February 2010
I'm at Hospice with my sister. Some of you know that she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer about 16 months ago. We're all so sad. We have fought the good fight since Sept. 2008, and now we are just trying to manage her pain and give her peace. We are hoping to just stay long enough to get the pain under control, then move her back home with us. We can transition back to the Hospice home if necessary. If you don't know about Hospice.. it's one of the best kept secrets out there... they are wonderful.
Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and the prayers. Thanks to all my loyal customers -- with 4 more people in our house, it helps so much in this economy. I hope to be back to the torch next week. We have lots of family to give me a day off, and for that I am so grateful.
January 2010
Happy New Year! We've been enjoying the holidays, and I'm grateful for so much. My sister and her kids have come to stay with us and we are enjoying it so much! I'm so glad to be in the groove... the torch muse is with me, which allows me to create amidst the chaos of my life. I'm grateful for family, for love, for shelter from the cold. Lately I've been listening to: Pavoratti, Colbie Caillet, Sheryl Crowe, Sarah MacLachlan, Ingrid Michaelson, Paul Simon, Tom Petty... among others. I really love the Genius Mixes generated by iTunes. For the uninitiated, you just pull up a song, hit the Genius button and it generates a playlist of your music with the same type of song. It's awesome. Makes your music fun again! New sets are up, as are some new focals. Thanks again to all of my loyal customers!
December 2009
I've just listed a few sets for sale here, sets of 5 beads which are
perfect for designing that holiday gift. In addition, I've lowered prices on my focals and some sets. Minimum order of $25.00, and I ship within 24 hours of
sale, so it's not too late to purchase for the holidays.November 2009
New beads being photo'd. Stay tuned! I have new glass and some new murrinni that I'm pretty excited about. I am still working with River Rock and Chalcedony. Look for more focals, but with matching accents, what I call little sets. Even though my sister is ill, we are still going to try to do a normal Thanksgiving. Hope you and yours have a happy holiday.
September 2009
Random thoughts...I feel resonance with small shiny objects. What does it mean?
I've been going through art books, web sites and taking photos in my exploration of color, form, design, harmony... experimenting with new materials and layering techniques. Influences on the design process are images I encounter or take myself, the music I listen to when I create, the mood I'm in when I'm creating. I took drawing lessons for six years, and my teacher told me that all art comes from reference. Whether it's from the landscape in front of us or a photograph of that landscape, it's all reference. I had this crazy idea that if I drew from a photo I was cheating. That a real artist went out like a "plein air" artist does. Great for drawing and painting, but I can't take my lampwork studio out with me. So books, websites and photos taken locally will have to do.
If I listen to music and absorb as much of the world around me can I hear my artistic voice? Can I learn what I need to learn to express what's inside of me? Will it help me grow as an artist, as a person? Ya, I think so.
We struggle to make a living, to keep our sanity in a world that seems like it is going mad... and in the daily journey, if we stop for a moment and absorb what's around us in nature, in the scene around us, we creep towards understanding harmony. Is it the art that calls to us or is it that we have to absorb and create, absorb and create? God, I love the process!
As a jewelry designer and bead collector, sometimes you see a bead and you just have to hold it in your hand, to design around it... That's why I started lampworking. Now I make too many beads to design around all by myself, and what can I say.. the glass got me.
Learning Beadmaking...Lots of students this spring and summer. If you think you'd like to try beadmaking, I am now scheduling into October, email me.
My Gallery has been updated, and I have set up a shop in Etsy. I'm gradually selling all our leftover inventory from our retail store, Blue Fire Beads, in the Etsy shop. I started with PEARLS!!! The prices have been slashed, so make sure you check out the shop... it's called BlueFireBeadArt, and I will occasionally list some of my lampwork there also.So, what is lampwork?
Making glass beads is called lampworking because hundreds of years ago, artisans heated glass using oil lamps. I use a propane/oxygen torch to heat glass rods to over 1700F. Then I wind the molten glass onto a "mandrel", which is a stainless steel rod coated with a claylike substance called bead release, which forms the hole in the bead. Using gravity, a variety of tools, color, form and design... I create a small treasure that is wearable. My work is sold here on the website. Click on one of the categories listed on the left side under Shop For Beads. I process your credit card payment thru PayPal.
Questions? Email me at mmjfirst@aol.com
Want to learn beadmaking? Email me, I take students by appointment only. $175/four hour one-on-one lesson (in my southwest Chicago suburb) private studio. We'll go over safety, equipment, basic beads, rounding and centering, pulling stringer, applying stringer, dots, stripes, twisties, and organic applications.
Read my Blog... http://imnodiva.blogspot.com/
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