Old landscape painting glaze glass habbits

I am up to my old habits.

This bead is etched, creating a matte finish. When I was practicing ceramic glaze mixing, I would always use the matte transparent batch. The colors were matte right out of the kiln. When I was painting landscapes I would paint matte varnish on top of it. Just like this glass bead dipped in acid etching solution.

I am combining two series together into one design. This bead is one of my latticino landscapes with some boogie down bead stick people slapped on there for fun. A landscape that looks like an impressionistic painting to me. The etching created the contrast in the colors. The etching also removed the reduction from the surface of the copper glass, and enhanced the colors of those copper red and green figures.

The “soul gestures” are dancing around celebrating life.

What is it all about? Today? Right now?

Using the old habits together, creating a new series; inspired by experiences of life… Each one is a true one of a kind sculptural Lampwork bead; designed to inspire, adore, a symbol of a passionate thought…a joyful aesthetic; not just a bead.

Sheila Morley is an artist living in Southeast, Michigan. She has an art blog, and her work can be purchased at her website, ebay, Etsy, and various shows and shops.

Sometimes I like to make a mess…

When I sit down at my torch quite often I have a list of different bead styles or color combination that I want to make and I will go down the list and plug away at making beads until I have either filled the kiln or finished the list. However sometimes I just like to look at my glass and say “What if…” and that is when I make a mess. Here are a couple of pictures of my latest mess.

I started out with a rod of EDP (evil devitrifying purple) that just happened to be on my table. Then I threw on some left over copper and silver leaf that was floating around from that day’s work, a scrap of latticino and some reduction frit that I had used earlier that day finished my mess. Then I fried the puppy. Copper is very cool when it fries, you can actually watch it boil on the bead, that’s where the light dusting of blue came from, that isn’t enamel, that is boiled copper.

Not only do these messes relieve any boredom I might have during a particular session but they also teach me a little more about glass and glass chemistry each time I make one of these. In this bead I learned that you really have to boil the snot out of copper for it to do anything more interesting that a grey crud when using it on the surface. I also learned that boiled copper leaves an interesting texture on the bead, sort of like a very finely pebbled lizard skin texture. I also learned that reducing silver leaf on EDP can turn the EDP around it a sort of corally-orangy-pink, you can sort of see the color I refer to on the first picture at the top of the bead, I think it is rather pretty.

These things that I learned from this bead are just a very few of the things I have learned from my ‘Mess’ beads. This is why sometimes I like to make a mess.

Heather blogs from her home in Watertown, WI. You can see more of her work at www.squareonebeads.com.

Sculptral Snowman Bead

I do not usually make many sculptural lampwork beads, and I really cannot explain why that is. When I make them, I am usually quite happy with them, but I seem to forget to even try and make them.

This week, we had a meeting with some local lampworkers, and we had decided to do a bead exchange. We had agreed on making winter themed beads. My original concept was to somehow morph one of my donut beads into a snowflake. I still think that is a great idea, but when the day before the exchange rolled around, and I had not even attempted a donut - snowflake, I pushed that thought off to another time.

For a couple of years, I had made snowman beads in my head. Do you do that? Practice something mentally, but never actually do it? Well, I do, and I thought that it was high time that I made a real life snowman instead of a virtual snowman.

Here he is (you know that I absolutely, positively, had to put a twistie on him!):

Going off Mandrel

I wrote a while back about some disk pendants that I make when nautilus beads break free from the mandrel. I really like those and even got some positive feedback about them. I had a message where the writer dubbed them discoutofcontrol.

I like to analyze things so I tried to identify what exactly I liked about the beads. First, the shape. I do many very controlled shapes - symmetrical, smooth, balanced. These were not that - and it was good.

Second, I think it is the very clean, smooth hole that is so appealing. My donut beads have a texture inside the hole, and I confess, I like to stick my finger in there and feel the texture when I’m wearing one. It’s such a great contrast to the outside smoothness of the donut. But! I really loved the look of the completely polished discoutofcontrol.

I had been kicking around the idea of attempting a donut off mandrel for about a half year. It had some design benefits that I might talk about in another post, but it also would result in a nice smooth hole. I finally got the nerve to try it.

I started by making a ring with clear by coaxing a clear rod into shape. I then wrapped a twisted cane around it in a spiral, and finally I encased it. Recognize the colors? It only ended up on the floor once - I do need work on my puntying skills. But, oh happy day! I’m thrilled with the finished bead.

Rosemarie Hanus makes glass donuts in her home studio in Northeast Ohio.

Henry Matisse and Chuck Berry Inspire my Art about Art

Today, I am writing about a couple of pieces that are inspired by the Artist’s before me.

This is one of my “Joy of Life” beads. Named and designed after Henri Matisse’s “Joy of Life” painting. A landscape with people celebrating life. He mixes traditional subject matter with his own style of painting. The idea of taking what has already been done further, is one of my inspirations; trying what has already been done, while allowing my muse go at it (making it my own).

The process of creating the “Joy of Life”, is becoming one of my favorite. The use of hand mixed latticino cane, and thin strings of glass to create texture. I am welding the pieces together, as if the metal was paint. Glass is so versatile; the possibilities are endless. I keep asking myself, how did anybody come up with the thought that painting was dead? In my opinion, they just never melted glass before. I am so lucky!

Chuck Berry in Glass? Doing the duck dance! Yes! He deserves it. Can you imagine going to see a concert, and having the guy at the door taking tickets say, “Your color is not welcome here”?????? He did not get in to that show because he is black. Hello! That is what they told Chuck Berry when he was around 20 years old. And, then 50 years later, he is invited to play a show at the very same theatre. Sells out, to what looked like to me, to be almost 100% white colored people.(People are finally catching on.)

These are just a couple things that inspire me; Art about art.

Sheila Morley’s Art blog is about her works in progress, and her life as an Artist.. Sheila’s art work is currently documented in an on line gallery, and can be purchased at her website, e-bay, and she has a new shop at Etsy.