It's time to Bead!

Beading has always been one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy making jewelry using a variety of beads but of course, being a stained glass artist, I tend to gravitate to glass beads. Although metal, stone and ceramic all make beautiful beads, there is something about the sparkling surface of glass that I love. Attraction to how glass beads look is not the only magnet that pulls to toward them, but there is also something special about the way they feel in your hand and against your body. I am posting a picture of a small beaded bag necklace that I have made. It is made of glass delica beads, a very consistently sized seed bead from Japan, glass crystals and small silver beads. It is really one of my favorite things I have made and having recently sold it, I thought I would share it with the world one last time. I will be teaching some beading classes at the studio and soon will add beads and findings so beaders may purchase supplies. The second photo captures some of my new favorite beads that will be offered at the studio. I can't wait to make something out of those fish beads.........Robin

Community

Earlier this month I participated in the Denton Community Market, an outdoor market that sets up on the second Saturday of each month on Carroll Boulevard in Denton, Texas. I arrived, set up my tent and then set our my wares to join the sale. I really had no idea what to expect or who might be there but as the morning progressed, I realized that this was a very special event in which I was participating. The market was full of arts, crafts, plants, food, and music but most importantly, the market was full of the sense of community. Webster says that a community is a unified body of individuals : a group of people with a common history or common social, economic, and political interests. The participants of the market were a community, a community working to make an event that would enrich our city. At this market I saw old friends that had spent most of their lives building the sense of community in others and a new generation who were following their vision and working for the good of all. Sometimes we need reminders that life is always full of potential for great things to happen. The Denton Community Market is one of them.…..Robin

I hope you got to stop by the studio to listen to Vanessa Helvey and David White last Friday. Performing many of her own songs, Vanessa "wowed" the group with her voice and guitar. David White plays an incredible guitar and mandolin and together the duo was definitely a crowd pleaser. If you didn't get to see them, they will be performing at Twilight tunes on the square tonight. We hope to have them back in the studio not too far in the future......Robin

Music and Art, Now that's the way to spend an evening!

Join us Friday night at the studio for music from Vanessa Helvey and David White. Vanessa is a singer songwriter who is originally from the Texoma area. Her father taught her how to play the guitar when she was 14 and she has been playing and writing music ever since. She moved to Denton to attend the University of North Texas where she graduated with a degree in Political Science. She has two dozen original songs and looks forward to recording in the near future. Until then, she follows her passion of playing as much as she can locally and in the DFW area. David White studied music at the University of North Texas and will be playing madolin and guitar. Vanessa describes her style as Americana/Alternative Country/Folk and the trio hopes to eventually add a drummer and move toward a more electric sound. While performing in Austin, Vanessa was discovered by a group that will be producing a reality program about the life of musicians. She could be a candidate for the new innovated program but the selection process is still in the works. If interested in a preview, you can check out Vanessa's myspace at www.myspace.com/vanessahelvey.

Evening Stained Glass Class

I have shared the pictures of my morning stained glass class at the studio but I didn't want to slight the first evening Tiffany stained glass class. The students worked very hard starting with making a small suncatcher the first night, then moved quickly to a larger window for their second project. Listening to a variety of music while working, they cut, soldered and coppeerfoiled their way to a beautiful piece of art. Check out their photos.

Senior Metals show at the Studio

Last weekend we hosted a Senior Metals show at the studio. Time and Nature was the theme of the show and the student's work was beautiful and inspiring. The artists, Shannon Saxman and Greta Perea study at the University of North Texas and created a beautiful event. Music, food and beautiful art, you can't go wrong with that combination.

First Class in New Studio

I really love doing stained glass and love teaching so that statement gives you insight as to how much I enjoy teaching stained glass classes. I have taught stained glass classes for a long time for the University of North Texas mini-courses. These classes were taught on the UNT campus in the beginning but then later moved to my home studio. Although my home studio was cozy, my new studio offers so much more space for teaching. My first class has completed their projects and I wanted to share some pictures of the stained glass projects completed at the studio. In the first Tiffany Stained glass class taught at the studio, the students did a wonderful job. By the end of the first lesson they had learned to cut glass, solder and completed a small suncatcher. The second week of the six week course, the students began their first project. For this larger project they could do a design of their choice and I think their small windows are simply beautiful. I have to say that I had a wonderful group of fun people in my voyage class at my new studio space. Check out the pictures of their projects......Robin