9.20.2017 - Cab-athon

I've had my nose in the torch lately - mostly making fun pendants and these encased domed cabochons.  While the faceted pearls (have been drilled for larger stringing material) are more of a gorgeous gray/blue, they just pair beautifully with this cab.  I'm setting up the Smith Little Torch to make the silver bezel setting for this one - and I may just set a few others... 

Seems though that making these bezel settings is more a labor of love than a profitable endeavor.... or so it seems... but you never know what else will be born during this creative time!

Believe me... I have something "cooking"!!

I've been experimenting with doming some silver disks - and have a great instructional book on making my own silver beads... wonder if that's worth it?? hmmm, I may make silver bead caps on my own, eh?  Anyway - we are supposed to have a cool down by the end of next week... FALL??? where are you? Anxiously awaiting your return, Love Texas.

Update tonight at 9pm at JillSymons.com : )

9.13.2017 - Eye Turning NYC Images

How do  you turn your eye off?  This trip wasn't about glass, or seeking that quintessential feel of the Big Apple, which surprisingly didn't feel big at all?  Are the comfort, beauty items we find pleasing somehow made present and evident no matter where we go?  

This is my take away from a week spent doing much different things than shown here... but these are the underlying sweetness of unintentionally being bombarded by the things I find so wonderful.  Thank you wonderful elements, for finding me. love, Jill

A little info I found online about these gems...

"Cast-iron vault lights (plates with glass lenses set into them) from the portion of sidewalk adjacent to the buildingVault space was a great thing in the nineteenth century. It could be and was used for coal storage, getting the potential fires and explosions of coal dust out of the body of the building. It could be and was used for boilers for the same reason. It could be used for storage for heavy objects, which makes sense when you remember that all those pretty cast-iron front loft buildings were warehouses and factories.

It gradually became more trouble than it was worth. The sidewalks leaked, and the cast-iron portions (particularly the vault lights) cracked under heavy loads. It was lousy space for anyone more sentient than a lump of coal. It was also, until 1997, taxed if it was usable. As a result, a lot of landlords closed off the interior access to the vaults, making them unusable and therefore untaxable, but also eliminating any possibility of maintenance. The tops of vaults were often covered with new sidewalk concrete, to the point where it is sometimes not possible to tell if a vault is present or not.

The New York City Department of Buildings has had some real success in digitizing records, but the focus has not surprisingly been on records pertinent to current regulations. The tax on vaults was handled by the Department of Finance, and those records have not been directly linked to the DoB records. Add this to the physical conditions and here’s the result: there are no accurate public records about which buildings have sidewalk vaults. In some cases there may not be accurate private records: if someone bought a building in 2000 that has a vault that was walled off in 1980, they may not even know that extension is there."

8.16.2017 - Light and Transmission

For the past month or so I've been working with transparent glass.  Of late the sets have been hollows with usually groups of three disks - rather chunky ones... what I"ve found over time is that some colors of transparent glass have a "fiber optic like" quality.  Notice on the lenses above, how the colors are more concentrated and electric at the edges?  Especially light green, orange, yellow and pink...

While talking to a friend we were talking about how to get light into the transparent hollow bead sets.  The groupings of three or four of these disks transmit the light and come alive...   Lauscha glass' Peach and Ice Blue have these qualities....  which brings me to another topic...

Lauscha glass' Peach and Ice Blue have these qualities....  When I work in transparent glass, I almost exclusively work with the Glassdaddy's German Lauscha or Czech glass.  The viscosity of the glass is very different and it also tolerates heat much better than Effetre. (this means no boiling or scumming)...  which, in the end, leave you with a bead that is clean and clear. 

Also - regarding light - some colors are rich, but dense.  Light has to be able to get into the bead... so sometimes I take a darker color and veil it over a lighter one to lighten it up... OR in a set - to get beads that are in the same color range, but different diameters.
I don't usually mix colors in a single bead, but often do combine these pure colors in sets - it's just how I work.  

Also - regarding light - some colors are rich, but dense.  Light has to be able to get into the bead... so sometimes I take a darker color and veil it over a lighter one to lighten it up... OR in a set - to get beads that are in the same color range, but different diameters.
I don't usually mix colors in a single bead, but often do combine these pure colors in sets - it's just how I work.  Smiles, Jill

8.9.2017 - Be Still My Heart!

Remember to come by the Weekly Update tonight at 9pm Eastern - http://www.jillsymons.com

While I have been dabbling in opaque glass and finding my voice there.  I dipped my toes back into the realm of transparent glass and have fallen in love all over again.  I think, (this is big for me)... that out of all the styles I make - sets like these just make my heart pound.   I think these define me - and I'm pleased with that!!  
Light and airy hollows, three big ones front and center... flanked by tall thin light/color transmitting disks (...which serve also to keep the hollows elevated) and several other smaller hollows & disks.  Am I the only one who feels wearing necklaces in the middle of summertime is sometimes too hot?  Are you laughing?  These beads allow the largest ones to float - while the disks are what touch your skin.

Crazy, I know... 
smiles, Jill

On a side note: I was contacted last night by someone who said they loved my hollows (blush, thank you!!) and wanted me to do a tutorial on them.  It seems a little like re-inventing the wheel to me sometimes though... as there are plenty of people who make hollows.   I'll think about it though - and we shall see.

8.2.2017 - "I missed her Organic Phase"

Funny - I heard that comment online about 10 years ago, when I guess I skipped through an organic phase rather quickly! LOL....  I've been making beads now for twenty years, that's a long time - but I confess - I still get excited as I sit down to a torch session to transform rods of glass into bead creations.

I have found over time that when I happen onto a new design - I do it to death, all colors - many sizes and usually for the better part of a month... until I slip off to some other design (to do to death)...   Of course I have my favorite styles, but feel equally at home in all styles... sometimes it's nice to have a style that's 180 out from what I've been obsessing over for the past month.  

 

This has happened to me just recently.  Usually when springtime hits - I'm so ready for the "fresh  newness" of transparent glass - after a heavy wintertime. (ummm sometimes that doesn't hold true, as I DO live in Texas... but I do live vicariously through others and empathize with their wintery situations online).  

I also love the transparent glasses I use, my very favorite is Lauscha - as I can work hot and fast... no boiling and microbubbles... it makes a big difference!!

But, just because I love transparent glass doesn't mean I don't play with opaques...  I just often forget!

But while the opaques satisfy my need for color, I confess, I do love the form and shape.   Not so much chaos of colors all together in a bead - but sets of usually up to three colors. 

I occasionally fall off the radar when it comes to the silvered glasses.  OMG.  The effects are just amazing.So, selling online is a challenge because I make what I like... and hope that similarly minded customers find me.  I always ask for feedback as to what you'd like to see more of... do email - I'm always open to suggestions.

I love these beads!  They're uber high tech with the silver inclusions... all the silver is held underneath a top layer of clear glass so they never tarnish or get knocked off.  They're just so clean looking and fun.  

I love these purple beads!  They're uber high tech with the silver inclusions... which is held underneath a top layer of clear glass so they never tarnish or get knocked off.  They're just so clean looking and fun.  I've explored many different colorsways, denim blue, pink, olive, purple... and of course the silvered glasses.

Yes... these are timeless.  The wire is fused to itself as well as the glass.  They're part of the Ancients Series.  I love these.  I also love that the base glass is not a yellowy ivory... but more of a very pale taupe.  I like the sophistication of fine details... and clean lines.  Wearability and elegance...

So, selling online is a challenge because I get to make what I like... and only hope that similarly minded customers find me.  I will always ask for feedback as to what you'd like to see more of... do email - I like to hear what you have to say!! 

Smiles, Jill

7.26.2017 - Exciting - & ENOUGH

While it seems my reputation is built on smaller, more wearably sized beads... the inner child occasionally comes out and wows me.  While this set isn't complicated, nor the beads overly jaw dropping - I feel that in beadmaking - sometimes we create feeling inside a bead.... or we create a set through which we create a feeling.  I feel more like a masterful artist when I'm creating components that give an overall feel... maybe that's why this set was so enjoyable.  

I play a lot with transparent glass and shaping, through which my designs seem very sophisticated and elegant.  But I do realize that it's hard to take opaque glass and achieve that same level of gorgeous elegance.  But, lucky for us, not all occasions call for that same level of elegance - sometimes just a oddly fun set is JUST ENOUGH.  smiles -  Jill

 

7.19.2017 - Amazing Colors deserve Sweet Shapes

So, do sweet colors get sweet shapes? I think deservedly so!  I'm loving this sleek oval shape... the wisteria ones measure 1" long EXACTLY.  I love the gradient or ombre illusion that is created.  

The shape also a bit more rounded works well for the glittery earrings on the right... and for
the focal below & matching earrings.  Fun. (can you tell I enjoyed making these?)

I have to give a shout out to my sweet neighbor, Katheen, who suggested my using her camera to try and capture some of my problematic colors.  It worked beautifully... so  you may be seeing more of the turquoise blues and aqua colors!  It also allowed me to photograph transparent pink more accurately! Happy day here - smiles - Jill
 

7.12.2017 - Mid-summertime Blues

I was feeling a little low the other day, as a friend had forwarded a FB auction win of someone who had made beads 'similarly'...  but IMHO... not so similar.  I wanted to talk a little about these beads because I also received a comment on FB - where I was asked how the wire stayed on the beads...  ?  I guess the details of the beads weren't obvious, there is a base bead, a layer of wire and then an encasing layer.

You all DO realize there is 1/16" of clear glass encasing on these silvered glass beads that holds the silver in place... this also preserves the sheen from the silvered glass when it's reduced, no silver beads popping off the base bead,  and makes these less labor intensive... no need to carefully polish the beads. 

If  you look over the horizon of these beads - you don't see mostly clear - and a slender core of color... you see silver and silvered glass.  I feel like being aware of the heat tolerance of the silver - combined with applying an even layer of clear make these extra special.  

Update tonight at JillSymons.com - where these beauties are available.  smiles - Jill
 

6.28.2017 - Off-Mandrel... (it only took me two decades!)

I have been mulling the idea of pendants lately... I like to imagine that the holes aren't there (but they usually are anyway)... until this week, when I was looking to create a cabochon type presentation - but limit the amount of post creation work (ie silver bezel setting or beaded setting)...  the idea of a pendant was alluring.

I am continuing my love-affair with the silvered glasses out there - and the simplicity of design to allow each element to sing.  I think this may be the solution.  Of course, I took it in other directions simply because I could... what do you think? Which do you like better?  What size would you prefer?  Cording or chain?

 

I like all the elements I mentioned earlier - and think this is a winner... it's about 1 1/4" dia - which is a nice size to wear close to your throat or on a longer chain.  Again, simplicity  very cool.  Update tonight 6.28.2017 - JillSymons.com at 9pm! Smiles, Jill

Then I decided that the loop of glass might be delicate - and how could I remove that?  I like the idea of a silver ring through a cabochon, but wanted to limit *again* post torch cold work... and managed this...

6.21.2017 - Going dotty in Mayan...

hmmm... do you think she'd be inspired to wear any of the items I made this week? I loved her earring and started to think of dot placement... and how as the glass melts in, it snuggles up to the dot next to it.  This is an acquired mastery... and I am NO master yet.  But it was fun and addictive, can you tell???

We spent some time at Playa Del Carmen, MX and took the time to tour several ancient Mayan temple ruins.  What was amazing was the intricate carving and castings that were on the buildings - preserved for over a thousand years... telling stories of Mayan rituals as well as day to day life.  The burial chamber in the building below was about 150' up in the air, and nowhere was there a railing or warning signs about not falling off the edges.  *maybe tourists in this foreign land have more smarts that in the US... or they sue a lot less!

do you see the face in profile on the corner of this structure?

The eagle eating the heart?

Most amazing fact was that these Mayan people (circa 600-900AD) created a 5 meter deep foundation that was built underneath the entire site so that these structures would be level and true.  Their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy was evident in El Castillo, the main structure at Chichénitzá.  It was said that only twice yearly (Spring & Summer Equinox) are shadows cast by the 9 levels of steps ONTO the vertical sides of the stairs... these shadows softened some and appeared as the undulating back of Kukulkan - the mythological feathered serpent... do you see the head at the base of the steps??  How cool is that?  The base measures 181' sq... and it's height 98'.  There are 91 steps per each of the 4 sides + the temple platform, total 365 steps... (sound like a familiar number?!)

This image above was taken from the web - illustrating what I was telling you about.  I am just floored by the intricate & precise calculations required to make all this possible.  The structure is made of limestone - and they had no metal tools with which to carve... amazing detail carved anyhow, and preserved so beautifully.  Enjoyable venture into the past.  Granted it may take awhile for the full impact of the trip to find its way into my work.  Smiles, Jill

6.14.2017 - Update coming next Wednesday, June 21st...

I just got home yesterday - and have had no torch time.  So... tune in this time next week and see what wonders were inspired by these: : )

5.31.2017 - Color

Last week I had some issues with getting a true capture of the colors presented.  I took a quick snap with my iphone this morning as I finished stringing the sets - and thought that it was an  accurate representation.  Amazingly so.  SO, bear with the fact that the background isn't white...  but revel in the fact that this is what colors they actually are!  Maybe I need to take all the images with my iPhone.... hmmm?
These are just now being put onto the Weekly Update Page that will go live tonight at 8pm EST... on my website - http://www.jillsymons.com There are more goodies that didn't make it into the picture... but this is the brunt of Them! : )  smiles, Jill