Sculptural Fun

It is amazing how much other people influence my work. I never was that interested in sculptural beads, but after classes with Leah Fairbanks and Loren Stump in the past six months I can hardly make anything smooth. Here is some of the fun I have been having at the torch this week. It is hard to tear myself away to take pictures.

Valentine's Day is Coming

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday to make beads. Here are some of my first offerings. I cannot wait to make a few more during this "heat wave" (60 dgrees!) and then start turning them into jewelry.

$2,000 Paperweight

My mother has been bugging me to show her what I learned in Loren Stump's course in Corning last week. Loren was overwhelming and awesome, but I was simply treading water the whole time. I was "exposed" to a variety of techniques which I hope to incorporate into my own toddler pieces if my studio ever warms up.

Usually I bring home lots of products for show and tell, but this time I only had a few unfinished and broken objects which even left my long-suffering husband perplexed. Fortunately, there was still one thing which I had to leave behind in the kiln to cool while I returned to Hillsborough- the paperweight! It arrived in the mail on Thursday and, although imperfect, looks a heck of a lot better than anything else I have.

I should call this a collaborative effort between Loren and me since he rescued me during construction more times than I care to remember. While I was making it, I swore I would never attempt another paperweight, but if anyone has the $2K I paid to be able to make this one, I will gladly surrender custody and take another course.

The paperweight measures around 2inches in diameter.