SUMMER SIZZLING JULY GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Etsy Glass Artists have an ongoing monthly draw for a variety of items made by our members. This month's prize is donated by RWillisGlassArtist


A beautiful kiln-fused dichroic glass pendant.




HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:


Leave your name and email address or some way to contact you (should you be the winner) in the comments section of this post. A drawing will be held and the winner will be announced on July 24th.


Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter on the left to be notified of any upcoming sales and events. Also, use the egateam tag in the Etsy search box to locate all of our listings for sale.

Mosaic: Ancient technique with a Modern twist!

Last weekend was the unveiling of a city-wide public art project- The Easthampton Bearfest!

photo above: popko's bear cub getting some visitors!

If you've ever heard of the "Cows on Parade", you know what this is. The city comissioned artists for the decoration of 30+ fiberglass bears, giant mamas and little cubs. Each was adorned decorate with different meduims- paint, buttons, wire and, in my case, mosaic with glass. These bears are hanging out all over the city- on sidewalks, in parking lots, in parks.

To make my bear, I used handmade fused glass in leaf shapes, and also the glass typically used in stained glass work, all in shades of green. I cut it up into leafy patterns and laid them on the bear. Once grouted they look like leaves and twigs. The title is 'hiding bear', like he is hiding in the bushes and only his head is peeking out!

This took a lot of time; making that much fused glass in my tiny kiln is really a test of patience. It takes a long time to cut, cook, cool and load again. But its worth it.

The photo below is what it looked like while I was glueing the glass to the fiberglass form.

I wanted to use 'fused' glass because it is so smooth and I could add a layer of texture and color to each leaf and twig. I used regular sheet glass for the larger leafy shapes and the rest of the body. It costs less than fusing glass and I dont have to 'cook' it.

Heres some twigs ready to be applied to the form. You can see the two colors fused together to create some depth and color variety.

With this technique I could add glass details around the cubs face without them being sharp shards of glass, and kids or general public could run thier hands over it and really feel the smooth glass. I wanted it to be touchable!

You can see how smooth they are, and the raised areas, in the photo above.
Below, the finished bear hanging out.

The photo above was taken at my house, prior to being installed in front of the town liquor store (first photo). He's hiding.

Mosaic is a great technique that can really be applied to almost anything, using anything. Have some bottlecaps lying around? Glue them to a mailbox! Broke a dinner plate? Glue it to a picture frame! There are certainly ways to create a mosaic for longevity and weather wear, but you can always do-it-yourself and make a great work of art.

Heres a link to a video taken by the local news station. Mines the first one in the video, the little green one. Then Im at the very end in the "Nature" shirt, hamming it up next to my bear while people took photos (and apparently the local news was there too!).

Click the photo below to watch me in the news video!


story by popko

Enamel, Enameling, Enamelist

Basic enameling is shift powder glass to clean metal and fire to fuse. End of story……….
Just kidding! But really, it’s that easy and finished piece would look fabulous!

I began making jewelry over 10years ago. From bead stringing to pearl knotting, wire wrapping… I tried many different techniques. But it was always with beads that I bought from somewhere. I wanted make beads and focal my self. I wanted my jewelry to be truly *ME*

So I took polymer clay class at local art center. While it was fun to make stuff with polymer clay, I felt it really wasn’t for me. It’s just so heard to make them look nice & professional. So I moved onto enameling class and I was hooked! That was about 2 years ago. I’m still taking the same class every week. (it’s just so fun & I love be in there…) And I was using torch to enamel at home for long time but I finally got my own kiln!

Ok, enough about me… what is enameling? Enameling is ancient art of fusing glass to metal. I love how they say in Japanese. In Japanese, 七宝焼 (shippouyaki), 七宝 (shippou) meaning “seven gems” because with enamel, you can achieve beauty of the seven gems.

Enamel usually comes in powder. You can shift or mix it with water and paint onto metal such as copper, silver (fine silver) or gold. Copper is more popular but I love it on silver too. Especially transparent colors are great on silver. After you apply enamel on metal, make sure it’s all dried, and then you fire them so they will melt and fuse to the metal when it’s cooled off. In kiln 2-3 minutes around 1500-degree. With torch you can only fire small pieces but takes about same amount of times.Enamel comes in so many different colors. Just to try some color combination is exciting! If you are familiar with metal work, you can prepare your metal with your own shape and texture but if you are not, don’t worry! There are all kinds of pre-cut metal shape that you can get!! And even with just a circle and basic techniques, you can get the most amazing result!

Here is excellent online totorial by Copperheart http://copperheartdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/05/tutorial-intro-to-enameling.html

If you are more like book preson, I recommend this awesome book
The art of enameling by Linda Darty

And some online resorce for enameling material
Thompson Enamel http://www.thompsonenamel.com/
METALLIFEROUS http://www.metalliferous.com/






Enjoy:)

New Etsy Glass Artist Members

Recently we had three new members join our Etsy Glass Artists Street Team and we would like to introduce them to you. They are really talented and have some awesome creations for sale in their shops so be sure and give them a visit and say HI!

Jane of RDG Designs has hand blown glass art and jewelry for you and your home. As she puts it "Why not give her roses that will last forever"

Barbara of Glass Gardens NW has hand blown glass ornaments and sculptures and was featured recently in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine - Congrats Barbara... So go check out her beautiful shop!
Michelle of Teka and Zoe has wonderfully modern and organic enamel mixed metal jewelry. She has something there that will appeal to every one on your gift list.

Wild Sage Lampwork - Sale Item Of The Day - Pandora Beads

My sale item of the day is this wonderful set of Pandora Style Beads. They are reduced from $22.00 to $18.00 today only. Thanks for looking.

List of Shows

This is a list that will be updated as we are notified with all the 2009 shows and events for all the

Etsy Glass Members Internationally.

There is a button on the left column that will take you here with ease, any time of the year.

If you love glass, keep up with the show list, you may just be able to meet the artist in person!

JUNE : JUNE : JUNE : JUNE : JUNE

June 13 opening

Easthampton Bearfest & Artwalk

Crystal Popko, glass artist

Shop name: Popko!

Event location: Easthampton, Ma

Show info & website: Starting in June 2009, Easthampton City Arts will host a major public art event in the City of Easthampton, Massachusetts. The Bear Fest will revolve around an exhibit of 30+ life sized bears which will have been decorated and painted by local and regional artists. Popko! was chosen to adorn a baby bear with a glass mosaic. easthamptonbearfest.com

JULY : JULY : JULY : JULY : JULY

to be announced

See you there!

May's Featured Member- Susan Sheehan of Susan Sheehan Lampwork Glass

May's featured member is one of our team administrators and has been instrumental in guiding the EGA safely into 2009. Susan Sheehan of Susan Sheehan Lampwork Glass is a full time lampworker. She lives in Exeter, New Hampshire with her husband and 2 children. We asked Susan to tell us about herself:

When did you first become interested in glass?

It sounds terribly cliché, but I got into glass because of an artistic block. I was a photographer and for months everything I shot looked awful to me. I had lost the joy and dreaded finding new images for my note card business. I decided to take a beginner bead making class and suddenly found my creative spark.- What do you like best about what you do? I love the process. I enjoy sitting down to the torch, melting the glass and forming it the way I wish. I have an obsession with making tiny dots become flowers and colors play nicely together.

Is there a pattern in the way you select materials? In the way you use color, texture or light?

I love fashion. I’m not exactly a fashionista, but I admire clothing design and color is a big part. I browse Vogue, am drawn to small designer boutiques and often spend a day just window shopping to fill my mind with textures, form and color.

What inspires you? How are your inspirations expressed in your work?

I am inspired by the beauty of nature and my favorite places, sandy beaches and flower gardens, are often what I try to portray. Fortunately both of those are close enough all I need to do is go for a walk to get the juices flowing.

What are your techniques and style and how do these relate to the medium?

I think my style is dreamy and serene. I love the look of Monet with colors that flow into each other and let the viewer define their shape. I find my techniques lend themselves to less control and more submission to the glass and its ways.

What do you find most challenging about your work in the glass arts?

There is always something new to learn. It is what keeps me excited and motivated. Whenever I feel I have mastered something to the point of boredom I can throw in a new technique to spice things up. I think of the great masters and realize generations later their offspring are still rediscovering a new way to do what has always been done. I’ll never know it all.

How did you find Etsy? What do you like most about it?

I heard about Etsy from another bead maker. I love the interactive nature of selling on Etsy. Never would I have believed the amount of conversation I have with customers through e-mail. I really feel a personal connection and that is pretty amazing.