Glass Goals for 2017- Art with Purpose

i have really been enjoying working with glass this year. Last year, i started making leaf pendants right before the holidays, but as soon as the temperatures warmed up i abandoned it to play in the garden. Although i enjoyed working with glass, i was really lacking focus and had no real direction or ideas about where i wanted to go with it.

In 2015, one of my husband's childhood friends passed away and he was asked by the family to create a glass 'cremation' marble keepsake. It turned out very well, and other people began contacting him asking if he could encase the cremains of their loved ones.   However, he really had no interest in it, as it took time away from his other work, and the one he made was a gift to the family. 

Several of my friends went through devastating loses last year, and asked me if he could make a creation pendant for them.  It hurt my heart to tell them that no, he was not interested in it and then i would direct them to websites where they could order one from a stranger. It seemed so impersonal to suggest such a thing, and i began to realize that this is something i really wanted to do. To be be able to offer a small token of healing in the form of a glass heart. 

So i started this year by making heart pendants. It's still a learning process.  Although i can make them pretty well, i'm constantly working to make them more consistent and improve my technique. Once i felt like i was doing okay with the heart shapes, i started learning to make spirals. 

What i eventually plan to do is encase cremains in clear glass, then do the spiral with both the ashes and colors.  So i'll be making cremation pendants similar to these, but hopefully a lot nicer. 

i'm still practicing my spirals, and once i can make them consistently i'm hoping to learn to work with dichro glass (metallic sparkily looking) and learn to encase ash. i'll start of by using ash from the woodstove, which acts similar to cremains when encased. Then eventually begin offering this service to my friends. i'm really excited about it, and feel that this is art with purpose. It allows me to create, while helping others to heal. 

These are something else i've been working on. i had a request for a breast cancer awareness pendant, and after i made it i began getting other requests for different ribbon colors. This isn't something i plan to sell as a regular item, but i will occasionally take custom orders for them.

So that's what i'm working on this year. Hoping to still find some time to work on dolls, and other crafts which is another passion. Of course, once garden season starts i will be putting a ton of energy into that as well.  i'm also doing a lot of product review again this year, just for fun. So yeah, i have a lot going on, i'm really excited about it and can't wait to see what this year brings.