lo and behold

My kids got their report cards last week, and since I’m in art school, I’m going to get report cards, too. 

Blogging:  13 posts, participation in a blog party with 80 other people = A+

Studio:  acquisition of new tools and a used RedMax torch by Nortel  =  A

Reading:  Torchworked Marbles, Step-by-Step Wire, Jewelry Artist = A

Making: finished a bead crochet necklace, worked on and then gave up a knitted sweater that was torturing me = B

Health:  kept a journal of healthy behaviors, bought and took vitamins= A

I have a bunch of posts coming to elaborate on some of these accomplishments.  Stay tuned to see my torch and hear about an excellent article I recently read.

Goals for Feb: 

• Get my blog on the latest Wordpress platform, continue posting
• consult with contractor re studio
• make piece for blog party, string bead crochet for trip in Feb
• enter a jewelry contest or submit to a magazine
• exercise once each weekend, once during the week

Note to file:

• next year:  attend at least two major marketplace shows i.e. Tucson, Bead and Button, ACC

The family gifts included a few extra surprises that I did not mention yesterday.  I called them birthday gifts, but sent them while I was on a roll . . .because despite the best of intentions, all these people have different birthdays and I might remember those dates, but coordinating gifts in the mail, not so much. 

For my mother-in-law Marian, whose her b-day is in February:

For my sister-in-law, Ann, whose b-day is in March:

For my sister-in-law Cathy, whose b-day is in December:

For my niece Lucy, whose b-day is in January:

When is your b-day?  Don’t be shy – you never know what might happen!!

My extended family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, and I sent out their gifts just last week.  The packages have all arrived and now I can show the goodies that were in them. 

Some long time ago, I decided we would recognize the holidays with what has come be called a "family gift."  The nieces and nephews all live far away from us, so I don’t ever have a good idea of what stuff they already have and what stuff they really want.  What I do know is that they have a lot stuff, and I just couldn’t bear were the thought of heading out the mall, fighting the crowds, and racking my brain for some original piece of plastic to send to them.  What I decided was to make a gift giving a family event:  our family would make something together that their family could enjoy together. 

For example, the first year, we baked some of our favorite coconut bars and sent them along with all the ingredients and a recipe card so the recipient family could make another batch when they wanted to.  My kids were pretty young then, maybe ages 5 and 2.  I remember that I typed out the recipe cards and Isabel individually decorated each one.  We spent a good half a day assembling all the packages, wrapping things in ribbons and making it all look pretty.  I think I also bought some baskets at the Dollar Store  to hold it all which then became part of the gift. 

One year we made a snowman kit, and Isabel wrote a poem to explain what it was.  One year, we painted mugs I also bought at the Dollar store and sent them with bags of cocoa, marshmallows, and peppermint sticks.  The year after our big house renovation, we made mod-podge collages on leftover 5×5 tiles and sent them as coasters and/or wall hangings.  I’m not really sure that the cousins wouldn’t prefer getting something plastic, but I decided when we started this tradition that it was as much (or maybe even more) about the giving for us and what my children would learn from it.  and And I do know that my kids really enjoy it. During the year, they’ll see some project on TV or in an American Girl Magazine and they’ll say, "That would be a good family gift." 

So this year, we set out to make cards.  Both Isabel and Rachel really like collage art and have made beautiful cards from time to time, so we thought a set of stationary that could be used by any member of the recipient family would be good. Another good thing about this project is I thought we could use up stickers and buttons and sequins and any number of other scraps we have hanging around in our art closet.  I bought the blank cards and matching envelopes at Michaels.

And then I complicated things by seeing a very tempting project in my Internet craft travels that I really wanted to do:  glass refrigerator magnets.  I found some good instructions here, but ignore her links – they aren’t working. When the kids got tired of cards, we made the magnets and then sent some of each in each package.  I had all these Altoid tins that I got from Freecycle and I knew I’d eventually find a good use for them. 

These magnets are really addicting and we’ve made some more since.  It took a little experimenting to figure out what kinds of images and patterns work best.  Valentines gifts?  I am so doing these for teacher gifts at the end of the year!. 

Actually three packages – and it’s not even my birthday.  And it’s not from the Bead Soup Party.  Look at all this stuff: 

Here’s the story:  One of the blogs I follow is Studio Marcy.  I really like her short posts that appear without fail six days a week, always with some interesting angle on an artist’s life.  Sometime in December, she advertised that a lampworker she knows was closing up shop and wanting to sell her entire setup:  torch, kiln, ventilation system, and all the tools.  It’s my fantasy of how to set up a real lampworking studio – have someone hand it to me, all put together.  Unfortunately,  I live nowhere near this woman. I sent a note, saying that I was not local but if she wanted to split things up, I would be interested in buying the tools.  So we made a deal and I got three boxes of stuff, half of which I don’t even know how to use. 

But I do know that I really needed glass nippers and more mandrels.  Now I have buttonhole mandrels and handmade holders, too.  I never bought myself rod rests and they really are a good idea.  I already have a 6×6 graphite pad, but now I have two!  I have one Zoozi’s press, which I’m not sure I really like, but now I have three!  I got picks and pokes and tweezers of every size and shape.  I got glass etch which I would love to play around! with.  And that’s only two of the boxes.  The third box held this:   

Pixie dust and frit samples that will keep me busy playing with a long time. 

There’s one more package coming – any guesses what’s in it?

I’ve been reading this book as if it were a novel.  Really.  It’s that good. 

When I took my last class at Snow Farm, I was obsessed with making round, spherical beads, and my teacher, Nancy Tobey, said that Heather Trimlett showed her a method of getting a really good shape using a marble mold.  (I hope I’m not disclosing too many secrets.  This was just one of many, many wonderful things that I learned from Nancy – take a class from her anytime you can!)  Nancy recommended a special marble mold made by Drew Fritts.

So, I wandered over to his website and fell in love with his work.  I ordered the marble mold and also this book.

What I love about this book is that his voice is very conversational and yet fully technical at the same time.  I think that’s a hard balance to strike.  He’s very forthcoming and generous with his knowledge, and he’s incredibly thorough about what he covers. 

There is a huge introductory section about setting up a lampworking studio.  He writes about torches, safety issues, tools, the bench, etc.  In every section, he’s really clear about what matters only if you work at the torch full time and what matters to everyone who lights a torch and melts glass. 

He says, “Here are the options,” and then, “Here’s what I do.”    It’s so helpful.  When an accomplished expert lays out all the options, of course, you want to know which one he chose.  It doesn’t mean that you will choose the exact same, but you can see his work, you can know what he uses, and it feels so much more complete and real than just getting the options and being left there.  I am in the process of moving from a Hothead in my garage to a gas/propane torch in a four-season location TBD, and with this book, I feel like I have a true instruction manual.  If you are a beginner beginner, this part of the book will be immensely helpful. 

He also is very thrifty and handy about his tools. He has figured out how to make items like a rod rest, how to carve graphite, how to make special marble tweezers from a wire hanger and others.  He holds nothing back, with step-by-step instructions on how to make them exactly the way he did.  

After the set-up stuff, I started reading through the techniques, and that’s when it got weird.  I have no access to a torch right now.  I can’t put even a single finger on a rod of hot glass (you know what I mean!) and I’m reading through technique, picturing it in my mind, taking in the concepts, fully engaged and interested.  Reading one after another.  I have several other glass books, and I don’t think I’ve ever had quite the same reaction.  Of course, I will look to the book again when I can actually experiment with the processes, but his writing is so easy to follow, and he doesn’t just say, “Do this and then do this.”  He talks about what the glass is doing and why you need to hold it a certain way, move it a certain way, etc.  The technique section is 115 pages long, and much of what he teaches can crossover to other flamework that is not marbles. 

Another section of the book includes exact recipes he uses to mix Effetre colors.  What an amazing gift.  It could take someone years (as I’m sure it did for him) to figure out all those combinations.  Fun to do, but with his recipes, a person could make just as many new recipes and share them back. 

The last section of the book is over 100 pages of lessons for how to make the twenty marble styles pictured on the front cover.  Fritts says on his website that he doesn’t teach classes, but surely what he has poured into this text is a class in itself.  I am still reading through the techniques, but I fully expect that I will read this book cover to cover before I get back to a torch.  You can buy the book here.

We have a tradition of sending out our annual holiday letter in January – and our family gifts, too.  We like to believe that nobody minds having the fun of getting mail and packages go on a little bit longer.  This year we thought about choosing a time of year when it would not be stressful to get it all done, but we couldn’t think of any.  So, we slogged through and hit the middle of January just like we usually do.  It all went into the mail today!  Yahoo! 

More on what’s in those packages after they’ve arrived at their destinations. And I have no idea how many holiday cards other people send out, but once you’re on our mailing list, you’re on for life!

Lori Anderson’s virtual Bead Soup Party has attracted over 80 participants, and we’re having fun getting to know each other.  My partner is Mary Harding.  We share a common interest in seed bead work, and we are also both bead-makers.  But we also recognized immediately that we have very different styles. 

Mary makes ceramic beads with subtle, earthy glazes in various shapes, often imprinted with objects from nature like leaves, flower buds, grasses, and trees.  I would call Mary’s style organic, and she also called it rustic.  She has also worked in fused glass, but it seems not what she is most currently interested in. 

My style I would describe as modern, sparse, geometric. . . .Mary and I decided to send each other packages that would offer challenge by taking each of us out of our usual MOs.  Here’s what I got:

A beautiful heart pendant, a coordinating handmade clasp, and six round ceramic beads in two colors (upper left corner) – all handmade by Mary.  Light blue/aqua-ish faceted gemstone and tumbled Tourmaline chips from Artbeads. 

First thing I noticed is that the beads I sent Mary are in the same color family – that should be fun! 

Next, I went to my own stash, and pulled out things I have that would go with this palette.  As you can see, I love bluish- purply shades and I have lots of choices:  some amethyst rounds, some glass roundels, and three different sets of lampworked beads.  The single round one on the left is one that I made, the others are all ones that I’ve bought over the years. In fact, you will see later, that some of these exact same beads are in the bead soup I sent to Mary.  But more on that after she gets the package. 

Here’s another shot of the accent beads Mary sent me with some beads of my own. 

So, I can tell that my way into this project is through color, and I’m working in a color family that I really like.  The question for me now is: how much can I transform these materials into a piece of jewelry that approximates my aesthetic and how much can/should I bend myself to match the integrity of the materials themselves.  Hmmm. . . .Any thoughts my fellow Swappers?

I’ve been trying to post this all week, but I keep running into weird techno problems with getting the photos in.  I have so many other things to write about, so I’ve got to move on. I’m going to forget about the pix and put it out there: 

My word is Healthy.

I did not wholly choose my word of the year. It chose me, and I am going to accept it.  It is not really what I was thinking about; I’m not even sure I really want it as my word, cuz it’s not that fun. But it has come to me, and I know that I need to take it into my life.

I wrote about choosing a word in my first post of the year.  On that day, I read through a list of sample words Christine Kane included with her original article about the Resolution Revolution.  The word Healthy was on that list. It jumped out at me.  I thought about all the times and ways I have tried to be more healthy. Like . . . my birthday is in June, the Jewish New Year is in the Fall, and then the regular New Year comes in January, so at each of these times I try to take stock.  One b-day, I said I was going to exercise so much and so regularly that I would learn to crave it and love it. One year, I set up a reward system for myself, just like the behavior mod I do with my kids. I gave myself a present every time I accumulated 10 miles in walking:  a manicure, a new book, an ice cream, an afternoon at leisure.  One time I gave up sugar – I really did, but probably not for more than a few weeks.  One time I bought vitamins.  One time I joined Weight Watchers.  On my last birthday, I bought a book called At Peace with Food. 

Luckily, I am not really unhealthy.  I’m not overweight, though I’d like to weigh a little less.  Most importantly, I don’t have any huge health concerns, but the truth is, I don’t have healthy habits.  I love chocolate and dessert. I love cooking and I love eating in restaurants.  At the core, I am a foodie and I get a lot of pleasure from eating.  And it’s not that I don’t like exercise at all, but it always feels like a “should” rather than a want, so I don’t  do it.  And I like reading and knitting and making beads more, which all involve sitting on my butt or laying in bed (even better). 

So, it always boils down eating less sugar, getting more exercise, and drinking more water.  I didn’t mention that, but I never drink enough water or fluids in a day, so I’m always at least somewhat dehydrated, which I know impacts my energy level and my overall health. 

I know what I need to do, but I try and fail constantly.

And, the midlife thing – without going into the gory details, let’s just say there is recent evidence that this is a good time to pay attention to my health before things get even more wacky.

So, if health is my word, I am going to start by asking myself:  What have I done today that is healthy?  And I’m going to record it in a journal each night. I know that each day I succeed a little.  Maybe having this as my word, my intention, can help me recognize and celebrate how I do take care of my health – my body, my mind, and my spirit – and if I feel like less of a failure, I will ultimately do more each day, and with more pleasure.

Other good word-of-the-year posts here  and here and here.   Also, Christine Kane has a lot of guest bloggers who share their experiences with the word-of-the-year intentions here.

After the art sale at my home in December, it was time to do some giving. 

I gave these bracelets and necklaces to Beit Ahavah for a silent auction in honor of our tenth anniversary.  I am a member of Beit Ahavah, and I serve on the Board of Directors. 

I gave this necklace and bracelet to Thompson’s Gymnastics for a silent auction and a calendar raffle.  My daughter is on the team at Thompsons.

I gave these two necklaces as gifts to women who work with my husband. 

I have some other necklaces and bracelets tucked away for gifts that I haven’t given yet – we like to extend the holiday season well into January, so I’ll show those when I send them off.

I think I am a jewelry maker more than a bead maker.  In other words, I make beads in order to fulfill my vision of a necklace.  Or maybe not: I make beads for the joy and beauty of making beads.  I do. I love the beads, each and every  one in all their glorious light and color. But mostly, I don’t want to send my beloved beads out into the world for use in other designs. The selfish truth is I don’t want to see my beads in designs that I don’t like when I have my own ideas of designs that I love as much as the beads themselves. Does that make sense?  And so, for that reason, I think it is as important for me to become part of the larger craft and jewelry community as it is to join the art glass world. 

So, I joined the American Craft Council last year and I get their newsletters.  Their “flagship show, featuring over 700 of the country’s leading craft artists under one roof at the Baltimore Convention Center,” happens next month.  I spent some time looking at the show website, focusing on new exhibitors.  I did not see anyone in that group selling jewelry like what I want to make (good sign?), and here are some highlights of what I did see:

• Tami Rodrig:  I fell in love with her jewelry when I saw it at the Paradise City Art Festival several years ago. I bought a very unique – and pink and sparkly - Jewish star pendant necklace for my then six-year-old daughter, which I think she has not yet lost.
• Velina Glass:  I thought she was a glass artist, but it turns out she works in resin and her last name is Glass :). Her work is lovely.  Here’s the first sentence from her bio:  “Creative exploration and craftsmanship came to me late in life at the age of forty.”  I’d like to know how old she is right now; I suspect she has come a long way in a short time.
• Nathan Macomer:  I’ve seen his work at Paradise City Arts Festival, too.  I would like to own one of these one day.  But probably not until I don’t have kids living in my house.  

Good luck to all the new exhibitors! Enjoy the show. Wish I could go, but I can’t.  Maybe next year!