Tweeze Me

I love this tool and I saw that ABR has it on sale right now. If you aren't familiar with the tungsten tweezers, perhaps you might check them out.

I use mine to twist and twirl my sculptural glass. Kind of nice knowing it's not going to stick.

Here's a link in case you're interested.

See you tomorrow-

Counting Down The Days

I have been keeping this on the down-low, but I'm counting the days until my trip to Murano to take a class with Lucio.

I'm heading out in mid-April for a couple of weeks- a little sightseeing, a little shopping and of course plenty of sampling Italian cuisine.

If you have travel hints, I'd love to hear them. Lay 'em on me, because it's been 30 years, since I've been to Italy.

Just Not Enough

You know, us glass folk have a thing about flames. And I think there just aren't enough flaming mad zippos in this world.
Rock on. I love this!
ps If you ask nicely and really, really want one...send me a message and I'll give you the url.
See you tomorrow.
Marcy

Copying For Fun

I've been noticing the reconstruction of famous photographs in a few blogs recently and I can see how entertaining it might be for all involved.

Here is the famous National Geographic photo of the 12 year old Afganistan gir with the haunting eyes. To me, they say she's seen so much more than someone her age should.

And below are two photos- both the prep and the final shot of someone working to reproduce it.

Which reminds me of the dreaded "C" word in our glass artist community. Copying. Here I am totally amused because I can see that it is done for fun and not for profit. And obviously it is no where as striking as the original.

And I guess that's what I feel about copying in glass. If its not for sale, and used for fun and usually to learn certain techniques, I understand. When it's for sale or meant to be an exact copy, then I'm not feeling it.

I think these photographs illustrate it well. They were staged for fun and are viewed that way. If the photographer was trying to sell it as an original, then it's
another story. 'Nuff said.
See you tomorrow!

Safety Reminders

As a glass artist and teacher working in a home studio, it's important to remember to keep yourself safe while working.

I found photos on the internet of eye protection, a fire extinguisher and an interesting ventilation system.

As much as I appreciate innovation and creativity, I'm not suggesting these as possible options, only sources of amusement.

So do me a favor, polish up those didymiums, double check that your fire extinguisher is charged, turn on your vent system and stay safe.

See you tomorrow for a little fun and glass chat
http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Crackers Big and Little

Meet Crackers- both of them. The larger of the two is the real Crackers and the smaller is the glass bead I made for Crackers' human mom, for a Valentines Day gift.

I love these custom orders. It's fun to see the photos of the pets and then to translate them into glass.

Crackers is a "Porky"- Pomeranian and Yorkie combo.. Cute, eh?

See you tomorrow for more fun. http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Code Organ

Have you seen this website? www.codeorgan.com asks you to type in a websie url and then it elecronically plays music apparently translated from the website information. Sumpin', sumpin' about complex algorithms and gosh, well, I'm a blonde, so....

If you want to know exactly what's going on, instead of just listening to the music, click on the bottom right corner where it says, "about codeorgan" for specific details explained by the experts.

Yah, and have fun. I know I do when I type in my website., http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com
See you tomorrow!

Caitlin Hyde's Class

It's been a blast hosting Mallory (Rosebud101) and hanging with Caitlyn Hyde the last few days.

I'm lucky enough to be in Caitlin Hyde's class for Southern Flames today. (Don't you just love her beads pictured above?) I'll have some photos next week of the class and my fellow students. We're making pictorial beads and are practicing masking and pattern techniques.

Tomorrow night is our Southern Flames meeting featuring Caitlin's demo. I'm feeling rather lucky this week- all this glassy goodness.

I'll let you know next week more about the class and my delightful house guest and fellow student. See you Sunday!

Junk Collecting Makes Amusing Art

Artist Mitch Berg creates whimsical sculptural art from junk that he's collected over the decades. He turns it into fun and whimsical sculptures.

This piece is called "Perfect Martini". The olives look like they could be lampwork beads to me. And that actually is possible, because his wife Shannon had worked for a glass jewelry maker for years.

In his bio, he says, "I find beautifully ambiguous stories in the latent memory of found objects, in the playful colors of glass, in an elegant relationship to tools, in the happy accidents that seem to occur at the confluence of so many possibilities, not unlike myself."

Mitch Berg's joyful pieces inspire me to do a little digging in my attic and basement to see what I might want to combine with my glass art.

So now it's your turn...have you combined interesting materials? Any links to photos, or care to tell us about it?

See you tomorrow~ http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Ayose Tutorial Directory- Lampwork Glass

If you haven't had a chance to stop by Lina Khan's lampwork tutorial website, you're missing out.

Open to tutorial authors, for pay or free, you are allowed to submit as many listings as you have tutorials and it's free to post your data.

So tell me, do you have favorite tutorials? I'd love to know which ones.

OWOH Winner...Carapace of Etsy

My One World, One Heart winner is Carapace of Etsy. I popped by her really fun shop and noticed immediately this darling Kokeshi ATC set.

She wins my handmade lampwork glass Sultan focal bead and I'm really pleased that my random picker chose someone who will enjoy him.

See you tomorrow for a funny serendipitous blog post. Wait til you hear my story about one of my customers. His photo will appear too.

See you right here! Http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Happy Valentines Day ______________,

There's something about Valentines Cards that I love. No joke intended. It's the creativity and sweetness (and sometimes NOT) that these small indie companies demonstrate.

This one caught my eye. Oh to be in Sixth Grade again. Life was so simple.

You can find it here. It's from www.fitzgeraldcoleman.com, which has a wonderful selection of cards, paper, journals and other fun stuff.

And btw, Happy Valentines Day to you. Thanks for being my friend and reading my blog... Do you like me too? (I hope so)

yours 4-ever,
Marcy

Medical Masks - Who Knew They'd Be Fun?

Fifteen fanciful styles of protective face masks are offered by SamiraBoon.com

Boon was born in the Netherlands and granted a research student scholarship in Tokyo after receiving her Masters in Architecture. Both countries have influenced her interior design, architecture and textile work.

This line of "Get Well Soon Masks" was created to add a more cheerful and amusing face, while protecting the wearing from flu and other contagious ailments. I particularly enjoyed this face, but you can also find pig snouts, monkeys, sheep, lions and a sweet geisha face among others.

I would love to see our special masks that we wear for using glass enamels and other flying powders to reflect some of this fun whimsy. I do wonder if our artisans would be more likely to wear them, if they had a little flair. Hmmm. perhaps you'll see a new line at the Gathering. This gives me an idea.....

As always, I have tomorrow, Saturday off from blogging, but I'll be back on Valentines Day. Right here, http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Ceramic Chieftain Necklace

Sometimes I go to the Novica website, http://www.Novica.com, to check out what's new over there.

Novica is an arm of National Geographic, and always features jewelry, paintings, home decor and other categories from around the world.

I picked out this simple ceramic necklace, Chieftain, because I love pre-Hispanic influences in sculpture and spend quite a bit of time at my local museums, both photographing and enjoying it. Someday, I hope to do some beads based on this culture too.

This piece is made by Dina, (Ubaldina Paucar Achancaray) who was born in Cuzco, Peru. Her dad was a painter and Dina attended an artisan school and studied many crafts.

I hope you get a chance to cruise around this website and visit all kinds of artists and their work. It might just give you a flash of inspiration to head in a new direction. What fun!

Steffen Dam's Cool Glass Art

Danish toolmaker, Steffen Dam, has created wonderful art that makes the viewer wonder whether these floating plant life, magnified cells or floating sea creatures are real or constructed.

He draws his influence from geology, astronomy and mechanical constructions , but all are designed from memory images and are not accurate.

According to an article I read, "The process for making the panels begins by using the traditional glassmaking method for solid objects. Dam then covers each solid block of clear glass, employing a welding torch with "either colored glass powder, a thread of black glass, layers of metal foil or thin layers of carbon." Once all of the applications have been added, the object is covered in several more layers of clear glass and each one is fused together to make one Specimen Panel—an otherworldly biology lab usually consisting of 25 or more individual glass blocks." Wow!

Dam has or will be exhibiting at locations like Heller Gallery in NYC, Saatchi Gallery in London and Seattle's Traver Gallery. Pretty cool stuff, isn't it?

Crayons- New Style

I love seeing old products in new ways.
Here are some Crayon Rings found here.

They are about a size 7, but I think they'd be fun to jam onto all your fingers and make some great freeform drawings.

See you tomorrow with glass talk...
http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Fooled Me, It's Not Glass

Were you as fooled as I was upon your first glance?

San Francisco artist, Liz Hickok sculpts surreal cityscapes entirely out of jelly.

I was hoping this was glass.

Anyone up for this challenge? I think it's gorgeous.

Aqua Reef Bracelet by DG Designs

I love this sterling and lampwork bracelet that one of my customers' Debbie of DG Designs (stoutdg2) on Etsy made.

She named it "Aqua Reef" and it goes so well with the silver and glass beads that she used.

Debbie is one of my longest customers and I am so happy that she and her husband stopped to visit me on one of her trips a few years ago. It's those personal connections that turn to friendships that I treasure the most. So if you want to see more lovely jewelry, stop by her shop. It's right HERE.

David Bennet's Frozen Motion

David Bennett's glass and bronze sculptures sure captured my attention when I ran across them.

After reading about him on his website, I noticed he was quick to say that artisans have been blowing glass into metal forms for 2,000 years. But that form of art has been stretched so that the sculptures and their armatures have shown more fluidity and ability for playfulness.

Almost like frozen motion.

Reading his biography shows that he has the experience to go with his art.

Pratt Art School, Pilchuck Glass School and special studies under Pino Signoretto just to name a few.

Bennett also lights his sculptures from within using LED s to illuminate them. He has a line of chandeliers that makes me almost drool. Using his gymnasts, he has them lit up and swinging from the skeleton of the chandelier. I know this one would keep me staring for a long, long time.

So pop by his website and take a peek. It's worth the extra time to see some truly delightful works of art.

And I'll see you soon. Right here...http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Check Out Glow Joe's Glass Up For Grabs

My buddy, Joe Imler (Glow Joe) needs surgery and to pay for it, he is selling off his marble and glass collection, while others are donating glass art/beads/cash to add to his fund.

Joe is a cool guy. His Glow Powders are used by soft glass artists as well as his new rods for boro workers. I've always loved glow in the dark items and Joe is the one who has brought it to our glass world.

Well darn it, he needs a little help from his friends. It's time to put on your shopping hats or donating if you prefer and help get Joe out of his painful situation.

Hop on over to his website that he's set up specifically for the surgery fund, http://www.lapissolaris.com and join in the fun. I've already bought one piece and I'm still debating over another.

And of course I had to show this one Lewis Wilson piece that just makes me drool. It's out of my budget, (and my birthday is nowhere close by), so I thought I'd post it in case someone who can afford it, can scoop it up.

See you tomorrow for more creativity, inspiration and glass chat right here, http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Dreaming of the Beach

What is it about this time of year that daydreams of warm sunny days seem to take over?

I've been thinking about the beach. Not just any beach, but kind of a mixture of where I grew up along the Connecticut coast and Florida which is closer to me now.

So if you see lots of ocean related beads coming from me, you'll understand why. I'll be listing more in my Studio Marcy etsy shop this week.

I have lots of shells, coral, sea urchins, mermaids (I'm not always reality based), starfish, sand dollars, fish and who knows what else. Let me know if you're looking for something in particular as well.

Wishing you a warm sunny day and perhaps a drink with a little umbrella in it and I'll see you here tomorrow. http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Online Art Auctions Are Great!

The Art Papers 11th Annual Art Auction will be having a Silent Auction on Feb.6th. But there is an online portion in which you can bid through 9am on 2/5. You can even do a "buy it now" if you love a piece.

One of the things I love about this is that artists receive up to 35% of the proceeds. That's nice. I've seen so many times where the artists are asked for a donation and even their materials aren't covered.

So stop by and visit.

I just like to see a group of unique art in one place. I can look for styles that might be interesting to translate into glass- whether it's line, colors, pattern or something else.

In this case, I'm showing Tony Hernandez's untitled piece done in encaustic ink and colored pencils on paper. I don't know why, but I always love a bird sitting on something. Please don't try to analyze that, because I'm a little afraid to find out the reason. But I love this one.

So for a change of pace, stop by and check this out. Let me know if any of the pieces speak to you. I had others that I loved that weren't quite rated PG for this blog. But sure made me smile.

See you tomorrow!

Starting Today ~ BOGO 1/2 Off SALE & More...

Starting today, I am having a Buy One, Get One 1/2 Off sale in my Studio Marcy etsy shop. And guess what? Some of my Etsy Glass Artists buddies are having sales too. You can find the particulars below. Our annual February Fling Sale continues through Feb. 3rd., so join us soon, or the great deals will be gone!

However, to get their deals, you need to type in FEBFLING in the note to seller at check out for each of us to receive the discounts.

http://www.jewelrybynatsuko.etsy.com ~BOGO 1/2off or 15% off on one item

http://www.glasscat.etsy.com - 20% off all fused and dichroic jewelry

http://www.MyCabinCreations.etsy.com - 20% off everything

http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com Buy One, Get One 1/2 Off everything!

http://www.popko.etsy.com - FREE shipping on all jewelry

http://www.prizmatic.etsy.com BOGO 1/2 Off

http://www.etsy.com/shop/giapet BOGO 1/2 Off