.. SO sorry I missed you last week - I was on the tail end of returning from my visit to meet my new... granddaughter!
Can you believe it - I'm a granny? OMG... still toying around with names as that certainly won't do!! But she's a doll - and I'm thrilled. World, meet Merritt. Isn't she lovely? Word on the street from grateful parents was that she slept a full 8 hours last night!! woot woot!!
She was a tiny little distraction - as have been other things... : ) BUT - I did manage to get my torching in this week, and am very pleased with the results.
I am honored to say that there will be an interview coming out in ISGB's online publication as the Spotlight Artist. How cool is that?? OF COURSE I will provide a link for you when it's available.
AND - the news just continues...doesn't it? I will endeavor to add a place on my website to allow you access to buy Lauscha glass. Many of you may know that my father, Frank, AKA Glassdaddy, sold German Lauscha glass rods for a decade or more... and he closed up shop a little over a year ago. I could tell you that I got tired of rolling around in the endless supply of glass - but it honestly is more than I will ever use. SO - what I'll do is try to add a few colors every so often for your perusal. Maybe sometimes you see me using a color that you want - and it'll be there!
This leaf had dropped off my plant in the middle of a hot summer - and when I spotted it was in survival mode... repopulating.
I am hand-shaping these pendants - and rarely get two that are alike... doesn't this remind you of the succulent leaf from summer? It's made on a mandrel - so there's a hole, but in my never ending quest to delete the hole... I've succeeded by reducing it by half (well 50% in length)! There's one hole at the top - into which I've epoxied a sterling silver bail... problem solved and the sleek profile-preserved! YAY
I have taken the tapering earrings to a different level of elegance... hmmm.
Admittedly, lampwork can get 'crafty'... I've always leaned towards trying to make it elegant. Sometimes that means less. Less glass, less decoration, less "stuff"... you know... Less is ALWAYS more.
The effort to create elegance means rich saturated colors and an understated flash of silver. Remember... my mantra about truth in materials? If it looks like silver - it's REAL silver. Hence - why I don't work in gold... at least not yet. : ) I remember a feel I got in Santa Fe... I felt the style of color/nailheads was perfectly suited there.... So. New colors, shapes and nailheads.
The silver work comes and goes... I have made a wonderful series of post earring findings - as shown below... and am bringing them out here and there... what do you think? The earring profile is simple - and gives me a little leeway on going a tiny bit crazy on the findings! miles of smiles, Jill
