The Glass is Here!

It is always fun when the glass rod shipment comes in.
Pounds and Pounds of Glass Rod!

Some of the Bullseye Glass

The Bulleye COE 90 rod is labeled and in the rack on the wall. It looks like a glass rainbow




The COE 104 is unpacked and waiting for it's labels!
That's the update for today!

Were did July go?

Wow my last post was July 4th and here it is July 20th. Were did July go?

I know there was lots of ordering of glass and tools and other fun things for the new studio. There was lots of activity getting everything ready for all the new goodies. Making sure the places for them to be seen were built of put together and then there were labels so you know what they cost. All the boring stuff of starting a new business was churning away keeping me busy. The days just flew away.

Then there were all the things that had to been done for the ISGB Gathering in Louisville Kentucky.
Yes I broke out the Hot Head and made some little beads for the Gathering 1st timers. Boy do I miss my "Big Girl" torch.  Stay tuned for the pictures of the beads.

All this work and no posts made me a bad blogger...... My apologies to my followers I promise I will do better. The good news is I have lots of pictures so the next few post will have some eye candy.

And for those of you who are waiting and wondering.
I do have some dates.

Retail store opens August 10 
Wednesday  11am to 7pm

The workshops will follow. Yes there will be a spectacular grand opening when the hood is in!
The 1st workshop is scheduled for October 1- Beginning Beadmaking

Keep those fingers crossed the fume hood comes in on time and the inspectors are kind.
Then we will all have our flameworking playground and the fun can begin!

Slowly but Surely

Yes it is coming along Slowly but Surely!
You know the saying about two steps forward three steps back? This seem to be the theme for the last week of June.
My most excellent husband had the glass holder for the Bullseye glass put together painted and on the wall.

So I ordered the plastic tubes and they arrived quickly. Good !

Hard to see but these are 4 foot tubes

I like the wing images the light made in the tubes

I got busy cutting them to the correct lengths  but when I tried to slip one into place..... OH NO wait the plastic tubes are just ever so slightly too big around. What happened? I ordered the right ones.

Oh yeah I remember now. It's the paint it makes the holes just one itty bit to small. So down comes the rack and the sanding begins. That is what happen when 8 years passes between putting one of these together.

My desk is painted and in place.
We did get the stat wall up and it is starting to look like the retail part of the studio is closer to being open.

coffee corner

Desk and slat wall

Now I just have to fill the walls up with fun stuff for you to buy..

Patience my most excellent students, customers and friends I'm getting there.

"Arts of Engagement: Beyond a Glass Bead"

This Monday June 20th an email arrived with:
Congratulations! Your work has been selected for ISGB's pendant show,"Arts of Engagement: Beyond a Glass Bead".
This is great news! I'll be in two galleries on the gallery tour at the ISGB Gathering in Louisville Kentucky.
I'm sending 6 Corazon de la Gitana's - Heart of the Gypsy pendants and a selection of necklace's from very fancy to plain.

Here is a sneak peek of the pendants and the necklaces. All Six above and close ups below.

The Studio is coming along nicely.I finished painting my desk and moved it in. This next week I will be ordering the glass and supplies and in a week or two I hope I'll be open for retail.
That it for this week.

Some Assembly Required = Progress

OK yes I admit long time no blog! It has been just a little over a week.
But...... I have been busy getting the studio ready.
Some of the best buys come with "some assembly required" on the box.
Here are some of the new additions to the studio.

This is the coffee cart I put together.

 almost together-

Yes Dream Fire Studio has coffee or hot tea for students who need a boost before or during workshops. If you stop by to shop there's a cup for you too.
I know in the Texas heat hot beverages my not be quite right but I need a cup of coffee in the morning. The studio is an extension of my home and I want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable.

The chairs had to be put together after they were painted and the cushions recovered- A big thank you to  Darrell for the great job and amazing paint he used on the chairs. Beautiful is all I can say.



recovered and waiting for the chairs



 If you go back to the first two chairs I recovered the material is a print with happy bright colored flowers.
The fabric was no longer available so I used the "best" colors from those chair and a little inspiration in the form of a dust brush.

 Pink, lime ,black and olive seemed to be a good mix. something for everyone. Yes Kim and Kelly the pink chairs are for you.



just a few of the finished chairs

You can't do everything by yourself sometimes you need help.  My most excellent crew of helpers - my husband and son have been working hard helping me get things ready. Here they are at work.

Some things you just have to build yourself.
My husband and I designed and built these glass rod holders. Again some assemble required after the design and drilling all those holes, painting etc. we have to put them together

This one is for the COE 104 glass. Rods in the rack will be sold by the rod
The boxes below will hold rod that has been bundled into quarter pound ,half pound and pound bundles.
That way you buy a little ( try it before you buy a bunch) or if you know its the glass for you can buy a pound or two.


Not full yet but you get the idea!

Here is the best husband ever working on the Bullseye glass rod holder. 



He's cute and handy and mine!

I'm going to have lots of glass Moretti, a little Vetrofond, Messy, Double Helix in COE 104 and maybe more if you ask for it. In COE 90 what else is there? BULLSEYE  you know how much I love Bullseye glass and you know I really like those special colors they come out with every month. I'll be stocking up on Bullseye next. Don't worry yes there will be yummy frit ,dichroic noodles and other goodies in both COE's and enamels too.

Last but not least this week we did a little work on the bathroom.

Replacing the old office bathroom light not only updated the bathroom it brightened it up in there.

All we need to do is hang the towel holder, a mirror and that necessary room is done.





Old light not too pretty and dark



Nice and twice the light

It has been a busy week we got a lot done and we are closer to opening the retail part of the studio. That could be as soon as the end of the month.

I'm still thinking it will be September before the hood and gas are ready to go BUT you never know once the momentum gets going things could start happening faster.

Keep checking in. Call me if you want to drop by 210-342-3473 I'm not there all the time right now so leave a message and I'll call you back.



Many Hands Gallery

Many Hands Gallery is a beautiful gallery in San Antonio owned by Kathy Moore and Barbara Wright.
They are a Mom (Barbara) and Daughter (Kathy) team who have put together a wonderful collection of Texas artisans work painting, pottery, photography,turned wood vessels and  glass fill the gallery. If you are looking for just the right piece to adorn your home or yourself visit Many Hands Gallery.

I met Kathy's husband Ken several years ago when he and his son took a beadmaking workshop from me just for fun. Ken and Kathy are the nicest people and they have two very talented sons. This is a family of artists.

Ken and Kathy Moore

Kathy invited me to show my work at Many Hands Gallery and this month I was a featured artist.
Today was the meet and greet. Here I am with a few of my necklaces and buttons in my leaves series.



Flower necklaces

Art, Inspiration and Collaboration. Not Chairs!

It is time to talk about Art, Inspiration and Collaboration.
Not Chairs!
At the beginning of 2011  Peggy Potts, a wonderful silversmith, and I started a collaboration on a piece for Convergence III.
At our 1st meeting we agreed that the architecture of Antoni Gaudi moved and inspired us. Peggy and I got to work pouring through books on Gaudi and his work, searching the internet for images of spires and mosaics designed by Gaudi.

 We learned about his collaborations with the artists who brought his plans to life. Each craftsman whether it was a stone carver or a tile layer influenced the final creation of a Gaudi's work.

Peggy and I decided to meet once a week and each week we would talk and share our drawings and ideas.

 

 We each had a vision of what the piece should be the ideas were both similar and very different. We worked together to developed the piece, not digging in to have our own way, but considering the ideas of the other. Taking each other suggestions back to our studios and working on how to incorporate them. Drawings and plans became test beads and a framework of sterling silver. 

We began the work of  balancing  the colors, architectural elements and wear-ability of the piece. I love the attention to detail Peggy gave to the piece every part of it was made by our hands even the tiny silver bead caps and chain.

As the Gaudi piece began to take shape it fascinated both of us. When you collaborate to create something it is not just yours and we both felt an almost strange awe of what we had created. We jokingly called it "my precious" because we both wanted to have it in our possession. It traveled back a forth from her studio to my studio for each addition and after 2 month of work "Gaudi" was finished.

The photos were sent for Jury and we waited..........Joy!!!

Gaudi juried into the exhibition!

Like Convergence II Convergence III will travel the country and hopefully the world.

The first stop is the Gathering in Louisville KY 

We carefully packed it up in it's own little "suitcase"  and said bon voyage.