Yay for Public Art!

My friend, Jim Berry of Blue Moon Glassworks took this photo of a small section of a public art mural he is helping with in Austin TX.  Shipe Park is a cute little green space with a swimming pool-  not too far from his business in the Hyde Park neighborhood.  Austin is rich with public art and it's always a joy to see it, when I visit.

This is the second public mosaic mural that he's worked on.  Seeing photos and hearing about their process makes me wish my local government found a way to beautify my area too.  I love not only the end result, but the concept, the teamwork and all the other factors that go with it.

Do you have something like this going on where you live? I'd love to hear about it.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Cutting flat glass has never been my forte, but while visiting Austin, Jim Berry of Blue Moon Glassworks has taken the time to show me the different cutting tools and how to do it properly.

I figure, if he can teach me, he can teach anyone.

So yesterday, that was one of my goals. To learn how to cut circles, swirling lines, inside cuts and to feel adequate about it.

I am happy to report. I can do it. Woohoo. I know I'm not about to become a stained glass artist, (so much happier melting than cutting), but you know, a girl needs to be adequate when the situation occurs.

So today, we're on to learning to fuse and tonight I'm teaching my Santa Bead class. Such a fun adventure down here!

Blue Moon's Glass Camp- Woohoo!

I'm so excited, I can't sit still. Next Sunday I leave for Austin, TX to go to Glass Camp with Jim and Rose Berry at Blue Moon Glassworks.

You see, they offer a lot more than lampworking at their studio and although I am teaching sculptural glass class there in September 2010, this is to learn other types of glass from Jim and to work on possible collaborations that mix multi areas of glass. Woohoo!

So I've got a list of things I want to learn a mile long and I don't know how much of his time I can take, but here are some of the things I've been dreaming about.

Learn how to cut glass really well, and solder it. And to learn how to fuse and how to adjust my kiln and not be scared to death to try something that I am not sure about.

And he's got sandblasting, and cold working tools as well as one of those really cool things that you fill with glass chunks and then it melts it and you pull out the glass in swirls and then play with it. A pot melt?

And of course there's stained glass, mosaics, tons of other stuff too. I've looked at the photo gallery on his website and it looks like a playground any glass lover would enjoy.

If you haven't met Jim and Rose, here is a photo of them.

I'll be teaching a quickie evening sculptural Santa class on Tuesday night while I'm there as well. Jim reported that it filled in 2 days. I know that we will all have a lot of fun and laughs that evening too.

So where to start? I'm leaving that to Jim. I'll just be so happy to get the chance to learn a lot from him and his areas of expertise. And of course I'll be blogging about what I attempt and posting photos too, so you can learn along with me and see what I'm experiencing too.

So if you have suggestions of things I should request, please speak up. So much of this is totally new. I can melt glass, but there are so many other things to do with it too. I just hope I can sleep this week while waiting.

See you tomorrow right here on http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Space Left for Andrea's Class in Austin

Hey gang-
My buddy at Blue Moon Glassworks in Austin, TX - Jim Berry told me that he still has two spaces left in Andrea's revealing the unexpected lampwork class November 5th & 6th.

Here's the link to the class

Andrea Guarino @ Blue Moon Glassworks

If you haven't taken a class from her, you're in for a real treat. Not only do her beads rock, but she's a delightful teacher as well. Students love their high success rate in her class.

Fuming with gold and silver, dichro, complex twisted canes and all kinds of fun stuff is planned for the class.

And, there are some cool bed & breakfasts as well as great restaurants near the facility. What a fun location to hold a class!

Wish it were me heading down there for the class. But I think with those two spaces, what a great way for you and a friend to pop down to that funky Texas city and have a great time.

ps when you sign up, tell them Marcy sent you!

See you tomorrow, http://wwwstudiomarcy.blogspot.com

Blue Moon's Website Changes

It's been a fun couple of weeks. I've been enjoying a renewed friendship with Jim and Rose Berry of Blue Moon Glassworks of Austin, TX.

We've been working together to tweak their website and make it a little easier for customers to navigate and find their wonderful products and notice all of the fabulous classes they offer. I've been their "new set of fresh eyes".

I really like how quickly the viewer can find the important aspects of their business when reaching the website. For me, it was important to show that they take Paypal as that is mine and many other artists' major form of payment.

And if you want a little fun, click on their "Get Directions". Once that page loads, click on their little picture and it will bring you to a real view of the shop.

One of my highlights of this website is the tremendous number of photos on it. Starting on the homepage, are photos from the previous month's classes and events. Clicking on "Gallery" will take you to tons of photos from classes, and even it goes all the way back to their opening.

Check out the lampwork classes they offer. I think Stephanie Sersich's class starts this Saturday (have no idea, whether there are spaces, but call if interested), and there are so many other teachers whose classes I'd love to take as well.

So pop by and check out Blue Moon Glassworks. And while you're there, snoop around, enjoy all the photos. classes, products and other glass options.