Stained Glass Fun at the Studio

Check out the beautiful projects that my students have created. These projects were made in the evening Tiffany stained glass class. When taking the six week course, you first make a small suncatcher which gives you practice cutting glass, foiling and soldering. The second week you begin your larger project which takes the remaining 5 weeks in class to complete. The larger project is framed in zinc that you cut and solder together to make a finished stained glass panel ready to hang. I would say each of these students get an A+! .....Robin

Studio Fun!

The studio was filled with the sounds of creativity Tuesday night. You might ask the question “what does creativity sound like?” On this particular night it sounded like conversations about art, artists meeting other artists and the sounds created by the various tasks being done. During the Watercolor batik class, stained glass students stopped by to get ahead on their Glass Mosaic projects or finish up their Tiffany stained glass project. The studio was filled with activity and color and it was so enjoyable to have a large group of people working together in different mediums, sharing ideas and encouragement. Dreams do come true.......Robin

First Friday Denton, June 2010

My favorite day of the month is quickly becoming the First Friday of the month. At the studio, the work tables are pushed back to make room for the music and fun. Last first Friday Adam Cline and Joel Dreistadt performed for the biggest first Friday crowd that we have had. Also known as the group White Gorilla, these experienced musicians filled the studio with some rock, some folk and shared many of their original songs with the crowd. Adam and Joel had been playing together for four years and prior to forming their duo, were busy traveling around the midwest with another group. With Adam, singer-songwriter, on his guitar and Joel playing percussion, the crowd checked out the beautiful art, visited with friends and listened to some of Denton's local talent. What a great evening. If you missed it, you can check out the pictures and put First Friday Denton July on your calendar....Robin

Mosaic Class

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. Did you know that the earliest known examples of mosaics made of different materials were found at a temple building in Ubaid, Mesopotamia, and are dated to the second half of 3nd millennium BC. Amazing. Actually, Mosaic work is still very popular and there are some really beautiful and extensive mosaic glassworks in Vegas at some of the hotels. I have always enjoyed working with mosaic and actually made my first mosaic before I was 11. I wasn't using glass then but working with small tiles. In the mosaic class at the studio we are working with glass and started out making mosaic coasters which are not only functional but also pretty. Each person in the class did their own design. The coaster takes three weeks to totally complete because of drying time for the glue, drying time for the group and then application of the grout sealant but don't think we are just standing around waiting for things to dry. The second week the class began their large project. Once again you could make the project of your choice and the projects varied from table top, mirror, to art tile. Check out the pictures of the Mosaic Class.

It's time to Bead!

Beading has always been one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy making jewelry using a variety of beads but of course, being a stained glass artist, I tend to gravitate to glass beads. Although metal, stone and ceramic all make beautiful beads, there is something about the sparkling surface of glass that I love. Attraction to how glass beads look is not the only magnet that pulls to toward them, but there is also something special about the way they feel in your hand and against your body. I am posting a picture of a small beaded bag necklace that I have made. It is made of glass delica beads, a very consistently sized seed bead from Japan, glass crystals and small silver beads. It is really one of my favorite things I have made and having recently sold it, I thought I would share it with the world one last time. I will be teaching some beading classes at the studio and soon will add beads and findings so beaders may purchase supplies. The second photo captures some of my new favorite beads that will be offered at the studio. I can't wait to make something out of those fish beads.........Robin

Community

Earlier this month I participated in the Denton Community Market, an outdoor market that sets up on the second Saturday of each month on Carroll Boulevard in Denton, Texas. I arrived, set up my tent and then set our my wares to join the sale. I really had no idea what to expect or who might be there but as the morning progressed, I realized that this was a very special event in which I was participating. The market was full of arts, crafts, plants, food, and music but most importantly, the market was full of the sense of community. Webster says that a community is a unified body of individuals : a group of people with a common history or common social, economic, and political interests. The participants of the market were a community, a community working to make an event that would enrich our city. At this market I saw old friends that had spent most of their lives building the sense of community in others and a new generation who were following their vision and working for the good of all. Sometimes we need reminders that life is always full of potential for great things to happen. The Denton Community Market is one of them.…..Robin

First Friday May, 2010

I hope you got to stop by the studio to listen to Vanessa Helvey and David White last Friday. Performing many of her own songs, Vanessa "wowed" the group with her voice and guitar. David White plays an incredible guitar and mandolin and together the duo was definitely a crowd pleaser. If you didn't get to see them, they will be performing at Twilight tunes on the square tonight. We hope to have them back in the studio not too far in the future......Robin