4.1.2015 - Does Scale REALLY Matter?

While Spring usually finds me enamored with transparent glass - I've stolen some torch time to play with a newfound passion (ok, a variation).  I am loving the simplicity and graphic boldness of a single focal with raised stringer work.  Not that this hasn't been a passion for(ever) years... but these are larger (7/8" & 1") and very simplistic.  They border on a ceramic look & feel... hmmm.

I have always loved scrollwork, but usually on a much smaller scale.  Below is a necklace made from 3/8"dia and 1/2" dia beads... see what I mean?  Nevertheless.  It's fun no matter the scale. : ) Jill

JillSymons.com Lampwork

3.18.2015 - Closure

It seems that no matter how unique your work is, if you're using findings fabricated by someone else - someone else's stamp is always the finishing touch on your work.

Years ago, Jane Chouteau (my friend and designer of my very first grown-up website back in 2001) told me that eventually I needed to make every component of my jewelry - that way I'd never be at the mercy of availability - and it would lend a more professional/cohesive look to my work.  She is wise in the ways of business and I didn't doubt her suggestion for a moment.
 

I have also realized that we as people have metal allergies, affinity for one metal or another, and many other issues that could be addressed universally by rethinking findings as a whole.  I love the idea of comfortably wearable pieces - which means they must be flexible and are able to adjust in length to differing clothing situations.  Some of the satin cords don't work well because they're too slick, and the knots won't hold their position - whereas the cording that has some surface texture are excellent with regard to staying where you put them! 

I love using cording because it can address the issues I mentioned above - and with only scissors and a match I'm ready to finish a piece!  My mantra:  "...if the piece gets dusty or makeup on it - you can just put the entire thing into the dishwasher..."  I love the look on my customers' faces after I say this, and how they all eventually smile.

I found this link to help you figure it all out...

JillSymons.com Comic Pendant Necklace - $100

While I like do like chain, it's common. (Well, common chain is common... I'm all for the unusual chunky links for a more hip look - that's JUST FINE! : )  Jill

I have been known to fabricate my silver findings, but that'll have to be another day!

3.11.2015 - Online, is WYS necessarily WY(should)G?

It took me a long long time to decide to even try Borosilicate glass.  I mean close to ten years at the torch before I even thought about considering it.  Partially because I'd cut my teeth on soft glass and being the daughter of Glassdaddy.com - I felt it was almost my duty to hang firm on the side of soft glass.

But then there came that day... I had been seduced by the longer out-of-the-flame time (before shock set into the glass and your piece exploded upon reentry to the flame).  It could be really useful... hmmm.  Then there is that ethereal effect some of the colors can achieve OR even the mystery of the color 'bloom' as the colors strike due to the temperature of the kiln.  Yes, there were enough reasons - so happily off I went to "drink the Koolaid".

Over the years I've enjoyed all the end results I had hoped for - and while I still have a long way to go - I still have one major hang up with Boro versus Soft Glass.  Photography.  There it is - in type... with a good light source, Boro just is sexy - no question.  But often without this lighting, it falls sadly flat.  So with - JillSymons.com, having an online sales format - how does it feel to sell something based upon a picture... or even two pictures (as I've shown here) showing it in both circumstances?  This bluesy toggle relies more on true color and the sheen of silver in the glass for cool reflective qualities, so it doesn't have such an issue.  But, shouldn't it look its best all the time?  Here lies my own personal dilemma.

I sold a piece recently - to another bead maker who did not work in boro - and while I was certain the piece was structurally fine - I was worried she wouldn't be happy because it wasn't 'singing' its colors all the time.  Eventually I wrote to her - telling of my concern.  What I decided to do was to create another that wasn't a chameleon - still in boro - but relying more upon design elements rather than perceived color to shine...  this is where I am in the process so far - and I think we are both happy. Win-win... don't you just love that? smiles, Jill 

3.4.2015 - Relaxing - revisiting Black & White Images...

My world is always filled with color and shapes, every now and then the step into the void of my 'everyday' is refreshing.  This is how I see the world, in that moment.  I've learned to stop & capture the image that presses so firmly into my memory.  These are reflective of quiet times - of tiny miracles I stumble upon or such grandeur that I was left speechless. I drink this in and it renews me.  

the stillness at the dock.  The mighty forest that made me feel so small and quiet.

The frozen joy of a garden fountain to the visual sharpness of the palm.

... and the reality of Texas' ability to make everything seem just that much larger than life.

2.25.2015 - Happy versus Elegant.

It is (tentatively) spring here in Central Texas.  The plum trees have pretty little blossoms and the yards are growing again... I am happy.  Winter is a distraction - a segue from life as it normally is here - and everything is more joyful when we're in shorts and sandals!

SO.  My first inclination is to work in happy colors.  Yeah. Opaque primaries? So not me... but good for a quick diversion.  Why? Well - seems no matter what I do - they just aren't taken as seriously as when the glass is beautifully transparent and rich.

This set has an opaque base to each bead, whereupon I've placed a copper stamping - and added a thin layer of clear encasing glass.  The heat from this process turns the coppery colored metal into a shimmering magenta.  I usually end up calling such a set - Electric Spring. (need to get that inference toward copper:electricity in there!).

But with as much work as this set is, it can't hold a candle to this:
 

This is why I absolutely LOVE transparent glass - it just has a language all its own....

reaffirming my passion for transparent glass... Oh, BTW - I also love to work hot and fast - and my go to glass is and always will be Lauscha for the very fact that for some reason - the rods don't explode in the flame, when working the glass - it doesn't get micro bubbles (scum) and their colors are simply amazing.  SO, I will work how and with what I desire this week, and we'll figure it all out later! Smiles, Jill
 

2.18.2015 - Glassy Timeline

As I was searching for some images to support a previous blog idea I was going to write about - I was aware of how my glass designs have slowly gone through a metamorphosis over the past few years.  You just see the finished product of my time at the torch, and I thought it might be fun to share some of the thought and inspiration that helped them come to be.

This design for a wafer thin bead that gently droops down came about in a design banter session with a friend of mine who is an architect - we were what-iffing and through his urging and my delivery of solutions the 'Freefall' bead was born, of course in skydiving lingo - two may be called Tandem... and so.  What I liked most about the tandem is that with light not only do  you have the two separate colors - but when light passes through, it created a new color by the subtle mixing.

Taking the Freefall bead to another realm, was to take advantage of its delicate shape and implied volume... so a very organic flowing necklace could be given a presence with very little weight.

The cabochon shown below is actually encased in clear - just so if there is some issue with silver polish - the gorgeous patina of the silvered glass won't be lost.  This raking technique allowed the silvered glass to combine with the more organic silvered ivory to create a wonderful mix.  I will often fall into an abyss when I hit on a new look - and make nothing other than that in every which way possible until I move on to something else.

Below are a pair of borosilicate spirals... I think at times I was put on this earth to force glass to do what it likes least!  Slow spiraling of a stringer of boro will eventually *hopefully* yield these disks.  Coming up with what to do with them was the next hurdle. LOL

Again - glass struggles - being what they are - always want to be round from surface tension and gravity.  I love the tile shape and when in the mood can make set after set of these hand shaped beads.  The thinness allows the light to penetrate much more easily and "allow" the color. Some of my very favorites!

The original Portal bead was round and had viewing portals or clear lenses that allowed me to direct and limit the view.  If something of beauty is taken in all at once, do you  slow to savor it as you should?

Here I could limit the view - through etching the field of glass while masking the raised lenses.  I like playful in my pieces and feel that they should not just lay there.

 

About a decade ago - my Sacramento friend Jiley Romney gave me a baggie of borosilicate glass shorts, saying they were her favorites and that it may jumpstart my venture into playing with this mystical glass.  It took me YEARS to finally go there - but what I discovered was that because it had a different COE - it flowed differently and allowed me more time to manipulate the glass OUT of the flame without bursting into a million of little shards.  I also love the etherial feel to some of the glass colors - and while I am surprised, I even enjoy sometimes NOT knowing what the eventual color of the glass will be UNTIL it comes out of the kiln the next morning!  The toggle on the left is a bead - meaning there is a hole through the middle... but it's unconventional in the fact it was a two day process - and the rings move freely on the spindle - while having ends that are melted firmly in place.

While I don't work with dichroic glass much, I love the effect - and so - go there every so often.  This was the precursor to the Portal bead - pretty - but somewhat ordinary.

I think it's important to always be moving forward and at times find it frustrating waiting for the next new thing... hope you will be patient - knowing it's on the horizon!

smiles, Jill

2.11.2015 - Mixing it Up.

I saw a triangular metal connector - 'component' in a necklace which served to create a sort of stylized lariat necklace. How cool, visual interest!  As many of you know - I prefer to make my findings & what better way to make a piece so incredibly unique - than to create components.

OK.  Check, that box. 
 

Jill Symons Lampwork components

I also am a big fan of wearable and adaptable finished pieces.  Comfort, design as well as versatility.  Hmm, change of neckline with a static length necklace... not good, but what if it were adjustable in length AS WELL as adjustable in layout - "DESIGN"? 

OK, done.

...and

Then we have people out there who have metal allergies - so I've created a lariat style necklace with a presence, that's fun to wear and fun to re-make (without disassembling)... that adjusts to different necklines AND can be "tossed" (figuratively) into the dishwasher if it needs to be cleaned up.  Normally I'm diligently working with transparent glass as Springtime approaches, but - when creating the components felt a post modern flair developing and I headed off in another direction...  It was short lived, but I did end up working with opaque punchy colors. SO not me... but it was a fun segue!  Enjoy the idea ignite, and please remember to find a way to put your own spin on your creations if you run with this idea.  Smiles, Jill

*I admit I must've made about 75 or more of these dotted beads and have not lost ONE single dot.  I was diligent in making sure the dots didn't have an undercut.  So - for who are wary of raised dots - breathe a sigh of relief.

1.28.2015 - Springtime

Every year when it looks like winter is wearing down, I am drawn to the transparent glass.   Doesn't it just warm your heart? Smiles, Jill

1.21.2015 - (steep) Learning Curve

This past weekend I utilized AirPlay and watched several tutorials from Corning Glass on my Living Room television... in that larger than life format, it was great fun.  Below is what I learned, granted there's tons of room for improvement - but it opened another door for me, to experiment with different techniques... but when you see this, you don't think of my beads, do you??

as with any method, you learn, then you manipulate what you learned into some semblance of something yours.... this is what I came up with, it's kind of cute - and of course, as it came out of the kiln I had all sorts of critiques on what I should've done... aaaah.  Maybe next time!  Never stop learning! smiles, Jill

1.14.2015 - hmmm....

I'm in the midst of a wrestling match with my earrings - and my creative mind couldn't spill a blog post tonight... but I can show you what i'm up to.  Part of this is my issue with seeing the bead hole... and trying to find a rather seamless way to give the illusion that these are just suspended (but we all know better...).  Whenever I use this color - I think of my sweet friend Ruth who passed away late last year.  She would love these... smiles, Jill

1.7.2015 - "Planely Speaking" - It's Complicated

While I tend not to enjoy holiday themed lampwork creations - I admit I have a quiet love for hearts, and am thrilled to be working towards Valentine's Day.  Most popular hearts are always classically red, no doubt about that.  I especially love Lauscha's Opaque Red for its ability to not streak when worked hard and to give a nicely consistent full bodied  gorgeous opaque red.  
 

but when I play, it gets to be complicated...  With this heart - I was considering how my stacking planes of color would affect the light coming through, while still delivering a classically shaped heart - it would be decidedly different - but most hearts are complicated, no?

 

Since light fills volumes - and the more edges a volume has to catch and throw light - the better, I chose to carve the surface of the above heart.  This creates interest while still allowing the shape of the volume & the beauty of transparent glass to speak - even through the surface design. Smiles, Jill

12.17.2014 - You JUST Don't Know What You Don't Know...

I spend a lot of time at the torch, when your hands are busy your mind is still somewhat free...
 

This year marks seventeen years I've been doing this, and I find myself looking back quite a bit.  I learned in a vacuum - I quickly discovered lamp working after seeing it on eBay, I found what I needed online and just started making tons of beads... eventually things started to click, but what I didn't know was what size they were "supposed to be".  (In an effort to establish a better grasp of what size things were, I was one of the first on eBay to take pictures of beads in my hand to give some reference to scale) ((and yes, eBay back then only had a few pages dedicated to lampwork beads)).

I found this small amber set a few days ago - I was astonished at how tiny they were.

My sincerest apologies to Noel who purchased so many of my micro sets as shown below - unintentionally I worked so so SO tiny!  They are shown in front of a set of 1/2" dia rounds from this era of bead making - and also you should realize that the tiny set is IN FRONT and CLOSER to the camera - but they still are tiny.  Of course, nowadays there are more people making beads, lampwork is more prevalent in available jewelry... so one can get a better idea of what size things should be!!  Just another of those moments I roll my eyes and shudder to think of what phases I've passed through over the years, and what still lies ahead!  smiles, Jill