I'M HAVING AN AFFAIR...

...with Opal Yellow & Rubino.



Is this allowed??? :o)

I'm completely in love w/ these colors & they're basically all I work w/ these days... except for some black bases & dots of copper green. I try to do as much black base as I can since OY & Rubino are premium colors. I use ALOT of them both.

I look at the beautiful beads that are being posted in the LE Gallery & they're so colorful...lots of transparents & silver glasses... pretty & shiny. Mine are the complete opposite. First of all they're big, but secondly, they're solid & I think fairly masculine. People love them, which is awesome for me, LOL, but why haven't I gotten into the transparents?? There's nothing cooler than being able to look "inside" a glass piece... see the depth & the details of what's going on in there.

I think I'm just better at "surface" decoration than what's underneath.

I guess I need to think about those glass artists that are known more for their surface designs...Larry Brickman, Christina Logan, Larry Scott, Brad Pearson, Dustin Tabor & other artists like them. They're making it big w/ solid surface decoration, I shouldn't worry what other people are doing so much, should I?? :o) People say I have a distinctive style...I think this is a good thing. Right??? :o)

As far as SIZE goes... since my pieces seem to be fairly large, for the most part...when I was looking @ Larry Brickman's pieces @ the Gathering, I was just blown away at their size... they're HUGE & he gets a pretty penny for them, too. He told me [something like] "think about all of the glass artists out there making it big... are they making tiny insignificant pieces??? Nope, they're making big, memorable pieces." This is true, so I'm natually on the right track. :o)

SPEAKING OF "STAR OF THE NORTH"...

I am now the treasurer of our local ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) chapter... which also makes me a member of the 5 person board. I'm thrilled that I will be able to be more involved w/ the group... to be able to take part in the decision making process... maybe bring more ideas to the table.

I already asked, at our last meeting, what it would take to get some big names here to teach some classes...lots of interest there. There are several that are on the top of the list... Andrea Guarino is at the top of mine, Larry Brickman", too. Many others. Maybe if Anastasia was ever back in the US we could talk her into coming back to Minneapolis. :o)

Any recommendations??

PERFECT FIT...

I mentioned in a previous post that Lampworking just "fits" me... I'm an "instant gratification" type of girl & I find lampworking completely & instantly gratifying! :o)

I'm an emotional person... not overly so, I don't mean that I whine about this & that or that I'm on an emotional rollercoaster ...but that I seem to be pretty tender hearted... I cry at commercials. :o) (& the Biggest Loser!)

In my "About Me" little blurb, I mention that I've been searching for something "more" to do w/ my life, something that not only keeps me busy, but also "feeds my soul" & I truly feel that lampworking is that something. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't tried it. Those of you who lampwork know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!

Here's a perfect example of how "right" I feel w/ this...

This summer, the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) "GATHERING" (annual conference) landed right in my lap. My first year at this & the Gathering is happening HERE, in Minneapolis. I, of course, had to go.

Pre-Gathering, I was at the hotel on helping stuff Gathering totes & this cute guy came up to me & said "I don't think we've met, I'm Larry Brickman". Holy Crap!! LOL! I think I got goosebumps! I was cool, though, LOL. It was a test...I couldn't imagine what I was going to do when I was in the same room w/ all of the other big kids!! I figured I was going to be a mess!! :o)

As the Gathering got closer, I started to feel REALLY insignificant. I wanted to meet these people, but I also wanted to be remembered. Really, who am I??? I'm a new kid who hides out in the new kid's threads on LE. I wanted to kick myself for not putting myself out there a bit more so people knew who I was.

I decided to enter the Bead Pen Contest... this was my entry:
(my first lizard & my first pen!)

Well...the Gathering was fabulous... overwhelming, exhausting, but fabulous. It was incredible seeing & meeting all of these lampworking "icons" & seeing their work in person! There was no time to see absolutely everything @ the Bead Bazaar... especially because I was selling w/ my chapter, too, but I would break away for a bit & wander... it was hard for me to just look & not chat w/ absolutely everyone, but there was no time.

Here's the "tender-hearted, right for me", part, LOL...
I competely made a fool of myself w/ Bernadette Fuentes. She asked me how I was enjoying my first "Gathering" (this was her 15th!) & I was just so overwhelmed to start w/.... I was telling her how much I just loved lampworking & how "right" this felt to me, etc... my eyes started welling up & was trying to blink back the tears & she's just looking at me & she puts her hand up to her chest & says how sweet it was & how honored she felt! I tried to keep it together but just couldn't. I had to excuse myself & went to the table I was selling at w/ my local chapter & I just lost it!!! LOL! Everyone freaked out, thinking something had happened & I was just laughing & crying & trying to tell them that nothing was wrong & tried to explain it...it was crazy!!! LOL! I was tired, too, so that didn't help! Anyway...I calmed down & went back to talk to her & said "I'm okay now!" LOL, & she said "I completely understand. I still feel that way...I just don't cry anymore." Sweet. She was a sweet lady & someone I hope will watch me grow over the coming years. I certainly caught her attention! LOL! I went on to talk to a few other "big kids" (all red in the face, I'm sure) trying to explain what had just happened w/ Bernadette & started tearing up again! Geez. LOL! It was fun & yes, this does feel very right.

I think the timing of the Gathering was just perfect for me. I got fantastic feedback from my work...I wore my big ocean heart on a McDuck pendant holder all weekend so people would recognize me by that & nobody could believe I had only been doing this for 6 months.