Beaded Necklaces for Spring

By my (European) definition, Maryland really has no such season as spring.  It is either hot or cold, with temperatures today being 20F or even 30F higher or lower than yesterday and tomorrow.  There really is not such a thing as "warm spring days" where you're comfortable in a light jacket.  No such luxury.  Well, maybe one or two days, but no more.

This year was not any different in that respect.  We had a couple of weeks in upper 80s in April and a couple of weeks in the 50s in May...  So, as far as my and my kids' wardrobe was conserned, I had to be very careful every morning, checking the forecast, so neither of us would freeze in shorts or fry up in jeans...  My husband's wardrobe was carefree, I think he wears the same set of clothes all year 'round - he uses the wise approach called LAYERING...  oh well :)

Nevertheless, I was in a mood for spring and I wanted some new playful spring jewelry.  Either I am terribly behind mainstream fashion, or, maybe I am just ahead of it, but there was nothing available in stores that looked like what I've wanted.  Seemed like thick chains and huge fake jewels were all the rage, and even though I got a huge kick of jewelry like that in 1980s, it just did not do anything for me now.

So, after a little thinking I decided I could make myself the set I wanted.  Maybe I could. 

I ventured into the local crafts store and purchased some copper-colored chain and furniture, and some beads.  The first set I made for myself, to wear with all the black, bottle-green and teal tops I have.  Once I was done, I decided that it was too much fun, so I made a set for my mother. 

Actually, today is her birthday...  I could not think of anything exciting to give her, and this time around she would not supply me with any good ideas for the present either.  So, I thought, why not get back to basics, and, just as I have done when I was ten, give Mom a present I made with my own hands :)

So, Happy Birthday, Mom!  I will see you tomorrow and give you a beaded necklace for spring!

Fusing With A Penny

What would happen to a penny if I fused it between two layers of glass?

I came across an article that sounded like someone has tried to do it an succeeded.  There was no fusing schedule or a picture, but the author suggested that the best way to find out what would happen to the penny was to try and see for yourself. 

After 1982, pennies are made of zinc with a thin copper coating.  The melting temperature of zinc is lower than full fuse temperature of glass, which to me meant that the coin most probably would not stay intact.  I was not holding much hope, but still arranged a couple of designs and fired them slowly…

Guess what?  Zinc has boiled, broke through the top layer of glass and made an unsightly dirty spot that could be interesting only if you were trying to depict hell in your work…  I am not planning to do that just yet, so this experiment's result will be stashed as a "was nice to know item".  

A Blooming Cherry Tree

I have been designing this project for a very long time.  The sketch, made on a stray piece of scrap paper has been floating in the top drawer of my desk for months. 

Somehow, the vision, so clear on paper, refused to come together in glass.  I could not make up my mind which glass to use for the tree - none of the glass sheets I had seemed to be interesting enough.  The tree had to really pop, and I could not come up with how to do that because I knew I wanted it to be a blooming cherry, and the colors would be subtle.

I also could not decide how to frame the tree or what to put in the background.  I knew that I wanted the tree to bask in sunshine and could not come up with a concept on how to make that happen.  So I just kept thinking about it on and off…

The first thing to come together was the overall composition and background.  I saw an arch somewhere on the street and it hit me - I have to have an arch.  And if I could make it a beveled arch, it would enhance to the "basking in sunshine" feeling, guaranteed. 

I did some research on bevels available and purchased a circle, 12 inches on an inside - that gave me the dimensions of my future work.  Then I went on to lay out the rest of the beveled frame according to that measurement and - surprise - I had just enough bevels in 1x2 and 1x3 sizes with none to spare.  I took it as a good sign.

  

Update on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 6:20PM by Alla Sharkova

I decided that since no glass I had was good enough to make the cherry blooms, I would make my own glass for them.  And I did just that.  First, I fused some pink, white and lavender frit into clear glass to mimic the color variations of the blossoms, and then I tack-fused some clear frit on top to make it sparkle. 

I cut out the blooms and then the tree trunk.  I used deep purple glass with smoky white streaks for the trunk.  The shape of the tree changed slightly in the process - that always happens when I transform a drawing into a pattern.

I decided to make the trunk more interesting by adding texture.  I wanted to convey the unevenness and texture of tree bark.  I cut out my "bark" shapes from the same purple glass and fused them onto the pieces I have already cut for the tree trunk.  That really did the trick - the tree was beginning to come to life.

Once the tree was ready, I went through my stash of glass and picked a background - an ivory mottle with a slight pinkish tint.  It was playing off the purple tree trunk very well.  I thought I had 4 pieces of that glass when I started cutting, so I was not worried that I might run out - the fourth piece was my safety net. 

When I was done cutting, I went to put a sliver that was remaining from the third piece back onto the shelf right next to the fourth piece.  At that moment, I saw that that fourth piece was not a match…  I only had 3 pieces of the mottle!  If I knew that to begin with, I would have never picked that glass!!!  However, I already had all the pieces cut, so I took it as the second good sign.

Update on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 10:33PM by Alla Sharkova

Now it was the time to decide on the outer background.  What should it be - which design, what color?  Inside the beveled border the tree was basking in the sunlight - serene.  So I thought I wanted something turbulent outside of the beveled border.  Sky, cosmos, stars…

I had just the glass for this - a textured streaky mix of blue, dark purple and white, that had great color and opacity variations.  I decided to make the sky a structured abstract.  I laid out 13 stars.  Each star would have 3 rays coming out of it so the lines would form a grid of random 5-sided polygons.  This turned out to be harder than I thought, but in the end I managed to create a well-balanced grid.

After I have finished cutting, I had to place reinforcement wire between the pieces of glass.  The reinforcement wire, when soldered into the seams, would ensure that the panel wouldn't buckle and distort with time.  I purchase reinforcement wire in 100-foot pieces and keep it on a spool.  I never know exactly how much wire I have.  I thought I had enough for this panel when I started, and I was right - just enough, there was not 1/2 inch left…  so I took it as the third good sign.

Update on Monday, April 22, 2013 at 10:34AM by Alla Sharkova

Finally, I am proud to present the finished panel. 

I am not sure what to call it - "Tree of Life", "Blooming Cherry" or "Spring Eternal"...  you can pick a name!

Complex and Simple

A couple of weeks ago I finally made it to the "Chihuly at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts" exhibit.  Predictably, it was spectacular.  You have probably heard of Dale Chihuly being a virtuoso of color and pioneer of glass techniques and to that I personally would add that he is a marketing genius. 

The exhibit included a few of his famous installations such as the Persian Ceiling composed of more than a thousand colorful blown glass shapes. I could not help but stare at them for about 10 minutes.  People passed me by but I was just standing there, drifting slowly.  The pieces were displayed atop a hallway on a glass ceiling and were lit from above.  The colors were delicious, the shapes evoked thoughts of a coral reef and whimsical smaller blown pieces were artfully scattered here and there.

The Persian Ceiling was definitely the IT piece, unmistakably his.  I think it targeted the child in all of us, being so colorful that it could be a story about everything yet about nothing.  It was mesmerizing, and I was not the only one hypnotized by it, looking for more and more angles like a child that can't let go of a kaleidoscope.   So complex and yet so simple.

The surprise came later.  A dark room full of pieces inspired by Indian baskets.  I just wanted to stay there forever.  The glitz was not there, these were deeply spiritual pieces.

So simple, yet so complex.

At the museum shop my husband called over half-jokingly: "Hey, they have a couple of his basket pieces here, starting at $4,500!"  My heart stopped.  I could not imagine how, but I… had… to… have… it…  As I turned around, I saw them, a nested pair, made of gorgeous deep blue and yellow glass…  And suddenly I did not have to have it anymore - it was just the shape, the essence was not there.

Secret Santa 2012

Everyone likes to receive gifts and all of us do during the Holiday Season.  No matter what you celebrate - be it Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's, etc. - most likely you give and receive gifts in December.

I do not know about you, but I am a bit uneasy about surprise gifts.  When I give a surprise gift, I have to be absolutely sure that the person I give it to will be happy to get it.  Otherwise, I keep agonizing before, during, and after the actual moment of gift giving.  Thanks from the recipient of the gift do not stop me from agonizing, and neither does the Thank You card I receive a month later.  The thought that I gave a present that went right into the "reject" bin will keep making me shiver years later.  

You could call it a paranoia :) except it has deep roots in the fact that I myself am extremely picky about things that I surround myself with.  Price and value have very little to do with it, however.  The "Wow, I Like It!" factor has to be present, it has to be love at first sight for me.

To make it easier on my loved ones, I announce an item I want in advance - be it a piece of jewelry, a sofa for the living room, or a new band saw - and then I accept donations towards it.

One exception to the rule is the Secret Santa gift exchange in Etsy teams I belong to.  There I am surrounded by wonderful artisans that create pieces that I would love to own, so the element of surprise and not knowing what will arrive in the mail is not scary but delicious.

This year I chose to participate in Secret Santa twice.  My first gift came from Maria who lives in Philippines and creates articulated paper dolls.  I have purchased dolls from her shop as gifts before and I was planning to get them as a treat for myself later.  So, imagine my excitement when I got an envelope with her name on it and in that envelope there were not one, but five dolls!  

The second gift came from Victoriya who lives in Greece and has two shops full of wonderful beaded jewelry and knit and crochet accessories.  From her I got a pair of barefoot sandals and a pair of fingerless mittens.  The mittens are very soft and warm and they came in very handy now, and as for the barefoot sandals - I will definitely try them out in the summer!