Farmer's Markets and Me

Well, it's finally that time of year again up here in the frozen north- farmer's market season, and boy am I ready! I'll be at the market in King Ferry with all of the glass I've been making this winter- which means I'm stocked to the gills. Loads of fish, pendants, necklaces, portals, and beads, beads, beads! All of them my handmade lampwork glass, of course. There will be lovely hand spun woolen yarns, felted jewelry, some gently used high end clothes (lots of Flax), and who knows what kind of yummy foods. It's just the beginning of the season, but I'm hoping folks will be ready to come and see what's on offer.
The weather should be beautiful!

I've been selling at farmer's markets for years, and I love the feeling of equality and all of the amazing things you can find at them. Loads of locally handmade goodies- both food and artisan- made goods. And lots of lovely people too!

Which brings me to another point. I have been noticing lately that some of the markets are excluding crafts, or only allowing 'farm made' crafts. What a pity! Some folks seem to think that artisans have plenty of other places to try and make their living , and shouldn't be allowed to ride on the coat tails of the farmers. Now I do realize that the main reason people go to farmer's markets is for the food and that is as it should be. But I feel strongly that juried crafts should be allowed as a part of the 'buy local' movement that many small farmers are proponents of. And small artisans can be a wonderful addition to the markets, bring in more people and add to the 'buy local' atmosphere. Not to mention that artisans can really use the steady source of income that a sensibly priced market can offer. After all, one can only afford so many craft shows in a year.

Yes, my raw materials come from Italy, but from the point those materials enter my home, I do everything to make them into original little pieces of art glass. Lampworking was becoming a dying art until about 18 years ago, when there was a bit of a renaissance in the U.S. and consequently around the world. Handmade pottery, blown glass, woodworking, metalworking- all of these arts and more should be encouraged. I'm not talking about things you might learn in a class at one of the major craft stores, I'm talking about artistic crafts that take years to perfect.

It is my sincere hope that the farmer at the markets will find a way to continue to include high quality arts and crafts. I'm sure there are groups of artisans who would be willing to act as a jusy. The market in Baton Rouge, LA. is a wonderful example of a way to make this work. There is an arts market once a month, juried by the local arts council. It is a very successful program, which you can find out about here: http://www.artsbr.org/

Yes, published again- Bead and Button

I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about all the exciting bead things that are going on around here. No need to be jealous- my life is quite complicated right now in many ways.

I just received my advance copy of the June issue of Bead & Button magazine with a guide to lampwork terms for folks who love lampwork, but don't know what all of those wacky terms mean. It's on pages 20 and 21- one of their 'Expert Advice' columns (no, I do not call myself an expert- that's their thing).

Anyway, it's pretty exciting for me. If you look at the little words along the bottom of the cover, it says 'Shopping extra: A guide to lampworking terms p. 20'

A published tutorial

Woo hoo! I just received the June copy of Bead Unique magazine with my tutorial for making this bead style! I'm so excited! This is my first time to be published in a magazine that folks can find at their local newsstand (i.e. Barnes & Noble). The tut has info about using silver foil. If you've never tried it, this is a fairly easy place to start.

Here's a link to their website:

http://www.beaduniquemag.com/

Beads in Space- Beads of Courage, NASA, and Me

First, let me say I'm pretty excited that one of my beads was chosen to go up in the final trip of the shuttle Endeavor on April 19,2011. How did this happen, you might ask? Well, here is the story in all its glory. But first, a link and a look at all of the beads that will be joining mine:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101652927073622680837/BeadInSpace#

I'll just tell my side of the story. I don't know how Beads of Courage and NASA got together for this event, but I was sure glad, and lucky, to hear about it. One of my friends on facebook mentioned that she was making beads for a juried competition for glass beads to go up in the shuttle. You know how random it can be seeing what any one person is up to on facebook. I saw that and had to look into it right away. I was very disappointed when I heard about it too late the first time, so I was happy to be able to give it a try this time.

My father was a NASA engineer, so space has been on my mind for pretty well all my life. When I was growing up, space travel was still pretty new, and my father's work was leading up to the moon launch. The first clue I had that he might actually be doing something important was when I was in my late teens, and something was going wrong with one of the missions. My dad was pacing and thinking by the phone, sure that they were going to be calling him about something. I think he was a little disappointed when they didn't call.

So I got on the torch and went to work. My first series of submissions was a ufo, an alien, and a Saturn rocket ship. These beads were so hard for me to make, because they could be no larger than 1 1/4 inches in any directions- that's a little rocket! I hurried and sent them off a few weeks before the deadline,. But as it turns out, I wasn't done. For about a week, an idea kept developing- I wanted to make a man in a grey space suit with bumps along his legs and sides. But could I possibly make it so small? Finally I just had to give it a try. I made one, figured out what I could do better, made another, and crossed my fingers. I also thought I'd try a more colorful rocket if I was going to enter again. So those two and an 'earth rise' bead were my second set of submissions. The little space man is the one going into space- I'm so glad I tried again!

So, when April 19th comes along and Endeavor takes off, I'll be thinking of my dad and my mom- whose birthday is on the 20th. Dad would be so excited!!!!! Here's a link to the NASA website, where you can watch the progress of the mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/