Teaching…..

For a few months now Greg has talked about getting serious about teaching soft glass marbles and murrini.  Personally I think Greg is a great teacher.  I am rather excited that he wants to do this.  We have done one and one teaching and demos in the past, but now is the time to get serious about making teaching arrangements.  Of course that is my job.  I am a little unsure about how to go about that, but I have contacted a few studios about it.  Ones where we have met the owners, so hopefully we can get something worked out.

What do you think?  Would you take a marble class and/or murrini making with Greg?  Or how about me?  If I were to teach, what would you like to learn from me?   Any place in particular you would like to see us go?  Of course now that we are stationary we can have students come here.  We even have an rv out back for easy lodging. 

A real collaboration.

Okay, so remember those butterfly and sunflower beads Greg made?  The ones he told me I should do something with.  In case you don’t, here ya go:

So yesterday, I decided to run with that idea. This time I am certain it was a collaboration and not just an idea rip off.  These are really my design, just using Greg’s murrini flowers and adding the butterflies.  It’s the same design I use on most of my flower beads.  Turns out it was much easier than I though it would be.  I surprised myself that I was able to use the butterflies and not smear them.  In fact this is really the first time I ever had permission to use the butterfly murrini (all other murrini has always been fair game, just not the butterflies).  I have used it once before in a witch, but I had to beg and put my sweetest effort into it.  These were handed to me, with Greg’s blessing and I feel like I did them justice.  I didn’t waste even one.  I am so proud of myself.  See them on ebay:

Clickables!

 

A return to a favorite and a new series.

I guess I have been making faeries for almost two years now. I really was only making them with words on them, like fire, earth, friends, hope, etc.

It has really been a while since I have made a significant amount of faeries. Mostly I think because we switched glass suppliers and I was no longer using moretti Italian glass, which is what all the murrini words are. Just about a year ago we switched to bullseye glass, which is a different COE and not compatible with my moretti words.

So, yes it can be said maybe it was laziness on my part to not pull out the moretti glass and make some more faeries, or more laziness that I didn’t try to make my own bullseye words, as I have been having Greg do it in the past. He does them much faster and more efficient than I can. I know, practice, practice, practice. However, I think we have already established that I am a bit of a cheater when murrini is involved. Yet, I couldn’t ask Greg to make me more words in Bullseye, when I had a perfectly good stock of them in moretti, now could I?

So this leads me to my newest faeries, which I am very excited about. They are my Garden Faeries. I have only listed one so far on ebay, and here she is: The Sunflower Faery.

I do have another one that will go up in a few days, The Iris Faery, and have ideas for another one, the Daffodil Faery. I have already told Greg to make me flowers (there I go cheating again), but whatever he makes I am sure he will use, if he does make them that is.

Clickables!

 

 

Sushi and House Painting

Yesterday, I took Greg out on a date. We have been passing this restaurant, Cate Street Seafood Station, that has half of a VW bug sitting like it is coming through the wall and is the old railroad station. I have kind of been half reading the sign each time we drive by. Steaks…not my thing, seafood, sushi! Sushi? Oh ya, sushi. So, I usually only go the places for sushi that have been recommended by other folks, as if you are a sushi lover, it is either really good, or really bad. I have heard of this place before in advertisements, but no personal recommendations. So we went out on a limb and decided to try it. Actually we didn’t really know it was mainly a sushi place, but when we went in, everyone in the place was eating sushi. So of course we went for it. It was really good, especially the bubba gump roll! yum! It was tempura shrimp with tuna I believe and avocado. I could have eaten the whole eight pieces all by myself. The yellow fin, was quite good also. Please someone remind us, we don’t like the crab rolls….we never like them at sushi places, but we continue to order it. Why is that? We both love crab, but never like the crab rolls, anywhere we go.

The painting continues. It looks like as early as next week Greg is going to start on the outside of the house. It really needs it. We spent the morning looking at paint schemes on the internet. I think we came up with one. It was not what we thought we were going to do, but doesn’t it always work that way? It’s going to be a red brown, with cream and sand color accent and trim. At least that is the plan as of today. The best part is Greg said he would do it, and I am off the hook so to speak. He says he doesn’t mind doing it himself. I will still help, but my work load with the business is a bit more time consuming that his is, with the computer work and shipping, so I will help when I can, but it is mainly going to be his show. Whooo Hoo for Greg!

Collaboration or blatant rip off? You Decide….

Alright, this week must be my week for spilling my lampworking secrets. I have been blogging about the sunflowers Greg made, since I was and still am over the moon about them. While he was busy making those marbles, he tried some pressed beads with his sunflowers and butterflies. These are the ones he made:

After Greg gets them out of the kiln, he says to me, “You should do something with that, you are much better as pressed beads than I am.” This is probably the third time he has said something to me about using his murrini in pressed beads in the last week. The topic has come up before, but I didn’t have a good hold on what I might like to do with the idea.

So after My marble was made, you know the Sunflower Bouquet (In case you don’t, here it is again), I was finally compelled to try his murrini in a pressed bead.

Okay, so my pressed bead really wasn’t what Greg was thinking, but it is still kinda pressed, I mean I pressed it into a tab using my marver. That counts…I think.

I am pretty pleased with the way this bead turned out. Pleased enough to put it on ebay.  Using the murrini and having everything encased like it is, is new for me. I have used murrini before, but not really this way.

So, When Greg gets it out of the kiln he says “Oh I really like this one”. Then I said, “You should it’s your design”. Then we both start laughing and he’s looking at it, then he says “Is there anything about it that isn’t?”

I think about it a moment….Nope not really. Maybe the base color of the bead, but everything else is a technique that he came up with. The foliage on the base, the sparkling vines, and obviously the sunflowers are his murrini. Even where I put my signature chip. Although that is a basic one and most lampworkers do that.

So is it a collaboration or blatant rip off? We don’t know really. I know which way I am leaning, I am wondering what you think.

Beadmaker or Artist?

I was having a conversation with another fellow lampworker about what we consider ourselves. Bead maker or artist? We both said bead maker.

I consider Greg to be the artist of this pair. The way he comes up with ideas, implements them and runs with it, is amazing to me. He doesn’t want anyone to show him how to do something. Most of the fun for him is figuring it out. While on the other hand, I am more results driven. If something doesn’t work after a few tries I get kinda frustrated and give up on the idea, unless someone shows me how. I’ll tell you a secret…are you ready? Okay here goes. If I can’t figure something out, I ask Greg to do it and show me how. Is that cheating? Probably, but since he is my partner in life and business, that is just the way it goes.

Okay so back to the bead maker verses artist thing. I am in no way getting into the art vs craft debate. This is just about how I see myself. What I find kind of humorous is my friend said they same thing. She does not consider herself an artist. Now here is the humorous part, I own and wear more of her beads than I do anyone else. I love them. Maybe it is her passion for bead making that shows through, maybe it is just that I feel her joy when I wear them, or maybe, just maybe it is because she is an artist and just doesn’t see herself that way.

I have neglected to tell you who this person is on purpose, as I am not sure she would want this to be public knowledge. You know who you are though, and yes you are an artist. Does this mean I could be too? Maybe or maybe not. I just like to melt glass and am thankful everyday I get to make my living doing it.

The bead I copied.

Last weekend I spent time with my friends Angie and Vern of Bead Addicts.  What do bead makers do when they get together?  Well, they make beads of course.  I saw my trip as a play date and I tried new things while I was there.  One of them hits Justbeads tomorrow as my All Hallows Eve inspired set.

I made a few others I am still working on polishing up and still some I left with Angie and Vern.  I don’t have pictures of those, but I made a few more when I got home.  The ones I am showing you today are a direct result of me trying to copy (yes copy…I said it) one of Angie’s beads.  Here is the Angie bead I tried to copy (she gave it to me back in may at bead camp).

These are the two that I came up with after coping it:

They look exactly the same don’t they?  LOL…okay maybe not.  So it’s not like I used exactly the same colors or tried to do it exactly the same, but I was for sure trying to get the same shape of the flower she made.  Obviously, I made a mistake somewhere.  I am pretty sure my round middle area was too big and the petals were too small.  So I did a bit of tinkering and turned it into something I liked. I am now calling them my ruffled flowers.

Okay, so I usually don’t talk about the “copy” issue.  It is a big taboo and no one wants to be called a copier.   I don’t think I am in too much danger of that, as every time I try to copy something, it never ever looks like the the persons bead I tried to duplicate.  Personally I think coping is good for trying new techniques, you never know what might come from it.  As far as people who blatenly copy others ideas and call them there own, well….that is another matter entirely.

So thanks Angie, I think I found a new bead I really like, while totally and completely botching my attempt at your flowers.

Hostage negotiations were successful!

Yes, the negotiations were successful and the hostage has been released. The sunflower bouquet has made it to ebay.

 So this marble is still may favorite marble ever, but the one Greg made or me, now has a special place on my desk and in my heart.  I asked (well, really told) him if he made me a bouquet of sunflowers without the butterflies, then I would release this one to ebay.  I love the butterflies, don’t get me wrong, I just wanted one that the focus was soly on the sunflowers.  I think you can see why I would.  So this morning after Greg opened the kiln, he presented me with my own bouquet of sunflowers.

The one and only Greg Chase marble that I own and is NOT for sale.  It’s about time don’t you think?