Whaaaat??? then I just smile and shrug - heck, it's Austin...
My friend and co-glass-conspirator-beadmaking-buddette Diane - (white in center front row) told me about this - the Ukulele Society of Austin - it just makes me happy when I watch this video. I'm getting all smart now about this little instrument, and I smile even more. : ) Jill
4.30.2014 - My beads skip a heart...
I used to think I could (should) only make hearts at that one time of year - and that they should all be red. While I still think red is the most popular color, I now feel very comfortable making them I make all year long. This wonderful red is Lauscha, it can be worked in the flame forever and doesn't streak or get darker - available from Glassdaddy
These hearts are the typical shape I make, and as you can see (sort of) from my first ever video I put on YouTube, this is how I make them. No talking because I'm shy... but I hope you get the idea. Next time I promise a neutral background and perhaps try filming a little closer! Let me know what you think. : ) Jill
4.23.2014 - Spirals & Stringers
I got to thinking about the wound spirals I make, and thought oh - it's because I use boro stringers - that all have a nice consistent diameter. Well, that's true for the clear - but the colored ones are made from rods - I like to pull from 7-8mm dia. rods. As I pull the stringer, it's spiraled up on the other side of the torch. Feed boro in from the front of the torch - mandrel in back, catching the stringer and winding it up. Does that makes sense to you?
That got me to thinking about how new lampworkers are taught to pull stringers. I've heard about heating a rod in the middle and pulling out each end with the stringer in the middle. Or puntying on with a stainless steel chopstick. I think Corina was just talking about how not to use tweezers, because the stringer retains the tweezer shape for a couple of inches in initial pull stages - and how that can get to be expen$ive if it's silvered glass your'e tossing away!
When I need a length of stringer, I pull using needle nose pliers...
I fix my eyes about 1 1/2" to the right of the flame. I slowly feed a thick rod from the left and pull to the right... always watching that same check spot 1 " to the right of the flame. I pull about an inch, then let the glass slightly chill and set the diameter to what I need... once that's been established, I can control the speed at which the glass is fed into the flame from the left and simultaneously control the speed & temperature of the glass I'm pulling from the right.
Do I have a stringer stash? Sheesh... I wish, but cataloging yet another thing is not in my mental makeup. There is a sense of freedom pulling fresh ones each time!
4.16.2014 - One Small Blue Bead.
I like to leave beads. Maybe along with a tip, or perhaps cast them into the woods anticipating the delight they would foster upon their discovery in the distant future. I had stumbled upon this poem years ago - and have attached tags to beads with this printed on the tag.
Now the blue bead lies
In a sandy place
Where the winter weeds
All look like lace
and the gopher sits
With the sun on his face.
Looking out over the desert land
While eagles drop shadows
on the hot white sand.
If you find it please take care
Not to leave it just anywhere
For the boy named Boy
Would be happy to know
That his bead goes with you
Wherever you go.by Byrd Baylor Schweitze
4.12.2014 - amazing veggie finds
Holy cow! When did veggies become so colorful?? Is it any wonder we're so drawn to purples? Yes... I'm always that "ONE" in the produce section holding a photo session! The radishes are Easter Egg Radishes - pretty, no?
4.11.2014 - transparent glass & light
I'm truly beginning to see a pattern that wasn't so evident until tonight when I was scrolling through a folder containing older images. Each spring we revel in the glory of seeing & feeling sunshine - to see this light that not only awakens us, but all else that had also been dormant all winter long.
While I admit that I love cooler temperatures, this winter made me weary. So now we revel in the celebration of light & the colors of life.
I am always drawn to transparent glass at this time of year, where I'll find that some colors are light & airy while others are more highly pigmented and do not so easily allow for transmission of light and the casting of colored shadows... so I thin the glass. I build tall thin disks & tiles, or thin walled bubbles of color which allow for this celebration of color.
4.9.2014 - it came in the mail!!
There's just nothing like a new color to fuel the creative furnace!
I was almost out of a longtime favorite glass color, but one final push to see if I could locate it proved successful!
I'd placed an order for my old 'friend' - Denim Blue, and decided to try a few other colors. The box arrived on Tuesday and I've been in glass heaven ever since. Along with the colors I'd ordered were two additional rods - for 'inspiration'. This is what became of one of the rods... this set is a mingling of the Czech Republic and China... sort of an odd collaboration, but beautiful nonetheless!
The sets tonight reflect my dabbling in some of the more frequent styles of beads as I get to know the darker shade of Denim... I especially love the sculptural quality of the Urban Chic tiles... and this set's ability to showcase the beauty of the glass itself - while style takes a quiet back seat.
4.4.2014 - Scrollwork Sugar Cookies
Scrollwork Sugar Cookies
jillsymons.com
1 1/2C confectioners sugar
1 egg
1t vanilla
1t cream of tartar
2 3/4C flour
1C butter
1/2t almond extract
1t baking soda
scrollwork sugar cookies - JillSymons.com
it's not like bead making doesn't seep in to other parts of my life! I thought you might enjoy these sugar cookies - that have been a staple in my kitchen for decades!
Combine confectioners sugar with butter, then add egg & flavorings. Sift dry ingredients together then blend into butter mixture. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Lightly flour surface, roll out - adding flour as necessary to keep from sticking. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until slight color is visible. Remove to cooling rack.
When cool, can be iced with a mixture of confectioner's sugar, water & vanilla extract. Thicker mixture for piping design, thinner for spreadable icing. : )
4.2.2014 - ... and the winner is...
Sylvia Haydash - it's your lucky day for the drawing this week!!!
The prize is a $50 credit towards something on the site. Perhaps a pair of earrings?
Thank you everyone for participating in the Pinterest Pin It.
Jill
4.2.2014 - just bouncing around.
Lately I've been thinking about the way light enters my beads and releases the colors. It seems that if you have a hard edge or a flat surface, the light spills out of the flat surface and with it comes a concentration of vivid color.
If you have a rounded edge the light gets trapped and is redirected back into the bead.
A round bead has multiple opportunities for bouncing light, adding indentations or raised dots allow the light to bounce in so many different directions - you naturally end up with a lot of sparkle. THEN... I get to thinking about what I can bury deep inside the bead to perhaps catch some more light and bounce it in a different direction! My favorite things to add to glass are copper, silver, palladium and mica.
Although sometimes the simplest things are the most beautiful...
3.26.2014 - stop to smell the roses...
I am as guilty as anyone else, seeing something stunning from my car window, then not stopping to take a photo, dismissing it with "oh, I'll stop on the way back". The time is never be as good as right now. So stop, park the car, get out and grab your phone (AKA camera) one simple click & you have it.
While this post is not at all a celebration of roses or color, it's about making the time to stop and take note.
I see shadows, rhythm, pattern and joy in these photos. I can tell you exactly where they were taken & how overwhelmed I was upon discovering their 'possibility'.
Black & white strips away all the distraction of color and takes it to a raw presence of form, proportion and order. Next time, just stop.
3.20.2014 - my work is relaxing
How's that for an oxymoron? Years ago I met another lampworker, Rona, who said "I get twitchy if I don't torch". I now understand her completely because it is a place to detach and lose myself. The noises are constant, the hiss of the torch and almost rhythmic sound of breathing from the oxygen concentrator - these soothing sounds allow my ideas to spill out and materialize on my mandrels.
This is a peek into one of my annealing kilns where the beads settle in while I continue to work. It's about 1000 degrees in there so the heating element is red-hot! When I'm done adding beads, it processes an annealing schedule automatically and over the next 10 hours will cool to room temperature. This process assures that the glass beads have cooled slowly, releasing the stress that builds inside the bead by allowing a very s-l-o-w & even drop in temperature.
Any questions?