Society of Glass Beadmakers - Norcal

Yesterday I attended my first SGB-Norcal (Society of Glass Beadmakers-Northern California) event, the annual holiday party. What a great group of people! I don't know why it's taken me so long to catch on to the community aspect of lampworking. It has always just been something I pursued in my own little world. That necessary place of creative focus has been primarily a solitary experience. But there are many of us, united by the expression of our creative impulses in a shared medium. And once I lifted my head and took a good look around I found a community of big-hearted, fun and creative people who share this passion for working in glass. What a delightful discovery!

Pomegranate Glass is now on Etsy.com

I have decided to go ahead and open an Etsy.com Pomegranate Glass storefront in addition to my Artfire site. Two stores = more exposure! I'm thinking the Etsy store focus will be on the sale of my lampwork beads for the jewelry designer and the Artfire focus will be more on finished jewelry using my beads. Any thoughts on that?

There are now links to both storefronts in the right hand sidebar. Check them out!

DragonJools: Reviews of Glass Colors, Reactions, Working Tips, etc.

I love this blog:  DragonJools: More on Fire Lotus. This is the post I just read, but I have been reading her things for quite awhile now. She shares her experience working with different glass colors and manufacturers, with working tips, reactivity, etc - and it's all free! Awesome. I've found lampworkers as a group tend to be some of the most generous artists, sharing their tips or even writing up tutorials on techniques they have developed, then sharing them freely with others. It's inspiring!

20% Off - Two Days Only

And, for cyber Monday, a new coupon which gives 20% off for any purchases totaling more than $40. Offer good November 27 and 28 only.

Visit PomegranateGlass' Studio

SAVE 20% Off with purchase over $40.00

Use Coupon Code:

20-PERCENT-OFF

during checkout.

Lampwork Artistry

In Gratitude: Free Gift with Purchase from my On-line Store 11/24-11/26/2011

If you make an online purchase between 11/24/11-11/26/11 (PST) and also 'like' the Pomegranate Glass Facebook page, you will receive a free handcrafted lampwork bead zipper pull with your purchase.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Receive a free gift

Use Coupon Code:

GRATITUDE1

during checkout.

Handcrafted Lampwork Beads and Jewelry

I Was Approved for my SRA Status. Yay!

Back in September I applied for admission to the organization of Self-Representing Glass Artists and finally got notified of my approval today. I'm unexpectedly excited about it. It's not really such a big deal. You just need to submit proof of some of your body of work, your business, web presence, studio/workspace, etc. as evidence that you are indeed the actual artist. They aren't judging the quality of your actual work per se. None-the-less, I feel like I've gained entrance to this special society of artists. I am creatively driven, love to design and create but have never actually gone so far as to present myself as an artist. And yet, I have been accepted. I'm thrilled. I have a membership number that must be displayed anywhere I describe myself as an SRA and the logo to use as well. Here it is:

SRA # B-206

This is how the SRA for Glassworkers website describes it:

We are a group of glass artists who are dedicated to the art of lampworking, an ancient art form that flourished in Italy in the 1300s and then spread throughout Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world.

We work at home in our own studios, making beads, marbles or other glass objects one at a time. Patiently and carefully we strive for perfection in every object that we make. We are from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Israel, Germany... all over the world!

This is my studio, aka the back shed.

That's it. Now as I labor away in my little home studio late at night, listening to hours and hours of NPR and BBC and my own untethered thoughts, I feel part of something larger, a network of solo creatively-driven glass artists. And I feel proud to be one of them!

Tracing the Origin of One Creative Spark

One of my First Goddess Efforts in Glass

Prehistoric Figurine circa 25,000 BCE

A couple weeks ago I was driving home from an overnight get-together with two very close old friends (they are not old, the friendship is!). I was deeply free-associating as often happens on monotonous freeway drives. I was feeling a profound gratitude for long-lasting friendships. I was thinking about glass lampwork because that is my creative outlet and my mind bursts with glass imagery when it is comfortably unfocussed. I was thinking about  my friend’s upcoming event at her home, hosting a speaker for women only on ‘sacred sexuality’ and ‘finding the goddess within’ and contemplating the significance of the ubiquitous concept of goddess in our modern lives. And somewhere deep in the background I was thinking about the prehistoric ‘goddess’ figurines I had seen and learned about on a trip to England in July. Then flash! it all coalesced and I knew I had to go home and try my hand at making my own goddess interpretation in glass.

The creation of my glass ‘Goddess Bead’ has been very satisfying. But, I continue to struggle with the ascribed significance, what I think of as a current sort of ‘cult of the goddess’. But what exactly is this? The concept of goddess amongst many modern western women resonates deeply. It is a sort of shorthand reference for some very primal sense of feminine identity. I have been wanting to explore this topic, in writing, for the last two weeks. I feel like I have only brushed the surface. Bear with me, there is more to come. I would welcome anyone’s comments on the topic as I work to gain my own understanding.