It's so pretty!

Well that's the most money I've spent in one go that hasn't been on a holiday or a house!

I've talked about it for longer than I care to admit but yesterday I took a huge step to update my setup.

$2,500 in 5 short minutes on a website and I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of the following:

Cricket Torch (pictured)

Kiln

Oxygen Concentrator

"Passing the Flame" beading book

 and some boring hoses, arrestors and regulators...

So, if you're wondering what all this means, then I'll tell you, hold your horses, sheez..

It meeeeanns that I can anneal my beads so that they don't crack and break, it means that I can make bigger beads, it means that I can get some cool effects with frits and enamels, it means that I can do fuming and oxidizing and boiling and best of all, I can make some beads that I've been hanging out to make for some years now. I'd tell you about them but I'd rather show you when I've made them, I'm counting on them being ah-maze-ing!!

So start getting excited, well I will anyway :)

Well here's an example of unexpected wonderfulness!

The stripes are actually a hand-pulled stringer with black on the inside and purple (yes, purple!) on the outside, and the dots are supposed to be black! (Ok, ok, so they kinda are black but can you see that brownish bit? Mmhmm.) 

The confusion is due to the Ivory glass I used as the base, it makes the good better. Much like Boag's...

Raku Stringers and Ivory

For some reason, yesterday I had a fit of inspriation and thought I'd have a go at making a few Raku stringers, pretty flipping happy with the results!

Spiraled

Raised dots

Dots melted in (amazing colour difference compared to raised dots!)

And junk...surprisingly, some of the glass boiled which is an effect I thought was only acheived with a minor burner! Wonders never cease!

Welcome To My Blog!

As a newbie to the blogging world I'd like to welcome you (and myself) to my blog!


About Me

My name is Jess and first and formostly I am a craftist.
My love affair with art began as a young kid when I would make 'toilet roll people' for family members on their bithdays. I am pleased to announce that I have progressed and am now engrossed in the intoxicating world of hot, molten glass.

There's something mesmerising about watching a mash of lumpiness turn into a smooth golden orb which you later find to be a complex mixture of colours, textures, shadows and depths. Even when you think you know what you're doing you can often find the result to be as far away as it could be from your desired aim but still be surprisingly wonderful. Sometimes a failure can lead you to a new idea or a new technique. This forgiving attitude is what I love the most.

Enough About Me

In the years to come I hope to show you a glass beading life in pictures where you can share the miraculous successes and the horrific heart-breaks, the rises and slumps if you will :)
Thankyou for following my blog, if you tell me how, I would love to follow yours too!

Jess

How did this happen? Symetry and I have never been close friends but somehow we put our differences aside and I'm pretty darn pleased with the result. I'm having coffee with her later, maybe we can be BFF's.