A Special Anniversary
June 20, 2011
On June 25th it’ll be one year since I released Steider Studios Glass Medium™!
Steider Studios Glass Medium™
I’ve sold countless jars all around the world and every day there are several Google searches for it, so I know word is getting out. Several distributors have samples for testing and if there’s a store near you please ask them to carry it.
I want to showcase the amazing things other artists are doing with it. If you are using it and are willing to share photos of what you’ve done, I’d love to share your work in a post every now and then.
Without further ado, I present Sandy Dukeshire, of Sandy’s Glass Shack in Massachusetts, whose work I adore:
Sandy Dukeshire: Blown Rose Vase
“Roses and leaves made with SSGM and applied to blown vase. This is so much fun being able to make such detailed pieces for blown work.”
Sandy Dukeshire: Blown 'Crazy' Vase
“This was just a crazy thing! It was a great project to get me through the learning process.”
Sandy Dukeshire: Blown Calla Lily Vase
“Calla Lillys fired and applied to blown vase. They were very cooperative to work with and handle well.”
Sandy Dukeshire: Hand Blown Cake
“Each flower takes about an hour to make. Heartbreaking when things go wrong….but boy-o-boy, lessons learned the hard way are never forgotten!!”
- Sandy Dukeshire: Blown Purple Fantasy Flower Vase
“This purple vase has a flower and leaves made with SSGM. Colors are layered into bar form then sliced to reveal interior pattern.”
Sandy Dukeshire's Bug Flower Pods
“I made this vase with attached ‘buds’ and ‘flower’ made with SSGM. My friend mica was added for sparkle.”
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Isn’t her work fabulous?
What are you doing with Steider Studios Glass Medium™? I’d love to feature you in a future post, including links to your sites. Yes all your sites, I’ll promote you with wild abandon! xoxo
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How You and I Can Help Relief Efforts for Japan
April 17, 2011
On March 12th a 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami hit Japan, wiping out many coastal towns. I cannot fathom the heartache of those who lost entire families in this tragedy. And I can’t stop thinking about it.
In the days that followed, I considered what I could do to help. You can read my thoughts in this previous post. I decided to make some sushi sets to sell in my Artfire Shop.
I started by sketching some patterns and designs, then ran some quick small tests to see which I liked best. After narrowing it to these three designs, I asked for help from my Facebook friends to decide which sets to make. They had to be made in between previously committed projects and classes I was teaching.
The two selected designs were scaled up and made into 6″ sushi plates with matching sauce dishes.
When I posted results on my Facebook Page, my friend Katie offered sushi presses that Wayne (of Sticks & Stones) had made to go with my sets. A perfect addition, I happily accepted.
The sets are $95 each and consist of two plates that are 6″, two cute little sauce dishes that are 3.5″ to 4″ and the beautiful 3 part Sushi Press. A sweet set for two, I think it will be quite romantic using them! Or for family fare you’ll need two sets.
Click here to purchase the set above (Whirl Design on Black)
If you’d rather have the Whirl Design on white, you can purchase it by clicking this link.
I’ve given my time and talent, along with Wayne and Katie Cordrey to produce these beautiful sets. I hope you’ll consider purchasing one or two. 100% of your purchase price will go directly to relief efforts.
Did I tell you the carving on the sushi press is the Japanese character for ‘peace’?
Peace to you and yours. xoxoxo
Creative Baking Day with Grandkids
December 21, 2010
Last year my best friend Debbie began a holiday tradition for both our families. We gathered in her kitchen to bake cookies, the two of us plus 6 grandkids. This year we made gingerbread houses and ginger people to live in the houses. Missing one grandson due to a play rehearsal, above is my group and below is a collage of our day together.
Happiest of holidays to you & yours!
Special Holiday Pricing just posted! Join me on Maui swimming with sea turtles, running barefoot through the sand, whale watching, snorkeling with dolphins…. oh, and playing with some powdered glass, too! Join me at Akimbo Studios for a special version of Powderology plus Clay Play together on Maui for five days of joyful creative fun!
Take advantage of the low airfares, book now! Tell me you’ll be there!!
Imagine the first day … snorkeling with dolphins in the clear blue water, soaking in the warm rays of sun and feeling the soft white sand between your toes. Bring your camera and sketchbook to record every inspirational moment to use in class. Palm trees swaying in a breeze, ocean swells, sea shells, botanicals, marine creatures and so much more. We’ll capture the color, flavor and aroma of our experiences. Prepare for the ultimate creative experience as only Hawaii can offer, ending with a sunset catamaran cruise.
You don’t have to be an artist or know how to work with glass. I’ll teach you to do both. I promise. It’ll be fun. You’ll love it. I’ll love it. And we’ll be forever connected to Maui and each other after this magical experience. Join me!!
Steider Studios Glass Medium™ Now Available!
June 25, 2010
It’s finally here! Today is the first day Steider Studios Glass Medium™ is available!
I’m happy to announce the following tiered pricing schedule with two sizes available: (shipping not included)
Regular size makes 12 cups:
Buy 1+ for $9.95 each Click here to purchase at Artfire using PayPal or credit card.
Buy 6+ for $8.50 each
Buy 12+ for $6.50 each
Economy size makes 21 cups:
Buy 1+ for $17.00 each Click here to purchase at Artfire using PayPal or credit card.
Buy 6+ for $15.50 each
Buy 12+ for $12.00 each
Shipping domestic $3.00 per single jar. Multiple jars depend on amount of medium purchased and zip code.
Sample size if you’re not ready yet to commit to a full jar, $3.00 makes 3 cups. ($2.00 shipping) Click here to purchase at Artfire using PayPal or credit card.
Non-domestic orders welcome.
***Please send an email for quantity purchase, ordering by check, or any other inquiries: linda at steiderstudios dot com
Steider Studios Glass Medium™ a thickening agent and binder for mixing with powdered glass.
Applications: Glass Paste or Clay, (sculpting, modeling, pattern bars), Freeze in Candy or Soap Molds then Fuse, Liquid Lines, Traditional Pâte de Verre techniques and more.
Advantages: No residue after firing, no odor, non-toxic, easy to use, ability to carve into and ‘cold work’ dry but not yet fired glass paste or clay; inexpensive; easy to use, just add water.
I’ve spent 10 years searching for the best binder with little or no residue after firing, then 2 more years testing this one. I proudly offer it to you with the following tutorial so you can see some of the ways I use it:
I asked friends across the US and Canada to try it and here’s what a few of them had to say:
“I wanted to let you know how impressed I am with Steider Studios Glass Medium™. I have used CMC before, but your product is definitely better. What I am working on is small sculptures to incorporate into some new pieces. I can eliminate pouring waxes and making plaster molds, and go straight from the rubber mold to the kiln. What a wonderful time saver, but more importantly, the sculptures are shiny and not matt, which at times I prefer.” Avery Anderson, Avery Anderson.com
“Hands down I will buy this product because the results produced are of the highest quality. There is no comparison to any of the other binders on the market. Clear and smooth!” Karina Cross, The Glass Muse
“I’m very impressed with your new binder! It was very easy to get the right consistency to it, and easy to work with…wasn’t sticky or dry, held nicely.” Nicole Hanna, Nicole Hanna Designs
“I find the end result color to be SPOT ON. I am doing a variation of “freeze-n-fuse” and will continue to tweak and play. It’s fun to work with and has some great potential for exploration!” Nancy Barry, Barry Glasseworks
“I found using Linda’s Medium made the glass clay mixture much easier to work with. I have some new projects on which I plan to use the medium.” Shirley Hendel
“I love the product. I have carved my own designs, used it in homemade molds, done a little miliefiori, made shapes using candy molds, cut shapes using small cookie cutters, and my favorite way is to pipe it out of a flexible plastic bottle. My mind races with opportunities that this product presents to my glass fusing!” Shirley Jones, Heart & Soul Studios
I can’t wait to see what YOU do with Steider Studios Glass Medium™!! If you’d like to share your projects using SSGM, please send photos not larger than 3″ on one side. 300 dpi if you’d like your project using Steider Studios Glass Medium™ considered for future publication; or 72 dpi just to share. Thank you!
Try it! I think you’ll like it!!
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Taking the Scenic Route
January 17, 2010
After a quick half-day Glass Clay class yesterday at GlassHopper Patterns, I decided to take the scenic route home on the old highway along the Columbia River.
It was a cloudy, misty, gray day ~ perfect for photographing landscapes for my 365 One Day at a Time project.
I thought it would clear my mind and provide inspiration for this week in the studio where I’ll be working towards a gallery show, “Red“, opening in February at the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River.
I know, I know, these shots are all forest-filled greens and white waterfalls; try to think ‘after-image’. And look at all the red branches and twigs! Not to mention all the color you can see when squinting your eyes at the falls and forest floor!!
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the waterfalls and I’d forgotten the powerful sound of water roaring down the side of a mountain.
When standing in front of a serious waterfall, the roar is deafening, your heart pounds, your eyes are mesmerized by the water dancing downward while the mist cascades over you.
I finally took the lens cap off and started shooting.
Trying to capture the entire landscape as well as smaller, interesting parts of it, I was looking for an interesting angle that hasn’t been noticed before.
In the end, of course it’s all been documented by many others before me, but I had a wonderful time photographing my personal view of a day in the Pacific Northwest.
I hope you enjoy my results and can find inspiration from them.
The top and last photos are Multnomah Falls, in the middle of where I started my tour – at Wahkeena Falls with the rocky bottom; and ended it at Horsetail Falls with the ultra mossy trees. If you click on the photos you can read the photo titles telling which is which. Please feel free to comment as I love knowing what you think about what I’m posting. Whether inspirational landscape photos, glass news and info, upcoming classes or anything else!
Butterflies are Free…
November 4, 2009
…If your name is Diana and you’re my sister’s Best Friend!
Diana has been patiently waiting for her butterfly since August. She happens to be my sister’s best friend and asked me casually while I was visiting my sister if I’d make her a butterfly. Not one to turn down any opportunity to add original art glass to someone’s home, of course I said yes, knowing full well that I had a hectic schedule awaiting my return home. Butterflies are small and I knew I could easily fit them into my work schedule. Couldn’t I? I love these colorful butterflies and my stock of them was almost extinct, so it was time to make some new ones anyway.
Notice how I say them and these, not it? If you’ve followed my blog, you know that I can’t just make ‘one’ of anything, so finding a day to make up a kiln load of butterfly bodies, just couldn’t be done! I wanted Di to have a good selection to choose from so I needed to make not just one, but a kiln-load of butterflies. Diana saw three prototypes from which to choose the style and color she wanted; then waited again until I could finally find a day to get the bodies made.
Fitting them in between projects became problematic because they require a different firing schedule than the rest of the work that generally ships out of my studio. Oh, I got their little bodies made up & fired; it was the final firing with the color and wing patterns that took some time to work into my schedule. Here they are after the first firing joining the wings to their bodies. My canvas ready to ‘paint with glass powders’.
Working with glass powder is a fragile way of working with glass. The slightest puff of wind or bump in the studio can ruin your design, so I had to fit them into a day where nothing else was happening and I had an available kiln ready to accept them immediately after building each one. I didn’t want them lying around my studio waiting for disaster to happen. When working with powders I like to have a color reference and all my tools within reach.
The glass powder is sifted on. Lines are drawn in. Diana wanted yellow, orange and lime green. I used Bullseye glass 1120, translucent Canary yellow as my base color with 0025 Tangerine and 0126 Spring Green opal (not translucent) accents.
I also wanted to duplicate the model in my Butterfly Encyclopedia, so used translucent 1122 Red with Tangerine opal. Then I began wondering how it would look with 0334 Gold Purple and 0147 Cobalt Blue opal accents.
Not to mention how would it look as a pink using 1332 Fuchsia with 0334 Gold Purple accents; or a blue using 1464 True Blue with Spring Green accents; and 1442 Neo Lavender with Gold Purple accents! Alas, after that I was out of bodies again since I’d only made nine blanks, so my explorations had to end. For now anyway.
And here’s how they look after firing. All they need now is a signature and they’re out the door. My original versions pretty much stuck to depictions straight out of the encyclopedia, mimicking true-to-life butterflies. My approach this time exploring color and line was less tedious and much more fun!!!
Diana plans to hang hers in the dining room for wall decor. I like to place my butterflies in my garden strategically where I need spots of color, wrapping the copper spirals around small branches of trees and shrubs. I also keep one in my ‘Pretty Powder Room’. Other glass butterfly owners have hung them in windows, set them in planters, and rested them on counters. Where would you keep yours?
Play Date with Pastels?
September 19, 2009
I’ve been playing with pastels since high school. I love using them and was always on the lookout for a way to get the feel of pastels into fiber or glass. With fiber, you can saturate cloth with thinned acrylic paint, then draw into it with pastels and the pigment becomes embedded into the cloth. With glass, it was close to impossible until a few years ago to get this effect.
If you’ve taken my ‘Exploring Glass Powders’ class, you know I try to fit a lot into one day. There’s precious little time to really explore any of the avenues possible, other than trying everything we can and then playing further with each application after you’re back in your own studio.
Glassline atop BE French Vanilla, White, Black & Clear with clear powder tacked onto substrate. Lower right, white & black sandblasted.
I want to share my tests from one of my favorite products from two companies, Underglaze Crayons and Glassline Chalks. A shameless plug as I sell the Underglaze Crayons on my website and Glassline has given their chalks to my students at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo!
Underglaze Crayons on BE Clear, White, Black with clear powder tacked onto substrate. Additional test of clear capping (thus the distortion)
Both products work like pastels on a toothy, or rough surface. The usual surface treatment for glass is sandblasting it to get a rough surface, but what if you don’t have a sandblaster? Powdered glass! Sift a thin layer of clear powder over the entire surface of your sheet glass substrate, then tack fuse. In my kiln I fire to 1325º and hold for 10 minutes to achieve a toothy surface. When the glass is cool I can start drawing on the now roughened surface.
Before & after firing: White base, fired atop 2 layers.
You can use clear, white, or any colored sheet glass as your canvas. To get the toothy surface without a blaster, you can use clear, white, or any color of powder fired on for texture. Once you have your ‘canvas’ readied it’s time to play with these fun chalks.
Test on clear substrate then placed drawing side down atop clear base.
As you know before I begin a project I do a series of tests. I use the smallest size glass possible that will let me put as much information as possible on each test. For me, this is a two inch surface. I’ve pre-fired a dozen small clear ‘canvases’ with clear powder and am now ready to play. These photos show my tests of the colors as well as differences (none noted other than color choices) between Glassline Chalks and Underglaze Crayons. I also wanted to explore how they look clear-capped compared to fired on the top surface of glass.
Clear substrate, drawing side down on top of white base.
I applied water with a paintbrush to see if I could get the same watercolor effects that you can with pastels. I also wanted to know if there’d be any chemical reactions between the pigments & glass like there is with certain colors of glass. Also, how does it look clear capped; clear capped with irid; or left alone & fired on top of the glass. I always test with clear, white, and black bases to learn how any given experiment will look against a light and dark background. The clear is to audition the surface treatment against any other color of sheet glass.
Clear substrate, water brushed onto drawing, fired uncapped on top of white base
My results after firing:
No chemical reaction atop French Vanilla.
The sandblasted substrate has a smoother line than the tack fused powder substrate.
Colors are difficult to see on a black background.
If the pigment is on the surface of the glass, the excess will wipe off like mica does.
I like clear capping with iridescent glass, irid side down.
You can tack fuse (not shown).
I like the watercolor effects.
Water brushed on surface, white sandblasted substrate, clear capped with irid.
Both products fired the same for me in my kilns; each set of products has different colors; and not enough colors available in either product!
Test: landscape, sunflower ~ not enough color selection for either! Yellow too pale, can't see detail.
Have you played with these chalks? What do you think of them? If not, give them a try! Make a play date with yourself to try something new. I’d love to see your results!
Creativity…What is it and how do you get it?
September 3, 2009
Wall of collaged studies, tests, doodles & trinkets from friends.
I was recently interviewed by Erika Pitera for the Designer Spotlight on My Shopping Connection. When asked “What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?”, I knew the answer immediately.
“My greatest accomplishment is having inspired others… To reach further & push themselves in a new direction after taking one of my specialized courses in powdered glass; or simply inspiring students to find the joy in their own work. Some of my beginning students have gone on to set up their own glass studio after taking a basic kilnforming course I offer locally.
Part of that accomplishment is proving – especially to women who say they have no talent, that they’re not creative or artistic – that we’re all creative beings & their work is indeed worthy and beautiful.”
You can read the entire interview here or here.
Pastels.Texture
So, what is creativity? According to my dictionary it’s a noun… ”the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work”.
Fairy for trading with the young artists I know & love.
The use of imagination. I think that’s the key. I’ve always been imaginative. Had the ability to play, or put myself into an imaginary circumstance and carried on imaginary conversations. If reading a book or watching a movie, I’m transported to that time and place, I’m able to put myself into the story while everything around me dissolves, disappears into an other world. It’s the same when I’m working on a project in my studio. I go to that place where time stands still, and my entire being is consumed with the project, nothing else matters and the energy is incredible.
Embroidery.Sampler
I wonder how anyone can say they’re not creative…. Don’t you have to be imaginative to use up those leftovers for dinner tonight? Don’t you have to be creative to come up with holiday & birthday gifts when you haven’t the extra cash? How many different ways have you come up with to say ‘I love you’ to those you love? I’ve seen some amazing gardens, fabulous homes, and incredible fashionistas all designed by someone who believed they weren’t creative or artistic! That my friends is a travesty! These creative spirits do not believe they have the power of imagination. They do! Believe it. We ARE all creative and imaginative! I believe the difference is some of us take more time to practice.
Airbrushed canvas
That brings up another observation for those who say they can’t draw. They’ve never taken a drawing class because they believe they can’t draw & don’t want to be embarrassed in class. I understand, it can feel intimidating, but guess what? Nobody else taking a beginning drawing class can draw either! YET!! Can you speak French without having ever taken a class? Or any language? Drawing is a visual language. Can you tap dance without lessons? Someone taught us how to do almost everything we know. You take the class to learn how to draw. Then it’s simply a matter of practice. Did the Olympic swimmers gain their medals without practice? Was the World Series won without practice? Does the concert pianist perform without practice? I think not, and the best of artists will tell you they practice to stay at the top of their form
Sketchbook
How do you get creative? Take a class! Learn something that you think is creative and let the energy and fun factor pour over your spirit. Walk into an art store and buy some interesting paper and some color to put on it. Watercolors, Pastels, Oils, Inks. Splatter, smear, and moosh it on then scrape lines out of the color. Go to a florist and instead of a bouquet, buy individual flowers. Take them home, pull out your prettiest vase and arrange them. Snip the stems into different lengths & arrange them again. Add ribbon, marbles, rocks, or weave sparkly thread around them. Explore your local fabric or craft store & take something home that makes you smile…what can you make with that pretty fabric, some glue and glitter? When it’s finished, make another one! Gather some rocks, moss, pine cones and sticks. Arrange them in an empty garden spot. Add something new to it every day.
Glass scraps
Spend time practicing. Have FUN practicing. Leave your ego out of it and just play. Make as many, play as often, practice as much as you can.
8 year old Granddaughter's rendition of ME!
Then send me a picture of what you made & I’ll post it here! Take a chance! Believe in yourself! Any questions?
6 year old niece's fairies
Remember, HAVE FUN!!!
