tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124845162008-06-03T18:38:13.670-04:00Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-66708319512780735402007-09-11T15:07:00.001-04:002008-06-03T12:22:59.459-04:00

Tomorrow (September 12) is my birthday - the big Four-Oh. Wow. Feel free to wish me happy birthday - or even better, support a great cause by donating to The Garden Road School by donating to my fundraising campaign! Just click below. The Garden Road School is a non-profit organization. The 501c(3) application is in progress; it should be finalized in the next few months, so you can keep the

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-88684836660954939752007-09-06T08:54:00.000-04:002007-11-06T12:29:20.934-05:00

This past August, I moved my entire life to Peekskill, NY after living in the Boston area for 18 years - the longest I'd ever lived in one area in my life. This was a huge and significant move for me, one I'd been working toward for 18 years. The reason? The reason is because I want to change the world. Literally. Through education, a little at a time, making the world a better place. And the

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-61293974266195514272007-06-16T20:42:00.000-04:002007-06-16T21:10:03.890-04:00

Since I've entered the single life back in August, I haven't had much time or inclination to make beads, or for that matter, jewelry. There's just been too much going on - including romance of various kinds. Being a creative soul, I have found various outlets for the need for closure when a period of dating someone ends, and I need to sever the connection. So for a while, I wrote a poem about

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-89469096478390128522006-11-24T00:45:00.000-05:002006-11-24T01:06:09.857-05:00

I just love this color combination, so I've made several of these beads. They are transparent purple, with a turquoise stripe and an overlay of dichroic gold, melted together so the colors flow and form an organic shape. So pretty! This bead is available in the boutique, with more to come as I have time to photograph the beads.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1160362525960757182006-10-08T22:03:00.000-04:002006-10-08T23:02:05.563-04:00

November is coming, and that is an important and crazy time for me, a time in which I participate with my students in National Novel Writing Month. Last year we were featured in the Boston Globe twice. I was thrilled to find out that Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, would be speaking in the Boston area this weekend. I went to see him at the Peabody Borders bookstore, and it was so much fun!

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1159413181239675342006-09-27T23:08:00.000-04:002006-09-28T19:56:12.146-04:00

Just after the Jewish new year, I unpacked my lampwork stuff and made beads in my new place. I had been worried that there wouldn't be enough room to put all the stuff, but it actually fits quite well. The kiln is also doing fine on the wiring here; it's great that it's such a low-power kiln. The ventilation isn't as great as I'd want, so that's one thing that will have to be addressed soon. My

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1159131869925030112006-09-24T16:04:00.000-04:002006-09-24T17:05:56.080-04:00

It's been some time since I've posted, for good reason. The reason is that I moved from my home of six years - the longest I've lived consecutively in any one place in my life - in mid-August, and I have only recently become settled enough to even think of picking up my creative pursuits again, with school starting at the same time. But now it's a new start time, coinciding with the Jewish New

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1155263558895010412006-08-10T22:12:00.000-04:002006-08-10T23:49:48.383-04:00

Massachusetts residents enjoy a sales tax holiday this weekend. So if you live in Massachusetts and you order something Saturday or Sunday, I'll take the sales tax off your order! There are also new lampwork photos to show, but it'll have to wait until I download the photos from the camera.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1154195013255189642006-07-29T13:30:00.000-04:002006-07-29T13:44:29.593-04:00

While I really try to stay on topic with this blog, sticking to glass or at least jewelry, sometimes I am compelled to add in the odd other bit. This time it is political, but very close to home at the same time. So apologies to readers who expect only lampwork entries, but it is my blog, and I guess this falls more in the category of "musings" than "lampwork." The topic today is the

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1153839942813601022006-07-25T11:05:00.000-04:002006-07-25T17:30:20.243-04:00

As you may notice, there hasn't been much to read here over the last month or so. This may be counterintuitive, because knowing that I am a teacher, one would think that I'd have all kinds of time to make glass. This would be true except for two things: 1) it gets way too hot to be standing over a torch and next to a kiln in the summer, and 2) there have been so many other things going on! As

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1150165880434154842006-06-12T22:26:00.000-04:002006-09-28T21:04:58.270-04:00

Okay, so it's just a rerun... but that's okay, I'll take what I can get. The cool thing is that it will be almost exactly one year since the show was taped. It was taped on Saturday, June 18, 2005, and it's being aired again this Friday, June 16. To see the show on your very own TV, rather than tiny on this website, see details at the HGTV site. It's only showing once on that date, at noon,

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148355184000959272006-05-22T23:30:00.000-04:002006-05-29T01:11:58.150-04:00

Now for the other surprise that came out of my studio recently... the little pepper vessel! The surprise on it is that it came with wings. I never thought of attempting to add wings; they just sprouted, as it were. I think it's a sweet little thing.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148181166326444982006-05-20T22:59:00.000-04:002006-12-28T22:10:48.791-05:00

I've had some time at the torch this week, and now I have some time to write about it! The first piece I was able to make wit my own lampwork is a colorful necklace that's a bit of a break-out for me. I don't usually use these kinds of color combinations. These beads came about because I was struck by the beauty of a bead I made in a demo for two of my fifth grade students and one of their moms.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148005619203718482006-05-18T21:30:00.000-04:002006-05-18T22:32:57.406-04:00

Now for a break from our regularly scheduled programming... The freedom of the internet, including the freedom to blog, is being threatened now. You can read more about it and sign a petition here. There is also a video with Moby speaking about this issue here. Here is a brief summary: "The nation's largest telephone and cable companies — including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner — want

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145931554567307322006-04-24T22:12:00.000-04:002006-04-29T17:27:51.643-04:00

Here is the vessel post-PMC. You can see the silver around the neck and coming up from the bottom. Since the glass had a matte texture to it, not quite like sandblasting but still rough, I decided to try the tinting method we learned in class on it as well. The results are mixed. They'd be much better, no doubt, with real sandblasting. But it's very cool that the silver worked. It had a matte

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145564835854270852006-04-20T16:17:00.000-04:002006-04-20T16:27:15.866-04:00

The vessel came out of the kiln mostly intact, except for a crack in the mouth. This gave me all the more incentive to try other techniques I learned in her class on it: 1) adding PMC to it, and 2) reintroducing it to the flame and trying to heal the crack. This vessel is about process, not product, so yes, it's not exactly pretty, but that's okay! (I keep telling myself that!) The dichro is an

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145498890290501472006-04-19T22:05:00.000-04:002006-04-19T22:08:10.306-04:00

I had another go at making a vessel tonight, after my exploding failure the other night. This time I started with a fresh tank of gas and used white glass (very soft) with my Hothead. I used too much glass, and the vessel got to be too large and ended up lumpy due to the low heat of the torch, but it's a vast improvement over no vessel. As my chum Tony would say, "That vessel is a million times

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145290949995666392006-04-17T12:20:00.000-04:002006-04-17T12:22:30.020-04:00

This is bead related only in the extreme stretch that New Orleans loves beads. I've been spending the last week down here, and I've compiled a collection of photos about the recovery efforts here. If you'd like to see and read it, visit my photo blog.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145122626236540222006-04-15T13:35:00.000-04:002006-04-15T13:37:06.250-04:00

I've just added a few new things to the boutique. There are a couple of beads, as well as two original art pieces I made a little while ago. It's great to have them online at last!

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145116530793124252006-04-15T11:53:00.000-04:002006-04-15T11:55:31.083-04:00

Here is the photo of this bead.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1144556086042273072006-04-09T00:10:00.000-04:002006-04-09T00:14:46.060-04:00

The hollow bead came out of the kiln tonight. The bubble isn't as large or well-formed as I'd thought - it's only about half the diameter of the bead, and its center is offset from the center of the bead. However, the bead itself is nice and round, with fine puckers, and the dichro, Tink dust and dot accents are sweet. Photos will be posted... sometime. In the meantime, here is a photo of the

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1144549819626755682006-04-08T22:22:00.000-04:002006-04-08T22:30:19.640-04:00

Be jealous. Be very, very jealous! Here it is, with electroformed patinated copper forming the turquoise-colored design. To get your own fabulous vessel, visit Black Swamp Glassworks.

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1144538950734544982006-04-08T19:20:00.000-04:002006-04-08T19:29:10.746-04:00

Forgive me that momentary Austin Powers-esque lapse, but I never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually make a hollow bead, and on a Hothead torch, no less! It's even kinda pretty. It's finishing its annealing cycle (last stage) now. Okay, so it's the only bead I successfully made today, but it's still something. My other attempt - extremely ambitious - was to try a vessel on a hollow

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1143948443034062792006-04-01T22:27:00.000-05:002006-04-01T22:27:23.043-05:00

Today was fantastic. I attended a class at Tin Alley Art Glass studio in Connecticut. The class was run by Tink, and it was a download of lots of really cool techniques she had to offer. Some of the things we learned were: • Hollow beadmaking • Hollow bead with a bead inside • Shards • Wings on a blown vessel • How to make an implosion bead with soft glass • Tink dots and trails • Transfer a

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1143947620383771862006-04-01T22:13:00.000-05:002006-04-01T22:13:49.110-05:00

Yesterday, I was a very silly person, because I rebooted my laptop before uploading my most recent blog entry that I'd spent a while writing. So here's a recap: Although my blog has been quiet, all has not been dead on the lampwork front. In February, I invited a terrific student and his mother, who is also an artist, to my studio to see the process of lampwork. I made one bead (time was very

Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com