Glass work update.

i'm still progressing on my glass work. i've taken a break from hearts and spirals to make a few goddesses pendants. i am really, really enjoying these. i've always been drawn to the image of the goddess/female form and over the years it has always been a focus in my art. So it only makes sense for me to bring it into my glass work.

These are a few of the first ones. i am not trying for any kind of consistently with these. i want them to be all shapes and sizes. Some have arms, some do not. Some have a line to separate the legs, some do not. Some have spirals on their bellies, or belly buttons and some do not. i think they are all beautiful in their uniqueness.  

i've been playing around with a few other styles. Like leaf bottoms, and spirals.

 Yesterday i started making a few with pregnant bellies, and i'm loving the way they are coming out. These have a loop in the back. the pendants that have the raised arms, do not. The arms act as the loop. i'm eager to see these progress and i continue on my lampworking journey.

i currently have these available for sale on my personal FB page, and am working to get them listed on my Enchanted Tree page and website.

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.

Future of Borosilicate Glass.

This year i really encouraged my husband to get out and participate in some of the glass events and teaching opportunities available. We both tend to be hermits and enjoy our peaceful bubble, so getting out into the world sometimes takes a bit of effort.  Although i don't really like when he is traveling, i know it's really good for him to get out and talk with others in the glass field and participate in the glass community. 

Each year he does do one or two glass events, last year he went to France and the year before he went to Las Vegas and New Jersey.  This year he is planning several trips/events throughout the year and is open to planning a few more. 

Last month, Kenan spent some time teaching at the Glass Resort in Frederick, MD, worked in Philadelphia for a few days and then attended the IGC (International Glass Conference) in New Jersey. 

i snagged these photos off of facebook. i believe they were taken by  Julie Delany or Tracey Alfaro at the Glass Resort. The Glass resort is a really nice  flameworking studio run by very knowledgeable people.  They offer workshops, torch rental, and raw materials for purchase.  Kenan taught 2, two day classes with 8 students in each class.  

 Kenan was asked to be a demonstrator at the 16th annual International Flameworking Conference in Salem New Jersey at the Salem Community college.  These photos of Kenan demonstrating at the IFC at Salem Communtiy College in NJ are from @ballheadglass on Instragram. 

He was also part of the discussion panel discussing the future of flameworked borosilicate glass. 

 Discussion panel at the International Flameworking Conference with Robert Mickelsen, Kenan Tiemeyer, Doug Williams, Jason Howard and Eusheen Goines. Photo by Barry Weisinger.

Kenan truly felt it was an honor to be invited and excellent opportunity to participate and help promote the future of borosilicate glass. photo by Barry Weisinger.

In June he's planning to attend the Glass Art Society Conference in Corning New York. The Glass Art Society and Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) will partner together once again to present the 45th Annual GAS Conference in 2016. Corning, NY, has been the host city for six previous conferences. The most recent conference took place in 2009, when more than 1,400 GAS members from over 30 different countries attended.  This will be his first time attending. 

In July Kenan will be participating in the Michigan Glass Project in Detroit. The Michigan Glass Project is a nonprofit organization that holds annual art events and festivals to raise money for local Detroit, Michigan causes.  Being Michigan natives, Kenan is thrilled to participate in this event.

After working with glass for 16 years Kenan is still excited about the opportunities and possibility of growth. He looks forward to further maturing his work, continuing to learn new techniques and continuing to participate more in the glass community. 

When he first mentioned his interest in working with glass all those years ago, i never could have imagined that it would become our future.   i know many of you have also followed our progress from those Stitchin' Bitches (Sb family Crafters) days when i was selling his mushroom pendants and seconds for super cheap. :) i can't even begin to tell you how proud i am of him, of how far he has come and how hard he works to provide this life for us.  Can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

Fuming Workshop with Kenan Tiemeyer

 

CLASS DATES 3/10 & 11

CLASS DATES 3/12 & 13- FULL

Want to increase your gold and silver fuming skills? Improve your marble, pendant, bead making abilities? Learn how to make really tight honeycomb patterns?  Then, this class is for you.  Join TGR in welcoming Kenan Tiemeyer for a two-day workshop in learning all these skills.  The focus of this two-day class will be on marbles, beads, pendants with the use of gold and silver fume as well as encasement of opals and the building of optical layers in pendants / marbles. 

Kenan Tiemeyer is from Floyd, Virginia.  He has demoed at the Art Glass Invitational (AGI) in Hilliards, PA and has written many articles for The Glassline Magazine.  Kenan has also traveled to Europe and other foreign countries demonstrating his techniques.

 Details

•  Students must be at an intermediate level working with glass

•  Students have experience with pulling points, working with tubing, and even "inside out" techniques

•  Class MUST have at least 5 students in order to hold class - Maximum student level is 8

•  Bring your tools, gold & silver, and opals if you already have them.  Glass needed for class is provided.  Gold & silver and opals will be available for the class (in a limited quantity) and for purchase.

• Class will be from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on all dates

My husband rarely teaches classes, so this is your chance to learn his fuming techniques. 3/12-13 classes are filled, but there are only a few spots left on 3/11-12! Head over to The Glass Resort LLC to reserve your spot! 

*reblogged from http://www.theglassresortllc.com/

Glass Shop Progress

 

A little over a year ago, my husband moved his glass shop out of the garden shed and into a rented space. It was quite a big move, and a bit scary having to make a monthly rent payment.  The owner of the property was very kind and worked with us, providing a sliding scale until the shop was up and running. Our plan was really just to try and make it a year in the new space and then reevaluate whether it was working for us or not.

   A year later and the shop is running strong. The original work bench has been rebuild and there are now 3 permanent work stations with torches and ventilation. Sometime after the new year,  we are hoping to add two more work stations, so he'll be set up for teaching group classes.  

 Kenan has one full time shop mate who rents a space, and the third bench/torch is available for rent or for glass students to use.  The shop provides a much better atmosphere for teaching then the tiny little garden shed did. :)

  

My husband doin' his thing. :)  The man is a work horse.  He works long days, weekends and holidays.  i admit we miss having him here, although i know he gets a lot more work done without the distractions of home.

 

Kenan's shop mate, Darren C. has been blowing glass for around 15 years. Originally from Oregon/Washington area, he came to Floyd around a year ago and met up with Kenan quite by chance. He's been renting a space in the glass shop for almost 5 months.  You can view some of his work here. 

    This display counter is our first step towards turning half of the space into a retail store.   Kenan found this lighted display counter/case on Craigslist.  There used to be a corner stage on the floor here, carpeting and mural on the wall. So he had to take apart the stage, rip up all the carpeting and paint over the mural.  The new work benches were made from the wood that came from tearing out the stage. It's been quite a bit of work just to get the area cleaned up a bit. Adding the display counter makes it feel a bit more real. One day soon the shelves will be filled with glass work and jewelry.  We are hoping to also eventually paint it something other than white, and decorate the walls with the artwork of local artists.  Ideally beside just blown glass we will also have artwork, clothing, jewelry etc on consignment giving local artists another outlet for their work.

 It's a slow process, but ever little step forward is quite exciting.  Ideally we will have the retail store open in the spring.

Big News

If you've been reading my blog for a while then you probably know that my husband is a full time glass blower. For the past 10 years he has been working out of what was formally our garden shed. The space was very small, maybe 8'x 10 feet before you added the benches, storage and kiln. You couldn't fit more than 2 people in it comfortably and even that was a little cramped.

Last month, as i was coming home from Floyd i noticed a 'for rent' sign on the window of a little building across from the Willis Mini-mart gas station. Willis is a tiny community in Floyd county, and the downtown pretty much consists of the Mini-mart/gas-station, several churches, a Hispanic store and a car wash. It's located about half way between Hillsville and the town of Floyd.

After seeing the shop was for rent, i mentioned to Kenan that he should call on it. He kind of blew off the idea, but i was pretty persistent. It just felt like maybe it was time for him to get out of the garden shed. :) i eventually persuaded him to just inquire about the property.

So he called.


The man who owns the building is the father of one of the midwife assistants that was present at my sons birth. He knew of us, through his daughter and was really excited at the prospect of turning the building into an artist studio/gallery. He was very willing to work with Kenan on the rent price to create something that was workable for us.

This is now the new Tiemeyer Glass Studio.

The building is 1400 sq ft, it's huge! It is actually bigger than our entire house. :)

Kenan officially got the keys to the new shop on July 1st. The work getting the new shop set up was a bit more work than anticipated. He had to drill some holes through the blockwork to get his tanks set up, and ventilation in. He is still trying to re-work the ventilation to improve it. Good ventilation is extremely important. This in the very beginning stages, so it doesn't look like much yet. This will be his new work space.

This area will be an office, and serve as a storage area for some of his glass supplies. He's planning to put some shelves in and a small desk.


This will be a second workspace, available for students, visiting lamp workers...or me once the kids start school. :)


There is a large open area that we hope to turn into other 2 other artist spaces, that can eventually be rented out. The building has two large picture windows in the very front of the building and will make a very nice retail shop eventually, if we choose to go that route. It really opens up a lot of opportunities that we didn't have with Kenan here at home. He doesn't have the distraction of kids knocking on the door constantly, and now has a defined separation of work time and home time. Where before, because he worked at home he never really stopped working.

It's been quite an adjustment for the kids, not having him here. Sage has been having the hardest time, wanting to pack him a lunch and visit everyday. The new shop is only about 8 miles from our house, so we will be able to stop by now and again.

This really opens up a lot of new opportunities for us, and helps us to feel more connected with the community. i would love to see the building turned into an artist studio, with 3-4 rented spaces and a small retail store in the front. i also can see a small farm market stand out front, where i can sell fresh organic produce and flowers.

The shop isn't far from the Blue Ridge parkway, and we hope to help bring some traffic from the parkway, through Willis as people travel on to Floyd which is a tourist hot spot. On Friday Nights, Floyd hosts the Friday Night Jamboree, folks traveling up 221 can stop in the glass shop on their way into Floyd to watch live glass blowing demonstrations. We are also hoping to participate in the Floyd Artisan Trail next year.

We are pretty excited about this new venture, although things are going to be extremely tight over the next few months. The kids start school in less than a month however, and i will be putting my focus on dolls and jewelry again. So i hope to finally get my dolls up for sale and lots of new ones made!

It feels like things are coming together, and although i'm not always open to change...i'm excited to see where this all goes.

New work listed on Etsy.

My husband just listed a bunch of new work on etsy. Since this is how we make our living, i'm going to promote a bit! Lots of pretties to look at!!

New Glass listed.

It's very rare that my husband has glass in stock. These days he is quite busy with custom work, or filling orders for his current accounts. However, he recently made a few pieces to list on etsy. Since i am sitting here listing them, i thought i would share. These never sit for long, so if you see something you like...you better snag it. :)

Etsy Buy Handmade tiemeyerglass

One of these days i plan to do an artist feature and giveaway for his shop. What would you most like to see? A bead, pendant, marble...? Would love to hear your feedback. Enjoy the eye candy!