Santa Fe Powder Printing Class

I had a wonderful trip to Bullseye Glass in Santa Fe! My buddy Lisa came with me and it was awesome. We had a fantastic meal at Luminaria at the Inn at Loretto. One of the best meals I've ever had in Santa Fe. Thanks to Perry for suggesting it, I should have been quick enough to invite him and Nancy to dinner with us!

Stacy Smith is a fantastic instructor. She made the class fun and inspirational! Erik Whittemore, the resident Studio Manager was the perfect host/TA/collaborator! A big thanks to Morgan and her team for their support. Bravo on my best Bullseye experience ever! In my humble opinion, Stacy is likely the best ambassador of the all the positives of the "Bullseye Spirit!" I hope they elevate her to the appropriate status she deserves. Enough gushing! (Seriously, I hope they'll let her come teach at Wired Designs Studios.....c'mon Jim!!!!)

My fellow students were great to hang with and gave me a wonderful perspective on all of the different ways to employ these techniques. We were all doing our own things, and they were all so great and different! Thanks everyone. I got to hang with Nancy Weisser, Perry and Colleen, and we had an awesome time.

Here are a few of my samples from the class. I'll be incorporating this technique into my Printmaking Techniques for Glass classes going forward.

This powder print was fired twice; once for the background at full fuse, and then once at a tack fuse for the foreground image. I'm using imagery from my Women's Roles and Identities series.

These were images that we were given to play with in order to learn the technique.The 2 on the left are full fuse on 6mm, the 2 on the right are tack fused on 3mm. Both have equal merit and use.

Very little distortion! Halftones work really well.

Part of my Women's Roles and Identities imagery. This is all powder.....no sheet glass. Cool huh?

This was all done in a single firing! Love the effect!

Yesterday I had a private Torch Fired Enamels workshop. My student is a wonderful lady who has seen and done it all! We worked on stenciled enamels, and component projects. I had done the centerpiece of this necklace previously, and just wasn't completely happy with it. So my student and I added some components and took it to the next level.

I'm teaching this technique in Las Vegas at the Glass Craft Expo next year. It's called Glass on Metals!
I know that all my glassy friends will love doing this!!

This piece is copper enameled and riveted with silver connections.
I love acid green and turquoise together!

We were going for something Asian. These look really great on!

Last Week into This Week...

It's hard to believe that it's May 1st tomorrow. How is the time flying so fast! As usual, I'm a busy bee with all kinds of buzzing going around.

Here's the recap:

Grad School: I turned in my final 3000 word paper today! Yeah! Now I have just one more week of reading and blogging ahead and I'll be done for the semester. I'm glad I only took this one class to get my feet wet, 'cause it was a commitment with everything else going on. I don't know if school will get harder or easier, but I'm glad I'm doing it. This was a great class! Thanks to Ed Check, my TTU prof! The class was Research Methods in Art. I'll publish my paper if I get a decent grade, so you all can read it. It's revealing!

WD: This week I had a few classes; Drop Ring Vessels and PMC Silver Beads. Here are some pix!

These are 2 drop ring molds with their happy blanks sitting on top. It's important to make sure they are level before you fire them, so here's the bubble level on top....hope I removed that before firing! Both molds needed slight shimming to make them level. I'll post after pix when done!

Here's a PMC Silver lentil bead, it's approx. 1.5" It's hollow!

This is a glazed bisque bead with a PMC ribbon wrapped around it. This was fun to do. This bead is 1.75" It's almost too big. But i'll find something to do with it to make it cool and wearable.

This is a bisque bead that was painted with PMC and then PMC clay was applied. It's about  3/4". The other side has a cool leaf imprint.

This one is my favorite! This is a hollow PMC bead made by painting PMC slip onto a cotton armature, then layering clay and syringe over that. It's approximately 2" tall, and even though it's hollow, it's heavy. When fired, the cotton armature burns out and leaves the inside hollow. We're carrying the cotton armatures and the bisque beads at the shop if anyone wants to try this. SO COOL!

Also....Denise Leone will be arriving at Wired Designs studios on Wednesday to teach her class. I'm so looking forward to it. We still have one open spot if someone wants to jump in last minute. I'm excited because we're using Rapid Mask! it doesn't need a wash out! YEAH!!!!

Commissions: The vases for the the church in college station turned out great. They are still cooling in the kiln so I'll post pix of that tomorrow with the drop rings. The Alvarez gray metallic sink is slumped, but...alas....not all goes as planned and the rim is crooked, so I'll have to spend an hour or so grinding the darn lip. I know it make the vessel sink look even more stunning, but I'm kind of lazy, so I was hoping I wouldn't have to do it.

Luann's sink turned out gorgeous, but the casting was just a little too thin, so it had to go back into the kiln with more glass. Here's how that looked.

I added 2 more half sheets of color and some clear medium grit to bulk it up. Hopefully it won't change the color much, because the blank was gorgeous and the client approved us to go to the next step.

The Best Last Days in the Studio at Wired Designs!

There are some days that go down in the record book! Today was the most wonderful day! As the year comes to a close, I am thankful for my friends and family, and the best students and clients!

Here's why:

• The folks from Zion Lutheran Church approved the blank for their Baptismal Bowl. They said, "we love it!" and that makes me so happy! We decided to make it thicker and heavier, so I added a 6mm clear layer behind the design. It's in the kiln re-fusing now. Cross your fingers...no pun intended!
• We are doing a new sink commission for a residence in Stone Oak. The client brought in their marble countertop sample, for us to match. They have some technical issues to figure out first though. They want to undercount the sink, but not back light it, so color might be an issue. The marble sample is a combo of grey, cobalt blue, with white and deep green flecks. This isn't going to be easy...YiKES! But I am up for the challenge!

• I got myself a holiday present! I've always wanted one of these super expensive riveting system tools, with all the goodies that come with it! So I decided to spoil myself and get it. Let's be honest, who else is gonna buy this for me, c'mon! So I have over a week of time off to play with it. It's stupid expensive ($100-for the basic unit, although it cost me $199 with accessories and shipping) but it's supposed to be awesome. I'm hoping that this is one of those times when you really do get what you pay for. I'll show you some stuff I do with it.
• My mom is turning 75 in 2012 and I want to do something with her that is on her "bucket list." She's never been to Europe, and she's always wanted to go to Paris, so I found a cruise that I think she'd love. London, Paris, Bordeaux, Lisbon, etc. I showed her and she agreed to go!!! So off we'll go....next year.
• I got to work a half day today and I went home a made a stuffed pork roast with cranberry and apples, sage and white wine, and some other stuff. It's in the oven roasting now and smells delish! Nicole is coming over for dinner and we'll eat, hang, and plot the future of glass as we know it!
• I am grateful for the staff/WD family; Judy (Who thinks she doesn't know what she's doing, but always does just the right thing.), Cathy (Who I miss while she's gone, because NO ONE can dish the dirt like she can.), Stacy (Who isn't arid as much since she's a full time student now-miss her!) Natalie (Who is the portrait of the perfect mom.), Nicole (Who juggles teaching, working, leading, and just being with finesse and style.) Stacey C (Who is smart, funny, and lately...made of steel!) I love them all!

More rambling about happiness and love later!

Last Class of 2011!

Today was, as the title says, my last workshop of 2011. It's hard to believe how fast the year has gone. Today's class was beginning soldering and my students were awesome!  I could tell immediately that this group of folks was just gonna "get it!" So I demonstrated a more difficult beginning project and they all did a fantastic job.  Here's what we made.... there are matching earrings which we made first! In this class students learn to cut and sand the metal components, pattern and texture them, solder the metals together using a micro torch, remove fire scale with pickle, set stones in bezel cups, and then final add depth and color with patina.

This piece is copper, nickel, brass, and bronze with a red garnet set in fine silver.

I always love teaching this workshop because it is the gateway to making beautiful jewelry. Once the students have soldering skills, they can do so many things. They are only limited by their imaginations and skill level. Some of the students have real potential! I hope they'll come back and take it to the next level. I love to see what they create.

After class I went to Mitch and Judy's house for some homemade tamales and a wonderful holiday get together. Mitch made the yummy tamales and Judy created the wonderful atmosphere and poured lots of wine. We sat around a fire in their yard with kids and dogs running around and adults laughing, all under a clear starry sky. It was a lovely evening to cap off a great year of teaching!

I am indeed a lucky girl!

Cowgirl Heaven!

Sometimes when I make something and sell it I kind of miss it for a while after it's gone. I've found myself thinking about this piece today. My sister, who's birthday it is today, is the proud owner of this necklace/art piece. I really enjoyed making it, and feel like I should make another in the same genre, but I'm not sure it will be as much fun to make the second time around.

This piece was made in a 3 day mixed metals workshop with 3 of my students. It was our every Friday private party and we had such a great time. This piece has etched copper, soldered brass and bronze, a bezel set turquoise, coiled sterling and bronze, resin capture of an image and pearls, and a metal chain necklace.

I'm kinda missing the fun of it, but it couldn't live with a cooler gal than my sister! I hope she enjoys her birthday in cowgirl heaven!

Here Goes Nothin!

This is my first official post! I've been really resistant to having a blog because I always think that no one really reads these things. I guess I though it was a waste of time. My best pal, Stacey has been bugging me to do this for years. She thinks it's a good thing since I am "in my head" a heck of a lot.  I thought it was stupid, that is... until I starting reading and following a few blogs myself. So my 2012 resolution is to blog every day. I'll share Wired Designs Studios related information as well as my own personal musings, and of course my progress with the Master of Art Education graduate course work at Texas Tech, and any art in progress or commissions.

This weekend I updated my website. It took a while but I'm getting there. Take a look and let me know what you think. MY UPDATED WEBSITE

This is what I've been up to this month:

 This bowl is for the Baptismal Font in the private chapel for the Sisters of Divine Providence Convent at Our Lady of the Lake. The bowl is 18 pounds, is 20" wide and 5" deep. It was one of the most calming commissions I've ever done. Even though it was heavy and hard to grind and polish, I smiled the entire time I did it. Hmmm?  I think I should continue pursing this kind of work, it's kinda Zen to do. Ironic huh? A big thank you goes out to Gini Garcia, who referred this job to our studio!

This piece is almost finished. I did this in Kate Mckinnon's workshop when she was here last week. This piece has fine silver metal clay components, copper enameled components, forged copper components, and bronze components, all cold connected with rivets, etc. This was so much fun to do! I was like a kid in candy land! Even though I was officially the TA for Kate, I did get to play with the students, and it was 3 days of perfection, fun, silly laughter, and great Kate'jucation. If you've never taken a workshop with Kate Mckinnon, get yourself into one immediately! I've been in 3 of her classes, and I learn something new every time! Follow her fun blog at KATES BLOG.