A friend of mine who read my first two posts suggested I provide a way to view my webshots photo history of the work I've done. Periodically, I'll put a few (emphasis on the few) of those photos up here. But if you want to see the whole works - photos of most of what I've created, that is - try this link:
http://community.webshots.com/user/sltoad
You will probably have to cut and paste to use it, but give it a try.
Sue
Monday, February 2, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
How jewelry making entered my life
Well, it is certainly something I never intended. I never dreamed about making jewelry. I wan't looking for a new hobby or a new profession.
It all began in Avon, North Carolina. There used to be a wonderful art gallery in Frisco, I think it was, called Brownings Art Work. My husband and I liked visiting and looking while we were on vacation in Avon every summer. Brownings had such interesting things.
In the summer of 2001 they had a dichroic glass pendant in their jewelry case - green glass in a gold filled (very conservatively wrapped) setting. I fell in love with dichroic glass, and Mark bought me the pendant (not inexpensive, by the way).
Of course, I don't really wear greens. And Brownings didn't at that point have other colors. So green it was. I wore it occasionally over black, and loved it. I still love that piece of glass.
I still had no intention of making jewelry.
The next summer, Laura, a very close friend of my daughter, Samantha, was with us for the day. Samantha had a contra bass lesson in Vienna, Va. Laura had been telling us about Star's Beads for at least a year. I hadn't located it, or even had a strong interest in finding it. But since it is Vienna, and we had to drive right past it on the way to and from the bass lesson, I suggested that Laura show us this place - a bit of compensation for sitting bored outside while Samantha took her lesson.
I walked out with fresh water pearls to restring for myself. Didn't intend that on the way in, either.
As we walked down the stairs, Laura happened to mention that she and her mom found good deals on the web - seed beads, I think, is what they had shopped for. So one boring day I went looking - for freshwater pearls.
That is when I tripped over dichroic glass cabochons and my love of dichroic glass was reignited. Funny thought - I figured if I could wrap a cabochon myself, I could have a second pendant to wear, and at much less cost.
Foolish if me, I know.
I searched until I found glass I loved. It came from Linda Abbott's glass studio - www.dichroicglass.net. It is wonderful, magical glass with multiple colors looking like they are deep down in the glass. No two come out alike.
I ordered 3 cabochons (see how it grows - I wanted one, got three - insidious).
Her site was not quite fully tested yet, so it only charged me for two of those cabochons. Linda sent me a wonderful email saying she had gotten surprised like that once, and swore she would never catch a customer with a bill bigger than they were expecting. So she was sending me 3 cabochons for the price of 2.
Thus started a friendship.
Aren't accidents wonderful?
Of course I sent her a thank you. And quipped at the end "we'll see if this old lady can do anything with you lovely glass. Linda wrote back telling me about a craft style book she had produced called 'Hot 'N Wired.' Don't look for it. It was already out of print by then, but she told me where I could probably still find a copy. And she had worked on the book until she could hand it to half a dozen people who had never worked with wire, and they could produce a pendant without asking any questions. (The newer version of this book is a PDF file on CD called "That's A Wrap" and you can get it from Linda's website.
The cabochons came, I ordered the book, and off I went. I was too chicken to wrap the glass immediately, so contrary to Linda's advice, I wrapped a lumpy rock first. Even used ROUND wire, since Star's Beads didn't have square wire, and I was much too impatient to wait until my square wire order arrived. That first rock turned out OK, but copper does turn . . .
When the silver arrived, I was still playing chicken. So I wrapped a lumpy blue lace agate instead of the glass. That one SOLD! a while later.
Finally I wrapped my three pieces of glass. I wore one to the pediatritan's office - the gal behind the counter wanted to buy it on the spot. I wore another to church, and a friend there wanted me to make her a pendant.
I got the idea from another glass maker I love, Susan Weissman (www.summerskies.com) to use my scanner to get pictures of my pendants. So I put my pieces on the scanner and sent a picture to Linda. She was very complimentary. Already my style was much different than hers.
I make a few pieces to sell, and sold them. A friend in Fredricksburg had a house party and I sold a bunch.
And that is how I got launched - purely by accident.
Accidents can be wonderful!!!!
I hope your life is full of happy accidents, too.
It all began in Avon, North Carolina. There used to be a wonderful art gallery in Frisco, I think it was, called Brownings Art Work. My husband and I liked visiting and looking while we were on vacation in Avon every summer. Brownings had such interesting things.
In the summer of 2001 they had a dichroic glass pendant in their jewelry case - green glass in a gold filled (very conservatively wrapped) setting. I fell in love with dichroic glass, and Mark bought me the pendant (not inexpensive, by the way).
Of course, I don't really wear greens. And Brownings didn't at that point have other colors. So green it was. I wore it occasionally over black, and loved it. I still love that piece of glass.
I still had no intention of making jewelry.
The next summer, Laura, a very close friend of my daughter, Samantha, was with us for the day. Samantha had a contra bass lesson in Vienna, Va. Laura had been telling us about Star's Beads for at least a year. I hadn't located it, or even had a strong interest in finding it. But since it is Vienna, and we had to drive right past it on the way to and from the bass lesson, I suggested that Laura show us this place - a bit of compensation for sitting bored outside while Samantha took her lesson.
I walked out with fresh water pearls to restring for myself. Didn't intend that on the way in, either.
As we walked down the stairs, Laura happened to mention that she and her mom found good deals on the web - seed beads, I think, is what they had shopped for. So one boring day I went looking - for freshwater pearls.
That is when I tripped over dichroic glass cabochons and my love of dichroic glass was reignited. Funny thought - I figured if I could wrap a cabochon myself, I could have a second pendant to wear, and at much less cost.
Foolish if me, I know.
I searched until I found glass I loved. It came from Linda Abbott's glass studio - www.dichroicglass.net. It is wonderful, magical glass with multiple colors looking like they are deep down in the glass. No two come out alike.
I ordered 3 cabochons (see how it grows - I wanted one, got three - insidious).
Her site was not quite fully tested yet, so it only charged me for two of those cabochons. Linda sent me a wonderful email saying she had gotten surprised like that once, and swore she would never catch a customer with a bill bigger than they were expecting. So she was sending me 3 cabochons for the price of 2.
Thus started a friendship.
Aren't accidents wonderful?
Of course I sent her a thank you. And quipped at the end "we'll see if this old lady can do anything with you lovely glass. Linda wrote back telling me about a craft style book she had produced called 'Hot 'N Wired.' Don't look for it. It was already out of print by then, but she told me where I could probably still find a copy. And she had worked on the book until she could hand it to half a dozen people who had never worked with wire, and they could produce a pendant without asking any questions. (The newer version of this book is a PDF file on CD called "That's A Wrap" and you can get it from Linda's website.
The cabochons came, I ordered the book, and off I went. I was too chicken to wrap the glass immediately, so contrary to Linda's advice, I wrapped a lumpy rock first. Even used ROUND wire, since Star's Beads didn't have square wire, and I was much too impatient to wait until my square wire order arrived. That first rock turned out OK, but copper does turn . . .
When the silver arrived, I was still playing chicken. So I wrapped a lumpy blue lace agate instead of the glass. That one SOLD! a while later.
Finally I wrapped my three pieces of glass. I wore one to the pediatritan's office - the gal behind the counter wanted to buy it on the spot. I wore another to church, and a friend there wanted me to make her a pendant.
I got the idea from another glass maker I love, Susan Weissman (www.summerskies.com) to use my scanner to get pictures of my pendants. So I put my pieces on the scanner and sent a picture to Linda. She was very complimentary. Already my style was much different than hers.
I make a few pieces to sell, and sold them. A friend in Fredricksburg had a house party and I sold a bunch.
And that is how I got launched - purely by accident.
Accidents can be wonderful!!!!
I hope your life is full of happy accidents, too.
Who I am
Let's start with the basics. I am a young woman in her 60s. I've studied music as a kid and in college, and in various forms as an adust (voice lessons, harp lessons, a short fling with guitar, etc.). I spent approximately a decade operating and programming computers back in the era when personal computers were just becoming a dream - somewhere out there on the horizon. And I've spend over three decades providing the service of Pastoral Counseling.
So is jewelry making a natural follow-on or not?
I haven't really decided. It is definitely an artistic endeavor, and one I love. I've been playing in wire and with stones since 2003. I got such positive responses to what I made, and love the making so much, I now create jewelry art to sell.
This blog is a place to learn about me and what I'm up to, and to comment on what you read and see. Please join me in a dialogue about what I do, share what you do, just have fun.
So is jewelry making a natural follow-on or not?
I haven't really decided. It is definitely an artistic endeavor, and one I love. I've been playing in wire and with stones since 2003. I got such positive responses to what I made, and love the making so much, I now create jewelry art to sell.
This blog is a place to learn about me and what I'm up to, and to comment on what you read and see. Please join me in a dialogue about what I do, share what you do, just have fun.
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