery and I may be undertaking a beginners glass blowing course there in November. I've decided to decide once I get back from overseas and see how much damage I have done to the finances. :) It's something I have wanted to do for awhile, though I doubt it will pull me away from making beads. I think that there could be a great cross pollination of ideas and skills though, so I am looking forward to it.

Canine Update

Life rattles along at a great pace as usual, leaving little time for Blogging. The dogs are changing a lot - Monty basically looks like an adult now, although I do have a few pics of 'Teen' Monty to show as well. The boys are inseparable, Mojo is Monty's little shadow 24/7, when he isn't following Jason around the house. 'Daddy's boy' doesn't begin to cover it. :) I haven't had a lot of time for torching lately, but I did spend quite a bit of time working on some Medieval Rosaries for an SCA Arts & Sciences Competition. It was fairly tedious making so many small round beads, but the research was interesting, and the results looked good. I have my market again this week, and Jason is coming along to learn the ropes, so he can run it for me while I'm away OS next month. My trip is getting closer and closer - time to start some serious planning and to get really excited!! I will be taking my laptop to keep in touch with people, so I will be blogging regularly while I am travelling around the USA.

Show & Tell

Sometimes I find life gets so hectic you don't have time to write about it... other times, life seems too mundane to bother writing about it. Not sure exactly why I've been absent the last few weeks - a little from column A, a little from column B...

So, I have some new Jewellery to show, and a new addition to the family to introduce... meet Mojo.

Monty has grown a lot, although we didn't realise quite how much until we saw him with the new puppy. They are getting along like a house on fire, which makes us a little superfluous!

I am still selling at the Abbotsford Convent artist market once a month, and I made a few new pieces for last months market. I'm afraid I wont have much in the way of new stock this week - the last few weeks have been way too hectic.

Just to finish off, here is a bit of video footage showing the initial introduction of Monty & Mojo...

Growing Up

My little furbaby is starting to look like a real dog. Just when he grows out of the cute puppy stage, we will have a new one to 'awww' over. Monty's prospective little brother is about 3 weeks old and has just opened his eyes. It will be great when there are two of them, and they don't need quite such undivided attention from us. Monty is definitely an attention leech. :) I have a few new beads waiting to photograph, and its market week this weekend. The beads for this new bracelet were inspired by Fox Glacier, that I was lucky enough to visit in January.

More new work...

I spent some time today updating my Etsy and Artfire accounts. I really want to get some momentum behind them, and I realise that I need to do a lot more on the promotions front. Participating in the forums for the sales venues is apparently a good start, so I've been getting my feet wet today.

Anyway, I intend to post quite a bit of new stock over the next couple of days - here is a bead set and a bracelet that went up today...