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Hi folks.
You know me... I'm always making references to stuff I've read on other forums, especially concerning "difficult" topics that seem to stir people up, and push them into "choosing sides."
Anyway, I'm not trying to stir anything up, or get anyone choosing sides here ... :)... but I DID want to show you what I mean when I say, about a particular topic... "I've read this SAME discussion a million times before, and nobody EVER agrees."
If you're interested, first, know in advance that the following links are entirely NOT about bears, but instead about lampworking (glass bead making). If you're still interested, second, check out the following two threads from the Wet Canvas art forum. I visit there a lot to gaze and dream.
The topics covered are:
"Are you an artist?"
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348949
and
"Is there any originality left in the world / Copying"
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=363887
Sound familiar??? Laughing here... 
See... we're not the ONLY ones in the creative world who discuss these things, where everyone has a wildly different view! And, for the record, these links are just one example of somewhere besides TT where I've seen these same two topics discussed, with always the same results: great discussion, and absolutely zero agreement!
Back Road BearsTo continue further OT........
Are you taking up bead making now?????
What did you ever do with all those color combos you asked us for???
Or is it all still top secret????? 
No, not top secret. It's taking too long to get started so I've been leaking hints and clues and telling people who guess correctly outright. Now, since you've pinned me like a bug under glass in public, I fess up. YES, I'm trying to learn lampworking. It's a very difficult craft to setup quickly and easily (there's lots of technical know-how required to do it without basically blowing myself up). And it's an even more difficult medium to master competently. And by competently, I mean, creating something beyond the basics, which themselves are hard to master. Imagine a 2000 degree torch... a rod of molten glass in one hand... and a teeny metal stick covered in clay in the other hand, around which you're trying to wind and shape glass. Totally challenging. Entirely maddening. Completely enthralling.
I had hoped to practice all summer long in secret and then "go live" with product and website by fall. But it's been 100 degrees+ here in Chico -- or very close to it! -- for literally a month or more. My studio is set up in my garage not for space reasons but because there are safety issues with the explosive gases used to power the duel-fuel torch (propane combined with oxygen.) Plus the glass itself gives off toxic fumes as do metals like silver and copper wire and leaf which can be used to decorate glass. So it's not something to be easily done inside, and due to the high temps here, I can't get ON the dang torch to practice! My kiln directions state not to use it when temps get close to 100. Or, to use it with a fan on the kiln. Like that makes sense! A fan, in my garage, to cool off a kiln, whose entire purpose is to heat up to 1700 degrees. Say what???
Don't want to bore with specifics but suffice it to say that glass beads are too fragile if they're not "annealed" in a kiln for hours before use in jewelry. So the kiln is also an important part of the process.
Long story short, weather circumstances work against me and I have to figure out how to get this studio air conditioned by next summer or it will truly be seasonal work for me!
The colors I asked you all for were a way for me to "think outside the box" in terms of my own color preferences. I still have the list by my torch but haven't been able to use it much yet. I'm taking it shopping!
Anyway, drawing attention to me or to lampworking wasn't the point of my thread here, but I figured some clever clogs would put 2 and 2 together. Cat's out of the bag now. Whee!
For the record, I pretty much completely suck eggs at this craft. But I WILL PREVAIL!!!
Posts: 1,836It's funny to see that others discuss and share opinions just like the rest of us!! 
But they have one thing we don't...a guy who responds in pros and poetry.
The one thread had a post that rang familiar (we all have signature writing styles too...but is it art? (kidding!!) )
Have a blast with this new venture...Im sure you don't "suck eggs".
:hug:
~Chrissi
I am a master of the "glass turd" or "fugly", as uglier-than-sin beads are known. Trust me. But I'll get better. It's just maddening slow to get there!
Back Road BearsAw, Shel, attention on you is quite alright ya know... the rest of us, OK, some of us, or perhaps I should just speak for myself... I've gotten so I don't mind being the focus of a conversation if others find it interesting or at the least, entertaining. I never liked the attention but ya know, if we were all sitting around drinking coffees together we'd focus on one another for questions or stories..... so this is just one big coffee shop and you are the focus for the moment!
I'm very intrigued with this talent you are nurturing.... when the weather allows. Very neat!!! Pictures??? You must have made a bear by now!?! That wouldn't be too OT!! )
And as for what happens on other forums....... I think for some, TT has become THE place so we may not be aware of the commonalities amongst other boards. But it's not surprising in the least. It is indeed important to remember "it" is every where and NOT to take it too personally. Moving on, in my humble opinion, is the best thing to do so the issue(s) doesn't have time to manifest into something really ugly! We've done a great job of that here!!! A nice cool down period.
So, I'm interested in more about lampworks and what our Miss Shelli is pursuing..... I'm off to read! :)
(Shel, didn't mean to put you on the spot... well, not entirely :redface: ... I did give the "top secret" option for you to claim if you wanted to! Glad you shared with us!!!)
Apple Dumpling DesignsYou crack me up...I wondered if that was what you were up to when you posted something about reading a book on Lampworks some time ago. I know a lady here that does glasswork...amazing stained glass and lampwork stuff to include in her stained glass pieces.
I wish you the best of luck on your new endeavor...once you get there you will shine I am sure.
Hugs,
I think it's okay to share that our own Amelia of FRIBBLES is also a lampworker, and she sent me some of her beads and showed me a few pics of them as well, and she's actually pretty da*n good! Like with teddy bears, once you "get" glass and glass beads, you're entirely mesmerized at the artistry possible. Or, at least, I was and am!
By the way, I just want to mention for the record that I wasn't trying to create any huge suspense or melodrama surrounding me doing lampworking. Big whoop. Who cares? Shelli's doing lampworking. <yawn>
My reasons for keeping things under cover were entirely selfish and totally human; like most people, I don't like being incredibly new and bad at something, in front of a wide audience, whose opinions matter to me. That's you guys!
Posts: 1,836"glass turd"
:crackup:
Mental picture of "the dog ate crayons again". I'd take the scooping chore away from my husband if the dogs left sparkly little glass turds in the yard!
Seriously though, anything that's great takes time. Make a boxed microwavable dessert cake thing and then make a cake from scratch...which one is better and more satisfying to look at and to eat? All good things take time :hug:
~Chrissi
Wild Thyme OriginalsShelli, that's fabulous! To me is does sound a little scary since I am a person whos body seems to be partucularly prone to coming in contact with any scalding hot object in my household! Seriously, I think I touch the sides or rack of the oven about 75% of the time that I stick my hand in there... same with the iron!
That's really neat though Shelli! I've seen lampwork beads at a couple of lovely bead shops we have here in town and they are truly amazing! Once you are out of the "glass turd stage" :crackup: :crackup: (That is TOO funny!) I REALLY hope that you share some pictures with us! Somehow Shelli, I can't imagine that you'll be in the poop stage for very long!
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Rufnut Teddy'sShelli that is great, hard work I have had a try myself only very briefly for some fun, I envy anyone for having a go at it. :clap:
