Trends

Here's what happens. I bead along happily, minding my own business, then somebody mentions a tutorial. Hmmm...I think, and rarely bother to check it out. Then beads start appearing from other bead makers. NICE! I think.....oh, they're from that tutorial. Hmmmmmm.........then MORE beads start appearing. Oh bum, I think. And off I go to buy the tutorial. In all honesty, that still doesn't mean I'll make the beads with it. But in this case, it does. Amy Kinsch's tutorial on storm beads is fab, and, above all, really straightforward. And I could even do it in the dark deep cellar.

On the studio front, I *think* the door and window are being put in. But then, I thought that before, so I'm fresh out of promised finishing dates for now.

Lest we forget

While I was on the course last week, I got a commission for an off-mandrel poppy pendant - I think it's safe to say that I'd have struggled a lot more had it not been for last week's off-mandrel experience. I'll be making some with holes to go on the site this week-end.

THAT poem

I'll take a photo of the final piece when I get it, but wanted to share the epiphany of the poem that went into it. I wanted to create a piece that I could look upon as inspiration, for my chosen path, which now looks more and more like a lampworker's path once my current contract finishes. I wanted something that spoke of beauty and fighting spirit...I found it hard to describe exactly what I meant...and it took me three days to realise that a poem I first discovered as an 18-year-old, by good old Nietzsche, and one of my favourite poems of all times, was already saying what I was feeling, better than I ever could. I finally tracked down a translation, too, after cobbling together a translation myself for ages. So, without further ado, Nietzsche, Ecce Homo:

Yes, I know from where I came!

Ever hungry like a flame,

I consume myself and glow.

Light grows all that I conceive,

Ashes everything I leave:

Flame I am assuredly.

So, for all of us, here's to 'being flame'.

Can you say pretty, please?

I'm at work on my lunch hour. Yesterday, I came home to find that the gables have been mortared, as has the very top of the roof, where it joins the house. No more leaks. The skip out front is fit to burst, it's that full, and a distinct sense of 'tidy up' is becoming apparent. If I say 'pretty, please' - will that ensure the door & window will be in when I get back from work - leaving me free to brush down the walls & move in? What do you think?

And meanwhile, I'm hearing rumours that, all over the country, the results from last week's course are arriving by courier. If I say 'pretty, pretty, please, pretty, please' - do you think I'll have the doors & the window, *and* a notice saying my casts are with a neighbour, rather than in a depot 100,000,000 miles away?

Pretty, pretty, please, pretty, pretty, pretty, please!

Interim measures

I'm off sick at home today, but it occurred to me that I've not shown my interim 'studio', read: the cellar. So I crawled down the steps to take a photo. Yes, that dark stain on the wall is water coming in, when I was torching yesterday, it was raining outside. The worst the cellar ever flooded was by about 2ft - 60cm. Since that would just about kill an oxycon, I've been keeping everything crossed. Actually, with the flash from the camera, it looks less bad than it is, lol!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

...the kitchen units have arrived, the roof has been slated, the velux windows are in, and both gables have been built up. Now, the gap between roof and brickwork needs mortaring, and the door & window need putting in the back wall. It transpired that builder automatically left a gap wide enough for wheelchair access, which means far less workspace for me, but once I'd thought about it, I'm quite happy about it :o)

Day 5

If the other days were busy, day 5 was a veritable rollercoaster! There wasn't much flameworking going on (I joined rods, and that was it), but a few people put some finishing touches to their pieces. Then they went into the kiln, and that was the end of it - no more second chances. Katie did a cold-working demonstration, which was very helpful. Then, we sifted the newly arrived sand and got mould-making, most of these got fired just before lunch. Then we added powders and frit to the bottom. And then the kiln was hot, and that was that. I have to admit, my final design was simple compared to most others, and it looks like every single one will come out beautif......no, let's not jinx it ;o)

It was lovely seeing everybody's creativity in full flow, and by and large, I think we had the teamwork in the hot shop down pretty well. Tom was a star for pouring all of our moulds, that ladle was heavy, and hot!!!

After the final one, it was tidying up time, and that took us to 4.45pm. Time for good-byes and thank yous - to Julie, but also to Tom, Charlotte, Katie, Rowan and Kim. The drive home was quicker than I expected, and so I made it home just before 10pm. Back to the grindstone now :o)