Twenty Days and Four Oxygen Tanks Later...

I finally have some finished pieces to share! Lampworking is not like riding a bike. I expected to be able to light my torch and just get right back into it, but that has not been the case. After burning four tanks of oxygen, loads of glass, lots of time and a couple of fingers (tried to pick up a piece of HOT glass, duh, such a newbie mistake) I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

Although I have much more work to do to perfect the techniques, I'm thrilled with my progress so far.

"The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow." - H.G. Wells

Salud,

Cheri, aka Coco Black

I'm Making Lampwork Glass Beads

"Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster." - Weston H. Agor

Finally! It has been a long road to get here but I am thrilled to say that I am finally making glass beads in my own home studio!

I was a newbie four years ago when I took my first classes in lampworking and then life happened. We moved away and I needed to put this dream on the backburner for awhile... But believe me, once "kissed by the flame" you never forget. Well, with much thanks to my DH (darling husband) Tim, I have been given the opportunity to pursue the dream of making my own lampwork glass for my jewelry designs. In many ways I'm starting from scratch. At the studio where I learned, they handled hooking up all the equipment, torch cleaning, ensuring the kiln was at the right temperature to anneal and refilling the propane and oxygen tanks, even cleaning the beads sometimes when you were in the studio for torch time... Ahhhhh, those were the days! Here's a brief recap of my first week along with pictures.

Day One - I consider this day to be a comical disaster! It is the day where I learned many of the lessons about what NOT to do and spent alot of time getting to know my torch. When you're melting glass around a mandrel it really needs to be in the right part of the flame so the glass can flow easily. The flame, glass, mandrel and your movement all become one and when it's right you can just feel it! I set out with a lofty goal to make 20 beads on my first day, hahahahahaha! Here is a picture of what I got! I know it's not perfectly round but I will cherish this one bead forever! I've nicknamed it Persistence as a reminder to just keep going and push through the mistakes. This was a lessons learned day that I had to go through to get to the next step. Glad it's over...

Day Two and Onward - After day one, I was over my fear of lighting the torch and stressing that my hoses were hooked up properly and was really ready to start practicing making beads. Now remember, I have had three hands - on classes and practice torch time, but that was four years ago and not my own equipment but a good basic foundation to work from. Here are some pics of my progress -

I've got alot of work to do but I'm pretty pleased with the results from my first week.

On a final note, I want to thank Corina Tettinger for writing the book Passing the Flame, I have read it cover to cover twice and have used it countless times as a reference for what I'm doing wrong, not to mention all of the inside tips and tricks she shares, and that's just in the first week! This book has been invaluable in helping me to ramp up quickly and will never be far from my side in the studio! Thanks again Corina and I hope that one day I will get the opportunity to thank you in person. Gotta run now, off for more torch time and practice, practice, practice!

Cheri aka, Coco Black

Another Day at the Office

"The harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." - Thomas Jefferson

This past weekend I participated in another art show at El Portal Visitors Center at El Yunque Rainforest. It was such a great weekend with bright blue skies and a soft breeze blowing! We all really enjoyed it and met so many great visitors to our island paradise! Here are a few photos -

Our Art Space -

The View -

Diane Cutter Working - Jaymee Weinreich Working - Lisa Wigger Working -

Tom Benesh Working

One of Tom's Hand Sculpted Porcelain Pieces -

The next art show featuring the EDGE artists at El Yunque will be February 28 - March 2 from 9 - 5 daily at El Portal Visitors Center located at the main entrance to the rainforest. If you're in the area stop by and say hi, we'd love to meet you!

In other news, I'm still waiting for my lampwork glass torch!!!!!!!!! The company that we ordered from sent me the wrong one and of course, the one we ordered is now on BACK ORDER! I have been so excited to make glass again and anxious to get back to making my Gypsy Sol charm bracelets so I dug up some of the lampwork I already had and made this, I call her Princessa. Making these bracelets is a great excercise in patience which I really need right now...

If you'd like to see more of my Gypsy Sol bracelets visit my Flickr library at www.flickr.com/photos/cocoblack and click on lampwork and gem jewelry. It will give you a good idea of what these one of a kind collector bracelets are all about :)

Have a great day!

Cheri, aka Coco Black

Happy New Year

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Hi All and Happy New Year or should I say Prospero Ano Nuevo! 2007 was an incredible year for me with many lessons learned and much growth both personally and professionally.

One of my big resolutions for 2008 is to blog and share more about Puerto Rico and what it's like living here. Over this next year I will be posting more often and sharing little snipets of daily life, both the good and the bad! On occasion, I may share an opinion that you may not agree with and I welcome your comments but please be civil, I will respect your opinion if you do the same, otherwise I will remove your comment.

My other major resolution for 2008 is the continued growth of my art. I am so lucky to be able to have the time to persue this path full time and I have already grown and learned so much over this past year. First on the list is getting my torch and kiln set up! Yep, that's right! I got a torch and kiln for Christmas so that I can get back to my first love in jewelry making, lampwork glass. The studio in the garage is all ready to go (much thanks to Tim for setting it up) just waiting for the darn UPS driver to deliver them. The beads in the bracelet on the right are an example of beads I made in 2004 while attending classes at Cave Creek Glassworks given by Marcia Kmack in Cave Creek, AZ. She is such a great teacher! I miss going there for open torch time and learning and sharing with others, not to mention the margaritas afterword at Harold's! Oh how I wish there was a place like that here in Puerto Rico...

Tha't all for now, but I'll be talking to you soon.

Cheri, aka Coco Black