Craft Night in Utica

Even a year ago, I was managing to do a better job of keeping up with things here. I'd love to blame it on the bead-making class, but that's really just part of it.

One of the joys of getting older is in still being surprised by yourself. As a child, I rather quickly became a practical, serious one. I used to love art class, but once it became an elective, it was no longer an option. Playing the violin lasted at most a year beyond art class. Eventually, the only creative outlet I did use was writing and that has managed to last most all my life in some form, though in more recent years, mostly as professional genre.

So it was rather a stunning revelation that I still liked a broad range of creative arts. Even more stunning was that I often like what I make.

So, when recently I'd been asked by several folks unconnected to each other, if Mojoz's Craft Night was still meeting, I figured that it was time to try again. All the creative play people engage in touch upon a vast array of needs. Creative, spiritual, recreational, developmental, exploration and any other incentive with which a person creates something, it's often a solitary endeavor. But if social can be added to the mix, everything is that much more creative, spiritual, recreational, developmental or exploratory. And it's a lot more fun too!
Mojoz's is at the corner of Culver and Albany in Utica.

A Propane Tank, a Blow Torch and Me

One of the joys of getting older is that I find myself more willing to try new things and stretch my comfort zone. A propane tank, a blow torch and me? Sure, I can try.

I don't think I've tapped into an inner pyro, but I can't wait to do this again. Christopher and Jacquelyne Rice of CNY Glass Studio and Gallery made combining fire, propane and molten glass a safe, fun, and creative experience. Their class structure of 2 teachers to 4 students and their generous teaching style made for one of the best weekends I've had in a very, very long time. Not only do I plan on taking more classes from them, but since they rent studio space, I hope to be up there playing just for the fun of it.

We first started with simple clear glass. Before we started melting glass, I asked what temperature we'd be heating to. About 2000 degrees. So, I figure that's why I was being rather hesitant to use the flame to it's optimal application. Hence, the beads that retained the swirls of molten glass:
Once I settled into heating the molten glass as high as I could, I finally got the more traditional bead shape:
Then we played with using the flame as a fine works tool more than just an intense heat source:

Then we shifted to colored glass. I still want to know why clear glass will not encase green glass, but will meld to it in partial coverings. This set is just colored glass without the clear glass coat. Similar enough for earrings, I hope.
Then I made a tube bead... an inner core of colored glass with a clear coat over it. The colored glass in this one changes as the heat works on it, so you're never really sure of what you'll get until the bead is finished. Serendipity in creating is a great thing.
And these are the rest:

ooohhhhh shiney stuff!

Coffee & Crafts at Mojoz's was very productive this week. I made 2 necklaces, one bracelet and 2 sets of earings.

One earing set was for myself:
Then Saturday, I made 2 rings:


There are worse ways of spending a Saturday.
Maimun