Member Interrogations - Julia Hay

Today is my first time publishing the member interrogations blog post for FHFteam so first I'd like to say a big thank you to our Hazel Ward for doing such an amazing job working on the team blog over this past year and another big thank you for compiling this wonderful pop quiz for our members :-D

Today we are saying a warm hello to Julia of Pandanimal Lampwork Glass who gives us a peek into her glassy world


1 - Your name:

Julia Hay

2 - Your shop name and address:

Pandanimal Lampwork Glass www.pandanimal.co.uk The name Pandanimal came from a writing exercise I was once given: "create a fictional character". I invented a wise old creature who was a mixture of all kinds of animals: mammal, reptile, bird and amphibian. He was "pan-animal", but that sounded odd so I stuck a "d" in the middle and Pandanimal has been my online persona ever since.

3 - Describe your artistic style in three words:

organic, eclectic, eccentric

4 - When did you first start working with glass and how did you get started? 

I have always dabbled in beading for as long as I can remember. A good friend taught me some basic seed-beading techniques and I developed them into simple bracelets. Then I started looking for beads to embellish what I was doing and came across lampwork. I took my first lampwork course with Barbara Mason in January 2008. The moment I melted the first rod in the flame I knew I was hooked. Could it be the pyromaniac in me?

5 - What do you love most about your craft?

I love watching the glass melt and flow; I love having the freedom to create, or try to, anything I want.

6 - If you could take a class with any artist (in your field or otherwise) who would you choose and why?

I greatly admire the fine detailed and stringer work of many artists, like Dora Schubert, Mindy Macgregor, Lorna Prime, ...........I honestly don't think I have the patience to learn how to do it as well as they do though. But if I could truly choose any one at all I would step back in time and visit the Saxon glass bead makers. I would love to learn how they managed to make beads using such primitive equipment and presumably making glass themselves from scratch. To follow the process through from raw materials to bead would complete a journey.

7 - Do you have a favourite piece of your work that you can share with us?


Most of the time my latest piece of work is my favourite. I am currently working on a project I call "80 heads around the world" drawing on cultural art from across the globe to inspire tribal heads that represent that culture to me. So far it has been a wonderfully inspiring and interesting project and it is all thanks to the Frit Happens monthly challenge that I started it!

8 - Where do you find your inspiration?

I love stone in all its varied forms: pebbles on the beach, ancient carved stones, semi-precious stones, standing stones, fossils. I try to recreate in glass the textures, shapes, histories of stone. I am also inspired by the colours and moods of nature and the landscape around me in Wiltshire and, more recently the glass bead and jewellery finds from ancient times and also the unnatural weird and wonderful imagery in the computer games my children and I play.

9 - What’s your favourite technique within your medium?

At the moment, bung bicarb on it! I am having wonderful fun working very hard experimenting with sodium bicarbonate on different types of glass to see how they react to it. Sometimes the result is fantastic and sometimes it is a disaster.

10 - Where do you create your work?

I have my torch set up on a table in our entrance hall, that way I can work and still be around everyone else in my family.

11 - Do you have a favourite colour scheme or range when you’re creating pieces?

I am drawn to blues and greens most of the time - when I am not using grey for my pebbles that is.

12 - Can you give us a quotation/lyric/piece of advice that sums up your approach to life and your craft?

Real artists ship! - Steve Jobs. I do have to try to remember this. I have a tendency to put beads in boxes saying to myself "I will do another, even better one, tomorrow." I am, as a lot of us are, my own worst critic.

13 - The most serious question of all: if you could meet any fictional character, from TV film or literature, who would it be and why?

Hmmm.....This is a tough question. I think it would have to be Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. I think he would be interesting to talk to and might just have some words of wisdom to impart. And of course there are his fireworks! Could it be the pyromaniac in me?

14 - Finally, what are your plans or hopes for your work in the future?

I want to explore the ancient side of glass making a lot further to see what inspiration there is there for modern beads. I will continue with my 80 heads around the world project and finish it. I am also planning to work a lot more with mixed media, drawing in other interests: felting, paper making, ceramics and textiles, to name a few.

Thank you so much Julia for such an interesting read.

Member Intro Lesley Nixon (Mad Cat Glass)

A new feature for the FHF team Blog get to know our members and what makes us tick.

First up is the lovely Lesley of Mad Cat Glass a lampworker and sometimes jewellery artist she makes some funky focals.


My name is Lesley Jane Nixon and I am ALMOST 40 years old. I have been working with glass for almost 7 years from my home studio in North Staffordshire.

Lots of different things inspire me as I have lots of different 'styles' ... everything from our beautiful countryside, to friendly aliens inspires me :)

It has to be one of my vikings ! To be honest, I can't really single one specific bead out, but discovering my vikings was a real victory for me ... I really felt as though I could finally call a particular design my own :)

Visit Mad Cat Glass on Etsy and see Lesley's  Work

The teams week on etsy

We have some lovely listings appear on etsy from the team every week and three weeks ago I started a team picks treasury to showcase the latest and greatest from members.

So firstly I had better give you the previous links before I start nattering on about this weeks stunning submissions
3-10 Jan Team Picks
11-17 Jan Team Picks

This week the listings were more beautiful than ever, everyone is picking up the pace after a long rest from last month and there was just so much to choose from.
We are leading this week with Sarah Downton's listing - Silver waters a luscious turquoise, teal, emerald and green encased in sparkling clear. Also in the treasury you will find Dawn Turner, certainly not new to the forum but her brand spanking new etsy shop was only opened last week and her fused coasters are selling out just as fast as she is listing them check them out before they are all gone again. Oh and if you haven't seen flyingcheesetoaties glass bunnies I suggest taking a quick peek, available as a paint your own or clear glass. Perfect for easter.  

Take a look at the rest of the week in 12 pictures in the treasury

Scarlet xx

Emerging Challenge - Emma Mackintosh

FHFteam are running a challenge right now on the theme "emerging" Here is a stunning pixie pendant entered by Emma of Flying Bead



Emma Says:
I was inspired by an article in the latest glassline magazine, showing bandaged faces. They are glass sculpture but I wanted to do a pendant with an Eastern, semi-veiled look - emotions/character emerging from the veil. The idea of a face half-hidden, half in view behind a veil is really appealing. I wanted a nomad, the glass had other ideas and I've ended up with very otherworldly pixies, but still with that half-veiled/half-revealed image. Their eyes have lots of expression - and again, eyes are a mirror of feelings coming from within, half-veiled and half-revealed.

You can find more stunning jewellery and lampwork created by Emma at Flying Bead

Pick of the week - Snow Queen

Soft white snow drifting lazily from heaven to settle, a soft duvet on the ground. Desolate and solitary beauty and wintry white whimsy have inspired this weeks FHFteam's Snow Queen picks from me. Hope you like, Jolene

Featured this week are

Greay Lace bracelet by jowalker68
Found - lentil almpwork bead by flyingbead
Gold-Lilac Keishi Freshwater Pearl Necklace by sallygraddondesigns
BBA crosstitching glass beads by bubblefizz
Sculptural butterfly wedding tiara by littlecastledesigns

Resolutions Challenge - VeeBead Vicki

FHFteam are running a challenge right now on the word theme of Resolutions. Here is the stunning bracelet entered by Vicki of VeeBeads.


Vicki says:
For various reasons I am unable to torch at the moment, so I made a resolution to actually start making stuff with the beads I have made to date, and to learn and incorporate bead weaving and wirework into my jewellery. This bracelet represents a realisation of that resolution. The unusual shape of the Clare Scott beads just shouted to be a frame, so I was determined to use those as part of the design, and there was a tutorial in a bead magazine which I adapted to make the woven cuff. This bracelet has been many, many weeks in the making, and has been through many incarnations, but I am happy with the final result.



You can find more lovely glass by Vicki at VeeBeads

Resolutions Challenge - Lynn Davy

FHFteam are running a challenge right now on the word theme of Resolutions. Here is a stunning entry by Lynn Davy.

Lynn Says: The word has many meanings but I have chosen to focus on the aspect of personal resolutions, of the sort that many of us make when each New Year rolls around: to become better people by cultivating our positive traits and conquering our negative ones.

Resolutions Pendant - Inner Beauty, Outer Strength



You can find more stunning jewellery and fantastic beadweaving tutorials by Lynn at nemeton

Resolutions Challenge - Ingrid Brunt

FHFteam are running a challenge right now on the word theme of Resolutions. Here is the first beautiful entry by Ingrid Brunt of Brunties Beads.

Ingrid says:
I have risen to the challenge, "to create something lovely inspired by the word/theme RESOLUTIONS" I've gone with the one resolution I seem to make every year....to be less Goddess shaped.



You can find more lovely beads by Ingrid at BruntiesBeads

Sparkle Challenge - Julie Haveland Beer

FHFteam are running a Seasonal Sparkle Challenge right now and here are three beautiful sparkly listings from Julie Haveland Beer.

Julie says:
I grew up surrounded by crafts – it was just something everyone did, whether for pleasure or practical use. Not only did this environment give me the love to create, it also gave me the confidence to try out all sorts of craft hobbies as I grew up. In 2003 I picked up a book on chain maille. As time went by I invested in a kiln to fuse glass and later fire Precious Metal Clay. Late 2007 I Googled for an answer to a fusing problem I had, and stumbled upon the Frit Happens! Forum – what a joy to meet so many glass-mad people! The following spring I met with a few bead makers from the forum, and I totally fell in love with the way they teased beautiful beads out of molten rods of glass. Within a week I had ordered the start-up kit, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history :-).







You can find more lovely glass by Julie at DolmairicDesign

Screen-printing On Glass

I thought I'd post something a bit different, mainly because that pretty much sums up my studio practice. My name's Rachel and I'm a member of the FHF Team. I'm a full-time glass artist and have been working with glass for about 9 years now, setting up my studio just under a year ago in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Anyway, although I teach beadmaking, I don't sell my beads, I'd much rather admire other people's! So I thought I'd do a quick introduction to one of the other techniques that dominates my practice: Screen-printing. I use special screen-printing enamels that are kiln-fired onto the glass, which can then be further slumped or cold-worked, the options are endless!



The first thing you need is an image, I found one my sister had doodled in her living room and swiped it, as you do! I then scanned the image and printed it onto acetate ready to be exposed onto a screen. The acetate is key as it allows the light to pass through and the black ink blocks the light where you want the enamel to later print through.



I coat the screen with a photo-sensitive emulsion, that is exposed to light with the acetate sheet on top of it, to create the designs I want to print. I then cut the glass to size, in this case a circle with a hole drilled in it for hanging and then print the enamel onto it using the screen and a squeegee to push the enamel through the mesh.

Once printed, the glass is then fired at around 700 degrees in this case, as I wanted to keep the circle flat and the enamel to go nice and shiny. The whole process took less than a couple of hours and hopefully shows you how easy it is to put custom designs onto glass. As you can see from the screen, which is A4 size, there are some other bits and bobs I'm working on at the moment for Christmas, so please visit my Etsy for more gift ideas.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Newbie Lampworker!

Dots. I hate them. I just can’t control the blasted things and they end up all over the place, all sorts of different sizes, or just plain splodgy. Practise, practise, practise? Bah, I don’t have the PATIENCE for that! I want perfect dots and I want them NOW!

Why do I want to be able to do dots? Well, I see everyone else with their beautiful dotty and bumpy beads and I want to be able to do the same, but without the wasting of glass and gas and time and energy and.... well, you know what I mean. I’m mean.

And I hate the frustration of it too, I find I get so wound up that I just don’t want to do it any more, and I give up trying and go do something else which does not require blasted dots! In fact, I gave up trying dots within my first month of lampworking.
My early "dots". Oh dear........

I am only just now, five months on, giving them another real try.
And it’s painful, it’s like pulling teeth or fingernails. It hurts. But I am going to persevere this time, and I’ll tell you why.

Dots deserve our love. That bright yellow dot in the blue sky, the millions of sparkly dots on the night sky, the dots of Braille that enable people to read, a baby’s beautiful big eyes......Without that dot at the end of a sentence the sentence would never end. Dots are everywhere around us and deserve love and respect. Yay for dots!
And to all those of who have made the time and effort to practise and perfect those lovely dots, I applaud and respect you, and I apologise for being mean!

Last weeks Dots, much better! Still needs PPP though :-)

You can find me on Etsy :-)

Sparkle challenge - Josephine Wadman

FHFteam are running a Seasonal Sparkle Challenge right now and here is a beautiful sparkly listing from Josephine wadman.

Josephine says:
I live in Somerset with my husband and our two daughters. I had been making jewellery for just over a year when I came across lampwork on the internet. I bought a hothead and was hooked. Within a month I had been on a beginners course with Barbara Mason and ordered a Minor setup. Three and a half years later beadmaking has taken over my life....not to mention part of the garage which has been transformed into a workshop. I work fulltime making beads and jewellery and also teaching beadmaking. The novelty and of melting glass hasn't worn off and I doubt it ever will. I have always enjoyed various creative activities and feel very lucky that one of these has now become my job. An added bonus are all the friends that I have made through beadmaking, many of them other members of FH.



You can find more lovely glass by Josephine at Josephine Wadman

Pick of the Week - Spotlight on Black Magic

Dark and moody, beautiful, elegant, uplifting. A touch of understated class from FHFteam this week. Hope you like 'em.

Jolene

Featured this week are

Classic black handmade chiffon ribbons by SowZere
Tardis Wormhole by steampunkglass
Black Jacks by crogdlws
Black Boro bracelet by ceardannanjewellery
Magic circle neclace by jeanniegems

Twightlight team treasury

One of our members HelenBlueFairy recently made this delicious team treasury in fabby violet and moody purples - yum my favourite colours. I am very proud to say it made page 2 on the Etsy hot list with almost 200 views.

You can find out more about
Frit Happens Etsy Street Team Here

Jolene

Pick of the Week - Spotlight on Winter

This evening, coming in late from the studio, fingers numb with cold and a hint of frost on the window I couldn't help but begin to feel festive...this week's picks are all images that for me capture something special about the feel and mood of the coming season

this weeks picks are

Pastel Icicle Beads Set by Shahlaa Walsh
Champagne Garden Collar by Lynn Davey
Continuum Lampwork Glass Bead Set by Clare Scott
Festive Earring Pairs Lampwork beads by lorna Prime
Native Winter lampwork bead set by Ingrid brunt

Jolene

Pick of the Week - Spotlight on Autumn

The change of the seasons is a thoughtful time for me, bright days morph slowly in to long nights and crisp fresh breezes creep from nowhere to whip your cheeks to rose. The redemption of autumn for me is the riot of rich colour that it brings, in this way the season seems to me to give more to my soul than it takes.

This Weeks Picks are

TOO-WIT TOO-WOO Bead Set by Catherine Throup
Every Stone tells a story by Emma MacKintosh
Fruit of the flame, 3 blackberry beads by Samantha Capeling
Arabian Nights Bead Set by Vicki White
Lampwork Soft Glass Implosion Marble by Sean Taylor

Jolene

Two Team Treasure Trail Treasury

Etsy Treasury - Two Team Treasure Trail

Log in to Etsy and get clicking for your chance to win one of the two great prizes on offer - A beautiful Fused Cab Bling Ring by Julie Haveland Beer or a Sterling Silver Helm Pendant by Kimberly Kitchen - full details of how to enter are in the treasury itself.

Good luck x

FHFteam Prize Anagramathon Vol 2

Etsy Treasury - FHFteam Prize Anagramathon






The prize - Peacock Pink Outstanding Knob by Emma Mackintosh

Log in to Etsy and get clicking for your chance to win this beautiful piece of glass art - full details of how to enter are in the treasury itself.



Good luck x

Outstanding Knobs - Emma Makintosh on Etsy Front Page

One of our FHFteam members Emma Mackintosh got featured on the front page of Etsy Yesterday with her beautiful unique Lampwork borosiliacte glass draw pull. Congratulations Emma.

You can see more of Emmas Outstanding Knobs here

Who are we?

I thought it was about time I got around to introducing us properly! So, who are we and what are we all about?

The FHFTeam is a newly created Etsy Team, we are all online friends from the Frit Happens Forum. Although we are all very different in our styles - we have some things in common; a love of glass, silver and all things handmade.

Our team members are lampwork artists, glass fusers and jewellery designers. Many of us were already selling individually on Etsy, but given the vastness of Etsy we decided to group together to promote our shops and help each other.

We have lots of things planned for the Team once we all get into the swing of things. We have already mastered the art of grabbing Treasuries!!

The blog will keep you up to date with competitions, giveaways and general news on what's happening with our members.

We will also regularly feature one of our members and tell you more about them and their work.

So, that's us. Please stop by and catch up and even better - go take a look at our Team Hub