Do you ever sit down to create something and find that you have no control over where you are going? Sounds like many days in my life. I’m talking about sitting down and thinking you know what you want to do, what you want to make, and from nowhere, something else comes out.
Check this out, and tell me if you think it’s me:
Now, I know it’s not some great work of art. The thing is…what the heck? A paperweight? Or marble? Or whatever you want to call it. By ME? I’ve never had the desire to make a paperweight or marble. In fact, I’ve had an aversion to it. Even though I like to look at them. It just happened. And to be fair, this is not a paperweight nor a marble. It’s a tiny something or other that just happened to come off the end of a clear rod.
And what about this:
Again, not a masterpiece by any means but it was the same day. It started out as a bead but the bead release broke and I had grand plans for decorating this chunky mass of glass so I wasn’t going to be beaten. I went off-mandreling.
I scared myself a little bit because I was able to execute it. Not as smoothly and elegantly as most off mandrel glass workers but it got done and to the kiln and came out uncracked.
Sometimes you just gotta play. And let things go where they may. You might not come up with a great design, but you might find that you have skills that you didn’t know you had acquired…or at least the start of them. Now I just need to get a MacArthur grant so I can play and explore all the time. Ha!
Lori Greenberg blogs about beads and the business of beads from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona. You can see more of her beads at her web site: www.lorigreenberg.com…be sure to join the mailing list when you’re there.
Christine says:
I totally love the teeny tiny marble-y thing!
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Mallory says:
Lori, that is just great! I know there are days when the glass wants to do things that I don’t want it to do, but, guess what? The glass usually wins!
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
lorigreenberg says:
Thanks Christine. It is cute, isn’t it? I have no idea what anyone would do with it but it makes me smile.
And yep, the glass wins. Even if I don’t give in, I feel miserable and unfulfilled and it gets me that way! Might as well go with it. Having kids has taught me that principle!
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Sheila Morley says:
I felt the same way about paper weights and marbles, until I made one. By accident too. They are beautiful. I would like to see the implosion in between some of your LARGE newer dot (really bubble) beads. They could be the bubbles!
The heart has 4 different patterns, and I think that could be re-visited in a harmoneous way. Although discordant colors are really me favorite.
Great work Lori!
September 24th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Lori G says:
Thanks Sheila.
Mini marbles for dots. What better reason to make more? I know that Dolly Ahles makes lots of her raised components ahead of time and keeps them in the kiln and then adds them to her beads…what about mini implosions? Hm.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Lori Anderson says:
I loooooove that heart!
September 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm