Back to Business... Beads That Is

I used silver leaf in these beads and was playing around with some of the new CIM colors I had ordered from Frantz Art Glass

These lentils are a good size for earring sets.

These two didn't quite fit in with the rest of today's batch. The nugget on the right was made with the nub ends of some of my silver reactive glass that I couldn't hold anymore. I like to make some beads at the end of a session by using small pieces that are cluttering up the worktable.

It feels good to be back at the torch although my arms seem to be a bit sore from my first day back at the gym and yoga yesterday. I'm trying to get back into some of my pre-trip routines and keep the right balance of art and fitness for my well-being. In the past I've had to sacrifice one for the other and now that I'm "retired" I'm finally finding time for both.

Yesterday I went for a little walk for treasures. I didn't have to go far for some good rust pieces at the neighbor's vacant lot. A beautifully rusted lock and part of a red glazed ceramic figure caught my eye. Funny, I didn't see them last year when I was rummaging.

On down the street to the desert hills of ocotillo and cactus, I follow a trail, all within shouting distance of the road near our house. I find a stash (literally) of burlap and rags of Mexican blanket strips and rope, most likely from a smuggling operation. I find the burlap to be nicely tattered and aged and suitable for a future project. We're quite near the Mexican border so there's foot traffic occurring of different sorts occurring nearby. As my walk progressed I inexplicably start to find golfballs. I don't have any use for them in my art but I'm sure my husband might decide to put them to use one day.

Beadness & Badness

Picking up pieces and scraps of glass and silver from the table

Nuggets with copper and silver reactive glass

December Focals


Somehow time slipped away between visitors and other projects and I realized that weeks have gone by since I had been in the glass studio. I had run out of oxygen and am lucky to have it conveniently an affordably delivered right to my studio. Well, several yards way from it anyway. I have to get my husband to place it up on it's perch next to the house. Those tanks are super heavy.

I finally have a day that I'm pumped up to get back in to make beads. Dave had hooked up the bottle for me, something that I'm accustomed to doing myself. When I open the tank there emits a strange clicking noise at the regulator that I've never heard before. It kind of freaks me out as I'm wary of oxygen bottles and the pressure behind them and I know enough to steer clear of the regulator when opening. it. Just to be sure I disconnect it all and re-hook it all up again.

I go into the studio and light up the torch. This time the weirdness is occurring at the torch head and I get blasts of air popping intermittently (or absence of oxygen, I'm not sure which)

definitely worrisome and it makes me wonder if it's my flashback arrestors activating which means there's explosions in the line being quelled or something like that.

I've got no one around to allay my fears about what's going on at this point so I have to quit the whole idea of making any beads until I get this sorted out. I'm not even exactly sure who to ask except perhaps the Car Quest guys that delivered the oxygen. I call them up and the guy that most likely knows anything about oxygen bottles or regulators is out for the next few days so I'm dead in the water as far as making beads. A good time to regroup and go thrift shopping!

It's only a couple of days later and we stop into Car Quest just in case someone may be able to help me figure out what's going on. Johnny, the man behind the counter was so helpful and reassured me that it sounded like it was in the regulator and had nothing to do with the flashback arrestors. He thought that it was diaphragm failure and that I was pregnant. (just seeing if you're paying attention!)

No, he actually thought that the diaphragm was sticking and that it just needed a good blast of pressure unlit with the torch open. He told me to kind of flush it out a couple of times this way and then try it. It worked and I'm back in business!

I used copper red and copper green Effetre glass as well as some bits of Double Helix and Kugler and Dali Lama TAG glass, all with reactive metallics that give more of the ethereal effects that I love so much. I only use these as embellishments and not as a base. at $80 a lb. I like to use them as surface applications to maximize usage for the most bang for the buck.