While my passion most days lie with glass, I confess - my love affair with iron continues.
This time at the flagship Whole Foods store on Lamar Avenue right here in Austin. This marked the end of a most enjoyable afternoon tromping around Ladybird Lake - took a brief moment to relax at the outdoor area here at the store. I love the way that even though this is RIGHT at the road's edge - somehow it's been made to feel like it's tucked away in an iron forest. Basically these pseudo umbrellas are a trellis of sorts for some wild vine to grow up... and thus obscure the area from the road. When I looked down - even the tree surrounds were dressier than expected! Bonus points for Whole Foods!!
Since Charlie was in tow, I assumed the rings that were embedded in the concrete were to be used by owners to tether their pets so that they could enjoy lunch... but - my sensibilities tell me that they were perhaps more for a furniture tie down purpose(??) dunno. But - all being said - they could go either way. Smiles - Jill
11.18.2015 - A Photographer's (most) Favorite Model.... →
...I just love these. Simply LOVE them.
Why? Well - they exemplify what transparent glass is all about - beauty, color, transparency and they convey the feeling of being weightless. They are all that - AND...
11.11.2015 - Calm Between the Storms : )
The accidental photographer here... I was driving and reaching to turn my phone off... thank you iPhone 6 for having the off button directly opposite the volume button which makes it SO easy to NOT TURN THINGS OFF... this time I had the camera app open so it took this really cool picture of the big TEXAS sky.
Which had suddenly turned beautiful... (big smile)
See, here in Texas, there is no small way to do anything. If it rains - it rains quickly and with such fury that it leads to terrible flooding. The sun then comes out apologetically and bakes God's country to a crisp in such a thorough way that we think no end is in sight! Here it is November 11th... Colorado is in fits of snowstorms and we're looking for sunblock and turning the a/c on to combat the humidity of a 74 degree day... Please God - moderation?
Yesterday I got to show off the quirkiness of my longtime hometown of Austin... see, I know this place like the back of my hand, I have stories and know shortcuts like no one else! With a quick survey of what my California Cousins wanted to see - we quickly fabricated a loop of sights that made good use of my "Economy of Motion"* operational theory... and led us to the end destination of the Oasis for a quick lunch - an "over the top" restaurant that clings to a west facing hillside overlooking Lake Travis... where the sunset is always occasion for a round of applause! While we weren't there for sunset - but did manage to see the awesomeness of how HIGH the sky here is!
... and of course, I'm always blown away by cool iron work, especially if it's blue! : ) While there is so much to see at the Oasis - I was quietly pleased to see the cool colored party lights that I'm so fond of. Color that lights my life..... still smiling - Jill
*"Economy of Motion" - to do things in such a way that no real crazy backtracking is needed. One smooth loop of efficiency! : )
11.4.2015 - Glass, Color & Emotion
I'll be the first to admit it...
It's difficult to go anywhere with me - when I'm not wearing a blindfold. Last weekend we went to a restaurant in San Antonio - and upon entry I almost fell over when I saw this chandelier overhead... I WANT IT.
Well, if I can't have it - I at least want a really cool photo of the glass. It just struck every chord of my being. Maybe because I can 'see' how it was made and in my mind - and am already lining up all my short rods... LOL.
What does it do for you?
Next assault on my senses was shelf upon shelf of glassware - displayed so nicely at Marti's... My first thought was 'what? No dust?'... but really... again - I can see these being created - and love the downright assault of color and movement. Glass is everywhere in my vision scope - so is the amazing color... Can you imagine the amount of time and effort that went into the creation of this mask? I shied away from cross stitch embroidery because my Xs never crossed consistently in the same direction... every small seed bead is oriented correctly... amazing.
... Then there are mosaics.... sigh... Smiles - Jill
10.28.2015 - Crazy Mix...
I fired Adobe Photoshop - and downloaded something called Pixelmator... still learning to use that - so am using some older pictures. This is a shot I took at the Ladybird Wildflower Center just about this time of year - a few years back... kind of cool that Nature creates its own garland! Come the holidays I always like to find some excuse to leave a strand or two of lights up... I've always liked the unexpected lighting afforded by them. But, this year - I bought a strand of those outdoor string lights - like you see at trendy outdoor cafes. - (while I'm confessing.. I also love timers) - These cool string lights are adorning the oak tree that leans over my deck out back... and they dutifully come on at dusk and go off promptly two hours later. I have never been so aware at the shift of daylight to dark as the days grow shorter...
on an aside... seeing as it's cooling down - we went to an outdoor pottery festival last weekend - and while I enjoyed the pottery - I REALLY was taken by the innovative means of display... I know a great many of you that read also sell in shows - and I thought I'd share. This one below all folded out by means of piano hinges... and it all was just things that folded off of a small trailer! Very cool. It would also allow, depending upon depth, *for smaller items* - such as jewelry - a means to simply fold up and secure.
There were other amazing displays - I wish I'd taken more pictures. NOTE TO SELF... do it. smiles - Jill
10.21.2015 - Welcome to my MACRO world...
This is my new friend... the potato vine... an amazingly vine that requires little water - loves sunshine and is a good ground cover that spreads easily. All this and to BOOT - it turns a beautiful range of nice fall colors!
early morning fog combined with dew, condensed onto nasturtium leaves and was caught spilling over the edge. LOVELY(jk) checkered snake I happened upon as he was lounging between my nicely edged yard and the rock wall... nice, huh? LOL.
No, not taken here in Texas - this taken last winter up north where the temperatures actually get scary cold... this on the inside of a windowpane... caught in the early morning sunshine.
New color reaction yellow frit on a base of Kermit Green...
Nice Potato Vine also has sweet flowers! All that, and flowers too!
Actually not really frit - but I had you going, no? This little guy was only about 1.5"L and was all tucked in on the side of a glavanized metal pipe... was completely cool with my intrusive photography. That's it for this week - smiles - Jill
9.30.2015 - Hollow Beads & Hot Air
This week I got my mojo back when it comes to hollow beads... and as a precursor to tonight's website update, I thought I'd send out an educational video - so you can see just how these beads are made... It's fascinating for those of you who've never seen or tried it...
Earlier this week, I had sent a quick version of this out into FB , but unless you had your superhuman eyes finely tuned - you'd just miss most of it. This version is much nicer - slow where it needs to be... etc.
I use mostly Lauscha's Glassdaddy Purple transparent and Czech Denim glass. I like these two particular glasses because they work hot and don't boil & they tend to be nicely stiffer than the usual Italian glass. This property of havig a nice stretchy viscosity when molten means that it can be worked without all the drippiness. If that makes sense to you - I'm smiling.
Instructional video on the fundamentals of making a hollow glass bead. Lauscha glass, Lynx torch, Jill Symons glass artist.
so - what you're seeing in the video is first making two disks... then applying a molten bridge of glass to connect them - making sure it's airtight. This 'bridge' serves to stabilize the disks and also traps a volume of air inside - which - when heated, expands. When the "bridge" is heated to molten - the trapped air literally inflates the hollow bead - rounding it out nicely. I usually end by taking the bead into a graphite marble mold and gently working it to a rounder bead shape - simply because sometimes I prefer that to a more elongated one. But - be careful not to crack the release at any step along the way - as that allows the air to escape and your bead will, that reads WILL, collapse. Happy trails... or is that trials?! Jill
JillSymons.com
Denim Blue Hollow Bead Set - $165
9.23.2015 - The Smallest Observations
So, we are products of our environments - right? I planted this potato vine earlier this year and am amazed by its need for very little water - and love of direct HOT sunshine. To boot - yesterday I noticed that it also blooms! Such a lovely combination of deep rich greens paired with the delicate purple... Color layering - and oh, so effective. Tonight while I was photographing this set - I noticed the same thing going on here - only this was because the Freefall beads are so thin, that they allow for colors to visually blend.... I'm loving the effect. I also thought the little visitor on the leaf was pretty cool... and no - there are no little visitors in my work. I (still) don't do critters. smiles - Jill
9.16.2016 - Swallowtail/Mexican Petunia & Charlie
I sent this out to some of you yesterday, but wanted to post it here as well. Everyday, I pass the Mexican Petunia plant and marvel at its ability to bring forth numerous fresh blooms each day - all of which fall off that same day... Then there was the added bonus of the biggest and most colorful butterfly diving into the blooms - AND THEN... the bewildered look on Charlie's face as he stood there with his tennis ball in his mouth... LOVE it.
9.9.2015 - Dreamy Creamy Colors
I feel, at times, like I've not lived even a smidgen of what is out there! My honey took me out to CA for a long weekend & while I'm normally an incurable shutterbug, this time, I was unstoppable! There were so many plants and flowers that we just don't see here in Texas - and everything just grew with such abandon - I was in awe.
Hibiscus trees? I thought I was doing well to fill a half barrel with one here - and really have to baby it.
Trees so big I almost fell backwards looking towards the top... and cactus gardens that flowered so beautifully... The joy in the landcaping transferred to the joy in life... Creamsicle colored bicycles and Bird of Paradise that would dwarf my house?! REEEALLY??
I loved the color combos - and dreamy creamy corals & pinks....
These cruizer bikes were like old restored cars... of a bygone era - the pink & black one had black/white dotted dice on the valve stem covers! Later I saw them for sale - upwards of 1k each... crazy!
Trees had serial numbers - they were registered... as in historic and been there forever...
And this tree was the most magnificent of all - with what seemed like bouquets of orange blossoms in a ring that faced upwards - in this amazing blaze of color... I wish I'd been able to look down on it from the air!
8.26.2015 - Limitations :: Solutions
Yes, unfortunately there ARE limitations... for me it's usually the fact that the nicest colors are often very dark - and if light cannot pass through the glass - the color is locked inside. So - how to thin the glass to allow the light...
Over the years lampworkers have been able to work with glass from Italy, Germany, The Czewch Republic, China, Japan AND the US (to name a few)... that being said, we know that not all of the glass plays nicely together... so - how can we allow the colors to work off each other - but leave the glass in its purest form.
Just this. Separates. Keep in mind also - that molten glass just naturally wants to be R.O.U.N.D the tiles, Freefall and the Matchsticks are all hand shaped, painstakingly reshaped...
Sometimes we are also looking for that in-between color... you know, maybe not quite amethyst, but not really lavender... so then the thinness of two colors is important when it comes to veiling or draping one over the other... to allow the light to flow through.
My eyes are always searching for the possibility of new shapes, then how to use them effectively in finished jewelry. I could barely keep my hands off of the new Matchsticks up at the top and the great chunky tabs... seemed I worked with an end idea in mind, but I'll keep my idea under wraps until I see what YOU do! smiles, Jill
8.12.2015 - Crossed Wires
I spend a great deal of time listening to talk radio... my ears are always tuned in for the true meaning of what's being said AND just two weeks ago, my mother complimented me on my writing here... (smiling) - so I must be doing something right!
That being said, how is it that I can pour out what I mean to say here and get my message across - yet fall so easily in toneless texting?
When I'm out, I see people everywhere tuned in (or is it out?) to their phones, robotically texting as they navigate our world... how many of those texts sent say exactly what the sender intended?
Personally - I MISS talking, looking into someone's eyes, knowing that I have their full attention and I am conveying exactly what I mean... without emoticons. not smiling, Jill