Time for a little Co-op-eration

About a week ago, I took some of my glass pieces into my favorite yarn shop, Chix With Stix in Forest Park to see if the bead shop up the street might be interested in my work.  During the conversation, Kelly mentioned that the gallery next door was an artist co-op.  My ears picked right up.

I'd been to an artist co-op in P-Town in 2005 and would have joined that one, but didn't live in the area.  Finding one in my area was exciting and I went next door to see what they had and if they would be interested in my work.

At the American Artworks Gallery, I met Lisa (one of the owners) and Gabe (another glass artist).  The really liked my work and were excited about having my heart pendants in the shop for Valentines day.

Valentines!  I hadn't even given that a thought and I had quite a bit of hearts since I'd found another box of them in my basement.  Yikes, I have a lot of glass art sitting around!

The race was on to get retail labels designed and printed (got a new printer at Christmas, fortunately) hearts inventoried, priced, labeled and back to the shop by Wednesday.  It was a busy couple of days, but I got 20 hearts completed and packed for retail sale. YEAH!

Wednesday evening after work I officially joined the co-op and turned over my hearts. Lisa is very enthusiastic about my work and I'm thrilled to be showing in such a cool and eclectic place.

Yesterday, I stopped in to see the hearts on display.  It was wonderful.  They're shining there in the window as well as in a lovely display case.

I'm anxious to see what the response from their clients are.   If you're in Forest Park, IL sometime, be sure to stop in and say hello and check out the gallery and support some local artisans!

The Sleeping Giant Stirs

Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted on here.  Sorry folks!

As you can probably tell from my previous post (back in 2009!), I was getting a bit fed up with the whole glass thing and had some definite frustration building.

A complete break was required. (I tend to be an achiever-which means I pressure myself to death!)


So what did I do with 2010?

Aside from renewing existing listings on Etsy from time to time and taking stock of my glass inventory, I explored another avenue for a bit.  Knitting. 


Knitting enabled me to continue expressing myself creatively while not being in the basement, I mean, glass studio, alone for hours at a time.  I could watch TV, chat with Robert, my partner, and interact like a normal person all the while still being creative.

So, since March of last year I have made these three sweaters:

 I'm also working on a new scarf from yarn and a pattern that I received at Christmas.  It should be completed shortly.  After that, I've got a sock class coming in the first week of February that I'm looking forward to. 

Still busy, still creative.  But this blog is about glass, right?

Yes, it is, and my desire for the torch has begun to rekindle now that I've been away from it for so long.

New design ideas for pendants and beads are starting to take shape once again and I feel like I can finally get back to glass and see where it takes me this time.

The sleeping giant is indeed waking up again, and this time I'll work more at having fun and not worry so much about the rest of it.

(That's what I keep telling myself, anyway)