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
The Expo Experience in a Nutshell:
April 9, 2011
The Glass Craft and Bead Expo hosts a trade show that delights the eye and can bankrupt your wallet. I have wholesale accounts with many of the suppliers, so try to not overwhelm my credit card while checking out all the new tools and supplies.
I confess I did come home with a few new toys…mostly from His Glassworks.
You can take quick classes on the spot at some of the booths, most of which are free.
Or you can register for a hands on workshop and take home valuable information. Plus samples that you make in class and tons of notes to duplicate the projects in your own studio.
I couldn’t teach my classes without the support of Paragon Kilns.
Nor could I conduct a class without the generous support of Bullseye Glass!
The wonderful team at Delphi gave my students a host of design accoutrements for our projects.
Last, but not least, my students wouldn’t be able to ‘finish’ their projects without the support of Glastar! I truly appreciate the generous support of these companies.
When teaching, it’s difficult remembering to pick up my camera, so there are only a few shots of my classes.
Most of my photos are during lunch, or after class and definitely on the run!
My students this year, without exception were incredibly talented, intelligent and FUN!
Thank you for taking my classes, I hope you’ll keep in touch and remember I’m available for you anytime.
I’ve spent this week catching up on processing and shipping orders and just yesterday finished unpacking. I love teaching on the road, but am always glad to be home.
Come to the Glass Craft and Bead Expo!
February 3, 2011
It’s already the first of February and my classes at the Glass Craft and Bead Expo are filling up so it’s time to start ordering equipment and supplies. Glass, check. Kilns, check. Grinders, check. Class supplies, check. What am I missing, it’s too easy this year.
I always look for interesting new ways of working with powdered glass and accessories that will enhance student projects. I was the first to introduce dicro slide in my classes and continue to include it. This year I bought some fun murinni from Glacial Art Glass for students to play with and some cool new fine-line laser imagery from Dichroic Alchemy. We always find time to play with chalks, dichro, mica, and more.
This year I’m teaching 4 different classes instead of any repeats (You can read about them on my ‘Class Listings’ page toward the top in the right hand column). Without further ado, here they are:
Each year gets better at the Glass Craft and Bead Expo. I love teaching and getting to know each of the people in my classes. I’ve had some truly gifted and talented students and made some great friends.
We’re at the South Point again making it ultra convenient to stay, play, dine, wine, and hang with other glassists. March 30th through April 3rd in Las Vegas NV. See you there?
Goodbye 2010, You Were a Very Good Year
December 31, 2010
From "Taking the Scenic Route" in January 2010
I’m sorry to see 2010 pass because it was a very good year for me!
The highlights were having my work accepted into the Museum of Glass Store in Tacoma and the Glass Art Festival in Sequim in addition to the usual art shows, galleries and shops where I sell my work. I managed to get two on-line stores up and running at Artfire and Zibbet when 1000 Markets closed. And I’m still very thankful for Tom Herrera of Prairie Star Designs pulling me into his project for Maryhill Museum – it led me to many more opportunities.
Steider Studios Glass Inserts for Maryhill Museum Windy Walk Fence ©2010
Teaching is always a pleasure for me. My classes this year included Aquila Glass School, The Dalles Art Center, Half Moon Creek, Maryhill Museum, Machine Embroiderers of Oregon and Washington, Glass Craft and Bead Expo, and GlassHopper Patterns. My Arts in Education project this year was with Henkle Middle School, making glass tiles for their skylight; and I had several delightful private students throughout the year.
Last day of Powderology at Half Moon Creek in Palmer Alaska.
I think my biggest accomplishment was fulfulling a 12 year study and search for the perfect glass medium with my launch of Steider Studios Glass Medium™. It’s a thickening agent to use with glass powders to make your own sculpting and modeling paste or clay, liquid lines, freezing in candy molds and more.
Steider Studios Glass Medium™
Maybe now I can get back to that book I’ve been working on for too many years!
And just for fun, I’m nearing 500 ‘likes’ on my Facebook Business Page. Won’t you go there and like me too? If you have a business page, please post it there so I can ‘like’ you back!!
Thank you for spending your time with me & following my adventures. If not for you, there’d be no reason for me to write. I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!!
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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!!
Good News, Bad News
October 23, 2010
Opening the kiln lid is like Christmas every morning.
I’ll start with the bad……
Fireborne Glass Gallery is closing its doors today. I’ve shown there since 2001 and have always felt partial to it. Cool little gallery downtown Portland. I became good friends with the original owners, Lisa and Myrna and was the instigator who introduced the current owners, Becky and Len to the gallery when it was up for sale. I thought Becky would be a fabulous gallery director/owner and I was right. She’s sophisticated, charming, and always has a friendly smile for you. I was thrilled when Becky and Len decided to buy it. I’ll still see Becky because we’re friends and Oregon Glass Guild members, but I’ll sure miss Fireborne.
You know me, I can’t dwell on sad news for long….The GOOD news is I delivered almost five dozen bowls and miniatures to the Museum of Glass Store in Tacoma on Friday. I received the order last month and worked hard to get it finished while also producing for my gallery show at The Dalles Art Center this month. If you are near Tacoma or The Dalles, please go see all my beautiful iridescent new bowls!!
More sad news, we had to cancel Powderology at Blue Moon Glassworks in Austin. Unfortunately not enough students signed up to make it happen. I was looking forward to my first foray into Texas, but I’ll get there another time. I’m sorry to disappoint those who had signed up.
Finishing with Good News, my classes in Portland and The Dalles were fun-filled, energetic and most importantly successful for the students! Aquila Glass School hosted my Powderology class mid month where I had extraordinarily creative students. What a great resource Aquila is! My Basic Kiln-forming, 6 week introductory class at The Dalles Art Center will finish up at the end of the month and I’m pretty sure we have new converts to the world of glass. Thank you both for hosting me, I had a wonderful time.
As an aside, my comparisons of Artfire and Zibbet are going very well. In the evenings I’ve added small works like buttons and stars as time allows. I’ve even sold a couple of things! I’m learning more about SEO (search engine optimization) and tweaking both shops with each new page of information I read. Do you have advice for selling on-line? I’d love to hear it!
Like this:
Preview of Glacier Series, Shopping for Shops
October 3, 2010
My show at The Dalles Art Center opens Thursday evening, October 7th, where I’m premiering my new Glacier Series. The reception is from 5 pm to 7 pm on the 7th, and I’d love to see you there if you’re in the area. My artwork along with Anthony Kiser’s and Scott Berger’s has been installed and runs through Oct. 23rd.
Many of you know that 1000 Markets has closed and I’ve been scrambling to find a replacement venue. Our shops were transferred to Bonanza, for which I am grateful – uploading photos and descriptions, sizes and prices of every available piece of work can be tedious. I’m not sure however, if Bonanza is a good fit for my work. That’s where I temporarily parked my glass medium. (Edit: it’s now available at Artfire). I plan to sell my other tools and supplies for glassworkers also that you may have seen (and some of you have phoned to purchase) on my website.
After investigating price, ambience, ease of use, and what other artists are showing, I decided to try Artfire. It has Art in it’s name – isn’t that a good thing? And I can sell art supplies there. One of the advantages to Artfire is I can have a kiosk on my Facebook Page! After each long studio day this week I managed to get a front page open and upload a couple photos and descriptions. As I said, this is tedious, even though it’s a simple copy & paste plus upload photos that are already cropped and sized.
Midweek I stumbled across a post in a 1Km Refugee forum that Zibbet had also imported all our shops like Bonanza did. We have until Oct. 5th to open a shop there and utilize their import of our items. I decided to jump in and try it & am so glad I did. I think I’m going to love it. The owner has already given me a new classification for my recycled glass wall pockets that didn’t fit any categories.
For now, I think I’ll leave the Bonanza shop up to see how it plays out, but my real comparison will be between Artfire and Zibbet. Which of the three do you like best? I’d love to have your feedback!
There are a couple other places I’d like to try out, but like everything else right now they’ll be on the back burner waiting their turn. Are you selling on-line? Where? Go ahead – plug in a link to your shop so everyone can see it in the comments section below.
Here are a few of those places I’m looking at, in the order that I’m going to take a closer look (if I ever have a spare moment again):
I have signed up for Etsy also, but it didn’t seem intuitive to me. It’s another one I will probably get back to. Do you have recommendations or criticisms of any?
By the way, my banner for Bonanza was given to me by Alilbirdy2, another Bonanza member. She thought my plain banner (the one I’m using for Zibbet) needed tweaking. I used a combination of hers and mine for Artfire. Not a graphic designer, I’m always appreciative of any help!
North to Alaska! A Working Vacation…
August 12, 2010
Welcome to Palmer Alaska
Half Moon Creek is an amazing glass gallery, Bullseye Resource Center and studio. The owner/partners treated me like a queen and lined up a full class of incredible students. Four days together without a hitch or a glitch. I adored each student and the tiles they produced were nothing short of inspirational. I can’t stop thinking about my experience, it was one of those adventures that I’ll remember the rest of my life. The land and the people.
After landing in Anchorage, we headed south along the shore.
I’ll try not to overload you with over 1000 photos that I took, but only a few to tantalize. I arrived a day early and took a quick trip south of Anchorage to find glaciers, whales, bear, moose, eagles, and everything wild that I’d read about Alaska.
broken off glacier
I found a glacier just before going into the tunnel leading to Whittier. Or a piece of one, broken off, I later learned.
Elk at Wildlife Refuge, south of Anchorage, Alaska
I found elk, bison, caribou, and moose at the wildlife refuge but never saw one in the wild. Didn’t see any bears either. I was really looking forward to seeing a bear.
I took hundreds of photos, but don't want to spend my time processing & editing!
It rained and clouds settled in during my entire week there, with rare exceptions. I didn’t care, I was THERE. In Alaska! I planned to experience every moment, in the moment from my class to the daily treks after class. The sun only sets for a couple of hours in August, so I had all day to teach and all night to explore.
Morning of Museums around Palmer & Wasilla
We played tourist to the hilt, going to all the museums in Palmer & Wasilla before class began and generally exploring the area.
Summit Lake in Clouds
Hatcher Pass was so cloudy and rainy we couldn’t see Summit Lake just beyond the wildflowers! Can you see it? We didn’t see Independence Mine either!
Little Susitna River
Which river photo to show from our drive back to town…..how about this one!
Knik Glacier from our B & B
View of Knik Glacier from our B & B….
Knik Glacier with telephoto
And zoomed in. A spectacular view every day in spite of clouds or rain.
First day of class
Day one in class saw a full slate of students working diligently, modeling glass paste and getting to know one another. Chris and Christian had the studio well stocked and our every wish was their command! Not to mention the catered lunch with truffles for dessert!
Using Steider Studios Glass Medium as a binder for small components
We had one kiln filled with beads, buttons & cabs; and another kiln filled with small sculptures.
Susitna River
Day two, I forgot to pick up my camera in class, we were so busy producing samples and discussing possibilities. That evening, still playing the role of tourist by night, we drove out to Talkeetna, the staging camp for Denali, hoping to see Mt. McKinley. No sun, no mountain view. But the clouds made for a dramatic view of the river!
Will the sun shine today?
Day three of class … yep, more clouds with a wink of the sun.
Samples from Day 1 Powderology
These are samples from day one of Powderology, our second day together. Two more kilns full of tests yet to view and discuss!
Viewing samples, comparing notes.
Excited students dove into their samples with gusto, curiosity, and risk-taking attitudes. I think I surprised them with how much could be done with powdered glass! I caught a couple of them talking about exhaustion!!
Matanuska Glacier
That evening we drove out to Matanuska Glacier.
- Matanuska Glacier zoomed in
I am so inspired by the colors I can’t wait to start my ‘Glacier Series’!
Flora abounds near my B & B
Still light at the B & B, I grabbed a few shots of surrounding color.
Last day of extended Powderology course
How many different ways can you visually say the same thing? Using wafers; full vs tack fuse; kiln-carved; and so much more.
Working with glass powders
Last day of class everyone worked long and hard to finish all the experiments they wanted to tackle. We filled three kilns plus a load of wafers earlier in the day.
At the end of the day...
Ten very happy students and one extremely happy instructor that last afternoon! Who looks more spent, me or students?!!
Reindeer Farm
After class we headed out to the Reindeer Farm. Had high hopes of seeing Santa, but alas he was vacationing in a warm sunny part of the globe, we were told! Do you know how expensive it is to ship an antler home? A gift for my garden! OMG!
Our last morning the sun came out!
We woke to sunny skies on our last day. Yes, this is what the sun looked like. Did I say the landscape is incredible? Awe-inspiring? Beyond spectacular? The memory takes my breath away.
Our view coming into Palmer Alaska
Our last drive into Palmer was gifted with a sun-filled sky….joy still welling in my heart to see this photo of it!
Collage of projects
Back at Half Moon Creek unloading kilns, giving a final critique to everyone who could be there & packing up my tools & samples. Wish I had been more diligent with photography in class to show you how much our students accomplished!
Hatcher Pass
Then we headed back to Hatcher Pass to see what we missed due to cloud cover the first part of the week. I could show you a hundred more pictures, but will try to refrain!
One last view of the first glacier segment
And a speed trip back to Whittier, where it was still cloudy, and raining; accompanied with the eerie news of Senator Steven’s plane crash.
It was the trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to go back. For the incredible people, the enormous landscapes, and next time I really, really hope to see wildlife in the wild. Oh, and Denali. And Valdez. And Seward. And Homer. And bears! Next summer I’ll bring Powderology Plus back to Half Moon Creek! Alaska is awesome, I can’t wait!! Thank you Christian and Chris for the invitation, you were wonderful to work with!
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!!
Like this:
Using Steider Studios Glass Medium in Candy Molds
June 24, 2010
After mixing my glass paste, or glass clay as discussed here, I might choose to use candy or soap molds to form little critters instead of hand sculpting them. I can make multiples in minutes instead of painstakingly trying to reproduce each one by hand.
When using candy molds, I can’t always find the shapes I want. Recently I discovered that a friend from high school has a candy mold store, “Get Suckered” with thousands of molds to choose from!
By the way, you can mix colors to produce almost any color under the sun. Keep in mind you still can’t mix red and blue and expect purple…no you can’t… you’ll get brown. You’ll also get brown if you mix any of the reactive colors together, but there are some lovely browns to be had. You CAN, get hundreds (maybe thousands) of shades of green. And blue. You can get rich shades of each color by mixing in a small portion of it’s opposite. You can also alter the color by mixing in small amounts of colored mica. I use one heaping spoonful of powdered glass to one tiny spoon (see the tiny spoon on my website) of mica. You can also dilute colors by mixing with clear. Start with a 50:50 mix, then add more clear in repeatable increments. The color possibilities are endless.
When you have your glass paste, or clay mixed (see this post for mixing the medium and powdered glass – don’t forget to wear your respirator or disposable particulate mask) use a palette knife to press the paste firmly into your mold. If using clear molds, you can carefully turn it over (or hold it above your head and look up at the underside) to be sure you’ve pressed out all the air bubbles. If you see a bubble, press firmly into that spot until you press the bubble out. You can also pack the paste a little at a time, in layers to avoid trapping bubbles. This method is especially helpful for larger molds.
Place the filled mold into a baggie and seal it so you don’t have granules of glass escaping into your freezer. Freeze for an hour or so, then promptly remove and pop the components out by gently pressing on the back of the mold. Carefully place the frozen components onto paper towels to dry.
I like to use a food dehydrator to speed up the drying process. When teaching a one-day workshop, we have to use hair dryers to speed up the drying process. If you don’t have a dehydrator, simply set your pieces aside for a few days and let them dry naturally.
Once dry, glass clay is very fragile, like a meringue cookie so use care in handling it. Gently peel off the paper towel from the bottom. Using an emery board and wearing your respirator, file off any rough edges along the bottom. Use a wooden skewer to sand off any rough spots in your details. You can use a skewer or a dental tool to carve in additional lines if desired. Just remember to take care as it’s fragile. Did I already say it’s fragile? It’s very fragile!
Refer back to my original tutorial for finishing techniques and firing tips.
The advantage to using Glass Medium instead of a slurry without a binder is that you can coldwork your edges and carve in additional detail prior to firing. You end up with a nicer finish on your fired glass candy mold sculpture.
What to do with them? I like giving them as a token to someone who has purchased my work. I put them in my garden, Use as drawer pulls; openers on jewelry boxes; glue a bail on, wire wrap, or drill a hole and wear as jewelry, ….what do you do with yours?
By the way, my next post will be announcing the product launch, at long last … Steider Studios Glass Medium!
This small herd of turtles is how it felt waiting for the finish line, aka launch date!
EDIT: You can now purchase Steider Studios Glass Medium™ via Artfire……
Click here to purchase Steider Studios Glass Medium™ Economy Size at Artfire.
Click here to purchase Steider Studios Glass Medium™ Regular Size at Artfire.
Click here to purchase Steider Studios Glass Medium™ Sample Size at Artfire.
