A while back, I was at our Southern Flames Silent Auction and was chatting with some new members about some of the offerings.  They were excited about some of the glass shards up for bid and I suggested that they learn how to make their own, so they can tailor them to what they want.

The next thing I knew, we were emailing back and forth to find a good date to have this class.

I really love that  at least half of my Studio Marcy  work week involves teaching glass lessons.  Most are private or semi private lessons in my studio. And being a Gemini through and through, I love that each class is different.

Not only do I get to mentor my students one on one, but I also can really create the class so it fits each person’s needs.  So this class involved blowing glass on the end of a hollow tube into kind of egg like shapes and then the end user breaks them into pieces to apply to their glass bead or other creation.

Needless to say, when one teaches diverse subjects, it’s good to stay up on what you’re doing .  So as usual, I practiced before class to double check that my skills were where I wanted them and that I’d have enough samples to discuss and show  them while going over techniques and styles.

These particular shards were delightfully colorful.  My husband started calling them Dragon Eggs and the name stuck.  I made them with glass rod that comes from Russia and Iris Orange frit.  Pretty simple, but great results.  I just can’t wait to see what the baby dragons look like when they hatch.

Marcy Lamberson is learning to be a glass paleontologist and hoping for technicolor stegosaurus babies.  If that doesn’t happen, you can find her daily blog here and her etsy shop over here.

I was also asked to recreate a particular sky from Many The Miles and make a beach scence which I titled after my art collector and client Barby’s Beach.

Although they are the same size and a very similar sky each piece evokes a different experience and feeling.  I am presently working on a piece where the duplicate commissioned is an acrylic. I was quite confident I could recreate the pastels however I work my acrylics less controled and mix colors so in having to recreate I contemplated the layers quite extensively.  I am presently in progress with recreating “Rejuvenate“

Rejuvenate again

Here’s how I began to recreate, although I did not do this with the first one.

Lots of color and some cellophane on wet paint.

Fun!

~ I’m Robin Maria Pedrero creating art makes me happy.
I am a visual artist working from my studio near Orlando Florida.
My website is www.gallery523.com

So far, I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to making beads — an hour here and there — so the only thing I can do with any proficiency is make a spacer bead.  But they’re pretty good spacer beads, if I do say so myself, with no sharp ends at all and a fairly consistent evenness.  I’ve found a peace making these simple beads, and being a very high-strung Type A person, zen-ing out is also a Very Good Thing.

I’ve also discovered that making simple jewelry with my own simple beads brings a silly grin to my face.  These little bracelets aren’t ornate, nor are they my usual style, but they’re made with MY beads, and someone out there will love them.  I’ve made a few, all with varying shades of color, all from my experiments with the tons of sample packs of glass I’ve bought over the past months.  And sample packs are Very Good Things.

When I was first setting up my studio, I treated myself to a lot of frit samplers — lots and lots.  I’m still trying to figure out what goes with what and how to make this react and that behave, but on occasion, I hit it just right.  I was ultra-pleased to actually get an entire set of frit beads to come out in the same shade, the same size, and in just the right amount to make a bracelet.  And you guessed it.  It was a Very Good Thing.

All of this may seem like no big deal, but to me, it’s an enormously good feeling to get this far.  It’s not very far at all in the grand scheme of things, of course, but considering some of the hurdles I’ve had to jump and the limited amount of torch time I get (really, rarely more than a few hours a week) — I’m happy with my progress.  I have so much, so MUCH, to learn, but I’m getting there, and THAT is a Very Good Thing.

Lori Anderson designs jewelry full time in her studio in Easton, MD.  She blogs at Pretty Things and An Artist’s Year Off.