tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124845162024-03-23T13:43:38.200-04:00Aspiring Arts: Lampwork (and other) MusingsAdventures in lampworking, the ancient art of making glass beads with a torch and glass rods.Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-43422495073290236532010-10-20T14:58:00.005-04:002010-10-20T15:04:44.485-04:00Gnorbert the GnomeAfter collecting bits and pieces to do it for years, I finally embarked on a needle felting project - and I love it! The little guy I made turned out so cute. Check him out on my Etsy page.Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-30829751590257192652010-04-30T21:24:00.001-04:002010-04-30T21:53:33.894-04:00This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://aspiring-arts.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://aspiring-arts.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default. Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-88668536241070799782008-08-07T17:33:00.002-04:002008-08-07T17:36:17.496-04:00No more pop-upsI just added code to my website so that pop-ups are no more. To view larger images of my jewelry, you will get a nice overlay image instead. View an example at the Bamboo Knitted Choker page - or any page in the Boutique.Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-2650074940105415622008-08-07T01:38:00.003-04:002008-08-07T01:47:01.729-04:00New web design ventureSo what's been happening in the last nearly-one-year? A lot, but it doesn't include having unpacked all my glass beadmaking stuff, which stubbornly remains the last box still packed. On the plus side, I haven't had to make any more break-up beads, having handled the last few breakups without molten glass involved.Finances continue to be tight, which has encouraged me to strike out for new Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-66708319512780735402007-09-11T15:07:00.001-04:002008-06-03T12:22:59.459-04:00Big Birthday TomorrowTomorrow (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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-88684836660954939752007-09-06T08:54:00.000-04:002007-11-06T12:29:20.934-05:00The Story of My Life, In Recent TimesThis 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 bestSusan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-61293974266195514272007-06-16T20:42:00.000-04:002007-06-16T21:10:03.890-04:00Beads and the Single LampworkerSince 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 eachSusan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-89469096478390128522006-11-24T00:45:00.000-05:002006-11-24T01:06:09.857-05:00Pretty new beadsI 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.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1160362525960757182006-10-08T22:03:00.000-04:002006-10-08T23:02:05.563-04:00Writing Is Also Fun!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! He'sSusan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1159413181239675342006-09-27T23:08:00.000-04:002006-09-28T19:56:12.146-04:00New year, new place, new beadsJust 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1159131869925030112006-09-24T16:04:00.000-04:002006-09-24T17:05:56.080-04:00Music: An All-Important IngredientIt'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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1155263558895010412006-08-10T22:12:00.000-04:002006-08-10T23:49:48.383-04:00Sales Tax Sale in MassachusettsMassachusetts 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1154195013255189642006-07-29T13:30:00.001-04:002008-08-10T23:29:54.498-04:00And now for something completely differentWhile 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1153839942813601022006-07-25T11:05:00.000-04:002006-07-25T17:30:20.243-04:00No glass? No problem! Projects on the go.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 youSusan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1150165880434154842006-06-12T22:26:00.000-04:002006-09-28T21:04:58.270-04:00Show rerun on "That's Clever!"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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148355184000959272006-05-22T23:30:00.000-04:002006-05-29T01:11:58.150-04:00Is it a pepper or a beetle? Help me name it!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.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148181166326444982006-05-20T22:59:00.000-04:002006-12-28T22:10:48.791-05:00New glass and storiesI'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.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1148005619203718482006-05-18T21:30:00.000-04:002006-05-18T22:32:57.406-04:00Save Internet FreedomNow 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 to Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145931554567307322006-04-24T22:12:00.000-04:002006-04-29T17:27:51.643-04:00"Process" vessel, Stage 2Here 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.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145564835854270852006-04-20T16:17:00.000-04:002006-04-20T16:27:15.866-04:00Photo of first Tink vessel, stage 1The 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.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145498890290501472006-04-19T22:05:00.000-04:002006-04-19T22:08:10.306-04:00More successful (?) blown vesselI 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145290949995666392006-04-17T12:20:00.000-04:002006-04-17T12:22:30.020-04:00New Orleans PhotosThis 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145122626236540222006-04-15T13:35:00.000-04:002006-04-15T13:37:06.250-04:00Website updatedI'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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1145116530793124252006-04-15T11:53:00.000-04:002006-04-15T11:55:31.083-04:00Hollow Bead PhotoHere is the photo of this bead. Susan at Aspiring Artshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15778017466109614191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12484516.post-1144556086042273072006-04-09T00:10:00.000-04:002006-04-09T00:14:46.060-04:00Bead photo and hollow updateThe 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.com0