Anne Londez - Glass / Verre

Stage à Sars-Poterie, 26-31 Mars 2012

2012-01-16T14:02:00.001+01:00

Ca y est, j'ai reçu les fascicules concernant les stages 2012 à Sars-Poterie... c'est donc officiel, j'y serais pour donner un stage de travail au chalumeau du 26 au 31 mars. Je me réjouis ! J'espère que vous serez nombreux à venir me tenir compagnie. Il faut s'inscrire directement auprès du Musée-Atelier du Verre mais je vais mettre une version PDF du bulletin d'inscription sur mon site www.annelondez.com.

Yes it's official, I'll be teaching in Sars-Poterie for a week-long class in March. Hope you'll come and keep me company ! Applications directly to the Musée-Atelier du Verre but I'll put a link to a downloadable version of the application form on my website www.annelondez.com.

Color colour couleur

2012-01-09T13:25:00.000+01:00

I am still deep into watercolours these days, painting flowers mostly. There is a mesmerizing quality to these colours that magically flow into one another. As one of my students remarked when I showed her one of my poppies and was trying to explain how much I enjoyed watching the colors spread over the paper "It's just like glass !". And this is very true, there is a high similarity there in the way to colors flow/melt and mix or not. I am learning a lot both on colour and on how to choose and depict those tiny little details that make a piece lifelike and interesting. You should try it...

Knowing your subject

2011-12-18T16:31:00.000+01:00

Whatever medium you're working with, it is essential to know what you want to depict in details beforehands. Glass is no exception, even though many details have to be suggested rather than sculpted or painted in. Before being able to give life to your sculptural pieces or to your painting-like images, it is important to know what details are important and where exactly they should be placed.

This is why I advocate drawing/painting classes for the particular figurative subjects you are interested in. In my case, I love practicing nude drawing so as to understand the human morphology better, which is a requisite step to being able to depict it accurately in glass and that has been one of my main focuses over the past year.

Moreover, learning different techniques of representing the same objects will help understanding them in-depth and thus help you render them in another medium.

Case-in-point for today : the watercolor painting of roses. The internet in general and YouTube in particular ia full of great instructional videos for learning to draw or paint with any technique you may be intereste in and as I was browsing among some of them today, I happened upon one which I find fascinating. First of all I find it mesmerizing in itself, a little piece of oriental zen. I could sit here and watch this artist paint for hours, it's better than a meditation session.

But that's not the only interesting aspect of it. Painting with watercolours forces the viewer to reflect in terms of values in a way that is different from pencil drawing in that you need to be very aware of the areas that have light values since it is virtually impossible to erase a color once it's been put down on paper. In other words, you have to paint around the white rather than put the dark lines in first.

Watching this beautiful video, I couldn't help but be struck by the similarities between the way the artist works and murini making. This is one area of glass imaging where you need to be aware of values so as to be able to construct the image from the center, layer by layer. I've often wondered about the best way to make a rose murrini and I've seen many variations. One that stuck in my mind was one where the petals are separated from one another by a line of black glass. I've always found it to give a hard quality to the final rose, too much contrast. Now if the black where to be replaced by white or a lightly colored pink glass, the resulting image would be much more subtle.

So... keep learning new techniques, they will always bring something to your glass !

New Coral series

2011-11-23T11:24:00.000+01:00

I just realized I have never posted my new bead series on my blog... so here it is. Inspired by coral of course, with bright transparent colors to add depth. Fun to make but quite time-consuming as they necessitate several passes in the kiln and flame before the final bead is ready ! They are made off-mandrel using Effetre and silver leaf.
They can be worn but they are also very nice as decorative pieces.

Glass and institutions

2011-11-22T21:40:00.003+01:00

I just got home from the opening of an interesting glass & design exhibition at the MUDAC in Lausanne (http://www.mudac.ch/exhibitions/currently-showing/). It displays the work of two designers without any glass background who've had the opportunity from using glass as a media through the medium of a French institution I did not know about... much to my shame.

It is true that the CIRVA in Marseilles (http://www.cirva.fr/accueil.html) has been kept rather out of the public eye since it's opening in the 1980's because it's purpose is not to provide public exhibition space but rather to provide artists and designers who know nothing about glass with an opportunity to work in that area through the collaboration of an expert team of glass workers. It operates on a long residency basis. What's surprised me most about it is that it is a public-funded facility. There are not that many institutions in France that promote glass and I think this is a very interesting way of doing it, a lucky product of the dynamism (I was going to say pushiness) of the French minister of culture at the time, who enabled funding of many grand projects, some more inspired than others. Good to see that some was energy was channeled into glass !

Printed version of my Ebook / Mon livre imprimé !

2011-10-24T11:30:00.007+02:00

For those of you who prefer paper to electronics, I am very happy to announce that my Ebook "From Bead to Sculpture" is now available in a printed version from Blurb:
http://www.blurb.com/user/store/anneuro2001

This is the updated version that includes the full Volcano tutorial.

The price reflects the cost of printing of course but the quality of print is excellent. The electronic version is still available in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77510020/updated-ebook-from-bead-to-sculpture-by

Enjoy !

Je suis heureuse d'annoncer que mon livre *De la Perle à la Sculpture* est maintenant disponible en version imprimée via Blurb:

http://www.blurb.com/user/store/anneuro2001

Il s'agit bien sûr de la nouvelle version, qui contient le tutoriel complet pour la perle Volcan.
Le coût de la version papier est bien sûr un peu plus élevé mais la qualité d'impression est excellente. La version électronique reste disponible dans mon magasin Etsy:

http://www.blurb.com/user/store/anneuro2001

Tutoriel Sea Rocks Tutorial

2011-10-19T10:30:00.005+02:00

Le nouveau bébé de ma série de tutoriels est arrivé: Sea Rocks.
Cela fait de nombreuses années que l'on me demandait les secrets de ma perle emblématique, qui avait eu l'honneur de figurer sur l'affiche de l'expo Perles d'Ecumes... les voici ! Et bien sûr, il existe en français comme en anglais. Il ne s'agit pas seulement d'une démonstration pas-à-pas mais également d'un cours sur différentes manières d'utiliser les couleurs et l'ivoire argenté.

Je me suis également rendu compte qu'il y avait une vraie demande pour des tutoriels de tous niveaux en français. J'ai donc décidé de développer ma série avec des tutoriels de base pour les débutants. Cela me permet de mettre sur papier (enfin sur écran) ce que j'enseigne depuis de nombreuses années et j'en suis ravie, ça me trottait dans la tête depuis un moment. Cool, non ?

I am pleased to introduce my latest baby, the Sea Rocks tutorial. I've been asked for years to reveal the secrets of my emblematic bead... here they are ! In addition to a step-by-step tutorial on how to make the beads, it contains a short lesson on how to develop your use of colours and use silvered ivory to its full potential in this style.

I've also realized that there is a demand for beginner's techniques tutorials so that's what I am working on at the moment. It's a good opportunity to put on paper (or rather on screen) what I've been teaching for years and I'm happy to be able to share it with a wider public.

Bubble growth

2011-10-03T12:54:00.002+02:00

I was shooting some blowing videos for tutorials and I thought it would be fun to show you this little exerpt. It's the moment I prefer when I blow, the magic moment when the bubble grows from headpin to full gather size. Of course, you don't really see it from where I was sitting, which is at the other end of the blowing cane... which is why it's fun to watch on camera !

Je suis en plein tournage de vidéos diverses et variées pour réaliser des tutoriels et en éditant mes vidéos, je me suis dit que ce petit extrait serait amusant. C'est le moment que je préfère dans le soufflage, ce petit instant magique où la bulle d'air grossit jusqu'à remplir la boule de verre. Bien sûr, on ne le voit pas vraiment lorsqu'on souffle soi-même, ce qui le rend encore plus intéressant à regarder en vidéo !

Et voici la version française !

2011-10-03T11:52:00.003+02:00

Ca y est, j'ai enfin terminé la version française de l'édition remaniée de mon livre électronique "De la perle à la sculpture". Cette nouvelle version inclut un tutoriel complet pour la perle Volcan... 9 pages et plus de 50 photos avec des explications détaillées et plein de trucs et astuces.
Où est-il disponible me direz-vous ? Et bien là :)

Bonne lecture !

Updated version of my Ebook

2011-09-26T12:23:00.003+02:00

I am happy to announce a new UPDATED version of my Ebook "From Bead to Sculpture", which now includes, among various additions to the text and tips, one full 9 pages tutorial for the Volcano bead (18 steps, 50 pics).

Those of you who've purchased it already will get the updated version automatically. If I forgot you, please send me an email.

The Ebook is available here : http://www.etsy.com/listing/77510020/updated-ebook-from-bead-to-sculpture-by

La version française est presque terminée, encore un peu de patience !

On disks...

2011-08-12T10:20:00.003+02:00

I have started following some of the beadmaking forums again after years away and I am a little worried by some of the things I have seen there.

Disks seem to be very much the fashion these days, which is not a bad thing in itself. However I am concerned about their technical soundness. Lots ot people like what I call the "snail" look, where the disks look like they are one fat stringer coiled on itself. It is not always easy to tell from the images people post but it feels like many people forget that a disk of that kind where the layers are not properly fused together is not structurally stable and will snap as easily as a stringer of the same thickness as one coil.

The reason why is simple: if the layers are not fused together where they touch, the heat does not transfer from one to the other and each coil will cool down as if it were on its own... i.e. very quickly. The bead thus undergoes thermal shock and no amount of annealing will prevent it from being brittle.

Printed version of my Ebook

2011-08-01T15:11:00.002+02:00

I am hopefully not far from releasing a printed version of my Ebook "From Bead to Sculpture". I've thought about it quite a lot and although I still believe that the electronic version is the best way to go, some of my students have expressed the wish to have it in the form of a physical book.

Since I am not going to get it edited on a big scale, I've decided to use the Blurb.com community, which offers the possibility of printing a book on demand. This will of course increase the cost as the printing itself is in the range of 15-20 Euros per book but I am going to offer several choices of format (18 x 18 cm square or horizontal A4) and the buyers will be able to choose between different kinds of binders (softcover, hardcover, jacket).

I should get the first trial print tomorrow... hopefully all typos have been found !

The book will of course still be available in E-format.

What do you think ?

Je vais bientôt pouvoir proposer une version imprimée de mon livre "De la Perle à la Sculpture". Bien qu'étant toujours convaincue que le format électronique est le plus intéressant, certains de mes élèves ont exprimé le désir d'avoir un livre physique entre les mains.

N'ayant pas pour le moment de projet d'édition à large échelle, je vais utiliser le service Blurb.com, qui permet l'impression de livres à la demande. Le coût d'une impression individuelle reste relativement élevé (15 à 20 Euros selon les options choisies) mais l'utilisateur pourra choisir entre deux formats (carré 18 x 18 cm ou A4 horizontal) et plusieurs types de couverture (souple, rigide, jaquette).

Je devrais recevoir les exemplaires test cette semaine... qu'en pensez-vous ?

Ebook "From bead to Sculpture" Gathering Hommage sale on Etsy

2011-07-26T20:30:00.001+02:00

The idea of writing this Ebook "From bead to sculpture" first entered my mind in Louisville at the 2005 Gathering when I gave my talk entitled "Technique vs inspiration".
So many years and a lot of work later, the Gathering is back in Louisville and I was honored enough to have my Splash bead on the Gathering booklet cover this year.... so as a hommage and to celebrate the launch of my Ebook, I am offering a special rebate starting tonight at 9 pm until the end of the week: for 5 days, the Ebook will be 20$ instead of 25$. Enjoy !

Here are the links...
... to the English version: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77510020...lpture-by-anne

... and to the French version: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77636888...a-la-sculpture

New Ebook almost ready

2011-07-08T12:32:00.004+02:00

I am very happy to announce that my new Ebook "From Bead to Sculpture" is in the final stages of edition and will be available in the next few days.

It presents an overview of my work from 2006 to 2010 together with the history of the creation of each piece, both from an inspirational and a technical point of view.
While not a step-by-step tutorial, it gives an outline of how my signature pieces are made and you will find in there lots of the tips and trick that make the difference in working with soft glass. It contains several designs that have not been published anywhere yet.

It is 29 pages long and will be sold for 25$ via my Etsy shop as soon as it is ready.

Pre-order is available for the next 24h at a special price of 20$... drop me an email if you're interested.

Hope you'll enjoy reading it !

Current affairs

2011-06-17T21:19:00.003+02:00

Well, I'm still totally unable to update this blog on a daily basis but I guess it's a good thing that I have so many things to do !

I'm working on lots of different things these days, not least some publications that take up a lot of my time... editing pictures is a never-ending process, I'm never satisfied with the results. Plus it's a pain trying to figure out how they'll look in print with the printer I have.

I do have to get on the torch from times to time just to balance things out. Here is a little vessel bead I made this week. I'm working mostly on bigger pieces these days but I felt the need to make a wearable-sized bead so this one is 27 x 35 mm. And yes, the blue is as vibrant in real life than inthe picture ! And I love how the aqua on the tips of the excrescences shows aqua in profile and teal up front... a perfect example of the reactions between aqua and ivory.

Surface melt

2011-05-18T10:32:00.009+02:00

I just saw this incredible video on YouTube and all I could think about was how useful it can be as a visual aid to teaching beadmaking ;) The teacher in me never sleeps !

Je viens de voir cette intéressante vidéo sur YouTube et je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser que c'était un support visuel parfait pour l'enseignement du verre... le prof en moi ne dort jamais !

Painting on water video

Why ? Because what happens when he layers the colors here is exactly what happens when you melt the surface of a glass piece where you've added colors.

Pourquoi ? Parce que ce qui se passe lorsqu'il superpose les couleurs est exactement ce qui se passe lorsque vous fondez la surface d'une pièce en verre sur laquelle vous avez ajouté des décorations.

It's always challenging to explain what happens when the glass becomes liquid on the surface of a glass piece to beginners. People who don't have any idea of the way glass works tend to think that the dots become liquid and slide over the surface of the bead independantly of the rest of the piece but of course it's not what happens. The glass also melts underneath the dots and the whole spreads out together. So what happens is exactly what you see in this video: the more glass you add, the more the glass underneath gets pushed outwards as everything melts.

Il est parfois difficile d'expliquer ce qui arrive lorsqu'on fond la surface d'une pièce en verre à quelqu'un qui n'a aucune notion de la manière dont le verre se comporte. Les débutants ont tendance à penser que les points rajoutés deviennent liquides et glissent sur la surface de la pièce mais ce n'est pas du tout ce qui se passe. En fait, le verre de base dessous fond en même temps que le point et l'ensemble s'étale en repoussant la couche inférieure vers le dessous et vers l'extérieur donc il se passe exactement la même chose que dans cette vidéo: plus vous ajoutez de verre, plus le verre qui est dessous est repoussé vers l'extérieur lorsqu'il devient liquide.

That makes it easy to understand why, if two dots don't touch when you add them, they won't touch once melted in as the base glass (here the water if you like) gets pushed outwards and pinched in between the two dots.

Cela permet de comprendre facilement pourquoi deux points distincts ne se toucheront jamais une fois fondus, même s'ils sont proches: le verre de base (içi l'eau) est repoussé vers l'extérieur et pincé entre les deux points de couleur.

Simple, isn't it ?

Who I am...

2011-03-31T20:17:00.012+02:00

A chance comment on Facebook set me to wondering how many of my 560 or so "friends" actually have any idea of who I am, why I am here doing whatever it is I do. You'll say that's part of the FB game... but for that matter, how many of my real-life aquaintances do ? Apart from my family of course, who on principle disapprove anyway. I feel like I'm spending most of my time with people who have no clue, anymore than I have as regards who they might really be.

Based on recent experience, I suppose most of my casual acquaintances would describe me as "someone who makes jewelry"... which is nowhere close to how I feel about myself so I guess it's up to me to attempt to market the right image. So first things first, if you want to remain on speaking terms with me, you'd better integrate the word "flameworker" into your vocabulary. Or at least for the general public "glassblower". Because what I first and foremost do and enjoy is melt glass. Jewelry is only a by-product for me, something that enables me to attempt to make a living out of it.

Now as to why I am actually doing it as a full-time job and not as a hobby... anybody ? No ? Well, ok...
As some of you may know, I was trained as a reasearch scientist in physics and chemistry. I first came to Switzerland to make my Ph.D. and stayed there because I was hired by Nestlé to work on food aromas. That's how I got to discover the inside of the magnificent world of the food industry, the operative word being "industry". Meaning that contrary to what we were trying to make the general public believe, the real aim was to make money, not make healthy products... and no, it isn't the same thing.

It was probably naive from me to expect anything else but it definitely triggered the question of whether I could live with it on a long term basis. And to make a long story short, the answer is that I couldn't. I quickly realized that the same issue would present itself wherever I worked and that the only way around it would be to work in a structure where I would be totally in agreement with the aims and means... i.e. on my own.

And since science as the saviour of the world had lost most of it's shine by that time, I decided to turn to something that did not even try to make believe it was necessary to the progress of mankind and which was on a more individual scale... so glass flameworking it was. Because yes, melting glass is fascinating. And challenging. And I love challenges !

So yes, I am one of those who consciously decided to exchange the certainty of a good salary for the freedom to think differently and I've never for one second regretted that choice.

Nothing is easy and I am human and therefore full of contradictions but with every passing day I try to refine my approach to life to bring it as close as I can to what I feel is right. I mostly do not eat processed foods anymore... I've seen how they're made. I strongly believe they are mostly responsible for a variety of ills, including the drastic rise in all kinds of cancers. I try to favour organic so as to reduce the amount of chemicals released in our environment. I try not to get caught into the ambient consumerism... and that's rarely as easy as I would like !
I try to favour locally-made and/or artisan rather than mass-produced, to reduce my energy and water consumption, to recycle (thankfully living in Switzerland helps a lot). In my work I try to keep track of what I use and where it comes from.

There's probably a lot more that I could do and if you're trying to find faults in my approach you will undoubtely succeed but after years of thinking that just quietly doing things was enough, I am now beginning to think that being more vocal about it may not be a bad thing...

What can we do ?

2011-03-29T20:54:00.003+02:00

Watching the news can be a little depressing these days... well ok, that's probably the understatement of the year.
For example, I've just been watching a show on china-made products. It's all very well to complain endlessly about it. Bottom line as far as I am concerned is that there's no point complaining as long as you're not ready to make the effort to buy locally made product. Yes they are more expensive... that's because, among other things, the workers are actually being paid wages that enable them to earn a decent living. Plus that lowers energy consumption, which is certainly not something to be despised. Simplistic approach ? Maybe. Still I believe it's worth trying !

One of these days...

2011-03-24T19:21:00.003+01:00

Nothing new to show today but hopefully one of the pieces I have in the kiln will turn out ok. I'm working on bigger pieces these days - by beadmaking standards- which usually involve blowing a 4 cm gather as a first step. It took me about 30 min of futile efforts to heat my first gather (mostly black) to blowing temp before I realized that the oxy was open on my upper flame, which was why I didn't have the full power of my mid-range. And all the time I thought one of my concentrators was failing... sigh !

Oh and tip of the day: when things get hairy... turn the heat DOWN !

My work on the 2011 Gathering booklet cover !

2011-03-18T11:50:00.002+01:00

I received my copy of The Glass Bead today and finally got to discover the cover of the Gathering booklet, which has my Splash on it. Excellent ! I like that view of the bead too, great photography by Jerry Anthony... I know that my work is always difficult to photograph !

Did I say daily ?

2011-03-06T20:16:00.003+01:00

All right, I didn't even stick to my resolution of posting daily for 2 consecutive days... so sue me !

I've just happened on this very interesting blog post about a glass clay substitue and I couldn't resist passing it on. I haven't tried it (yet) but it seems an interesting process and I must admit I am tickled at the thought of trying to figure out a medium recipe of my own... not sure I'll ever get down to it though ! There are lots of techniques I'd love to try but haven't had time to pursue yet.

http://steiderstudios.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/glass-clay-a-step-by-step-tutorial-using-steider-studios-glass-medium/

Daily musings

2011-02-28T20:49:00.002+01:00

I've decided today to try and update this blog on a daily basis... people who know me would say I always have something to say (although I'm not sure they'd mean it as a compliment) so I guess I should be able to find something to share on a more regular basis.

I've recently modified my workspace slightly to better my ventilation system by extending the length of sides of my conical hood. One unexpected aspect of this is that customers who come into the studio can't actually see my hands right away anymore and in particular can't tell when I'm working on something challengin that requires my complete attention. Since I'm experimenting a lot with technically challenging things these days, it's has led to awkward situations in the past few days and I'm not sure how to deal with that. I guess I should lock the door when I embark on a long delicate piece that requires my undivided attention for a long period of time but it's something that's psychologically difficult for me to do, especially since people can see from the outside that I'm in and working... which is the whole point of having my worktable setup right underneath the window.

Unexpected consequences...

New classes

2011-01-27T10:15:00.003+01:00

For a while now I have been working intensively on a new version of my website, which needed a more modern and efficient look.
I'm not completely finished yet but I've put online a number of re-worked pages, including my *Classes* page, complete with a new interactive registration form :)
So let me take the opportunity to announce a bunch of new classes, which you will find by looking here:
http://annedesigns.netfirms.com/cours.html
It is possible that the form needs some debugging still, although it seems to be working fine from my end so if aynone feels like testing it for me, don't hesitate to let me know. Thanks !

Depuis quelques semaines, je travaille sur une nouvelle version de mon site internet, qui en avait bien besoin.
Il n'est pas complètement terminé encore mais j'ai déjà mis en ligne un certain nombre des pages revisitées, en particulier toute la section *Cours*, qui inclue maintenant un formulaire d'inscription en ligne interactif.

J'en profite pour vous annoncer une série de nouveaux cours, dont vous trouverez les détails là: http://annedesigns.netfirms.com/cours.html
Le formulaire peut contenir encore quelques bugs, bien qu'il semble fonctionner parfaitement depuis chez moi, donc si vous avez envie de le tester pour moi, faites-moi signe. Merci !

Tip of the day

2010-11-26T11:24:00.005+01:00

Graphite or brass rollers, paddles and molds to make perfect bicones are all the rage out there... but no need to spend more money than you already have if you have a few large presses. I simply use the bottom half of my lentil press if I feel the need for a more symmetrical shape to my bicones. Not that I always do, mind you, as I can't help but think that uniformity kills creativity. Still, the tip might come in handy :)
You'll note this has absolutely nothing to do with my flower up there... I just needed a nice background ;)

Another interesting side-by-side

2010-11-15T16:42:00.006+01:00

Gaudi again, this time the detail on a stained-glass door in La Pedrera, one of his masterpieces.

An inspiring trip

2010-11-10T12:35:00.007+01:00

I just came back from a week in Barcelona and I am still trying to digest everything I saw and felt there. I don't know whether I was particularly receptive to the atmosphere there but I haven't enjoyed a city that much in a long long time. I am not usually drawn to urban environments because I dislike crowds, noise, pollution and cars but there is something so human in that city that you can't help responding to it.

Part of it was my reaction to Gaudi's work. Although his work in general has always been part of my background imagery, I had never seen any of it in real life and was totally unprepared by the strength of it. I guess anybody who has seen the Sagrada Familia in real life is familiar with the feeling of awe at the sheer size of it. What touched me particularly was the fact that someone had enough creative drive as to actually be able to put such a project into being. As a champion procrastinator I can't help being awed by people who actually achieve what they have in mind, let alone works of such magnitude and that would have been reason enough for amazement but it didn't stop there.
A number of exhibits detail the way he thought about his work, his inspiration and motivations and I was surprised to discover how much that talked to me. It may sound tacky to talk about being inspired by *nature* but it takes quite another dimension in his case. The organic shapes of his buildings, the bright colors, the nature-inspired details, all of it evoke joy and happiness to me coupled with a mastery that you can only respect.

Found some interesting similarities too. An example below... don't know if it is that glass as a medium lends itself very well to the kind of processes Gaudi was interested in or if I've been more influenced by his work than I knew... of if it's just coincidence. Definitely interesting though !

Sci-Fi

2010-07-09T10:31:00.005+02:00

A lady came into the studio yesterday on an errand for her son. He is preparing the shooting of a sci-fi movie and is looking for a perfume bottle that doesn't look like anything known... How cool is that ? She took my card, I hope he calls me. I have a couple of ideas I'd love to put to the test !

Apart from that the temp is rising to the limit of what I can handle and keep working, even with the help of cold wet towels. I spent too long working with the big torch and the kiln on yesterday afternoon and wasn't feeling well at all. And today is supposed to be even hotter...

Girl just want to have fun

2010-07-04T14:40:00.003+02:00

My inspiration this spring and summer has been centered on fun girlie things, flowers and bright colors mostly. I guess turning 40 has had an inexpected (or maybe usual) effect of sending me back to my twenties and living them again with a new point of view... so I've turned into the girl I never was ! Oh well, can't have enough fun, can you ?

There and back again...

2010-07-02T11:27:00.003+02:00

I just realized I hadn't posted anything here for ages... Since my last post I've been to Australia and NZ and back and done millions of things that I haven't told you about.
I have been back in Switzerland for so long now that I feel it's too late to talk about that wonderful trip to the other side of the world. Suffice it to say that the classes I taught in Auckland and Sydney were great and we all had a lot of fun.
I must say I've been reminded of them today because of the weather, which has all of sudden turned into heatwave mode, and as I was wondering how to keep working at the torch in the heat, I suddenly remembered Lisa-Jane's trick of putting a cold towel on your neck... an excellent tip that I think it is the right moment to share.

And for those of you who will be in France over the summer, here is a glass-related announcement for an exhibition of art glass in the old village of Le Crozet, in the center of France (July 1st to Aug, 29 - Wed.-Sun. 3 pm-7 pm. "Le public peut admirer les oeuvres d'Allain Guillot (copies de verreries de la Rome antique), Claire Montcel (bijoux et perles de Murano), Pascal Philibert (objets en verre soufflé au chalumeau) et Maryline Vittori (flacons en verre soufflé à la canne)."

Almost gone

2009-12-23T11:47:00.003+01:00

In a few hours I will be on the plane to Sydney and NZ after that. Here is another bead in the Volcanoes serie, I can't wait ti be there. I'll try to post updates and pics along the way.
Happy holidays !

Virtual NZ inspiration

2009-12-19T19:26:00.006+01:00

Even though I haven't set foot in it yet, New Zealand has already started to be a source of inspiration. Or rather my idea of New Zealand, which may of course not have anything to do with what I'll actually see there !
This series is also an interesting insight into my thought processes. Basically I like clean uncluttered lines so the longer I work on a series, the simpler it gets. In looks at least because that's not necessarily related to the technical challenges. So after starting with a fairly litteral image of a volcano (a very difficult bead to photograph by the way, it's much better in person), here is where I am now: my own epurated vision of the volcano.

Winter

2009-12-18T10:20:00.004+01:00

My last update dates back a little but I couldn't resist posting a weather update... all white this morning, which is a good thing as it means that the temperature has actually gone UP (-8°C yesterday evening).

And I can look at it with a benevolent eye because in a few days I'll be in Sydney, where the current temp is around 30°C !
Things are getting hectic as the departure date approaches as I need to figure out how to get my tools, camping gear and assorted personal effects within airline weight limits... maybe if I don't take any clothes ?

On the work front, I've taught a number of classes that went very well recently, ranging from Beginning beadmaking to off-mandrel glass rings and blowing at the torch. And I've come up with an idea for a new series of sculptural beads, once again combining a bead basis with scultural elements. I made one that I was really happy with... until I dropped it in the sink together with what was in the kiln that day, forgetting that there was one that was fragile. So no pics yet, hopefully I'll be able to make one before I leave that I can show !

Cours à venir

2009-10-20T11:48:00.003+02:00

Quelques cours de perfectionnement auront lieu dans mon atelier de Lausanne dans les semaines à venir. Next classes:

- 24 octobre : Utilisation des couleurs / Use of colors.
Comprendre les couleurs et comment les utiliser pour donner du punch à vos perles et en créer de nouvelles.

- 19 novembre: Boules de Noël soufflées (il reste 1 place) / Blown Christmas ornaments (1 spot left)
Initiation au soufflage au chalumeau selon la technique Vénitienne

- 14 décembre: Bagues en verre / Glass rings
Bagues sur et hors mandrin

Tous les détails sur mon site.

Is this your real job ?

2009-10-15T19:44:00.002+02:00

I know I should be immune to it by now but I still find it amazing how people cannot conceive beadmaking as a *real* job. A new student asked me today if I worked every day. I guess she meant whether I came to the studio every day but I was feeling contrary so I answered that yes I did work every day but not always at the studio.

She wisely decided to leave it at that but it reminded me of two things: first, which will not come as a surprise to my fellow craftspeople, that there is much more work involved than sitting at the torch making beads if you need to make a living out of it; second, that even people who know me well and know that this is my only income cannot really take my job seriously, mostly because a serious job cannot be fun... not that is it so all the time either, would be more so if I could actually spend more time melting glass. Or that it must be easy and they will do the same, take a 2 days class, make beads and sell them at the Saturday morning market .

What that says about our society I leave you to work out for yourself, but there was even a crafts show promoter that was quoted in the local paper saying that the sellers were all grannies who worked in their kitchens or bored housewifes who had to fill in the hours before their husbands came home... needless to say that I boycotted that show from that point on. And even a good friend whose company I valued much as being the only time I could talk of something else than work once told me she was disappointed that we didn't talk glass technique more. We had met as she came to take a class with me and expected me to be on teaching mode even in my time off.

Oh well...

Forced respite

2009-10-13T14:20:00.003+02:00

Since my back doesn't allow me to work these days, lets talk about something else... like food for example. It's amazing how your mind turns to food when you have to lie down all day ! Especially since half the shows on TV seem to be about cooking these days, all the more frustrating since 99% of it refers to recipes I cannot try. There was one on madeleines the other day that brought water to my mouth so I decided to try out some gluten-free recipes to compensate... and the first try was EXCELLENT so I can't resist showing them off :)

It's really a cross between muffins and madeleines, made with rice flour and honey. Let me know if anyone is interested in the recipe. I adapted one that I found online, it's amazing the number of blogs around that give gluten-free recipes. And the great news is that I will be able to carry with me my own delicious cakes while travelling around the world. It's hard to keep to your diet when you go hungry on the road and all you see are mouth-watering sweets... and when I give up I always pay for it pretty quickly.

A little humour

2009-10-09T20:23:00.002+02:00

This blog needs a humour subsection... so thanks to the person who made me discover the Washington Post Mensa invitational... Excellent ! Désolée pour les francophones, c'est intraduisible !

First day of real autumn / Premier jour d'automne

2009-10-08T12:07:00.003+02:00

Today looks like the first real day of autumn, rainy, misty, more yellow and reds in the trees and leaves on the ground... except for the temperature, which is still around 22°C after yesterday's unbelievable 26°C ! I feel the need for spring colors to compensate so here is a little picture of some simple but fun off-mandrel glass rings.

Aujourd'hui c'est la première vrai journée d'automne, pluvieuse, brumeuses, des feuilles sur le sol, du jaune dans les arbres... sauf qu'il fait toujours 22°C, après les 26 d'hier ! Bizarre...
J'ai besoin de couleurs vives pour compenser, donc voici une image de quelques bagues en verre acidulées.

Gluten free travel... yeah !

2009-10-06T19:18:00.005+02:00

Internet is great ! While planning my trip to the antipodes, I was a little worried by the difficulty of finding food I can actually eat (gluten, lactose and yeast free... ) but look what I found :

www.glutenfreeliving.co.nz/
sh1ft.org/food/blog.html

YES !

Internet est vraiment pratique ! Je me demandais comment concilier mon régime sans gluten, sans lactose et sans levures avec mon voyage... et un petit coup de Google et voilà. Cool !

Autumn ?

2009-10-06T11:55:00.005+02:00

It seems to me that autumn is coming very slowly this year... not that I'm complaning mind you. I've decided to use this view out of my back bedroom window to document the passing of the seasons... still pretty green so far !

Il me semble que l'automne vient très lentement cette année... non pas que je m'en plainge ! J'ai décidé d'utiliser cette vue de mon balcon pour documenter le passage des saisons. C'est assez vert pour le moment !

I'm currently working on organizing my trip to Australia and New Zealand over Christmas, which means not only booking flights and accommodation but also organizing the classes that I will teach there, January, 30-31st in Aucklang and February, 6-7th in Sydney. As both classes will focus on introducing sculptural elements made with a variety of techniques into beads, I want to illustrate the class description with smaller beads that exemplify what the students will be making... so I'm blowing ready-to-use bubbles these days and putting together fun-colored beads with them.

Je suis en pleine organisation de mon voyage en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande à Noël, ce quie signifie non seulement la réservation de billets d'avion et de logement, mais aussi l'organisation des stages que j'y donnerais.: 30-31 janvier à Auckland, 6-7 février à Sydney.
Comme les deux stages auront pour thème l'incorporation de pièces sculpturales réalisées par différentes techniques dans les perles, je suis en train de préparer des exemples de ce que nous allons faire avec les élèves... donc pour le moment je souffle des bulles pour pouvoir les assembler avec des petites perles.

Still have some work to do but it's fun and I like trying to break my complex techniques into simpler parts that I can feed to students !

Class

2009-10-05T11:40:00.004+02:00

A picture of students at work as I taught a Beginning beadmaking class in my Lausanne studio this week-end. The class was full and yes there was a guy in it ! They were a very nice group and we had fun... at least I had and I hope they had too. I always like to see their progress from the first circumspect lighting of the torch on Saturday morning to the confident disc-building on Sunday afternoon.

Une photo de mes élèves au travail, lors du stage d'initiation de ce week-end que j'ai donné dans mon atelier de Lausanne. Le cours était complet et oui il y avait un homme ! Ce fut un groupe très sympa et j'espère qu'ils se sont bien amusés... en tout cas ils ont eu l'air accrochés, plusieurs ayant déjà pris rendez-vous pour la suite. Je suis toujours fascinée par leur évolution en 2 jours, depuis le premier allumage craintif du chalumeau du samedi matin jusqu'à la construction de leur dernière perle le dimanche soir où la base du travail est dèjà devenue un automatisme sans même qu'ils s'en rendent compte.

Bilinguism(e)

2009-10-05T10:41:00.004+02:00

When I created this blog I was wondering whether to do it in French or in English. Given that most of the people who may be interested in following it are English-speaking and that most French-speaking people can read some English at least, I'd decided on English. That attracted some comments however so I've now decided to do both. More work for me so I'll probably keep my posts shorter, but this way everybody will be able to read it easily.

A la création de ce blog, je me suis demandée si je devais le faire en anglais ou en français. Dans la mesure où je parle indifféremment les 2 langues, où la plupart des gens avec qui je suis en contact dans le monde si international du verre ne parlent pas français alors que les francophones comprennent presque tous un peu d'anglais, j'avais décidé de le faire en anglais exclusivement.
Cela m'a valu quelques commentaires donc je vais à partir de maintenant écrire simultanément dans les 2 langues. C'est plus de boulot donc mes écrits seront nécessairement plus courts mais bon...

Thoughts on working with glass

2009-10-01T20:13:00.008+02:00

If there is one thing that hot glass doesn't allow for, it is complacency. Any loss of focus, any second of inattention, any moment you spend admiring your work instead of concentrating on it and the piece you have been working on for one hour is fit only for the broken glass bin.... more or less. On the other hand, there is a deep happiness in doing a job that requires you to be 100% in the present moment and it is very rewarding when things go right. I should never forget how lucky I am to have a job that brings me that much pleasure !

My new blog !!

2009-10-01T12:53:00.001+02:00

So it appears that I have at least succombed to the new technological craze... welcome me to the 21st century !