ANDREA GUARINO-SLEMMONS...

I just got back from a long weekend in Austin, Texas taking a glass beadmaking class w/ Andrea Guarino-Slemmons at Blue Moon Glassworks. It was AWESOME!!!

Andrea has been the one artist that I've had on my "want to take a class with" list pretty much from day one. I love her style(s) & having met her a few times before, I really like HER, too. I had also heard that she was a fantastic teacher, they were right!

What a fantastic class! First off, I want to say that Blue Moon is such a wonderful place...those that live there & get to take classes from nationally (& internationally) known artists are spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!! (I'm just a tiny bit envious!) Jim & Rose Berry, the owners, are the sweetest people. We were lucky enough to hang out w/ them after class each night. I got a chance to sit at the quiet end of the table w/ them & were able to chat w/ them & get to know them a bit. Lucky me. :o)

(click images to enlarge)

Andrea is not only talented....but a really great teacher! Just because you have something to offer others doesn't automatically make you a good teacher.... she's a good teacher! :o) I learned so much from her. Not only how to use her techniques to make her fabulous beads... (& definitely some techniques that I can incorporate into my own style), but I also learned how to encase & keep my clear from getting scummy!

(I DON'T clear encase... I didn't "get it" back when I was first learning how to make beads & just moved on w/out it. I'm known more now for my opaque beads, so I never needed to figure it out. But who knows? Maybe I'll figure out how to incorporate encasing into my style!?

I'm so excited to not only

be able to do it confidently, but to keep it clear!! LOL!)I'm so pleased w/ my class beads...

I was so excited that a friend that I met in 2008 @ Glass Stock came along w/ Andrea to be her TA... Nicole Valentine (Nicker on LE). It was so nice to get to spend some time w/ her! Such a neat lady... AND she is a fantastic TA! She knows exactly what Andrea is doing when, had everything ready for her & just basically kicked butt the entire class. I can't imagine doing that class on my own as a teacher, there are so many pieces & parts to the class, Nicole was so good about really keeping it together & being there when we needed something from her (some glass, a tool, scratch my back, tie my hair up, etc... LOL) I'm so glad she came.

I didn't mention that I took this class w/ 4 friends, did I?? Kimberly Polka, Serena Thomas, Becky Caspersen & Jeannette Remmington. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun!! We stayed in an awesome little cottage that is part of the Austin Hyde Park Inn & is just a couple of blocks away from Blue Moon. So much fun. Lots of late nights hanging out on the back deck chatting & laughing. The 5 of us made up half of the class... I think that our familiarity w/ eachother helped pull in others in the class. (or so I'd like to think!) It was fun to meet the other ladies in class, a few of them came out w/ us after class, so we got to get to know them a bit better. Nice to make new friends. :o)

We enjoyed hanging out w/ Holly Cooper each evening after class, it was fun to get to know her a bit better (she was a teacher @ Third Degree Glass Factory's Midwest Glass Experience back in February)

& on our final night there, Donna Mehnert, Anne Ricketts & Jill Symons joined all of us for dinner. Nice to meet Jill for the first time, I so admire her work. I first met Anne @ the ISGB Gathering in 2007 when I was just a new kid on the block. She's such a nice lady (& talented!) ...it was nice to have a chance to visit w/ her on a smaller scale. :o) .....& Ms. Donna... I love me a Ms. Donna. I met her for the first time just this past summer @ The Bead & Button Show.....she's so talented & just a cutiepie. I'm so glad I got a chance to see her again. All 4 of these ladies live in the Austin area... I'm so jealous! All of that talent in one place. Dang. I'm glad that we can continue these friendships online... & I'll definitely be back down there to see them again.

Anyway.... it was such a great experience all the way around. A fantastic class over way too quickly... a great time w/ friends & a wonderful chance to meet new people & make new connections.

I'll be back.

Till next time....

~ Julie

MORE ON THE GATHERING

I just wanted to talk about a few of the people I met @ the Gathering...

First of all... I was SO GRATEFUL for Mallory (LE/rosebud101). She & I have become friends over the past several months, she lives about an hour south of me & we both decided that it must've been a godsend for us to become friends as we were bound @ the hip for the entire Gathering. As we're both new kids on the block, it was nice to have someone to pal around w/. She's also my #1 fan, LOL, & wore some of my pieces each day & talked me up to everyone!! LOL! THANK YOU, Mallory!! :o)

I certainly can't mention everyone I met...but was really nice to meet people like Anne Ricketts, Sharon Peters & of course, Bernadette Fuentes! They were all friendly & their beads were amazing to see in person. Marcy Lamberson is adorable & as cheerful & youthful as her fun beads! I got the chance to chat w/ Christina Logan for a few minutes @ the Bead Bazaar & she was very helpful in trying to help me solve my "fried aqua" issue. LOL! My giggle moment was seeing Bronwen Heilman in her little tu-tu @ the Bead Bazaar. Her beads are as interesting & DARK in person as you would expect... very cool to see. I wanted to actually introduce myself to her, but she was in a deep discussion w/ a guy who was desperately trying to pick her up, so I just moved on. I'm sure she would've appreciated it if I hadn't. :o)

Scott Tanner & his sister Trudi Madison were very cool to hang out with & get to know. Very REAL people. We ooh'd & aahhh'd over eachother's beads... Scott was funny, so happy that he could actually wear a strand of his own beads on his wrist & not have to worry about getting beaten up! LOL! What a neat guy.

Anastasia (from Germany) is adorable. She was like "I don't understand how everyone knows who I am!" LOL! She's very unaware of the uniqueness of her work & seems to think it's so simple & boring. I think her work is fantastic!

A friend of Anastasia's from the states, Dana Graham, & I seemed to have made a really nice connection...she's such a neat chick...I'm really looking forward to keeping in touch w/ her... hopefully we'll meet up again sometime in the future.

I think that one of my most favorite people to have met there was Ruth Nicholas (LE/KetchikanSculptor) from Alaska... the one who came up w/ the Perfect Tool System. What a sweetie-pie. She sat down w/ me one night & looked at my beads & was just so encouraging & full of advice. I really enjoyed spending time w/ her. That Perfect Tool system is pretty slick, too, I must say. Someday.

The only bead I purchased was a beautiful Trey Cornette piece...BEFORE the Bead Bazaar. I was looking over his pieces while Sharon Peters was collecting her pile of his beads. LOL! He's a pretty kind (& cute!) guy, too.

There were so many other people that I met...so many beads to ogle & fondle.