The Blackstone Bead Journal

Boro & a Big Torch

2006-11-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

I seem to go in cycles... learning cycle, then creating cycle. For the past few months I have been in a learning cycle, studying flameworking with Jake Vincent at the Worcester Center for Crafts. This awesome class launched me onto a much bigger torch (a Carlisle)and had me using boro consistently, learning torch-based glass blowing techniques. Now I'm all psyched to get into my creating cycle, hoping to refine what I've learned. I especially love making implosion technique marbles, and small blown ornaments. Pictured here is a little blown glass bell in amber that came out of the kiln last week.

ATCreative Outlet

2006-07-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am an art media junkie by anyone's definition of the term. When I moved my art supplies home from my former mill digs I completely filled our basement and then some. I have worked in every conceivable media over my lifetime including all painting media, then branching into collage, fabrics, wax, photography, digital stuff and eventually finding my way into glass.

Glass has been a new experience for me. Such a contrast from my Artistic A.D.D of the past. I have been focused (for the most part) on this one art form for the past five years.... with no sign of getting bored.

Nevertheless, there is a part of me that always yearns to play with media that I can get my hands into... get messy with... and paint, glue bind and sew together. But every time I entertained the idea, I talked myself down off the ledge. I hate worrying about frames... where do I put it... who wants it? ... I have enough already.

Then my daughter introduced me to ATC cards (ATCs) and Land Mail Art Objects (LMAOs). After visiting two sites that she suggested: ATCards.com and Nervousness.org

Now I can make tiny works of art (a standard 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" in most cases - although there are exceptions to EVERY rule in the art world). No frame to worry about; and even if I do a lot of 'em I can carry them around in a shoe box or put them in an album.

If you're curious for more info, wikipedia (of course) has a nice overview on how this movement got its start in Switzerland by M. Vanci Stirnemann around 1996.

(Photo is of my "Flamingo Beach" "Heavily Embellished Theme" for a recent ATC swap on the Nervousness site.)

This is June???

2006-06-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

OK, so I guess I might as well just say that this is my "monthly" blog. Seems like that is just the way it is going... speaking of going, where is June going? This is June? All rain and chilly, drizzly, crap weather. Usually you can count on June to be one of the better months in Central New England! Not this year.

Still, the plants seem to like it; and happily I did most of my planting before the rains came. The pansies are certainly happy - they like it cool and shady. These little blue pansy faces seems to be smiling about it.

I'm in a summer mood for lampwork design and am working out a "Bahama Beach" set. Folks may not realize just how much time is spent by lampwork artists when they are trying to bring an idea in their head to fruition. I have been edging closer and closer to what is in my mind, having gone through progressive experiments with different kinds of glass to get just the right effect. I'm sure that the end result will be just a pretty little bead set to the casual viewer, with not a hint of all the "almost there" beads that have been cast into the "slight seconds" jar.

Spring Siren

2006-05-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well the siren of spring dragged my spirit into the garden and wouldn't let me loose. I have spent every free moment in the garden during six perfect mild sunny spring days. Not too hot, not too cold and no bugs. It can be a short window of opportunity in New England. So now the screenhouse is up, weeds are in the compost, the soil is enriched, new stone walls have appeared and new perennials have taken their place in the beds... bee balm, cardinal flowers, sweet william, lupine, pinks, delphinium, Gold Dust allysum, columbine and red creeping thyme. Now we'll have nearly a week of drizzle and intermittent showers, a gentle watering by mother nature. I couln't have planned it better if I were in charge of the weather.

HOWEVER. I haven't checked my email in five days. My lampwork order is still almost done. I am behind schedule for the Lampwork Carnival posting. The house is as it always is. I am still afraid to look at the email. Does anybody know where I can find a clean towel? I'm hungry.

Carnival of Lampwork

2006-04-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

Wowie, Ive been so busy trying to promote everyone else's lampwork blogs that I have forgotten about my own blog! Happily, the Premier edition of the Carnival of Lampwork made it online today (almost on schedule) and I am getting good support and suggestions for improvement. Whew!

Note to Self: Go thank everyone over at Lampwork Etc. forum that helped refine the AH link bomb idea. Bombs Away...

ADVISORY - ALL JEWELRY DESIGNERS TAKE HEED - ADVISORY
Several foreign entities are selling mass produced chinese imported beads and marketing them to jewelry designers in the US and abroad. Word to the wise: know your supplier!

Ahhhhh, that feels good.

Disturbing Report on Chinese Production Methods

2006-02-27T06:38:00.000-08:00

This news item from the LA Times: Stifling in Jade Dust has been posted on several lampwork forums and deserves your attention. Those of us who are in the jewelry industry, as independent self-representing artists, have been touched deeply and directly by these issues. Many of us have, in the past, unwittingly purchased these products. Many of us now are changing our buying habits to support fair trade practices that will not support the companies who practice such woeful disregard for their workers' health and well-being.
Please help us to support the fair trade movement and add your voice to this welling tidal wave of outrage against these practices. Here are a few links:

> The Fair Trade Federation
> Co-Op America
> Make Trade Fair (On-line petition)

Thank you from my heart if you decide to help.

Mass Production Can 'o Worms

2006-01-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

A superhot topic in lampwork forums is the chilling effect of mass quantities of cheaply produced lampwork beads from china being slung into the US lampwork category on eBay and thereby burying high quality beads by legitimate US studio artists. Think the "WalMart Effect" applied to lampwork artists.

ALL lampwork artists that I know do not mind legitimate competition. Most of the time you can observe for yourself if the design work on the bead is well done. We do mind when lampwork beads are misrepresented as kiln-annealed and properly cleaned when they are not. These things are important. Here are some guidelines:

A properly made bead has been kiln annealed and will not break under normal conditions, or when cleaned in hot water. Because I am a klutz, I routinely drop my beads on the cement floor of my studio from waist height. They NEVER break. If someone claims that their beads are kiln annealed, but then says not to clean these glass beads in water they are either INSANE or LYING.

A Fine Bead had smooth, dimpled end holes. Period.

A Fine Bead is well-balanced, even all around, not "wonky" or off kilter.

A Fine Bead has few or no bubbles (unless they are intended as in my "soda fizz" beads), and with no surface scum or unwanted grit or inclusions.

A Fine Bead has been cleaned properly of the bead release that is inside of the bead hole. And why is this important? Glad you asked: bead release is a silicate suspension; when dried and airborn it is a carcinogen. Reputable beadmakers carefully clean this residue from the bead the only safe way... under water so that the particles of bead release residue do not become airborn. Duh.

These obviously mass produced beads are showing up at the major bead shows and on auction sites. Buyers Beware!!

Winter is Here!

2005-12-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

Snow is falling... along with the temperatures. Many days now it is only in the low thirties INSIDE the studio before I fire up the kiln, torch and heater. I do forge on and work through the winter-- but there is a little bit of a slow down in this environment. I have to take more frequent breaks (to warm up my fingers and toes). Some days it is just too cold to work in the studio. This translates into custom bead orders taking a little longer to deliver, so just keep this in mind if you have a "time sensitive" bead order.

Back from the Northwoods

2005-09-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well... it's September and I am back from the northwoods of Maine and back in the studio. I have a notebook filled with new jewelry designs for 2006 that magically appeared over vacation, and I am putting together a massive Fire Mountain Gem order to support the new projects. Soon will be the regional Worcester Mineral Club show (usually in October) and then the International Gem & Jewelry Show in November. There's nothing like the excitment of doing new things and putting together the new line. Fall is such a great time in every way... the foliage, the weather, new ideas ... it all comes together and creates such a wonderful energy. I LOVE IT!!!

Corning Museum of Glass Trip

2005-07-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

If you have a chance to visit the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY make sure that you get there! I took a weekend to make this journey and to fill my creative "well". The current featured exhibits feature Czech artists and I was moved to tears by the beauty of some of these pieces. Photos do not do them justice, since some of the pieces are cut in such a fashion that the image changes with slight adjustments to the viewer's position and viewing aspect. Just go. See their website for details at: Corning Museum of Glass

...and speaking of Corona...

2005-05-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Corona, my latest bead set is an ode to my favorite beverage: Corona with lime. The brew is near and dear to my heart ever since a trip to the Baha. It was shortly after 9-11 and not many people were flying anywhere. So we had a deserted island off the Pacific coast in Magdalena Bay to ourselves + our guides + whales, dolphins and coyotes. Explored the area and had some great times in local eateries and got introduced to Corona. So every day around "tea time" I take a Corona break and remember that beautiful island...

No Blog Time

2005-05-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! No time to blog in the entire month of april? Been busy designing websites and making beads. Probably should mention that the best way to see my current work is on EBay where I place new work for sale. Eventually most work also gets on the Blackstone Bead site, but it can take awhile... and even then, only the most popular work gets to the site. Experimental work, new work goes to EBay. So here is a link to my auctions if you are interested in seeing current work:

Blackstone Bead Auctions (BR_Design)

Here is yesterday's auction listing - a nod to cinqo de Mayo
(pass the Corona, please)

Hollow Bead Pics

2005-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

As promised... a few pictures of the hollow beads. This first one shows an amber hollow bead with clear surface drop decoration:

This second one illustrates why hollow beads are so cool-- the bead on the left is hollow, but the bead on the right is not. See how the green bead on the right shows the mandrel channel through the middle? The amber hollow bead, on the left, has no channel. During formation the glass attaches to the mandrel only at the ends, so there is no central channel. The light shines through and creates wonderful reflections. Hollow beads are much more luminous than regular beads. They are like frozen soap bubbles.

Hello Hollow

2005-02-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of cranking beadsets of various kinds I worked up the courage this week to try hollow beads... my favorite but most challenging bead form. But I figured that my lampworking skills have recovered sufficiently to give it a whirl. Voila! Many wonderful hollow beads have appeared - capri blue, topaz and grass green. Amazingly it is simpler than I ever remembered. Perhaps the time off let something gel with the technique process in my brain. The capri works most easily, nice and sticky and stays warm without slumping. Topaz pretty easy too. Will post some pics in a few days.

Flowers On My Mind

2005-02-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Even with the snowmass outside I having been squarely in springtime in the studio these past few weeks. I had long admired sculptural foral lampwork beads, but never mastered the flame control necessary to create them until now... and now that I have started it's pretty hard to stop! There are sooo... many color themes to explore and it's just fun to be looking at little flowers all day long during the dead of winter.

Here is one of the bead sets I have been working on:

I Have a Studio!!

2005-01-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

I have a studio again... and I am back at the torch full time. The studio was worth the wait- the light is perfect, the size is perfect and I am taking time to set everything up so that the work areas flow. But the first thing was to get the bead making area operational. It's a little cool what with all this New England snow and cold-- so I just have to pay attention to not letting the beads get too far from the flame for too long. I'm working on several sets simultaneously and they should all be ready to post on the website and on Ebay or Just Beads auction sites by early next week. The only time I took off from bead making was on Sunday to watch the Patriots make it to the Superbowl for the third time in four years!!! What a year....

OOOhhh so close...

2005-01-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

The great studio project is OOOhhh so close to being finished. It truly seems like it has taken forever, and I am in major lampworking withdrawl. Ric finished the wall construction and hung the door last week, so now the ball is in my court for the finish work: mudding, sanding and painting. Even with a minor setback due to the Flu, I should be at the bench in about a week.

Summer Slowdown

2004-07-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

Just a note before I disappear into the great north... I will only be checking email once a week during summer and filling online orders from the website http://www.blackstonebead.com will be affected. Not impossible, mind you, just somewhat slow!

Moving Studio/Lampwork Limbo

2004-05-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

I am officially in lampwork limbo! Last week I packed up all my glass, kiln and related supplies and moved from my studio at the Bernat Mill in Uxbridge. My new studio will be at home in Millbury in a great space that is separate from the house, with its own entrance. It looks out onto the back yard gardens(well--it will once we put in the windows!)Hopefully the minor renovations to do this will be accomplished by fall. I will not be able to lampwork 'til then, but that's OK because I will be in Maine on vacation.