Pigeon Point Fiber and Glassblog

Wrapping up 2011

2011-12-24T07:37:00.000-06:00

For me, it's been a good year. I hope it's been good - or at least bearable - for you! Now, I'm not saying it was perfect, but I'd be an absolute fool to complain about much of anything. I have a wonderful husband and a happy critter-filled home, I found a new job that I love, I made new friends and visited a lot of great places (Colorado, Napa, Pensacola, Atlanta, and NYC among them). I foresee 2012 being another year of discovery and change (which can be very good). In the near term future, Rich and I are doing something really exciting - we're going to CHINA for a week in January! You'd better believe we'll come back with some great stories and pictures!

I thought I'd include some pix of 2011 to help wrap up the year -

We lost two dogs in less than a year (R.I.P. the two Buddys) and added a new one. Meet Mr. Wally

Glass played a part in my life but I REALLY enjoyed working with fiber this year. I spun up a storm on my two new wheels - an Infinity (see post below) and a Schacht Ladybug (I am SO fortunate)!

Laceweight Alpaca mix

Fluffy, fluffy Alpaca in BIG skeins

BFL sock weight

We saw a little more of the world - some of it I'd seen before but will always go back.

Got to make a trip "home" to Colorado, to Pueblo, where I grew up and got to show Rich some of southern Colorado's hidden gems like Cripple Creek and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where we fed giraffes.

Celebrated my in-law's 50th(!) wedding anniversary in NYC. Went to Dean and Deluca - one of my favorite places evah! The cheese selection is to die for and we took home a tiny bit of one of the most expensive in the store.

Napa, CA. Got to spend 5 days with my sis and her husband, winery hopping. It was wonderful!

How can I leave out (no pun intended) these beautiful grape leaves. So nice....

Here's wishing you the best of the holiday season!

Love,

Janelle

Is this blog dead?

2011-09-04T06:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it's not dead - just realllly neglected!

You know how it is - you have every intention of writing and then life gets in the way. Ok, so where did we leave off? Last I wrote, I was a self-employed web developer with little time on my hands. NOW, I'm a fully employed Director of Digital Marketing at a local publisher and I still have little time on my hands. Wow, has life changed! I love my job, my commute isn't bad and things are going well!

I got that beautiful spinning wheel and took it apart and finished it. Here ya go - it's called an Infinity wheel. The maker is a very helpful and talented woman, who along with her retired machinist dad made up about 8 wheels. I'm not sure yet, but that may be all they make as their lives have gotten busy and "dad" has had some health things. I wish them all the best though and hope their wheel-making venture continues as I love mine. I may post my review in my next post.

What else? Still making beads. Had a great time at The Bead Biz's "Beadapalooza" event last weekend. Lots of single beadies and sets will be made into jewelry, this time by someone else.

Next weekend is a visit to Colorado - can't wait! I haven't been home in a long time!

Busy is Good

2011-03-26T08:18:00.000-05:00

You know how when it rains, it pours? That's me this week. I had car troubles, client meetings, new websites to do, show prep and so much more. On the car front - nothing major, just corroded battery terminals and new brakes.

I have a show coming up - the Montevallo Arts Council puts on a one-day show every year. I was honored to be accepted and am working on inventory. In addition, I have requests for jewelry, doll eyes and more. The only problem is finding the time to do it all!

Spring has sprung in Birmingham and everywhere I go, I'm seeing lovely Wisteria (which is literally a weed here, it takes over everything), Dogwoods are blooming and the grass is greening. I'll have to see if I can get some pix.

My sweet hubby brightened my day "just because" this week with these lovely Star Gazer lillies. Aren't they wonderful?

Sometimes the News Gets to Me

2011-03-18T07:01:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!

I've said this before but I really should just stop reading, watching, etc. the news but there's no escaping it. Even reading through my friends' FB posts and emails yields a trove of the not-so-pleasant sometimes. We all go on and live our lives though, wish the best for those facing adversity and hope that tomorrow brings better tidings.

St. Pat's Dinner was awesome as evidenced by the steaming bowl o'beef, cabbage and taters shown here. The Guinness was a nice addition as well.

I'm prepping for the arrival of my new spinning wheel. On Ravelry, I found a program run by a lovely Alpaca farm. "Spin a Bag, Get a Bag" means that the farm sends two bags of Alpaca fleece. One for me and one for them. I received a beautiful caramel-colored fleece for me and a white fleece to spin up into lofty two ply for them. The white fleece was pretty dusty so I washed up some and it's been drying in the sun for the last day or two. Nice fluffy cloud-like fiber - I can't wait to spin it!

While my life goes on, my thoughts are with the people of Libya, Japan and friends who recently received bad news.

St. Patrick's Day - As Good a Day as Any to Start Blogging Again

2011-03-17T11:47:00.000-05:00

Yep - it's been what, like almost a year since I posted last? Maybe not quite but sometimes there just isn't that much to say or you know what? I think social media and blogs are sort of at odds with one another. I put a lot of what I'm doing up on FaceBook and totally forget to chronicle it here.

Anyhow - Happy St. Pat's Day. To me, it's an excuse to break out the corned beast and cabbage and potatoes. I've chosen to put my hands on my ears and say, "La, la, la..." to the actual history of the holiday. I'm not really "celebrating" anyway.

So, what is up with me? I am still working from home at the moment. I have created about a dozen websites since January - which is awesome. It gives me a sense of satisfaction to create a tool to help other artists, businesses, and non-profits to promote their ventures.

I'm torching - not as often as I need to be but I have some upcoming shows so I HAVE to.

I've had this undeniable itch to do something with the piles of yarn and fiber I've amassed around me. I recently sold my Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel to a beginning spinner to finance the purchase of a similarly priced but more versatile wheel. I'll be talking about that more once it arrives. It's an American, woman-made wheel - I'm very excited about that.

Enough rambling. My thoughts go out the Japanese people. I've been glued to NHK and CNN for a week now. This is so much bigger than all of us!

Someone new? Yep, ME!

2010-05-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, so months have gone by again but I DO have a little bit of an excuse (but not really). Other people manage to keep their blogs up to date despite the busiest of circumstances.

Life has just been motoring along and I've just been trying to keep up with it. The biggest news I have is that Rich and I GOT MARRIED. So, while of course, I'm still the same person, my new name is Janelle Zorko Schultz (or it will be after I do all those paperwork things).

We had a lovely and very small wedding in Pensacola, Florida on May 7th. Are you wondering why you weren't invited? Well, actually no one was! We chose to make it small (the person marrying us and his wife, plus two witnesses). You see, our family is scattered, there were cost concerns and the boat we were on only held so many people. We were married on Gulf Islands National Seashore in a short and sweet ceremony. I feel that life is short and sweet and so it was perfect!

In other news, I continue to make beads, create and update websites, garden (Rich and I put in a really nice one, pictures soon), experiment with fiber and tend to our ever-aging pet herd. Speaking of which, we lost one of them to kidney failure. So sad that kittehs and puppehs can't live as long as we do!

In Rememberance - Miss Mia Maria

Weekends are for fun

2010-02-28T21:01:00.000-06:00

My idea of a fun weekend may not mesh with your idea a fun weekend - but then again it might, if you're so busy during the week that staying in and making things makes you happy.

That's exactly what I did. I squeezed in some web and other work but when I wasn't doing that, I was MAKING STUFF and I love it! Saturday into today, it was Purim - a Jewish holiday I mentioned last year. Purim is traditionally a fun holiday that commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. I won't go into it here but if you want to read more about it - here's a link to some info - Purim. I am not Jewish - but since Rich is, I'm learning and since I love baking, I made the customary "Hamantaschen" cookies again. This time I didn't have to send them clear across the country so that my guy could enjoy them.

Since I was on a "make it from scratch" streak, I decided to haul out my seldom-used Salton yogurt maker. Have you tried Greek yogurt? Rich and I have been buying the Chobani brand - and we love it. What we don't love is paying upwards of $2 per small container of the stuff. So I started reading up on it and interestingly, all it is, is regular yogurt with some of the whey strained out. So, as I said, I made some yogurt (pretty economical) and then I set it in some cheesecloth to strain out a lot of the whey. I mixed it with some fresh kiwi and honey - nummy!

What a nice weekend! Now, it would have been perfect if the US hockey team could have pulled out that last point, but hey, I didn't even know I was a hockey fan...until today!

Getting Out There

2010-02-23T10:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a long day. I spent the morning preparing for the afternoon - which included an eye opening meeting with two lovely ladies at University of Alabama's Children's Hospital so that I could see the oncology and hematology clinics. I will be demoing at their Beads of Courage Hope and Cope event on April 25th. In case you're not familiar with Beads of Courage, you should check it out. Such a great cause. At the meeting and tour of the hospital, I learned just how important this program is to kids of all ages taking part in the program. The kids get a bead for various milestones in their treatment. Guess what? They need beads! Please check out the site to learn how to donate.

Then, later in the afternoon, I met with a gallery owner and her intake person. I was honored that they like my work and will be carrying it in their gallery. I have a few more of these somewhat nervewracking meetings this week as well. I need to get my work out there - well, for financial reasons, but also for the satisifaction and maybe a little validation that others like what I create when I'm in front of the torch. The gallery carrying my work is JenniferHarwellArt. You can click on the link to go to their page.

Here are a few items you can find in their gallery -

So many things to blog about - and so little time...

2010-02-18T08:38:00.000-06:00

More than a month has passed and time just gets away. I've been at the torch, out there marketing my work, planning my schedule and of course, continuing on the eternal search for a full time job. I love my life, my schedule, etc. but there's something to be said for the security of working for someone else and the mental stimulation that working with actual PEOPLE provides.

At times, my main conversations are with this guy -

And he just doesn't talk much!

It's ok though. All this solitude is giving me a chance to think...design...enjoy, well, everything. I'm designing today as a matter of fact and will return with some photos of the results.

A New Year

2010-01-02T07:11:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it's 2010 - that sounded so futuristic a few short years ago. Since the last time I wrote, I slowly recovered from the pneumonia, only to be hit by a nasty cold. What doesn't kill ya (and I was never in any danger) makes you stonger...

I'm not normally one for new year's resolutions but I'll make some now. I resolve to be happy, creative, productive, thinner (couldn't leave that one out) and healthy!

I wanted to show you some things I've been making that I plan to market, and hopefully get accepted, into a few retail locations.
Tiger Cufflinks (for all those LSU and Auburn fans)

Beadable Tableware

A plethora of bead pens

I hope that 2010 is everything you want and need it to be and especially, I wish you love and happiness!

New Orleans - or How I Got Engaged to a Fantastic Guy

2009-12-18T07:28:00.000-06:00

So, I just realized that I was so caught up in my pneumonia misery that I never actually blogged about my New Orleans trip - and what a trip it was!

We left Birmingham for New Orleans on Nov. 29th - which happens to be my birthday. Rich tried really, really hard to keep it a secret but at some point, he let it slip - poor guy! He really wanted to surprise me. The drive was about 5 hours - not bad and driving across Lake Ponchartrain at sunset was awesome!

We stayed at the Saint Louis hotel - right in the heart of the French Quarter. We had a wonderful balcony so we could sit out and listen to the music and wonderful food smells wafting up. That evening, Rich took me to Commander's Palace - another New Orleans staple and a fantastic restaurant. Rich made sure to tell the waiter to put us in a fairly private spot and while we were waiting for dessert, he produced a little black velvet box and asked me to marry him. Of course I said, "Yes!" The waiter brought balloons and wrote "Congratulations" in chocolate sauce on our bread pudding souffle plate. From Commander's, we went to Pat O'Brien's for a hurricane and to The Cat's Meow where Rich wowed 'em with some karaoke. What a night!

Isn't it beautiful? It's a champagne diamond in a gorgeous setting.

We spent the next couple of days enjoying New Orleans. It was a little cold and rainy but it was December, after all, and nothing could spoil this wonderful trip. I didn't get to see the French Quarter while I was in NOLA doing animal rescue several years ago so I was very happy to see the businesses open and that so much of the rich history was unharmed. We went on a culinary tour, to the aquarium and we even spent a little time (and even less money) at the casino.

Pralines - they were everywhere!

Beignet and coffee at Cafe du Monde - I loved these so much, we went back twice

So, after our three days were up, I was sad to leave but happy to return home to our critter crew and "real" life.

How'd I get so lucky?

Pneumonia Sucks Wind

2009-11-23T07:46:00.000-06:00

Right about this time last week, I was sitting in a doctor's office, being diagnosed with walking pneumonia. Oh my! What an awful, awful illness. You see, I NEVER get sick. Ok, well not exactly never but the last cold I even had was three and a half years ago at Bead & Button. So, this came as quite a surprise and I found that I'm not all sunshine and light when I'm feeling under the weather! Of course, it's hard to be happy when you feel like someone is sitting on your chest and trying to fill your sinuses with something awful.

I'm on the mend though and I even felt well enough last night to finish a sock I started working on, oh, about two years ago. That's a good sign, right? Now that I'm back in the land of the living, expect a few more updates and maybe even a bit o'blogging about my upcoming birthday trip to New Orleans.

Pic of sock coming soon!

A Looonng Hiatus

2009-11-14T07:52:00.000-06:00

How does this happen? Well, actually I know how it does. Life gets in the way and blogging suffers.

So, the move went off pretty much without a hitch. My wonderful friend, Lori, chauffeured us (my 6 pets and me) across country in a 26ft moving van. We made it from Spokane to Birmingham in about 4 days. Utter exhaustion followed for several weeks while we all adjusted to a new climate, culture and time zone.

Slowly but surely, it's all returned to some sort of normalcy. I've been swamped with web work, the job hunt (not easy in this economy) and lo and behold, I actually feel my creativity coming back (it was missing during the adjustment, I think).

Look for more frequent updates. I know, I know! I've said this before but I have so much FUN going on now that I'd like to maybe post about it. Today is a great show (attending not vending) at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Next weekend, I may be vending at the Down the Street Bead Show in Atlanta - I need to think about it today. At the end of the month, Rich is taking me to New Orleans for my birthday!

I'm such a lucky girl!

Changes A Comin'

2009-07-06T08:23:00.001-05:00

I used to move every couple of years. That was exciting but kind of disruptive - all that packing, moving expenses, changing one's life... This time I'm sooo excited for it! I've lived in little 'ol snowy Deer Park for three years. I moved here under the pretense of making a better life for myself than I had in hectic Seattle. I can't say it completely turned out that way but I've made some wonderful friends along the way.

In about 5 weeks, I plan on packing up the house and moving to be with Rich in Birmingham. Oh my - it's a little overwhelming thinking about hauling myself and 6 animals across country. I'm not as young and adventurous as I used to be! It will work out though and It'll be interesting, if not down right fun. I'll update as the plans progress.

This week, I continued on with my little beadmaking streak and popped out these color tests of Momka's glass. The blue is Aurora Borealis and the red is a brand-new as of yet unnamed color. I'm so lucky to get to color test!

2009-07-03T16:58:00.000-05:00

I have missed a month and a half of blogging. Oh how we make promises to ourselves and don't keep them! Terrible, terrible.

I have a few good excuses - I went to visit Rich in Birmingham and had a lovely time. In fact, while there, we went house hunting and found a beautiful one we both agreed on. He'll be buying it in a week! That left me scurrying to ready my house for sale so that I can join him as soon as I can. The house is "on the market" (here's a link to it) and I'm not-so-patiently waiting for buyers to call. In this economy, selling a house is a scary thing. I guess we'll see.

My crafty/artsy exploits have been sorta stifled but I did manage to get on the torch last night to try out some of Momka's new glass. One color, which she and I have named "Whisper Pink" is so very beautiful, I want to eat it up!

Since I have nuttin' else to show this time, enjoy a picture of Beanie - his face is art to me!

An Old Project Revisited

2009-05-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you remember this post - Brother Francis Llama Rescue?

Basically, I was gifted bags of wonderful llama fiber from Brother Francis Llama Rescue and my intention was to process some of the fiber, spin it into yarn and knit and then felt a toy llama for the rescue to sell or keep or do with whatever they chose.

Finally, I've picked up the project again and this week, I finished spinning a second skein of this beautiful fawn-colored llama. Beanie helped while I was winding the yarn onto the niddy noddy (a device that helps you wind the yarn into a skein).

Here's the second skein.

Here's the llama in progress. I hope to finish him before I leave for Birmingham at the end of the week! More pix as he progresses.

Electroformed Inspiration

2009-05-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

I dunno what happened, but my drive to electroform seems to have returned. It comes and it goes. I get on these streaks where my beaker must be full of some organic goodie or another and at other times, I can pour the solution back into its bottle and not think about it (or feel guilty about it) for a month or two. This week, a local flameworker called and wanted a kit. I went to the studio and gave an hour-long electroforming demo. Guess that got me thinking and I promptly had to get on the torch to make a couple of base beads. I'm still digging through my stash of dried leaves as spring has been so slow in coming to these parts.

These are the results.

I'm getting ready for my trip to Birmingham in less than a week and thinking about the millions of things I need to do to get my house ready to put on the market when I come back. I plan on moving down to Birmingham when it sells. Birmingham presents a new set of adventures and challenges but I'm very ready for a change. Bring it on!

I am a terrible blogger!

2009-04-30T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess that means I've been very busy "offline".

Last I left you, I was making Hamantaschen for Rich and getting ready for the Glasscraft Expo in Las Vegas. It was a very nice show. A little slow at first, but traffic increased as the show went on. Met some fantastic new customers, business associates and saw old friends. The really nice thing about this show is that it's all things glass - from big to small. One comment about small - the table was way narrower than at other shows, which made it look like I had a lot of stuff but it actually made it difficult to fit it all on.

Rich met me in Vegas and we spent the week seeing everything we could see. We ate at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage, rode the NY NY rollercoaster, saw a Beatles tribute band and walked until our feet couldn't take it any more. The week went waaay too fast - it was a wonderful time.

Now? Well, lots of web work and I'm preparing for a trip to Alabama in a couple of weeks.

I've listed some new items in my Etsy Shop - you can check them out at http://janellezorko.etsy.com!

Hamantaschen

2009-03-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's what I said - Hamantaschen. I was reading about Jewish holidays this week and I realized that Purim is coming up (tomorrow, in fact) and I came upon a bunch of different recipes for these triangle-shaped cookies. Being the avid baker than I am, I had to try them. I'm also not one to pass up a recipe that uses either apricot jam or poppy seed filling so there you go! To read more about what they are and why they're made, check out this site for an explanation - Judaism 101: Purim. I have no idea if they taste right or not, not having ever made them or had them anywhere. Rich can tell me what he thinks - against my better judgement, I sent him some. He can expect a package of 'em this week!

I'm still torching in anticipation of the Las Vegas show (less than a month away now!) and here are a few things that came out of the kiln -

We're supposed to get a teeny bit of spring next week. I couldn't be happier! It's been snowing off an on (more on than off) today. Confirmation once more that I moved to a place with 6 months of winter. Four seasons, yeah sure - but winter takes up half the year!

Alabama (not Washington) Snow!

2009-03-01T22:08:00.000-06:00

Oh my gosh - it's March already! I got a lovely video today of the unusual snow in Alabama. It was beautiful and fleeting but I won't forget my snowy windshield message!

Even working for myself these days, time gets away from me. Maybe that makes me a bad boss? I dunno - but since my updates are sometimes a little further apart than I would like them to be, I'm updating with a bunch of pictures of things made this week.

It was a time for focusing on sets so rather than commenting on all of them, I'm just going to post some that came out of the kiln recently (feel free to click on any of these to see larger photos) -

This one is something a little different for me - I was asked to submit pictures of beads made into functional art for an article. This is a drawer pull - and it's really big! Well, not big for a drawer pull but that's a lot of glass again. It's fun to push the limits and see how big I can work.

Also including some pix of fan pulls I've made.

Finally, since we're doing show and tell today, I finally got around to firing some PMC and Art Clay Silver charms I've made. This stuff is so awesome - I'm going to try to work a little more with it and my BronzClay this week.

Big Beads Rock!

2009-02-18T08:58:00.000-06:00

I'm making beads for the Vegas show. I never seem to make enough to support a show and selling online but if you ever see anything you like and want here, by all means, contact me!

This week, I decided to play around with my Zoozii's Straight Sided Lentil press. This is a BIG press and I love it! In glass terms, it takes one and a half 13" rods of glass to fill this puppy up. Did I tell you that I love it? I cringed at using 1.5 rods of my beloved copper green for this one but I like the results, do you?

Here's another with a size reference image so you can see how big I'm talking about -

Been making other stuff too - finally finished my sisters' Christmas presents (oops) but they liked them anyway. These are commonly known as "Pandora" or "Biagi" bracelets. It's fun to collect the charms for them and of course, I made and silver cored the glass beads on them. If you're not familiar with these bracelets, the beads and charms have bigger holes so that they'll fit over the clasp and slide on the bracelet.

Finally, I've been meaning to post a pic - nothing special, but here is the hat I made for Rich. He doesn't really need it, as he lives in the deep South, but I had to make it for him anyway. It's nice to have someone in mind when you're spinning and then knitting something and I can't think of a nicer person!

Frit Testing

2009-02-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

To my dismay this week, I got a shocking electric and gas bill. I think I'm pretty thrifty - I turn off lights, consolidate laundry, you know. I'm frustrated (a little) by the continuing cold and dustings of snow. Not that I can do a thing about it, so to take my mind off of it I have been trying to get things done.

I'll show you some pix next but first I want to put in a little plug for one of my favorite organizations - the International Society of Glassbeadmakers. I've been working on their website this week and found a veritable trove of awesome photos going way back chronicalling their work. It's amazing the talent associated with the ISGB. Keep checking back to the site too because we're putting up more and more stuff.

What have I been doing? Well, web work for sure. I also got down to the torch and did some frit testing for Val Cox. Here are a few pix of the results. Unfortunately, this week I also taught my sweetie, Rich, the word "frit". Do you have any clue just how many puns you can make with the word "frit"? We won't go into that now, will we?

Mandarin Yellow

Lipstick Pink

Tropical Seas

Tutti Frutti

More of the same...

2009-02-03T12:52:00.000-06:00

Well, ok, not quite but I am busy again today. I promised to continue the craft stories yesterday so here I am.

First though, I've got to show you the view in front of my house. Today, I got up early, fed the pests and was heading down to the elliptical when I was stopped in my tracks. Gorgeous! I can't capture all the colors with my camera but you get the idea. I do live in a beautiful if freakishly snowy and cold place.

On with some more "Spinning Rich's Hat" pix - We left off with me winding the yarn onto a mini niddy noddy (that's that little contraption in the post below). I then "set the twist" of the yarn in hot water and brewed up a blue dyepot -

It came out bluer than blue (about as blue as Rich's eyes) but he said he liked it -

You know, even though the hat is now all knitted up, I don't think I'm going to show it here just yet, because it is a gift after all. I think Rich will have to wait to see it!

Here are some other things I wanted to show you - my BronzClay results. Man, I think I love this stuff! What do you think? Click on the pix to make 'em bigger.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2009-02-02T09:07:00.000-06:00

You know, life is really, really good when you just don't even have time to blog. I'm serious! I keep myself so busy sometimes, I don't know which way is up - and that's a very good thing! However, this is me slapping myself for not blogging more because I like sharing my crazy crafting exploits and general life musings with you.

Here's a little of what I've been up to this week -

I've been chatting A LOT with my rediscovered friend, Rich. We were interns in Washington, D.C. when we were in college. It wasn't the right time for us then, but now? Maybe so...

It's been dang cold here - dang cold! I wake up to 7 or 8 degrees regularly. It's Groundhog Day and I don't actually care whether Phil saw his shadow or not, spring cannot come soon enough. This is my view out my front window.

We did get some snow last night but it just piled on top of what we still have from December.

I've been spinning Rich a hat. Here are some photos of the process. I love it that I've learned to spin - I'm trying to make myself more valuable for that deserted island experience, should it ever come to pass.

Thin spun singles from that wool that I saved and told you about in an earlier post -

Plied into a thick and thin worsted weight yarn -

Winding off onto my mini Niddy Noddy -

More photos of the "Spinning a Hat" tomorrow...

Finally, while semi-watching the Super Bowl yesterday (what a game!), I was playing with BronzClay. It's clay, infused with Bronze and when these are totally dry, I'll fire them in my kiln and the clay binder will burn away. I've had one terribly failed experiment with this already but I think I used the wrong carbon material for firing and I dried my pieces too quickly. Cross your fingers for these!

Quick pop in...

2009-01-13T09:54:00.000-06:00

Just a quick pop in. Wanted to show off a little series of bottles I've been torching. My goal is to make 20 new perfume bottles this week.

The snow continues to slowly melt. I don't think spring is exactly on its way yet but these bottles provide a little color!

More...

2009-01-06T20:21:00.000-06:00

Remember that picture (if not, see below) of my kinetic wind sculpture from late December? Here it is today - it's kind of shocking. Notice the difference in the depth of the snow on the base of the sculpture and the fence. It's a 6 foot fence so I'd guess we have 3 feet in the yard! (Note, you can click on any of these images to make them bigger.)

Annie was a little melancholy this afternoon. I think she gets frustrated by the lack of walkies (they hadn't plowed today so we couldn't go) and the loss of "her" backyard. She's a pretty girl though, isn't she?

Finally, another pretty girlie, Claire. She's the oldest of my critter crew and is coming up on 15 this spring.

Glorious Sun and More Snow Pix

2009-01-04T14:43:00.000-06:00

We are having a GLORIOUSLY sunny day! It's the calm before the next storm. I don't care what it is - I'll take it! I just snowbooted up and went with the puppers on a walk. Here's what I saw -

The house - I live in a split level with a daylight basement. Uh huh.

The driveway - with which my snow blower and I are intimately familiar. See how lazy I've become? I no longer try to do the whole thing.

The street -

The almost disappeared mailbox. It will be gone tomorrow. The stuff in front of it is snow and ice. I've given up. Oh, that's Mt. Spokane in the distance. You can kind of see why I moved here. It *is* kind of pretty.

I'm making progress on my Carpenter's Star quilt - see...

There are four more borders and I'll make sure to post pix as I finish. Now to get some work done!

Snow Adventures (or How Janelle Did a 180 on Hwy 2)

2009-01-02T20:50:00.000-06:00

Today, I watched it snow and snow and snow until about 11am. I waited for the plow to come by (otherwise I never would have gotten down my street). Then I got on my coat, hat, scarf, snow boots and gloves and went out and blew snow off my driveway for the umpteeth day in a row. I then shoveled the icy berm left by the plow at the end of the driveway. I've given up on the mailbox. It's almost buried under, despite my honest to goodness best efforts.

So, I'm escaping! It's sunny! All the sudden a plow thwacks a huge load of slush at my windshield but I do the "blind drive and pray my windshield wipers work" maneuver and keep going.

I drive the 15 miles into the northern part of Spokane. I'm headed to Costco. There's really only one main street through Spokane and it was absolutely jam packed with cars. Stop, go, stop, go, stop go for half an hour to get 2 miles. So I get to Costco. No cars in the parking lot. What? They closed it for fear that the roof will cave in. Ugh! I needed stuff at Costco.

I tool down the street and I see one total roof collapse (it was a futon store next to a picture framing store) and several partial collapses - a tire shop, a well-known florist/gift shop and not that I shop there much if ever, even Wal-Mart is shut down. I swear, I haven't seen sights this bad since I went to New Orleans after Katrina (for pet rescue).

After a few stops to "hunt and gather" the things I haven't been able to get for a month, I decide it's time to go home. I knew there was black ice on the road - the sun had been shining on the pavement and some of it was even showing through. However, now it's 4pm and 14 degrees (on its way to -2). I think I was only going 30 but some guy in front of me slams on his brakes (for no good reason that I can tell). He starts fishtailing so I slam on my brakes (like an idiot that didn't get her driver's license in the middle of a snowstorm). My Kia Sportage does a little ballet - seemed like slow motion. I drove into the slide (which is what I kind of remember you're supposed to do) and I come to a halt in the middle of a busy freeway in a turn lane (thank whoever you thank), turned the wrong direction and looking at cars coming at me. No harm done - seriously none, except that my last nerve was twitching pretty hard. I got myself going back the right direction and on home at a very slow pace.

Did I mention that I might not like this place right now?

Here's to a great 2009!

2008-12-31T10:34:00.000-06:00

As the year comes to a close, I'm reminded of just how blessed I am. I'm living through the worst winter I've ever seen but I have a warm home, a snoring Pug boy and dreaming French Bulldoggy girl next to me, more hobbies than I can shake a stick at, and friends that check in on me (making sure I haven't fallen into a snow drift, I suppose)!

I wish everyone a wonderful 2009. My goals are to become more gainfully employed - that means working for someone else or turning those millions of ideas floating around in my head into that million dollar cash out (uh huh). Like everyone else, I'd like to exercise more and lose that winter (and summer and spring and fall) weight.

I'm going to take a trip - not sure where yet. Somewhere I've never been, I think. Any suggestions?

Well, in my characteristic fashion, I can't sit still so I've started a new quilt (yes, before finishing the last one) and I've been knitting the neighborhood puppers sweaters. Hey, it's cold out there! HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Productivity

2008-12-29T08:21:00.000-06:00

The snow makes me decidedly unproductive - but I did make myself get stuff done this week!

Knitted this hat for a friend's mother-in-law who has been going through chemo. I loved knitting this. Used Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, which is Merino and very soft.

Put some stuff in the electroforming bath -

It's snowing like nobody's business again this morning. I'll see what else I can force myself to do!

Where my snowshoes at (or enough already)!

2008-12-23T09:49:00.000-06:00

Ok - it's probably actually too early to start complaining about the snow. However, it's December 23rd and little ol' Deer Park is absolutely BURIED in snow! At one point, we got 30 inches in 24 hours. That was so last week! I can't find official totals but it *has* to be 40-45 inches by now. By comparison, last year (which was pretty terrible), we got 110-120 inches for the whole season. I am more than bummed as I am supposed to fly over to Seattle tomorrow - I don't think it's going to happen. I'll post more on my "serial hobbying" in this cabin-fever-inducing weather but in the meantime, enjoy a little of my snow chronicaling here. We had a snowstorm on the 12th that dropped about 6 inches - that was nothin'! The above photo was taken on December 21st.

This one - a few hours later - It's so hard to show the magnitude of how just how much snow this is. I can't actually get to the backyard, but if I could, it would be up to my thighs.

And yesterday -

It just keeps coming down! Temps have been hovering around zero, although I did wake up to -11F the other day.

I've become verrrry fond of the snowblower -

This is the third time this week I've had to rescue my mailbox from the snowfall and the snow plow.

Finally, my Andrew Carson kinetic wind sculpture may not be getting much action today but it is a nice, colorful distraction against all of the whiteness! If you'd like to see it day before yesterday in the mini blizzard we were having, have a look at it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPsGoZ9wfas

I am OFFICIALLY old!

2008-11-29T12:34:00.000-06:00

Yup - it's my birthday. Kind of a non-starter really but I am going to go and have a crafting evening with my best friends in Deer Park today. Can't think of a better way to celebrate. Should I take my wheel? My loom? Knitting? It would only be better if my twin sis, Lya, could be here with me. Happy birthday sis!

Funny thing is that I just don't feel an age...some days I feel like I'm still wet behind the ears and sometimes it seems like I've been there and done that. I do hope to have many, many more years to ponder the meaning of life though. It's never easy but it's always interesting!

We make the most of it (well, we try, I think) and this week I've been up to my eyebrows in websites, weaving, and listing items in my Etsy store. Here are a few goodies - http://janellezorko.etsy.com/. This isn't really meant to be an ad but I so rarely post my work, I thought you might like to see it.

Thanks to everyone today for the happy thoughts and well wishes - I appreciate every one of them!

Family Tree

2008-11-26T08:47:00.000-06:00

So, finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon this week - no small feat. I adore this series. It's a story of time travel mixed with historical fiction and each huge book keeps me completely riveted to the end. In these books A LOT is said about the clans of Scotland. Since I became a weaver (ha!) last week, I started thinking...hey...somewhere on my mom's side, I think I'm Scots Irish...yeah...I wonder what my tartan woud be...I wonder if I could weave it...

So I call my mom and say, "What do you think our clan name would be if we could trace the ancestry?" Keep in mind that most of my family is Hungarian or Austro Hungarian or German. There's something like 1/16th that might be Scottish. She decides that it might be "Dalrymple" from her father's mother's side. He ended up with some middle names that included "Augustus Dalrymple" - of whom, it turns out in my research, there really was one mentioned in history.

Soooo, I look up the tartan and guess what? No disrespect intended...none at all, but I'm not sure I like it. It's not horrible and I may still try to weave it but here it is -

Well, you can't choose your family - but maybe you can at least find out who they were. I'm going to research them further. Maybe it's that I have a milestone birthday coming up - maybe it's that I think it would be a shame to forget. No matter what, it's bound to be interesting!

Weaving and Bobbing Along

2008-11-24T21:55:00.000-06:00

What a few weeks! I find all of the sudden that I have more time on my hands for various reasons. That is good and bad. More time often comes with less money, know what I mean?

The good part is that true to my "serial hobbyist" moniker, I have now taken up weaving! I had to go and do it - I found a used loom on Ebay. Yes, like I needed another hobby... It sat on the dining room table oh, for about 5 minutes, before I started pouring over the manual to learn how to warp it up. Those people at Ashford really know how to write an instruction booklet and within an hour, I was ready to weave! I wove and I wove...and I wove some more and finished a scarf, this time for ME (I tend to give away everything I make). I was very excited to have finished something without any help and I think it looks pretty good!

Someone who does not look pretty good? Why, that would be Beanie, my normally fluffy, fluffy Persian kitty boy. However, around this time of year, he starts to get more than a little matted and being the declawed guy that he is, he bites like a son of a gun when brushed. So, off he went to Grrs and Purrs for a little salon time. Poor dude - does he look silly or what? He's cold all the time now but the sweater lasted all of about 10 minutes as he kept walking backward, thinking that would get him out of it. He's my boy - no matter what he looks like!

Back to (cold) reality...

2008-10-28T23:08:00.000-05:00

Back home and while I truly didn't buy any souvenirs, I got one anyway. I believe I brought some Mexican bug with me. Anyone who knows me, knows that if I have no appetite, I must be sick!
Came home to a cold house - the furnace had decided to go out while I was gone. Again, I can probably thank my lucky stars that it wasn't the middle of winter. The pests were so happy to see me. No matter what the temperature, it's a warm welcome when you have two dogs, four cats, three rabbits and a fish vying for your attention. Annie did some might fine dancin' and Beanie McPhee asked to be picked up and purred up a storm - makes my heart hurt!

Zippy!

2008-10-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

As my birthday present (a bit early), my mom paid for me to go on a zip lines/canopy tour. It was awesome! The tour I took was the "Canopy Veranos" trip. We left the hotel at about 9:30am and headed up into the mountains south of Puerto Vallarta. It was a nice, air conditioned tour bus - for which I was eternally grateful, given the heat this week. It took a considerable amount of time to get up to the tour site due to road construction and generally bad, narrow and bumpy roads. The trip is gorgeous though so even the rough ride was ok.

Got to the place and had a good training on how to ride the zip lines. Cute guides who all spoke English reasonably well. We were outfitted with harnesses in good condition, helmets and gloves. We flew through the air on zip line after zip line, crossing over people below us at times. The zip lines were hard-earned as we had to climb some pretty steep stairs and steps built into the mountainside. The air rushing across my face as I "zipped" helped to dry some of the sweat worked up from the climb.

Being the animal lover that I am, I'm not sure if I enjoyed the zip lines more or the end of the tour at which you could actually feed spider monkeys, coatimundi and pygmy marmosets. Very cool!

I came "home" to the hotel at 3pm happy and tired and very glad I went!

Janelle

P.S. The pygmy marmoset looks kinda sad, but rest assured, they were fat and seemed very happy with all the attention they receive.

Same day...new cat!

2008-10-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

Ok - had to check in again because I got a picture of my Gattito friend. He's a sweetie pie. He enjoyed a little snack of kitten Friskies.

It's a lazy Mexican day...

2008-10-21T17:29:00.000-05:00

See? Even Hector, the Iguana thinks so! Actually, our traveling companions seem to have gotten a touch o' the "Revenge" today. I seem to have escaped unscathed - but nonetheless, kind of lazy. Getting lots of reading done and now I'm out on the balcony watching the clouds roll in. I think we might be in for a bit of a storm.

I made reservations for a "Canopy Tour" on Thursday. 14 zip lines - gonna be fun!

On the Road Again...Hola!

2008-10-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's finally here - my biennial trip to Puerto Vallarta with my mom and her friends. Actually, "biennenial" isn't quite right. Last year, the conditions just weren't happenin' for either of us and we ended up just visiting each other.

So, sand and surf and almost unbearably hot weather the first day or so but it's better today and I'm sitting on the balcony watching the iguanas in the trees, seeing peacocks on the resort grounds strut their stuff and obviously, checking in. Went up to the Gigante supermarket this morning. I missed it on the bus because it has apparently changed its name. Came home and got in the pool for a bit. Not quite lobster-ish yet but I can tell it's coming despite the lavish use of sunscreen. Blame my heritage for the pasty whiteness.

More pix soon,

Janelle

Always in Catch Up Mode...

2008-09-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hey! Where is the time going? I feel like I'm always in catch up mode - you know what I mean? Just some quick updates. Made it through August with all the shows and such. Sales - way, way down. Partly because I didn't have a lot of time to make inventory, partly because people just aren't buying. Who can blame them? We're in interesting economic times. I'm working on an article for the Women in Glass issue of Flow Magazine. Fun fun - it will have something to do with marbles and something to do with electroforming - couple of hints for you! It seems I'm connecting with friends from my past. Last weekend, I was visited from dear old friends from Seattle and today, I got a wonderful surprise from a friend in Singapore who I met 20 years ago. So nice to hear from him again! So, what's on the horizon? Article writing, maybe some teaching. Beadmaking and spinning when I have time and a trip to Puerto Vallarta in October. More soon! Janelle

August is BUSY!

2008-08-01T07:48:00.001-05:00

Obviously, I made it back from the Con - tired and happy, I might add. On Sunday, we wandered the somewhat less crowded vendor floor once again, haunting the book publisher booths. Picked up some authors I haven't read - now I just have to find the time to actually READ! I started a "real" job this week, which means more social interaction, more brain stimulation, (more money =) but decidedly LESS time. Oh well - it happens. Next week is the International Society of Glass Beadmakers big get together (a.k.a. the Gathering) in Oakland, CA. I am the merchandise coordinator so I'll be occupied. It's wonderful to see people once a year though and along with that comes with getting to see some real talent and beautiful beads. When I get back, I'll immediately get ready for "Glass on the Grass" - a nice outdoor show at Gonzaga University in Spokane and then a weekend later is the Arbor Crest Winery show - at which I'm also a vendor. Someday I'll find time to take and post pix of the beads...maybe that day will come this weekend. We'll see!

Comic-Con - Day Three

2008-07-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

I made it through a day of really fun and interesting panels! Any Con attendee will tell you that if you get a decent spot in Ballroom 20 or Hall H and if the programming is good, you'd better just sit back for the long haul and enjoy the entertainment.

This morning started out with a panel on Futurama. I love seeing Matt Groening, Billy West, Katie Segal and others. They showed some hilarious footage that reminded me why Futurama is my favorite animated show ever! After the Futurama panel, it naturally rolled into a Simpson's panel. Interesting but none of the voice talent was there. Not being a 2-D artist myself, I think I love these types of panels, mainly for catching a glimpse of the people who "do" the voices.

Next was a really fascinating hour with Dean Koontz. I can't really say I'm a fan as I've been living under a rock and NOT reading his stuff. I'll have to pick up a few of the books though and give him more of a try.

I had no interest in the next panel for a new Joss Whedon series coming out on Fox early next year called "Dollhouse" but after seeing the trailer and hearing from the actors, I'm actually excited about watching the pilot. The premise is that there is an agency that will provide a "doll" or (there was another name for them but I've forgotten) for anyone willing to pay enough. They have taken actual people, erased their memories and then "load" them with the character of who they are now supposed to be. If I'm wrong about this assessment, it's what I saw in the trailer. Looks like it will be good.

Finally, I sat through the Battlestar Galactica panel - which was just awesome! I love the show so getting to see the cast together onstage was really a treat. There's a new series coming out too called "Caprica" that makes me want to watch all the early episodes of BSG that I missed.

Here are some pix from the day!

Futurama

Dean Koontz

Dollhouse

Battlestar Galactica

Comic-Con Day Two Part Two

2008-07-25T23:22:00.000-05:00

Wow! Another great day! I spent much of my time today in "Hall 20" - the HUGE room I talked about earlier. First, I saw the cast of SG-1 - they're promoting their new straight-to-DVD movie called "Continuum". Then, I saw a preview of the upcoming video game, "Stargate Worlds" and finally, on that theme, I saw a panel for "Stargate Atlantis". Fun, fun - really! Each member of both casts were so funny and outgoing. It made for an entertaining time.

Let's see, besides the gaggle of creatively dressed people I saw today, I was smiled at by Dennis Miller (of SNL fame), who was walking around pretty much as a normal conference attendee, I spotted Erin Grey (always at the Con), Eric Estrada, Simon Pegg, Lou Ferigno, Corey Feldman, and several other "less than fresh" stars. I also sat through the "Bones" panel - lots of funny, pretty people like David Boreanus.

On to the pix!

From Continuum -

From Stargate Atlantis

From the exhibitor hall -

And for Lori - it's a terrible pic but a friend of mine DID get in to see Keanu yesterday so here is a blurry, blurry view of him this year!

Comic-Con Photos!

2008-07-25T00:08:00.000-05:00

First official day of Comic-Con. What an event! There are 125,000 people here from all over the world. People watching is just fascinating. Besides the fact that there are people dressed up like Wonder Woman, fairies and the ever present Storm Troopers - the tattoos, piercings, and clothing choices are certainly unique.

Today, we ate breakfast at Seaport Village and proceeded to spend some time perusing the convention/vendor hall. It is soooo jam packed that it's hard to move but the booths are wonderful. Publishers offer free books to get you hooked on an author, toy companes hold raffles aplenty and artists sit and wait to show you their portfolio and to hopefully sell some prints. Often, you can commission them to draw a superhero or to simply fill a page of your book with their own brand of art.

We did manage to see one panel - the lines to get into these things are the longest I have ever, ever seen. We got into the "Twilight" panel. It is always exciting to see the director, writer and most of the cast members of a movie onstage - even if the best view you get is the Jumbotron-like screens positioned throughout the massive and packed-to-the-gills hall. I love the vampire-themed "Twilight" books and I think the movie(s) might do them justice. The youngish-actors were probably scared to death and were more than a little scattered. Other panels with seasoned actors usually offer a little more insight into their respective movies. Lori, I do apologize, but we couldn't get in to see Keanu. The picture from last time will have to keep you contented!

Here are a few pix I snapped today. More tomorrow!

Star Wars fans must be in heaven! Those Storm Troopers were at the Lucas Films/Arts booth but I believe they are just normal folk who delight in donning their Trooper outfits every year. The huge Jabba the Hutt (oh my gosh - where was my brain? I was tired last night when I originally posted this and totally misidentified the big guy) statue is really impressive.

Life-sized versions of the "Ugli Dolls". Characters like this patrol the length of the convention floor promoting their booths.

Anime is king here and often, you get to see new dolls, toys and other products before they are officially released. I like this series of dolls.

At the Con

2008-07-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

Arrived in San Diego successfully! It's just mass humanity - waaaay more people than I am comforable with at times. Very cool stuff here though. The typical people with (apparently) no apprehensions wearing costumes and plenty of rabid fans. Been taking lots of pix. I'll unload them and post more later.

Playing Hooky!

2008-07-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

I only have another week and a half before I start my new "real" job so I'm taking advantage of the time and getting stuff done around the house, making beads and processing fiber with the new drum carder. The drum carder is so much fun though, that beadmaking is kind of taking a bit of a backseat - not permanently - just this week. I have made beads - just not nearly as many as I should have.

Here are some of the fibery things I've been doing -

Washed some more llama. This is a brown fleece with TONS of guard hair. I'll be picking that out for awhile! I'm wondering if it's worth it. Hmmmm....

Then I "rescued" a fleece that I accidentally felted. This was the first fleece I bought and I thought it was kind of a lost cause but the batts out of the carder are wonderful!

Finally, I hauled out my ball winder and wound the three skeins of my gray handspun that I had dyed teal.

Whew! Lest you think I was totally ignoring the beads, I WAS prepping stuff for the electroforming bath - here's a sneak peek -

One more day until I leave for Comic-Con - yay!

HOT Wheels!

2008-07-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

Our group of ladies met yesterday for the first time in over a month. We just enjoy getting together and spinning, knitting, crocheting, whatever so much. No pix this time. I spun up another bobbin full of llama destined for one of these.

Blanche crocheted on her beautiful chevron blanket, Sunny pulled out at least four projects while we sat there and Lori and Heidi spun some white wool.

I'm going to look at more of the llama today and get ready for my impending trip to Comic-Con. Many people don't know what a closet geek I am. I am truly looking forward to San Diego, visiting with my sister and brother in law and seeing the actors, writers, and artists who come to the Con. More about Comic-Con later.

Maybe I'll get out my camera today and take pix of all the new beads I've been making for the Gathering coming up in a few weeks in Oakland, CA.

Brother Francis Llama Rescue & Retirement

2008-07-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

Oh my! I just spent what seems like a whole day (well, ok - it was several hours) recreating my old posts (copying them from my hard drive) so that I won't have lost everything. It *is* like starting anew now but at least the older posts from my jetsetting trips to Italy (LOL) are there and you can live vicariously though me or use it as research if you're planning on going.

On to the llama fiber. When I owned my yarn store (it's been closed a month this week), a woman came in and offered me FREE llama fiber! Seeing as I'm a fiber junkie, there was no way I was turning that down! Well, you know what they say about "free" - but in this case, I was really delighted. You can actually see the fiber providers here - http://www.brotherfrancisrr.org/. This is a link to a wonderful organization called "Brother Francis Llama Rescue & Retirement".

After a week of finishing up the non-fun work stuff I had to do, I set about opening the many big garbage bags of fiber and found that it's decently clean and really beautiful colors. Since I'm partial to that caramel color that llamas sometimes are, I grabbed one of the bags and decided to spin a swatch from it. Beautiful! But dirty! Dirty as in very dusty. So into the sink it went. I used Dawn dishwashing liquid and soaked in it hot water for about 20 minutes. Then I gave it several rinses and found that my wrought iron deck table is the perfect drying rack! (I do want to send a note to whatever llama this came from because he/she did an extraordinary job of staying out of the weeds!)

I feared that a big breeze was going to come up and I was going to have fawn-colored llama fur all over the yard but it stayed calm enough throughout the drying process. As it dried, I fluffed it up and it grew and grew! Look at all that fiber!

I have just acquired a very old model Patrick Green carder and decided that its maiden voyage with me was going to result in some nice, soft, fluffy llama batts. It worked!

Next, I set about spinning this lovely fiber into some moderately bulky singles. I want to be able to use this fiber to knit and felt a Fiber Trends llama that I can either give back to the rescue or sell for fundraising. After all, we want these llamas to keep eating and producing this lovely fiber, right?!

I plied these singles from a center pull ball to created a kind of lumpy lookin' but very soft two-ply.

I'll keep ya posted on the progress with the llama knitting. Our little spinning group - "The Hot Wheels" is getting together today and I know what I'll be spinning! By the way, if you should want to donate to Brother Francis, follow that link above - I'm sure they'll greatly appreciate it!

Holy Cow! Back after a very long absence...

2008-07-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

Hi! I have spent several hours trying to figure out how to log into my old Blogger account. I ended up creating a new account and maybe "faking it out" to think it's the old one. Gotta try to find a way to restore the old posts. Well, what's new? Well, I guess A LOT since I haven't posted in literally (it looks like) a couple of years! So, I'm going to try this again and we'll see what happens. Tomorrow, I promise a post on some lovely Llama fiber that I was gifted. I photo documented the process of spinning my first skein from it and I'll tell the story behind it. To tide you over until then, I've been snapping pix of my pooches. Buddy is the elderly Pug, Annie is the rambunctious French Bulldog and Maisy is a 10-month-old Lab who is visiting until the end of August and who is giving Annie a run for her pointy-eared money!

Last Day In Coldigioco

2006-05-12T13:34:00.000-05:00

No! It's not possible! Today is our last day in Coldigioco before we head out to the train station and then it's off to Rome. This time here has been fantastic. I wish I had had more time to blog and tell you all about this little slice of heaven.

Life is very simple here. No one owns a microwave or (unfortunately) a clothes dryer but you quickly get over those things. One look at the lush hillsides, tiny lizards running about and the fantastic fresh food and variety of wines and I fell in love. Our view out of the studio windows was enough to take your breath away in sun or rain.

We have spent a lot of time on the torch in the past few days with Larry teaching us new techniques and demos from many of the students. Mauro came by yesterday and asked me to make a small bottle, on which he put two tiny sculpted seahorses. He made a sea star stopper for it. Magnifico! We made a collaboration bead in Sue Snyder's honor and it will rest under a rose bush outside of the glass studio's windows.

Oh yeah, I learned to make Byzantine chain for a bracelet. I love it! I'll definitely be doing more of that.

So, I have many, many pictures to share. I hear we may have fast Internet access in Rome but with only two days, I'll see what I can squeeze in. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments and emails!

Ciao for now!

Janelle

Too...Much...Food...

2006-05-10T13:36:00.000-05:00

...And it's wonderful! Ever been in a food--induced stupor? That's what we've been feeling like lately. How can you refuse? All of the parmesan, pasta, bread and all of the other tempting goodies. Yum!

We are having a great time - eating waaaayyy too much! We've gone to a lot of the small towns around. Saw a palace and ate dinner with the owner (a Count) the other night. We went to another town last night and saw a beautiful church dedicated to St. Patrick (the second). Then we went to a restaurant nicknamed "The Pesto Lady". We had a whole dinner that was vegetarian and very, very good. Talk about delicious!

Larry and I have been taking long walks to try to work off some of the calories. Yesterday we went on a 40 minute walk with Pago (the dog), Lolita (a 12-year-old orange tabby cat) and Caraba (a little black cat). I thought for sure the cats would drop off and we'd lose them but they hung on and went the whole way. Lolita meowed for the duration but cheerfully trotted along.

It's really cold here. Thunder and lightning and freezing rain. Today is sunny though so hopefully it will warm up. We've been getting in a lot of torch time. We've had demos by Larry (of course), Leslie Thiel, me and a wonderful artsit named Mauro Puccitelli. He's coming over this afternoon to do more for us - a maestro at tiny animals, insects and other sculpted items. He also pulls his own glass and we've been playing with it. It's totally compatible with Effetre and we have been playing with some different colors.

Well, gotta run. Since I'm on dial-up and pictures are so slow loading, I think I'll come back and add them as soon as I'm on a faster connection so please check back!

Ciao for now!

Janelle

Coldigioco

2006-05-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

So, it's Monday already and we're in Coldigioco. Coldigioco is a very small village in the Marche region of Italy. It consists of 11 buildings owned by various famous/semi-famous geologists and geophysicists who come to the region during the year to do research. There is a fantastic flameworking studio, a common kitchen, beautiful views and tremendous food!

I'm also getting my kitty and puppy fix because Paula and Sandro, our hosts, have three cats and wonderful dog named "Pago". Pago is a chocolate lab mix full of personality.

So, after a second day of visting Murano and Roberto Dona, we returned to Venice and did the Rialto market and some more sightseeing. On Saturday morning we rode the train down here during a train strike - we were lucky to get on one of the only trains running. Yummy dinner at a local restaurant and then we fell into bed, exhausted.

Yesterday was a full day of torching and then dinner made by Sandro. Man, that guy can cook! It was wonderful...

Today, we're off to see a local flameworker who does penguins and other creatures the size of a grain of rice (using full-sized glass rods, of course!). Then it's an afternoon of torching and dinner at a local restaurant.

Internet access is dial-up. I'll see if I can get a picture or two uploaded tomorrow.

Ciao for now!

Janelle

Two Days in Venice/Murano

2006-05-05T13:37:00.000-05:00

Writing from an Internet cafe in Venice. Gorgeous city, gorgeous weather! We have gone to Murano both days. Stopped by Effetre for a very brief tour. True to their secrecy, we didn't get to see much. Roberto Dona was totally charming, as usual and I stocked up on *too many* tools! We found Lucio Bubacco at home in his studio and he welcomed us in.

Today, we headed back to Murano for a bit and are finishing up our whirlwind shopping and sight-seeing tour of Venice. Tomorrow we're off to Coldigioco and hopefully a little better Internet access.

Unil later!

Ciao!

And we're off...to Italy that is!!!

2006-05-02T13:31:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

It's 6:45 am and I'm sitting in Seatac airport in Seattle waiting for my 8:00 am flight to JFK and then on to Venice. It's really nice to think that my only real concern right now is should I have the bagel with cream cheese or plain? I *do* have about a 15 hour (ugh!) trip ahead of me but it's a small price to pay for what I think are going to be two fantastic weeks.

So, Larry B. (Brickman) and Kendra B. (Bruno) left for Italy on Sunday to be able to check out our teaching venue. I'll meet them and the rest of the group in Venice on Wednesday morning.

Here's a rough outline of our itinerary -

Wednesday 5/3/06 - Arrive in Venice at about 9:30 am. Make my way via water bus to the hotel by 11:00 am. Free time in Venice.

Thursday 5/4/06 - Day in Murano. Tour of Effetre, Carlo Dona, stop in at Lucio's, SHOPPING!

Friday 5/5/06 - Free day in Venice or Murano. Whee!

Saturday 5/6/06 - Travel via train to Coldigioco (small hill town, SE of Venice on Adriatic side)

Sunday 5/7/06 - Class most of the day with Larry (I'm TA'ing), evening cooking class

Monday 5/8/06 - Visit with glass maker, Mauro Puccitelli, class with Larry, visit the Pope's home

Tuesday 5/9/06 - Morning class with Larry, Tolentino

Wednesday 5/10/06 - Papermaking museum in Fabriano, class with Larry

Thursday 5/11/06 - Morning class with Larry, afternoon jewelry making with Kendra, food and wine tasting

Friday 5/12/06 - Morning class with Larry, afternoon jewelry making with Kendra

Saturday 5/13/06 - Depart for Rome

Sunday 5/14/06 - Day in Rome (!)

Monday 5/15/06 - Leave for U.S. and arrive back in Seattle happy and exhausted!

So, I hope that gives you an idea of what we're doing. I have my camera with me and I'll try to upload pix when I can. Whee! Feel free to email me or comment here!

More soon...

Janelle

Is it really April???

2006-04-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness! I just can't believe it! I've been watching the gorgeous cherry blossoms and other signs of spring but you know how it is, you look at the calendar and whoomp - there it is (yeah, cheesy I know)!

So, these articles and such are starting to emerge. Jim Thingwold over at Glassline sent me some comp copies of the magazine with my "how to" on hollow perfume bottles. A little bit about that - the pictures are a little dark but there's a good reason! Nicole Brown took them for me during a power outage which happened in the middle of the demo I was doing. It's a testament to her fantastic photography skills that they still turned out great! Also in the Glassline April/May issue is a nice article Jim did about the Kobe Lampwork Glass Museum exhibit. I'll be sure to post more pictures that Larry Scott took during his visit to the Museum this week. You'll be able to find them on http://www.fire-and-rain.org.

Larry B., Kendra Bruno and I made a "power run" last weekend down to Portland, OR for the O.R.B.S. meeting. What a great group of people! I would love to get the Seattle group and the Portland group together for a very fun, LOUD, and creative meeting!

My blog has been listed on a great new site - http://www.lampworkcarnival.com/. Please make sure to check it out (maybe you came here from that site). This is a great opportunity to see what other folks are up to. Some people post their latest work on their blogs and some - just their musings about life. In any case, it's a good way to get to know some of your favorite lampworkers!

Only three weeks until my next trip to Italy - I know I haven't said much about it but I intend to blog through it and I hope you'll check in to see what we're up to. I'll be flying into Venice, spending a couple of days there and in Murano. Then it's off to a little village called "Coldigioco" for beadmaking in the countryside. Finally, I end up the trip in Rome for a couple of days. Poor me, huh? I love to travel and this was such a great opportunity, I couldn't pass it up!

More news soon - oh yeah, went to see Train and Anna Nallick - both fantastic concerts! Seattle offers a lot of opportunities for both the art and music lover - just one of the many reasons I love where I live.

Janelle

Life is good!

2006-03-01T13:27:00.000-06:00

Oh my, oh my have I been a busy girl! I've been a writin' articles and submittin' pictures and this past two weeks, my time has been taken up with the Fire & Rain Kobe Japan exhibit preparations. Kobe and Seattle are sister cities and we've been asked to submit beads for a two-month exhibit and a "necklace" for permanent dispay. Can you imagine wrangling 38 artists to send beads in on a schedule? We managed to do it. I think we are sending over 300 beads from artists like Michael Barley, Larry Brickman, Larry Scott, Kimberly Affleck, etc., etc. The list goes on. People with lesser-known names and spectacular talent participated as well. Look for more info about this cool project soon. I'll post pictures when I'm finished editing them.

Let's see, what else? Well, the electroforming bath has been quite full lately. Here's the ring I talked about in my previous post. What do you think? I'm quite taken with it! I am expecting the materials to be able to electroform with silver sometime this week. I suspect that I won't have time to switch over and try it until next week sometime but I promise to post the results.

I don't write a lot about my personal life - because, well, glass makes up a lot of it! Suffice it to say, things are great. I'm going to see Jaime Cullum tonight with my sweetie and some good friends. We're going to see Train later this month and I'm taking a great silversmithing class in Victoria, Canada. Then there's the trip to Frantz Art Glass for their open house next weekend, and, and - the list goes on!

Have a great March - I'll check in soon!

Janelle

Fire & Rain

2006-02-12T13:20:00.000-06:00

Today we're meeting with our glass chapter, "Fire & Rain". I feel so fortunate to live in an area where we have so much talent! Emmett Hollander has offered his studio to us today. Emmett is primarily a boro artist so it gives many of us a chance to see and work with another type of glass.

This week has been extraordinarily busy for some reason. I managed to get over to Glass Expressions to see Kathy Johnson. What another talented woman! I traded her an organic electroform for one of her beautiful horses.

I've got a cool bumpy ring bead electroforming in the bath and I've been playing with some huge lentil presses I've gotten lately. Finding the time is always a challenge but I don't think I'd want to live without glass in my life right now. There are several upcoming "enter your photos" things coming up. Must carve out time to do that. I don't enter those exhibitions and publications things out of an egotistical reason. It's just that I ask myself, what good are all these things sitting on my dining room table of no one sees them = -)

Gotta run - the sun's shining. There are so many things to do!

Janelle

What good's a blog...

2006-02-07T13:26:00.000-06:00

What good's a blog if you never update it, right? I can't believe so much time has passed again. Just busy busy busy! I spent a wonderful couple of days in Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island this past weekend with a great group of other glass artists. It became even more cozy when the electricity went out and we gabbed by candle light for hours until the power came back on.

I have a couple of exciting things happening. Brad Pearson and Deanna's Griffin Dove's new book should be coming out soon and I'll have one or more beady images in it. A few more of my electroformed beads are being published in the next couple of months and I'm writing an article for a glass publication. Things seem to be moving along - kinda cool!

I made a fantastic little bottle with Bullseye's new Petal Pink - will take a photo tonight and post it here. For the future, I'm marking it on my calendar now - UPDATE BLOG WEEKLY!

Talk to y'all soon!

Janelle

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-18T13:18:00.000-06:00

'Tis the season for holiday parties, crowded shopping centers and ELECTROFORMING! I've been experiencing all three to the excess lately. Hey, I'm not complaining. Here is a festive Holly leaf electroform I made for a fellow beadmaker - Larry Scott. It's in his "non-collection" now.

I am very excited for the new year - no, really! I am taking a silversmithing class from Barrie Edwards in Victoria, Canada (it's only a couple of hours away from Seattle), another trip to Italy is on the horizon in May. This one will include both glass (with Larry Brickman) and jewelrymaking (with Kendra Bruno of Trovataonline.com). I've been wanting to learn metalsmithing and jewelry making. Sometimes the opportunities are just there if you look for them! I will definitely be offering more beads and finished jewelry on my site.

I have some other exciting news - one or more of my beads was accepted into Deanna Griffin-Dove and Brad Pearson's upcoming book called "Art of Beadmaking". It's a look back at some of the best beads of 2005. There will be such talent showcased in this book and I'm proud to be included. I think the book is going to be a definite "must have".

I got a new torch this week - the Carlisle Mini CC. Gotta hook it up and play. It's a bit nippy in the garage studio these days. Yesterday morning, it was 41 degrees when I turned on the heater, kiln and oxygen concentrator. It warmed up to 58 degrees by the end of my torching session - brrrr! With happy-birthday-to-me money, I also got some new presses and other tools. Look for new shapes that will go well on necklaces and bracelets soon!

Off for a day of last minute shopping - which is an annual occurance no matter how early I start. Have a great day! (Ivy electroform - silver blacked on a pendant form - reminds me of Lord of the Rings for some reason.)

Rain, Rain - Go Away?

2005-11-13T13:14:00.000-06:00

I'm never sure if I love or hate the rain. I think I love it but it's washing all of my beloved leaves for electroforming away! The good thing about the Pacific Northwest is that we still have a lot of greenery all year long. Right now, a lot of that is in the form of moss!

The cooler weather brings out the crafty side of me. I want to spend every waking hour making beads, or stringing beads, or knitting or whatever I can. There are not enough hours in the day!

Some of you keep up with my critter crowd here in Seattle. My one and only indoor/outdoor cat managed to sustain a nasty bite of some sort and after an abcess and surgery to remedy it, I'm $600 poorer and the cat looks like "Franken Cat"! On the bright side, she has clean teeth and she's staying inside, out of the rain, until she heals.

I went to Frantz Art Glass yesterday for their "Open Saturday" blowout. Always good to replenish the stock of glass. I love Mike's sales but I also buy a lot of my glass from Bill and Donelle Thornton at Island Glass. Fantastic customer service - they're good people!

A few pix - my first set of encased florals (above) and a purple swirls perfume bottle.

Back to the cool fall of Seattle

2005-10-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

Hi! What a shock - to go from 95 degrees in Puerto Vallarta to scraping ice off of my car windows in Seattle! Mexico was fantastic! The timeshare hotel - Velas Vallarta - is gorgeous and I enjoyed the time with my mom. She even went parasailing at my treat and had a blast! We spent some time bargaining with the vendors for little gifties, wandering around "Old Town". We went to Mama Lucia's tequila factory and up into the hills for lunch. We also did a Mexican fiesta at the Iguana Restauant in Old Town - great food and entertainment. I walked on the beach every morning and evening - ahhh, nice...

I had another lovely experience in Mexico. There is a company called "Eco Tours" that sets up trips a little ways up the coast where you can help with the conservation efforts of the Olive Ridley sea turtles. We left from the marina at PV at 9pm and drove about 30 minutes north to a beach where there is a "Turtle Camp". We didn't see any mama turtles but since there had been quite a few a couple of months ago (it takes 50 days for an egg to hatch), there were TONS of babies ready for release. We spent several hours scooping them into styrofoam containers and then releasing them into the ocean. When I fell into bed at 1:30 am, I was exhausted but very happy that I went.

Here are some photos I took in Mexico - http://www.pigeonpointglass.com/Mexico%20-%20Puerto%20Vallarta%20-%20October%202005\index.html

Well, a new/used oxygen concentrator is sitting here waiting for me to free it from its cardboard and styrofoam peanut packaging so that I can MAKE SOME GLASS! I can't wait - the old concentrator gave up the ghost a few weeks ago and I've been using oxygen but this will ensure that I don't run out in the middle of a session. More pretties soon!

Off to Mexico!

2005-10-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

Hola! I'm off to Mexico in a couple of days. Seems like I've been away a lot lately - Italy, New Orleans, Mexico. Hey - I'm not complaining!

The show was great! I beat my wildest expectations in sales and I am so happy that people liked my beads. Now I'm gearing up for the sale at Pratt in December.
Here's a picture of my table at the show - not terribly impressive but it was kinda picked over by the end!

Still electroforming and still doing little bottles (above). I'll blog if I get the chance from Mexico - if not hasta la vista!

Gearing Up For The Sale

2005-10-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

Northwest Bead Society (http://www.nwbeadsociety.org) is having a sale at the Seattle Center this weekend and I'll have a table there. Stop by and say hi! I'll have focals, sets, bottles and electroformed leaf beads plus some of my knitted baskets. I'm really looking forward to it.

In other news, we had another meeting of our new ISGB chapter and I was voted President. Now, that's not terribly exciting as I was honestly the only one to step forward and show interest but I am honored all the same for the vote of confidence and hope to do my absolute best during the coming year. You can check out the chapter's current homepage at my good friend Natasha's site. (http://www.neatobeado.com/isgb)

Sold a couple of goodies on the 'bay this week, including this one - thanks to Mike and others for bidding!

I'll update you on the results of the sale after the weekend!

Janelle

Update on New Orleans

2005-09-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

Powweb decided to change my FTP server without telling me so I wasn't able to blog while I was in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I can't tell you how good it was to come home to my fat pets. I already have water and other things stored for a disaster but I'll be buying an extra case of dog and cat food this weekend.

I want to thank all of my well-wishers. I have a show coming up in two weeks - MUST MAKE BEADS! I'll post some pix soon.

Janelle

Animals Get Me Every Time!

2005-09-16T12:48:00.000-05:00

So, you may have noticed that I haven't blogged lately. I'm just too busy to keep on top if it. I've been doing a lot more electroforming. I am making long beads, short beads, squat beads, round beads and even candy corn beads for a show in October.

That's not all that's been on my mind though. I've been watching the sad news about hurricane Katrina (as is everyone, I'm sure) but the video and news accounts of the homeless pets just tug at my heartstrings and I could feel them pulling me towards Louisiana. This week, a friend of mine let me know that they desparately needed help at a parrot rescue and I've been watching with horror the images that

People have been great in helping me prepare for the trip. Evergreen Pet Supply in Seattle gave me a 50lb box of bird food, which Alaska Airlines let me put on the plane without comment. Bed Bath & Beyond extended their little blue coupon thingy to be 20% off of my entire purchase of kitchen scales and veggie choppers. My vet donated medicines for me to take to Pasado's. People are generally wonderful in a crisis. I like to think most people are good in general anyway but of course, it's always good to exercise some caution.

Ok - enough of my later than midnight ramblings. I'll update as soon as I can. Depends really on where I'm staying. If I help with the parrot rescue, I'll be in a house with all the amenities in Baton Rouge. If I help with Pasado's, I'll likely be sleeping in my rental car. I'll see where the greatest need is when I get there! Hugs to everyone and thank you for being so supportive!

Janellehttp://www.pasadosafehaven.org is displaying. Animals are still coming in from flooded areas over 2 1/2 weeks after the storm! So anyway, here I am, sitting in an airport in the middle of the night - waiting for a flight to Dallas and then on to Baton Rouge. The trip is already reminding me of the epic feats I had to go through to get home from Italy. This is a different type of trip altogether as you might imagine. My tiredness has taken some of the edge off of my anxiety about going. What will I see? How can I help? Will I be able to live with myself when I leave? Oh - phone's ringing. It was Orbitz flight recording saying my flight had been pushed back to 2:15am. It doesn't matter - that just shortens the delay in Dallas. My arm's smarting. Before I left, I got a Tetanus shot and a combo Hep A & B. Plus the clinic at work loaded me up with a prescription for Cipro (a broad spectrum antibiotic) "just in case".

Organics, Electroforming and More

2005-08-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

Eek! Weeks have gone by again. But I've been a busy little beaver - I really have! I took a wonderful class on organic beadmaking from Kimberly Affleck last weekend. It was a three-day workshop at Pratt Fine Arts Center. We learned a lot of great techniques using siver and copper leaf, silver fuming, great color combinations, deep encasing, flat lapping (on a lapidary wheel) and electroforming.

Which brings me to another thing that has kept me busy this week. I set up my electroforming kit, found some leaves in the forest, combined them with some beads made with the new organic techniques - and voila! Some pretty cool-looking beads! I'd love to hear what you think of them. There is a pretty nice deposition of copper on the leaves and the "binders" at the top and bottom of the leaves are electroformed waxed linen. I've used a patina on both of these and then laquered them to keep it. There will definitely
be more of them and soon!

A call went out for artists for a neat set of artist trading cards that an innovative little glass shop is putting out. I submitted this photo of some of my perfume bottles. I'm hoping it will turn out.

Finally, I gave a presentation at work about my trip to Venice. The school's (UW) staff and faculty newspaper is going to to an article (not specifically about me but about how my department gets together and shares) in a couple of weeks. I'll have my big mug in it though and I'll post a link when it comes online.

Have a great week! So many things to do. So very little time!

Janelle

Sunday Update

2005-07-31T12:34:00.000-05:00

I just don't blog often enough - will try to be better about that. In addition to glass this week, I have been doing some fun knitting. I love to knit with wool and throw the item in the washer to felt so imagine my delight at finding a cool book having to do with is very thing - it's called "A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting" by Cat Bordhi. Too cool! Ms. Bordhi teaches you to knit a moebius scarf and from there you move onto baskets, cat beds, etc. I've included a picture of the basket I finished here. See the handle? It has no beginning and no end - that's what a moebius is. This basket is the perfect size for storing a beady collection in!

Speaking of beadies - been making some. I also made a few more bottles. That little amber and black one sold on the 'bay. Very happy about that. I am not sure about listing the bottles on ebay though. I get the sense that it's not the right venue for them. I'll see. I ordered an electroforming kit this week. Can't wait. If you've never seen electroforming, I encourage you to check out Kate Fowle Meleney's gorgeous beads - here's her site http://katefowle.com/.

I went to Momka's boro last weekend to see a marble show. Such talent! It's amazing to see these artists work on their "torches on steroids" (compared to my Minor). There are little worlds in them thar marbles! You should check them out and think about starting a collection!

Gotta get going for the day but I'll leave you with a little perfume bottle and a teeny little woman's figure that I put a pendant attachment on. Now, I probably wouldn't walk around with one of these around my neck but someone might - you never know!

Feeling Fine

2005-07-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

I've almost kicked this cold that I brought back from Italy - just a reminder of the trip, I suppose. I was also reminded this week at how little torch time I get while I'm working full time and doing glass "on the side". I treasure my time at the flame and sneak it in where I can. I'm working on items for sale on ebay as well as for a bigger bead show in Seattle in October. I also really believe in Pratt Fine Arts Center so I'll be making items for their holiday sale. Half of the profits go back to them to support classes, etc.

There's a big marble get together at Momka's boro today. Another thing to pique my interest and rob my pocketbook, I suppose! I just got in a big order of Bullseye glass for myself - love the stuff but it is a lot more expensive than the Italian glasses.

As for ebay - slow time of year, I've decided. I thoroughly appreciate those who have purchased my work. I've decided to try to get a couple of focals or sets up each week and at least one perfume bottle. Don't know if I can hold to that or not. Here's what I have up right now (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5016503332&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT). Have a great Sunday - I'll update on the marble get together later.

Thoughts on Murano

2005-07-11T12:37:00.000-05:00

I've been back from Murano for a little more than a week and I've had a little time to think about the experience. I'll probably copy this post to somewhere that will be easier to find in the long run because I know how blog posts have a way of falling to the bottom and becoming hard to find.

Ok - here goes -
Is it worth it to pay all that money to go all the way to Italy (Murano in particular)?For me, absolutely! First of all, there's nothing like being around all of that glass and glass history. I find the place absolutely charming with its architechture and missing pieces of stucco. And then there's the water! What a different lifestyle. I was absolutely charmed and it almost seemed as if the class was just a bonus. Now, understand, some people see the stucco thing, water, heat, etc. enough of an inconvenience to keep them home. I'm just telling you what my opinions are and you can take 'em or leave 'em.

Ok - so that said, do I need to pay for a class? No you can go and visit on your own if that's what you want. Venice and Murano and truly travel-worthy destinations. On the other hand, if you aren't part of a class, I'm not sure how much of the "back story" you'll get to see. We were taken to a hot shop, told of good places to buy tools, given a better history of Venetian glass style and we felt more like temporary residents than tourists.

Do I need to pay for a class with a "glass master"? Agan, the answer is no - depending on what you want. You do NOT have to pay $1500 for a 6-day class (the cost of my class with Lucio) unless this is what you want. I've heard of other classes that are even more expensive led by American beadmakers but do keep in mind, that while the person is teaching you, as in the States or anywhere in the world, they are generally not creating works of art for sale so in addition to teaching you, part of the fee is kind of for "opportunity costs". On the other hand, neither are you (making works of art for sale) so you have to figure this into the price too if you make a living off of your work. People have asked me if they should take a six-day workshop with Lucio or break it up with another teacher. Lucio does what he does and it's largely the same for six days. He's not going to teach you a million different things although we had a few hours of animals, ring-making and half a day of practicing blowing goblets - it was a welcome change from the INCREDIBLE but somewhat repetitive sculpture demos.

Do I need to be extremely experienced to take one of these classes? In my opinion, I would go with a good base of glass knowledge. In Lucio's class, you relearn much of what you know about glass and how it flows and cools but if you came knowing nothing, I think it would color your future glass experience and I'm not sure you'd have an easier time learning beadmaking, etc. Also, Italian shops use different equipment. For me, it's been an adjustment to use my Nortel Minor again after even just a week of using the softer flame of an Italian torch. Do I want to run out and buy an Italian torch? Yeah, kind of, but my Minor is fine for my little perfume bottles and beads. I can also do small sculpture with it but it's an adjustment in the way that I learned.

What will I learn in a Lucio class? You'll learn thebasics of sculpture over a torch. Lucio does a lot of the human form so it's worth it to study the human figure (both male and female) before you go. For example, when Lucio creates breasts or pecs, he heats the side and then pulls up towards the underarm to create the fleshy part/muscle that we all have. Come on, I dare ya. Raise your arms and look in a mirror - you'll see what I mean. So, we learned torsos, small full body figures, costumed figures, masks, rings, goblets, small animals and insects and "architecture" for stands etc. Can any of us in the class "do" all of these things? No, but we have the basis for practice.

Well, that's enough thoughts for now. Feel free to email me at any time should you want to know more about the trip. On current news, we held a meeting for the possible formation of an ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) Washington chapter at Pratt Fine Arts Center yesterday. It was a great meeting! I tried my first fusing project on Saturday night - eeek! Terrible, must take a class. Finally, I made some new focals that I will post on ebay later tonight.

Have a good week!

Last Class Day and Wrapup

2005-07-02T12:31:00.000-05:00

It's actually Tuesday morning and I've been home in Seattle for a day. I'm trying so hard to separate the week I've just had with what surely awaits me at work. I love my staff and my work so I'm looking forward to the challenges that show themselves every week but the stress I feel at the torch (yes, there IS stress - will I burn the glass, will those wings crack, why can't I do hands and feet very well yet?) is an entirely different kind of stress than keeping business going so I can keep my staff (and myself) employed.

Let's see - final class day. I was a bit mopey without meaning to be. I think I woke up and realized a few things - It was all coming to an end, I was not leaving "a master" of anything (not that I expected to be but it's a little like starting over), I was having to say goodbye to a great group of people I had met, I was coming back to my grandma's passing, a long trip lay ahead... I managed to squeeze out a few smiles during the day but the emotions were right under the surface. Even Lucio noticed to my dismay and I told him I was just tired.

The class got more relaxed as the week wore on. Six full days with Lucio was both wonderful and at times too much. We spent a lot of time at the torch on Friday and Saturday with fewer demos. When Lucio did demo, however, he showed us some new techniques. For example, he made new little birds, showed us how to make more avant garde figures using similar techniques and how to incorporate everything into one big piece. This last skill culminated in a goblet that was just breathtaking - he took the Medusa figure and combined it with Perseus and an angel and an "architechture" to make a piece that I'm sure is worth thousands of Euro. It was an amazing sight to see.

My trip home was uneventful, if extraordinarily long. Next time, it will be worth it just to cough up the dough to fly direct. Once home, I felt like I was in a different world. I was greeted by my adoring little posse of animals. Cats and dogs alike were jubilant at my return (it's nice to feel loved). Getting in the car yesterday to do simple things like grocery shopping was foreign to me after not having stepped foot into pretty much anything but a water taxi for the week. I couldn't muster the strength or the time to torch - so many things to do and as it was the 4th, the 70lb dog was almost in my lap at the sound of the loud bangs of fireworks. I can't wait to get into my studio though - it'll have to wait until tonight. There are new tools to use, new techniques to try.

I plan on assembling a series of thoughts and tips on this training opportunity in the next day or so. I know I was desparately searching for info before I left and some things were truly left unsaid - as simple as bring mosquito repellant (think DEET) if you're prone to bites and what tools to bring, etc.

I'd better get dressed and start my day. Thanks to all of you for reading my blog. I've had a fun time writing it. I will continue on with glass news and musings. I plan on offering much more of my work for sale in the coming months - gotta pay for that next trip to Italy!

By the way, I've assembled all the pictures I took into a web page. Feel free to browse through and take any that you would like by right-clicking on them. I have the (huge) originals as well if you need copies. http://www.pigeonpointglass.com/murano_experience/index.html
Janelle

Class Day Five - Goblets

2005-07-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

Friday - we woke up to thunder and lightning and got absolutely soaked on the way to first Carlo Dona (third trip - seriously not because I think Roberto is very, very cute - but because there's always one more tool to buy after you see it used in class). The rain was still coming down in sheets as we made our way over the bridge to Lucio's workshop. Shoes splooshing and my jacket soaked, the rain let up just as we went inside.

Today Diego showed us how to make blown goblet stems and bowls over the torch. Ay Carumba! This is what I got into glass for! We each got our turn at the torch and I have to say, my first attempt was nothing remarkable but this is one thing I'll go home and practice for sure. I can see making ornaments, bottles and a number of things this way.

At the end of Diego's demo, Lucio showed us how to make goblet stems - and of course, he had to make a beautiful little costumed figure to go inside - what a work of art. The two pictures I've included are of the goblet blowing and of the finished piece. Only one more day - I'm in denial and can't believe it's gone this quickly. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update on Saturday night - we'll see what airport access is like.

Class Day Four - Medusa - Oh My!

2005-06-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day in Murano! Blue skies and the rain cooled everything down to a wonderful 70 degrees. I did some major damage to my bank account at Carlo Dona tools (actually I had some reserve but I'm tempted to go back in there just to gaze on Roberto again - he's such a cutie and so nice).

Class today was very relaxed and we spent much of the day practicing what we'd learned. I've gotten very good at making the little torsos but tend to crack the piece when working wings or putting a loop on for a necklace. It's all a matter of heat control and practice!

We went to a hot shop today and saw the incredible skill with which goblets and other blown items were made. Since I started in glass in the hot shop, somehow this felt like "home" to me. It was fascinating to see that what I've learned in Seattle is identical to what I was seeing here.

In the late afternoon, Lucio started showing us other animals - he's fantastic at it but they're definitely not his "style". I think he did this because we have all six days with him (some classes have Vittorio Constantini teaching wonderful beetles and other bugs and animals). Someone asked for a snake demo and he said, "Ah, too simple - I make Medusa!" Wow, what a demo! It was like ballet, or poetry watching him put all the snakes on her head. Wonderful!
I feel like the week is winding down now. Only Friday and Saturday left to go and I start my (really, really) long trip home. I'm telling myself not to think about it now.

Pictures for today - the rings that I made yesterday. I can't take credit for the base of the black ring - that was done by Diego - but they're my flowers and I made the complete purple ring -

Medusa - to die for!

Class Day Three - Rings and Pizza

2005-06-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

Third day of class - half through now. I'm trying to remind myself that we still have three more days. What a great day! We started out with demos by Lucio. He showed us how to make several different versions of angel wings. My only attempt cracked but it was still good practice. In the afternoon, Diego (Lucio's apprentice) showed us how to make glass rings. So simple once you master it but difficult to get the heat just right. One thing that is something that a beginner (like me) just doesn't get right away, it the amount of heat and cooling that it takes to get the glass to pull out in one fluid motion while keeping its shape - PPP (practice, practice, practice!).

Tonight we went to dinner on another island and we took three boats. One belonged to the shop assistant, Diego. When I saw it, the thought - "jalopy" - automatically came to mind. There was a raging thunderstorm while we were at the restaurant and when we came out, the nice boats with covers were dry and poor Diego was left bailing water out of his boat. We had a good laugh at his expense. Dinner was fantastic and it poured rain and thundered and lightning-ed (is that a word?) through dinner and we worried we'd have to take a (water) taxi back. By the time we'd had our Tiramisu and espresso though, it was fairly dry and other than Diego's boat situation, we got "home" without incident.

The rings are in the annealer so I'll have a few pix of them tomorrow. Today, here are a couple of pictures of the angel wings - first by Lucio

And now - my cracked attempt (basically, I cut the wings apart too close to the back which caused stress in the glass - I like the torso though) -Finally, a picture of Diego showing us all how to do rings -

Class Day Two - More Anatomy

2005-06-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Another day of the human figure - torsos today. Lucio also did a swan, spider, scorpion and fish. He'll pretty much demo anything you ask him to and make jokes the whole time. I'm utterly amazed by his skill and lack of ego. One of the more impressive (they're all impressive) demos he did today was a costumed jester. His use of color is fantastic. I didn't get a good photo but I'm providing one of a devil he made and one of us in class.

Here are a few of torsos I made. Perhaps we were just giddy but when it came time for the male torso, well - let's just say that the "parts" were a bit too impressive (wishful thinking?). We giggled as I went through the process of "emasculating" him and made them smaller. These busts are only about 1 1/2" high (the male and female) and the odd "she-male"-looking one is about 2 1/2" high.

A few words about Murano. It's such an interesting place. Boats = cars. Yesterday we saw a Boxer dog perching himself at the front of a boat with a young woman steering and talking on her cell phone - just like home but with a twist! This the time of year for swallows - the birds swoop and soar along the canals and I'm really enjoying seeing their scissor tails above. In the late afternoons and evenings, little older ladies in housedresses spend hours perched at their flower boxed windows taking in the activities on the streets and canals. It's a fantasy world with hot shops everywhere. I think Kimberly or Corina mentioned the hum of the furnaces 24 hours a day and it's true. It's a wonderful place!

First Day of Class - Whee!

2005-06-27T11:35:00.000-05:00

We started class this morning at 9:30 am. Immediately there was a "situation" - Lucio and Diego had a meeting in Venice and were few minutes late for class. Lucio quickly began a demo and we had another "situation" when he realized "the music is broken". All of this was quickly made up for as Lucio created a beautiful woman in a matter of minutes, and then another and another... It's magical to watch and there was more than one gasp out of our class and clapping at the end. He made a mermaid that is just amazing.

We were then encouraged to try the human figure on our own. My hands were trembling (maybe it was the two tiny cups of espresso and cake that Lucio's mother made for us for a midmorning snack) but I think it was sheer fear! I managed to make something human-like and then I moved on to a mermaid. Though just not quite right, I've included a picture below and hope to show you a better looking one by the end of the trip!

We broke for lunch around 1pm and had tortellini and salad in Lucio's gallery, surrounded by incredible works of art. Lucio made a remark that we were "much quieter than the last group" - meaning Corina, Kimberly and others. After lunch, more demos, more practicing until dinner. Anne and I went out and ended up sitting next to two American girls who were disappointed not to be getting the attention from young Italian men that they expected. It was a fun dinner followed by yet more practice. We just got in to the (air conditioned yay!) apartment and are heading for bed.

By the way, never let anyone tell you it isn't broiling hot and humid here in the middle of summer and bring mosquito repellant - they're eating me alive!

Enjoy the photos - first, my mermaid -

Now Lucio's Mermaid -

A unicorn -

And a classical woman - look at her fingers!

A Day in Venice

2005-06-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

My roommate, Anne, and I went to Venice this morning via water taxi. It's been very hot and humid since we arrived and so we grew tired and soggy as we made our way through the quaint streets to Piazza San Marco where we saw incredible architechture (and a ton of pigeons and tourists like ourselves!). I'll post a few pix below. We had the customary piece of pizza for lunch and a gelato (Amaretto - second only to Chocolate!). I can't seem to ftp to my server from here but I can post pictures to my blog so the 147 (literally!) pictures I've taken so far will have to wait until I get home but I'll put up a few each day this week so you can see what we're up to.

Tonight, guess what we're having for dinner? Why, pizza, of course! Most of our group should be in by 8pm when we plan on meeting Lucio for the first time at his studio and then going on to the only pizza place on the island that is open on a Sunday night. More tomorrow...

A cool lamp on a Venice street.
Close up of on the statues at San Marco.
Marzipan (yum!) in one of the shop windows.

English Politeness (and Venice here I come!)

2005-06-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

Hello - I'm writing from London where I was, thankfully, able to spend the night after two extremely long flights yesterday. We circled Heathrow for about half an hour when they waited for a gate for us - excruciating after 11 hours of flying and 3 hours of layover but I finally made it to my hotel and was reminded of the politeness of the English.

I was awakened at 3:30 in the morning to the sound a of fire alarm - only this one was different than anything I had ever heard before. It was a polite English woman's voice saying something to the effect of, "Notice - we've been informed of a potential need to evacuate the building due to a fire alarm. We will investigate and let you know if you should leave the building." This went on for several minutes until the voice came back on saying, "We're sorry for the inconvenience - it was a false alarm. There is no need to evacuate the building." I've never heard of such a thing but I was grateful I didn't need to groggily run into the street in my jammies as I don't think it would have left me in a very good mood for today!

Which reminds me - I'd better get going. I have to take a bus back to Heathrow airport where I will catch a plane to Venice and then a water taxi to Murano. Can't wait! More updates soon.

I'm Here!

2005-06-25T11:32:00.000-05:00

I made it! Murano at last! (That's really the way I felt, by the way, after the flight from Seattle to New York to London to Venice and then water taxi to Murano). Oh my gosh is this place incredible! I wandered the streets (needlessly, I later found out as the apartments are pretty much a straight shot up the street from the taxi) and saw the most romantically old buildings, people doing their Saturday shopping, sitting in cafes - much of what I expected but so much nicer in person! I'm in an apartment with a view of the canal - I'm including some pix below. My roomie and I went up the street to the supermarket and bought food to cook in our little kitchen. What did we make? Why, fritatta of course! We're going in to Venice tomorrow, which is a short water taxi ride away. More pictures then!

Janelle

P.S. On a sad note , when I got here, I found out that my dear grandma had passed away. This trip will be very special as I will remember her and my Italian glass experience.
View #1 from the apartment.

View #2 from the apartment.

The street on the way to the supermarket.

Ah, it's nice to see family...

2005-06-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

I just had family here visiting this weekend. It's so much fun to haul out the beads and vessels and "show off" to my siblings and to my mom, who I don't see often enough.

Seattle is showing it's best weather today - just nothing to complain about. There are only a few weeks of the year when it's unbearably hot here - but it's only about 80 degrees today, blue skies - gorgeous! It does cool off in the evenings in time to torch. Very nice!

I did some shopping for the trip. Someone recommended some little cheese knives from Bed Bath & Beyond. These are used in glass sculpting. It's amazing the things you can use - spoons, butter knives, dental tools. Someone who didn't know what I was doing would be quite confused by my workbench!

I wanted to share another vessel with you today - this one is a lapis blue, coral and lime green hollow vessel - made off the end of a mandrel. I have an idea for a precious metal clay stand for it that I'll make when I come back into Seattle in a few weeks. I plan on selling these little perfume bottles when I get back as well.

A Few Days Closer....

2005-06-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

Another week gone and a few days closer to the trip to Murano. It's Saturday morning and I just turned on the kiln. I've been trying to prepare for the trip by doing one perfume bottle/vessel each time I torch in addition to beads, plant stakes. I have this idea that I want to get my own glass collector card and the photo I will use is a grouping of my little bottles. I've actually only been making them for a few weeks now and I love the challenge. I hope you like them too and I'm including my latest one at the end of this post. He's a cute little guy at about 2" tall and he actually sits quite flat on the table (which is actually no easy thing with hot or warm glass).

Well, off to the torch - so bright and early. It's a good start to the day!

Pigeon Point Glassblog - First Post

2005-06-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

Hello!

I decided to start blogging on my site to let you know what I have been up to in my endeavors in glass. I really should be heading to bed as my "real" job requires me to be up and at 'em early enough.

As you may have seen from the front page of my website, I will be heading to Italy next week to study with glass master, Lucio Bubacco, at his studio in Venice (Murano). I have spent several years in Europe but I never made it as far south as Italy so I am really looking forward to this trip. I even took an 8-week course called "Italian for Fun & Travel". We had a book called "Italian in Ten Minutes A Day" - yeah, if you actually spend the ten minutes! Life is so busy - it's nice to be able to take a week out every now and again to fuel your passion.

When I look at my diary from when I was a 16-year-old exchange student in Germany, I see large chunks of time where I was a prolific writer and equally large (if not greater) chunks where I was mysteriously silent. I consider those the times when life intervened. I certainly won't write every day but I will try to update often. If I can get to the Internet cafes in Venice (I'm not sure what's available on Murano), I'll do that too but rest assured, I'll have a huge update when I get back if I can't post while I'm there. I'm a photo nut so I'll make sure to include lots of pictures.

To keep you satisfied, here's a picture of a new perfume bottle I made on Sunday night from Bullseye Cranberry and Pink.