Self Taught Jewelry & Glass Artist--Learn New Skills

At the V-day trunk show, I was asked several times how I learned metal smithing & fused glass.

I have no formal training per say. I have taken one metal smithing class from the Craft Guild of Dallas and one fused glass from Cheryl at Art Glass Decor.

The rest I learned by checking out online resources like Ganoskin, Warm Glass Boards, and visiting other artists blogs/websites who so generously share their expertise! Plus, I'm an avid reader....I have read several of Tim McCreight's books for metal smithing and have found them to be an invaluable reference.

Just recently, I was introduced to Smart Flix. It is an online video rental service for how to's /education. Under the Arts & Crafts section, they have several titles under both Glass & Jewelry Making. I was really tickled to see the advanced stone setting DVD for rent by Blaine Lewis because I just saw in Rio Grande for over $150. Ouch! The $25 rental seems so much more reasonable to me!!!! The cool thing about Smart Flix is that they have so many categories...I would love to learn better photography skills....

And of course, there is nothing like PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! :)

Have a Fab Day and here's to learning a new skill!

Checkered Green & Orange Fused Glass Plate

I'm still experimenting with my medium of the moment, Warm Glass! I just love the way this "wavy/ruffled" oh so happy colored checkered serving plate turned out!

I used Bullseye (BE) 90 COE opalescent glass-green & orange. I cut two 3 inch squares for each color. I laid them down with the opalescent on the kiln paper. I added a 6 1/8 inch square piece of irridized glass on top and did a full fuse in my kiln, annealed and waited patiently until it cooled ( the oh so hard part...it is so tempting to peek!)

I cold worked the edges by beveling with my grinder and then giving the edges a good clean with a wire brush and water.

I "dusted" ceramic fiber blanket "chunks" with kiln wash* and placed them randomly along the outer edges of the square plate (the plate has been flipped so the irridized glass is now on the bottom) making sure the chunks allowed the plate to slump in the middle.

I then placed this set up in the kiln and slumped, annealed and once again waited patiently for the plate to cool.

I love the "organic" wave/ruffle design on the outer edges of this design and the bold, bright and happy colors!

Checkers with a twist anyone? :)

P.S.
I got this "dusting tip" from the Warm Glass boards. If you are a fused glass addict like myself, it is a wonderful resource!