2018 was pretty much a crappy year. I was ready for it to be totally over by the time March rolled around, and it only got worse from there. Family health issues were surreal (to put it mildly), and the punches just kept on coming. And then there are the cat issues (one diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease, another with lymphoma and a third had knee surgery. Add to all of that the incessant rain, and things just were a jumbled mess.
One of the few good things was getting Malik, our new F1 Savannah boy. He is exceptionally social and is my constant shadow when I am home. A new travel trailer also meant a few short trips to test things out (and to take the Savannah's camping). That bit, at least, was good.
I put together a new class for Pennsic that covers a more basic approach to a Viking Age Norse woman's wardrobe than my Textiles and Dress class covers. It seemed to go over well and I plan to teach it again. That class also ended up leaving me with a ton of questions regarding our perception of Viking Age beads (and specifically brooch swag and necklaces) and down the research rabbit hole I went.
I also got back to the garage and got my glass studio cleaned up and I am now working like mad out there ever weekend. Glass is unlike any other artistic material I have ever used. When working with paints, the results for color are predictable (red and blue make purple). That is not always the case with glass, as the chemical compounds that provide the coloration can produce interesting results, as can the amount of heat you use, the time it is heated, how much propane is in the flame, and a dozen other factors. Heck, even the rod of glass can change color when inserted into the flame (or again when it is annealed). It all makes for some pretty fantastic experiments (which is something I love doing anyways).
So I am steadily working to improve my technique in making beads, with two goals in mind. The first is to be better able to reproduce period bead types, and the second is for some more mundane artistic exploration with glass. I am completely in love with this art (and have not yet set the garage on fire)!
Along with this hands-on practice, I am trying to read and take notes on my stash of period glass literature. I have so many questions surrounding frequency of beads in graves (in relation to other aspects of the graves) that I hope to answer and compile into something useful.
Below are a few images of my revised studio set up, as well as some of my (non-period) experiments with glass. Many of them are just my testing colors of glass that I have, and others are exploring techniques.
One of the few good things was getting Malik, our new F1 Savannah boy. He is exceptionally social and is my constant shadow when I am home. A new travel trailer also meant a few short trips to test things out (and to take the Savannah's camping). That bit, at least, was good.
I put together a new class for Pennsic that covers a more basic approach to a Viking Age Norse woman's wardrobe than my Textiles and Dress class covers. It seemed to go over well and I plan to teach it again. That class also ended up leaving me with a ton of questions regarding our perception of Viking Age beads (and specifically brooch swag and necklaces) and down the research rabbit hole I went.
I also got back to the garage and got my glass studio cleaned up and I am now working like mad out there ever weekend. Glass is unlike any other artistic material I have ever used. When working with paints, the results for color are predictable (red and blue make purple). That is not always the case with glass, as the chemical compounds that provide the coloration can produce interesting results, as can the amount of heat you use, the time it is heated, how much propane is in the flame, and a dozen other factors. Heck, even the rod of glass can change color when inserted into the flame (or again when it is annealed). It all makes for some pretty fantastic experiments (which is something I love doing anyways).
So I am steadily working to improve my technique in making beads, with two goals in mind. The first is to be better able to reproduce period bead types, and the second is for some more mundane artistic exploration with glass. I am completely in love with this art (and have not yet set the garage on fire)!
Along with this hands-on practice, I am trying to read and take notes on my stash of period glass literature. I have so many questions surrounding frequency of beads in graves (in relation to other aspects of the graves) that I hope to answer and compile into something useful.
Below are a few images of my revised studio set up, as well as some of my (non-period) experiments with glass. Many of them are just my testing colors of glass that I have, and others are exploring techniques.
    |    |
RSS Feed