Artistic Ramblings

2005-12-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

The winner of this months draw is Clair Tucker from the UK...Congrats to you Clair!
My postings have been so sparse in here this month, I'm ashamed to come in here and post anything...I promise to do better in the New Year!
I will have the new beadie pic up at the beginning of the month. It's going to be special since I've been so lax in here I'm feeling the need to be a little lavish. Maybe a pair of earrings...
In exchange for the freebie I've been asking simply that you email with some critiques of my site which I've been very appreciative of. This coming month I'm going to ask something else...that you log on to ARTZEE and vote for my site...its all about ratings , isn't it? :)
All the Best to each of you in 2006!!

2005-11-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

Hair and makeup has been done. Here is the bead up for this months draw. It is a lime green transparent hollow focal bead that has been rolled when molten onto torn bits of pure (.999) silver and tiny chips of broken glass called 'frit'. Remember, all I need from you is an email with a critique of my site, tell me what I could do to improve it. Or just say Hi...:) Email before the 3rd week in December and your name will go into the draw.

2005-11-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

Carol Thompson of Manitoba, Canada has won the heart bead in Novembers draw. So Congrats to her! I have wracked my little brain for something new and exciting to go up for the holiday month. I just made a beautiful little hollow bead in pale green transparent..rolled it in pure .999 silver and bits of crushed glass. It's not ready for its picture yet..it just got out of the kiln this morning and doesn't have its face on yet :)but we will get it on early in the week. Hopefully you will consider it a special gift bead.
The strangest thing happened during the creation of my snowman sculptural bead. I had made the hollow and was finished shaping it when it developed a hole in the glass! It began as a pinprick and right in front of me began to widen..I plugged it with a daub of transparent glass and continued to decorate. The window into the hollow is perfectly placed in the center of the bead...I couldn't have planned it better. So, my little snowboy has a magical belly button!.. and I think he knows it..:D

2005-11-17T05:54:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I rambled in here...that won't do. Most holidays that I've been on, be them long or short, have been a little harried. You're either running to make travel connections or fighting traffic or trying to find a street or the hotels are questionable...any number of incidents that can make your holiday less than perfect. Well. I was lucky enough to enjoy perfection on my little holiday this past week-end..I was with my daughter at my niece's and her husbands place in Edmonoton, Alberta. It was cleansing, it was so perfect. The company, the shopping, the eating, the laughing...oh and the eating, and the shopping and the laughing and the company. Most of all the company. It was entirely too pleasurable. I bought loads of glass and started on my Christmas buying.
Edmonton is a vivacious friendly little city that I love more and more every time I go.. population of 712,391, so it's not so 'little' but while it has all the amenities of the big city, somehow it's maintained a small town flavor..no one's too busy to give you a smile or directions. Take a look here if you're interested..

2005-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the freebie lampwork bead for the month of November...all you need to do to qualify is to email me! I love to get mail..if you want to critique my site please do, I'm always up for ways to improve. I'll put your name in my draw bowl and on the 3rd Friday of the month I will draw a name, and announce the lucky winner of this hand crafted glass bead all ready to go with some .925 silver findings. Good luck~

2005-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

The winner of Octobers draw is Roxanne Mendosa of Roxi Designs I've not decided what will be up for Novembers draw...maybe it will be a mystery box! :) I'll think about it and post a pic next week but its safe to bet it'll be a bead! or two, as in a pair of earrings. Congratulations to Roxanne and remember to drop me a line to get in on the draw!

2005-10-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Send me an email, I'll put your name in the draw on the 3rd Friday of this month, and you will be eligible to win these dainty handcrafted lampwork earrings. They're set on sterling silver wires..the glass itself is a mix of teal on deep green. Couldn't get much better deal than that..tell me who you are and where you're from and maybe, if you promise not to be too nasty, you could critique the site a little so that I can do a better job selling my work.

2005-10-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

What a nice day today..my heart needs these days. My daughter and my two grand-babies came for supper..they live 2 hours away and although I see them often, it's never often enough. My niece and her husband were here as well and we had a turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early this year ( Thanksgiving is officially on Monday I think) We had a game of scrabble..played in teams. My team lost. Talked about what we're all up to and generally just enjoyed each others faces for the day...mmm..good people in my family.
I listed a new set of beads up on the 'Bay this morning. It is a mouth watering set of multiple transparents glasses in rich fall shades of purples, blues, greens and ambers with lots of pure .999 silver leaf swirled throughout. The silver reacts unpredicatably with the base bead color of ivory and each bead is a mystery unto itself. I cannot even express the addiction to this medium. It just gets in your blood as odd as that may sound...it is an expressive, unpredictable, ever evolving art form and I adore it.

2005-10-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Adding this little post-script to show the beadie that came out of the kiln this morning...

I've let it set sail on the 'Bay...you can check that out here

2005-10-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Having a lazy Sunday today...the sort of day you can leave unplanned and follow your whimsy..don't you love that word? I was going to sleep in this morning but I'd made some promising glass beads yesterday and they were soaking in the kiln all night so when I woke at 7:oo my mind flitted to the beads and of course I had to go and see how they came out. I think I'll get some good sets out of a couple of them. One very pretty focal, I'll put it on today and link it here later. I've spent a few minutes updating my site and deciding what to put on for the give-away...hmmm I finally chose a sweet little pair of teal earrings set on sterling silver wires. All you have to do is send me an email...either with some critiques for my site and blog...or, if you are a person of few words..just your name. Be sure to include your own email address by the way, or I have no way of letting you know if you've won! So, these are on the table until October 31. You can view them on my site by clicking here.

2005-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I
will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.
~ Og Mandino

2005-09-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

My work from yesterday as promised...photo is not that great. The beads are lickable, trust me on this.

To see this set of 15 handmade beads on ebay click on this link.

2005-09-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Omnium-gatherum...(it just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it?) n : a miscellaneous collection (as of things or persons)..eclectic gathering of artistic endevours. I just like the feel of the word. If it were tangible I would roll it around in my hand all day..Omnium-gatherum-m-m...
I get glass today! I ordered some wonderous colors (we hope) and they put them on the greyhound and I am looking for it today...yes! I will make something to astound you all and post it here tomorrow...Getting new glass is like opening your first box of crayolas when you were 5. Of course, that was most probably not thrilling for all reading this..but I'm betting most of us can remember that. We all like color..some of us are in Love though...it's a fact.

2005-09-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

My day is muddied with a ton of un creative thoughts today...I am feeling un talented un imaginitive un derappreciated ...what to do with that....its cloudy, that never helps anything. I need a lot of sunlight it seems. :) ahh well.
This fallen tree was shot with my digicam while on a walk yesterday..the lighting was so soulful it needed to be captured. It suits my mood perfectly today.
I'm so late with a bead for the Sept freebie draw that I'm going to bypass Sept and have a draw for October..hey, I can do that..I'm the boss. I've not decided on the bead yet..it might even be a pair of earrings, but the requirements are the same...email me with your name and addy and any other little comment you might have, on how to improve my site..my blog..whatever- and your name will go into my drawbox to be drawn on the 3rd week of October.

2005-08-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have a love for a wide range of music...Chevelle, Diana Krull, Tom Cochrane, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Chesney, Joss Stone...I really love it all..depending on my mood! But sometimes nothing beats the old stuff. I made these yesterday listening mostly to Jethro Tull...they do look a little primitive don't you think? They're up on the Bay as we speak!

2005-08-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Announcing the big winner of the free bead draw....drum roll :D
Actually, because these are the last dog days of summer and we need more celebrations (?) I decided there should be 2! winners this month. Joceline Martel from Alberta and Donni Hakanson from Australia. You've all promised to nag until Sara is finished. I hate to think I need nagging BUT...there she sits...Thank you for the emails, I love to hear from you...watch the blog for Septembers freebie!

2005-08-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful day today...wonderfully warm, not TOO hot. My petunias are smiling in the sun. It seems like autumn though, I don't know why. We've already had a frost here so they say anyway..I don't see evidence of it in my garden. I was most of the morning just putting a couple of new listings on...my computer is behaving badly. You can take a look here..I decided to put a couple of prints on as well as the glass just to see how that goes.
I guess one of the latest things in collecting are ACEO's. Little works of art any media be it reproduction or original. The only rule is that the dimensions must be 3.5 x 2.5, which is trading card size. It began as work traded between artists but has spread to art collectors as well. They sell for very little...the fun is in the collecting. Check them out on EBay...I may add my work there as well, if I can find the Time!

2005-08-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

The only truly happy people are children and the creative minority.

-Jean Caldwell

2005-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

My lovely niece took the time to send me this shot of her wearing the choker I sent her...she is too sweet..

Have you heard of Ginko Biloboa...a herbal supplement that increases blood flow through the arteries...good for your memory. Now if I could just remember to take it. I found this fun little site the other day, wonder if it actually works. Exercising my mind, what a novel idea.

New stuff up on the 'bay..take a peek

2005-08-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

Send me an email just saying Hi and where you're from and I'll put your name into my little draw dish. Every third Friday I will announce the winner of the bead or bead set or earrings...whichever is on at that particular time. This month the winner will receive this organic focal..a swirl of ginger (one of the big colors this fall..according to Pantone )
and cream with an abstract design. It's a chunky tab bead..measures about 20mm x 13mm, so you can just string this on a piece of leather and have a cute little choker or you could get creative and add your own beads for something really original. Anyway, it's yours if you email me between now and August 31 and I pull your name out of the draw..
That's my big announcement for today...hope your day is as sunny and gorgeous as ours is today!

2005-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

I need to give myself a kick to move back to my painting a little bit. I've been so immersed in learning and loving the intricacies of molten glass that I have virtually ignored any painting projects I had going. One of them is a painting of my son's friend Sara. I got as far as the sketch and there it sits, collecting dust and looking forlorn. So just to add a little pressure I thought I would post it here as a WIP (work in progress) so that I HAVE! to work on it.
The next step with this drawing is to paint the shadows with a mix or ultramarine blue and rose madder. That will mold the features of the face. I think I would be safe to make this a monthly post with the WIP, but I'm going to be optimistic and say weekly and see how it goes.

2005-07-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way...things I had no words for.
~Georgia O'Keefe

Read about Georgia O'Keefe

2005-07-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got my tabs press from Zoozii's
today...Just about missed it too. Was just headed out the door and my buddy, the postman arrived. Don't you love getting parcels in the mail? Anyway, it's a very fun tool that I can use to make tabular shaped beads. I'm a little torn about using these presses. To me it takes away, to some extent, the artistic earthy hand crafted touch. They look a little too cookie cutter for my taste. However....they are FUN to use, and the beads just look yummy, delectable glossy little orbs.. like you should put them in your mouth. I'll post something tomorrow of what I made today...they are in the kiln right this moment.
This is a pic of a tabular that I pressed between my marver ( a paddle made of graphite) and a tile left over from a bathroom re-do.

2005-07-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

It's a bluesy day here today and I am unsure whether or not I feel like firing the kiln up and torching some more or working on my website...which brought me to this spot. Blogging ...hmmm. Is it dying out or gaining speed? I think my concern with it is the comment section..we'll see how it goes. Not something I HAVE to continue. It's all about getting the work out there and moving my links around!
I spent very little time on the torch this morning before I burnt myself..stupidly, I might add. (Is there an intelligent way to burn yourself??) A little side note for anyone wanting to learn to lampwork~Hot glass looks just like cold glass.
I put together an awesome little necklace which I packaged up and am sending to my niece. It's made of tiny glass leaves and seed beads. The leaves are maybe an inch or so in length..I was very happy with how they came out. I mixed some colors..some amber and reds, so they have an autumn look. I'm a little stuck on amethest lately..that would've looked very hot in there as well. I'm going to have to make another one.
The auction on eBay is disappointingly static...one of the reasons I thought of blogging. So much work goes into those things and you end up with MAYBE 20 views. I do plan on getting a business card into circulation though, that may help as well...it's just a bluesy day like I said. I'll be in a better mood tomorrow!