The Magic of Glass Art

I am back on Etsy

2011-06-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

My dear friends,
last year was full of surprises and discoveries and sometimes, things go too fast and so I lost a lot of energy trying to catch up. My Etsy shop closed for a few month because I was not able to keep up with my orders. Now I am back and I hope, this time it will last. I have made friends with so wonderful people in this time, I ever wanted to come back - you are part of my inspiration.

My new shop is named CaraMagicGlass for some reason. After my dog Lennox dies this may, we decided to give a new one a chance of being safe and loved. This dog was Cara. Her life began five years ago in an Canili. She is a dream of a dog - simply a wonder. But her eyes are often sad, shes afraid of so many things I cant count and now she discovers a world in which she had no place for her whole life. Its getting better day by day and bit by bit. She is safe now. But she is one beautiful clever unique dog of thousands who die day by day, mistreated and forgotten.
This world can be such a beautiful place and pure hell at the same time. I am working to make it a better place every day with every single word or action. So some of my new shop creations are made only to sponsor animal and environmental protection.

Cara in Sgurola:

Cara in safety:

Kids and Glass

2011-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is my passion - working with the kids. Let them discover the unusual ways of the hot meltig glass. And as you can see, they are burning with enthusiasm.

These pictures are from Art Station Oepfershausen. About 27 years ago, Helmut Wolff, a fresh baked retiree, used nearly all of his saved money to buy a small vacation bungalow and foundet "The Art Station Oepfershausen".
Oepfershausen is a very small village in the middle of nowhere, but this nowhere is one of the most beautifully regions you can imagine - The Rhön.

The first time he was the only intructor in his little kingdom, providing "meditative painting with watercolors". His students were no great artists, rather housewives, retirees and children. It was not his vision to make great art for museums. Helmut Wolff wanted to bring happiness to the people around him and teached his students to follow the ways of their hearts with a paintbrush.

Helmut Wolff died in 2008. His dream is alive. His former students keep "The Art Station Oepfershausen" going and I am proud to be one of them.

Per year, 1500 children, teenager and adults attend 120 courses about drawing, painting, lithography, ceramics, textile design, oil painting, calligraphy, landscape art, wickerwork, wood-carving, felting, glass and many many more...

I need your help

2011-04-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

Hello my dear friends, I am back after such a long time without posting my life and my glass projects on this blog, I can only hope you still remember me.

I was very busy creating my art between the days and nights I have to work really hard for my money. All the little critters you know are my dear creations but my dream is, to exceed with these sculptures:

And this is where I need your help. While working nearly every free minute, I have no time to create art such as this and as long as I am forced to sell my creations on markets at less than fair value simply because I am unknown to any galleries I will never have the money to participate in an international art fair of any importance.

If you want to support me, you can help me by backing this project http://eu.sponsume.com/project/magic-glass-art on http://eu.sponsume.com/ or with spreading the word about it on twitter, facebook...

Every supporter will recieve a unique and autographed artpiece made by me, especially for you. Maybe this will work. I still have hope.

Thank you all.

Glassblowing a glass butterfly figurine

2010-06-25T11:00:00.001-07:00

Making of - Glass Figurine Parrot - Part 2

2010-06-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Making of - Glass Figurine Parrot - Part 1

2010-06-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

And this will be your next task for the June - Giveaway

2010-06-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends. I am sorry I let you wait.

But I was so tired for the last days and there is always so much to do... You choose one of my favourites, the little Dragon under the Leave. Its not only a special love I feel for this one, there is a special story too. But before I will tell you, there is a new challenge to enter and one little Dragon to win.

Challenge:

Write a story or a poem, make a sculpture, paint a picture or leave a comment, saying what you would do, if you where a dragon for one day...

Have fun and post it here.

If you choose a picture or a sculpture, send it please to Glasmagie@gmx.com. I will load it up for you.

The challenge ends ad midnight on June 30th. Then you all can vote for the winning post till the 10th of July.

Fairytale Earrings made of Glass - get them for free!

2010-06-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Do you love them as much as I do?

For a short time, you can get a pair for free when you buy anything from my shop.

All you have to do is to post in this thread:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6543004

after your shopping.

Monthly Giveaway - A new Round - I have a Task for You :-)

2010-06-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Since I have as much fun with this giveaways as you have, there will be one every month and maybe sometimes a little surprise too. But I will challenge you ;-)
For now your task is very simple.

Please visit my Etsy Shop and choose the item you would love to see as the new giveaway.

Then come back and leave me a comment, so I know what you choose. I will post a picture of every suggested item in this post. After this weekend you can vote one from all the suggested glass animals and figurines.
This will be our next giveaway. Next Friday I will announce the new challenge.

Jan suggested:

Bibi suggested:

Chaoskay1 suggested:

Dawn Ray suggested:

Happyfox suggested:

Faridah suggested:

Victoria suggested:

Missus D and ced623 suggested:

Aestraea suggested:

Kirameku suggested:

Kirschbits suggested:

Pearlfur suggested:

The poll to vote is right side next to the post at the beginning of the page.

Have Fun :-)

And here are the Winners.....

2010-06-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone,

I am late with this post, I know. I wrote another one this night for my german blog and it took quite a while to finish. Since we had two giveaways on this blog and a blogfeature too, all ending may, 31th, I will write one post for all.

Because the Voting was a official thing, you may already know the result. Aestraea won with very very very little nose ahead of Jen.
I won too, because of all your little stories. Wormy won new friends, a place to live and more then one identity we others could be jealous about.

Congratiolations Aestraea!!! This little guy goes to you. Please send my your postal adress to Glasmagie (at) gmx.com, so I can ship him soon.

For the Blogfeature commented only four people, so this was a short tombola. Jan won. Happy day to you :-) and will get the next Blogfeature here.

And last but not least, the Butterfly-Giveaway. This was more work.

First, the participants:

made unreadable from the outside and stuffed in this glass:

this hand is my mothers, who declared her agreement to be our Lotto-Fairie this time

"Applaus Please" :-)

the excitement grows:

and the WINNER is:

Congratiolations. :-) This lovely butterfly comes to you as soon, as I know your postal adress. Please write me to Glasmagie (at) gmx.com.

I wish you all a very happy day. The next giveaway will start in a few days and you all can choose what it should be because I will start a voting in a few hours, again together with a blogfeature.

Please come back soon :-)

~Karo

Vote for Wormy´s best Story!

2010-05-23T02:23:00.000-07:00

On a rainy sunday on may 9th, Wormy asked his fans to write him a story, people would love, so he shall never be a nobody again. Here are the contributions. Till May 31th you can vote for your favourite. The winner will get these unique handcrafted glass pendant with silverchain, one of the Voters the next feature on this blog for his/her website, blog, shop or whatever he/she choose and Wormy his forever home to live. :-)

________________________________

Sherrie:

I am a worm. Everyone thinks worms are gross, but I am here to tell you it just isn't so! Worms are very hardworking and noble creatures - Just think! Without worms, water wouldn't drain from the fields, rotten plants and animals wouldn't decompose.. And, I make sure your apples are the very best by testing them before you even buy them!
I am a very smart worm, too! I have two brains. Think thats crazy? Earthworms are the most loving creatures on Earth! Know why? They have five hearts!
Even though you think I am slimy and gross, I am wonderful, necessary, and fascinating.

________________________________

happyfox

Once I lived life as a free worm, leaving my casts upon lawns across the land, until that fateful day. It was very early - the best times for worms, as you well know - when I slithered forth, only to be snatched up by a shimmering blue dragon. I was carried across the forests and castles of Germany to be deposited unceremoniously on a workbench. "Ah, another a fine specimen," came that cold, crystal voice, and here I am, forever entombed in my inedible apple.

________________________________

Jen

This article is printed with permission from Worm's Life magazine:

THE EARLY WORM GETS THE APPLE

With the worm estate market booming, it can be heartwrenching when your bid isn't accepted by a seller. Not so in this case. Earl Y. Worm is one of the happiest Earthworms around.

Earl's been trying to find himself a new home for months now. Tired of living in his Mom and Dad's small 2 bedroom dirt condo, he wanted to do the adult thing and buy his own home. Renting was not something he wanted to do. "I told my parents that I wanted to be my own worm but wanted the responsibility of owning my own place.", Earl told Worm's Life.

With the help of one of the area's most prominent worm estate agents, Inch W. Orm, Earl was able to make his dream come true. "This apple had only been on the market for maybe 15 minutes when I got in touch with Earl. We were very lucky.", Mr. Orm explained. "This market is crazy and for a single worm trying to buy a home, it's not easy let me tell you."

In this case, the "Early Worm" got the Apple. Earl, with Mr. Orm's help, put up an offer that can only be described as amazing. Since the Apple has not gone to settlement at the time of this article being written, we cannot give all of the details. But, let's just say that this Apple is still on the tree and is going to stay there, in great condition, for a long long time. "Of course, there's always the chance of human destruction, but I've got good insurance coverage if that happens. I'm the happiest worm around!" Yes, Earl Y.Worm, you are the happest worm around.

________________________________

A Clockwork Porridge

Hello. My name is wormy. I am 62 years old, but I look 4 and that is why I am still going strong. I have seen my fair share of apples and would like to tell you about my favorite apple.

The granny smith in the summer of love: It was the summer of '69 and I was happily rising with the sun on a tree on Max Yasgur's farm. I was suddenly startled by the music of Ritchie Havens playing in the distance. I poked my head out of the apple to see what was happening. Hundreds of thousands of kids were gathered on my farm. I felt a jostling and was no sooner plucked from the tree. I was so afraid as somebody's mouth began crunching away at my house. Just before they reached little old me, they tossed my apple over by a rock. A dog then picked me up and carried me around protectively for what seemed like days. Anyway...when I came out of that apple, it was dark and starry. I wriggled my way through the grass for a few hours until I found a cozy new apple that was big square and black with a bunch of holes in it. As the sun rose, I heard "Hey Joe" playing in the background as I was wheeled off in my new home into an equipment truck. It turns out that my new home was an amp that belonged to Pete Townshend from The Who. Pete was okay, but I really hit it off with Roger Daltrey. We are now best friends and work together promoting healthy eating habits across America. I love what I do...and yes, I do enjoy the perks of a brand new apple home of my very own ever day in the comfort of Roger's recording studio.

________________________________

Howling Caterpillars

Hi...I'm Wormy and I'm a worm. Some people think that worms are icky, but I'm not...I brush my teeth, take a shower and have supper like everyone else. I just live in an apple. The Granny Smith that you see me in, is a condo I bought...I tried a Macintosh and both types of Deliciouses, and even a Gala...they had too many parties at the Gala... The Mac was too modern for my taste...and I wasn't keen on the colour scheme of the Deliciouses...Green's so much more me... I like to sit and read and watch Nature outside my apple...I just have to be careful when there's birds around...I can't be early... But other than that I'm a cool person for a worm...

________________________________

Katie

He looks across the land from far up in a tree, taking in the sights that seemed too grand to be true from the ground. At home in his apple he can see the High Elves roaming, casting spells and walking onward, bow and arrow in hand. The falcons, as they soar along with their owners, unnoticing of him in his home, a little green apple. He sighs, for at one time, he would have to escape from their prying eyes. Everything was safe now. Until... The day the elves had picked an apple from the tree. Sir Worm was sleeping as it happened, dreaming that he was falling. He woke up in a basket of other apples; unable to find his safe haven, his small, green apple. After the moment of sadness passed, a shadow blocked the sun from his vision. Another apple was set to fall right on top of him! Quickly, Sir worm scurried away to the edge of the basket, heart pounding as the beautiful elven mages collected apples with magic to bring with them on their journey. Hands prodded and poked and tossed apples here or there, and Sir Worm no longer could see his way from danger. It was nearing the end of the basket, nowhere to hide... Until! He found it! The front door of his home. As fast as he could, he made it, just as the apple was picked up again. Beautiful, Blue eyes in pale skin stared right into his eyes. A moment's silence. The Elf girl had seen him. And then... A SHRIEK of fear, and the sensation of flying. Shouts and questions, then laughing. "Just a worm!" They exclaimed. Pfft. Just a worm. Dusting himself off, Sir worm, still latched to his home, tunneled inside again. Though his home was on the ground again, at least in here he was safe. No Falcon, or even Elf, would want an apple where a worm resides. To this thought, Sir Worm sighed, and settled down to retrieve the sleep he had lost in the calm chaos.

________________________________

Aestraea

It was a normal, rainy spring day, and Carl the worm was once again looking for a new home. Carl hated spring. Springtime meant lots of rain, and rain meant lots of water flooding his underground home. The rain would force Carl to leave his nice, comfy burrow because the water would make it cave in, and he would have to make another new home afterward. So, for the second time in the same week, Carl glided along, looking for a dry place to dig his new house. Just then, Carl saw something green from the corner of his eye. He slithered closer for a look, and realized that the shiny, green sphere on the ground was an apple. Carl was amazed at his discovery- he had often heard from other worms of the legendary apple, one of the most wonderful places a worm could live in. After all, what other home could you also eat out of? And to think that nobody else had claimed this beauty! Carl eagerly dug into the apple and burrowed his way in, making himself at home. Finally, he had found a home to live in that won’t be washed away by that annoying rain again.

________________________________

Very important! Please leave a comment after your vote if you wish to take part in the feature. The voting is anonymus so even I cannot see, who voted.

Do you know Elephant Island?

2010-05-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Never heard of Elephant Island? No wonder so far. Its one of these small Islands no satellite system will ever scan or recognise as important to humanity.

Only a few humans ever found out it even existed. To be precise its more kind of island chain, inhabitated by very small colorful elephants and palm trees the size of a matchstick.
The small elephants have nearly no natural enemies and so they live peacefully from the few palm leaves and fruits their islands provide, swim from island to island, visiting each other.

Life Is Beautiful. :-)

__________________________________________________________________
All handmade with softglass from Lauscha and Murano entirely by me.

Height about 1.18 inch.

The little elephant is free to go wherever its heart calls him and neither glued nor molten to the island.

You can also choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes.

~Please regard, that all my work is handmade and unique, so there can be little variations in color and shape~

The Story of Cap & Trade

2010-05-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from whats really required to tackle the climate crisis. If youve heard about Cap & Trade, but arent sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.

Hello Spring, hello Summer!!! --- Etsy Giveaway

2010-05-15T02:40:00.000-07:00

Its time. House is cleaned, winterclothes packed away, my feet are bare. All plants standing outside, even at night. There is only one thing left. Decoration. I love it colorful and bright.

So I started making these butterflies a few years ago and since then they have travelled through the whole wide world. In 2004, I was in Switzerland nearly all summer celebrating a Butterfly-Festival in Brugg while working in the showroom of a gallery.

The entire town was decorated with butterflies and I made no other glass figurines for many weeks. It was a great time and so they are kind of favourites to me now.
You can win the butterfly in the picture by following this blog and leaving a comment.

Happy butterfly made from freeformed glass with one little hook at the end of one wing to hang them up in the air. Made with love to greet spring and summer and to bring you joy.

freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame, original thuringian glassart

every single piece is unique,
overall length: about 3.94 inches

Welcome to our Cherokee Spring Frog Dance!

2010-05-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is your opportunity to view the frogs made by various artists from the Etsy Native American Forum Thread Walking With The Wind.

Kicking Bear, a Cherokee elder, is our wise man and mentor. We sit around our "cyber" camp fire while he amuses us with his wit and wisdom. Recently he told us of the old tradition of the Cherokee Spring Frog Dance. He then challenged us to produce a walosi (frog) piece to honor this tradition and the frog. 28 pieces were offered up for this challenge.

We invite you to view all of the wonderful walosi and select your favorite. There is voter widget at the end so that you may cast your vote. Just scroll down on the bar to find your favorite artist.

Those of us who participated had a great time and we hope you will enjoy helping us with our celebration of the Cherokee Spring Frog Dance.

Which Is Your Favorite Walosi (Frog in Cherokee)?

You can also show them some Love on Etsy:
Treasury 1
Treasury 2

And the Winner is.....

2010-05-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I took part in a Voting on Lindas Blog.

The price for the winner was this Interview. Its now online. Yeah!

Glasmagie's Etsy Shop - Winner of your Votes

Karo of Glasmagie won your votes with her Hummingbird earrings, which were sold. Check out these handmade glass blown Glass Frog Earrings

Here is our interview:

Linda: Tell us a bit about yourself: Karo: My full name is Karoline Wagner, but I dont like that "e" at the end of it spoken. It sounds too official and distant. I like "Karo" best, so that's what my friends call me.

I live in a very little village, called "Bermbach", in the middle of the Thuringian Forest in the middle of Germany. And we do not eat kraut everyday or wear leather pants, (thats more the bavarian style haha :-)) and even there it is not common everyday. We do such things for tourists and to show our kids, how our ancestors lived. That is an very imortant part of my culture I think, then every little village in Germany has its own traditions, own idioms and own recipes. If we are agreeing in one thing, than it is not to be uniform at all.

Funny glass mini elephants

I live and work here but I am very often on the move through all parts of Germany and some parts of Europe from market to market to show how glassblowing works to people and sell my art. I give tutorials too, even for little kids.

Linda: What inspires you? Karo: Nearly everything, a picture, a phrase, a song, strong feelings, or very often poems. My inspiration seems to be some kind of artesian well. If I really need a good idea and find nothing good in my head, I visit a do-it-yourself-store. I dont know how it works, but after half an hour, my head nearly exlodes with ideas.

What is your favorite thing to do with your creativity? Making people happy. There is nothing better in the whole world then smiling at each other and feeling insanely content.

What are the web addresses people can find you?

Blog: http://www.magic-glassart.blogspot.com/

Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/Glasmagie
My Gallery http://www.glasmagie-karo.de/ - not finished yet, but galleries are never complete, I think

Twitter http://twitter.com/Glasmagie
What is your favorite color combination? I love all the colors of the ocean, but I can fall for others as well.

Venetian Glass Pen

Why should people buy handmade? It's one way to ensure fair trade, human rights and environmental protection to let no multinational concern decide over you, what to wear, what to eat, how much you earn for your work and where and how you will live. Its a kind of freedom and independency. If we ever gave this away with our skills, we will not only loose a heritage but very much more.

Any tips on selling handmade items? *laughs* I´m trying very hard at the moment with so much help from others, its breathtakingly awesome. "Walking With The Wind" was a forum thread on etsy and this is how it feels for me right now. So no, no wisdom from me at this time about selling and earning money. But I found help and friendship here and so I recommend to get connected. We all together like the sea.

Apart from creating things, what do you do? I cannot separate this very good part from the other aspects of my life. Its always a part of every thing I do, how I do things. I love to work in the garden, I love to read, most of all fantasy and fiction books until my eyes burn hours after midnight. I have a wonderful partner to have little fights with and breakfasts in bed, while watching Dr. House. And I have very good friends. I write little poems when my head is stuffed up with sorrows and concern. I love to wander in the forests with my dog and listen to how the wind plays in the trees. I love to sleep and to dream.

What have been the most valuable lessons learned from other artists? That we are all different and that's the one thing that makes us all equal. We are all strong and beautiful and unique until someone tries to degrade us to standardized beings. Then we break and only learning to be unique again can save us. One way to achieve this is art.

Glass figurine jewelry - Little Horse - pendant

2010-05-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

Made like all my other sculptures freeformed in a flame (a very little flame this time) with softglass from Lauscha and Murano.
The little horse is a pendant and about only 0.7 inch long.

IMPORTANT: the horses in the two pictures are already sold, but its such a time consuming an difficult thing for me to make an photo of every single object, that I decided to use these two as proxy for all the other horse pendants I make

You can of course choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes or you can let me surprise you.
EVERY single horse is unique in color, movement and shape.
Delivery without the silverchain, but with a single sterling silver ring.

$40.00 USD

Item ships from Germany worldwide for $ 8.00 USD
every further item ships for free

	________________________________________________________________ FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE FOR ORDERS ABOVE USD 100 ALL YEAR ROUND ________________________________________________________________

Do you love Giveaways?

2010-05-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

There is a new group on facebook, where you can post your own Giveaway promotions and also look for some nice things you wish to win. Check it out:

Giveaway Group

Win Wormy ! ;-)

2010-05-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hello :-)

As you can see, I am just a tiny worm. No one ever loved to see me coming out of my apple, even when I am really polite and say: "Please, as you can see, this is not only an apple, it is my house. So please leave it to me and eat something different.!". No!!! All world is tempted to EAT my HOME!!!

So I need your help. If I get famous, people will not only greet me and smile at me, they will refrain from leaving me homeless. But for getting famous, you need a story people will love to hear.

So please help me, write me a story and I will come to you and live with you and we will be friends forever.

If you want to win Wormy, leave your story in the commentbox. I will post them all on May 23 on this blog. The winner will be decided per vote from may 23 till may 31.

Just for fun ;-)

Made like all my other sculptures freeformed in a flame (a very little flame this time) with softglass from Lauscha and Murano.

The silver chain is made of 925er sterling silver and 17.72 inches long.
The apple pendant is about only 0.47 inch long.
You can also choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes.

~Please regard, that all my work is handmade and unique,
so there can be little variations in color and shape~

Ladybug * Lady Beetle * Ladybird Beetle

2010-05-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Many people are fond of ladybugs because of their colorful, spotted appearance. But farmers love them for their appetite. Most ladybugs voraciously consume plant-eating insects, such as aphids, and in doing so they help to protect crops. Ladybugs lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other plant-eating pests. When they hatch, the ladybug larvae immediately begin to feed. By the end of its three-to-six-week life, a ladybug may eat some 5,000 aphids.

Ladybugs are also called lady beetles or, in Europe, ladybird beetles. There are about 5,000 different species of these insects, and not all of them have the same appetites. A few ladybugs prey not on plant-eaters but on plants. The Mexican bean beetle and the squash beetle are destructive pests that prey upon the crops mentioned in their names.

Ladybugs appear as half-spheres, tiny, spotted, round or oval-shaped domes. They have short legs and antennae.

Their distinctive spots and attractive colors are meant to make them unappealing to predators. Ladybugs can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. Their coloring is likely a reminder to any animals that have tried to eat their kind before: "I taste awful." A threatened ladybug may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself.

"LADYBUG" IN OTHER LANGUAGES:

"Glückskäfer" -- Austria
"Slunécko" - Czechoslovakia
"Mariehøne" -- Denmark
"LadyBird" -- England
"Leppäkerttu" -- Finland
"Coccinelle" -- France
"Marienkafer" -- Germany
"Paskalitsa" -- Greece
"Parat Moshe Rabenu" -- Hebrew
"Lieveheersbeestje" -- Holland
"Katicabogár" -- Hungary
"Coccinella" -- Italy
"Tentou Mushi" -- Japan
"Da'asouqah" -- Jordan
"Mudangbule" -- Korea
"Mara" -- Latvia
"Kumbang" -- Malaysia
"Mariehøne" -- Norway
"Biedronka" -- Poland
"Joaninha" -- Portugal
"Buburuzã" -- Romania
"Bosya Kopovka" -- Russia
"Pikapolonica" -- Slovania
"Mariquita" -- Spain
"Nykelpiga" -- Sweden
"Ugurböcegi" -- Turkey
"Ladybug" -- United States
"Ilsikazana Esincane" -- Zulu

HOW THE LADYBUG GOT ITS NAME:

Legends vary about how the Ladybug came to be named, but the most common (and enduring) is this: In Europe, during the Middle Ages, swarms of insects were destroying the crops. The farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. Soon thereafter the Ladybugs came, devouring the plant-destroying pests and saving the crops! The farmers called these beautiful insects "The Beetles of Our Lady", and - over time - they eventually became popularly known as "Lady Beetles". The red wings were said to represent the Virgin's cloak and the black spots were symbolic of both her joys and her sorrows.

LADYBUG LEGENDS:

Nearly ALL cultures believe that a Ladybug is lucky.

Killing one is said to bring sadness and misfortune.

In France, if a Ladybug landed on you,

whatever ailment you had would fly away with the Ladybug.

If a Ladybug is held in the hand while making a wish,

the direction that it flies away to shows where

your luck will come from.

If the spots on the wings of a Ladybug are more than seven,

it's a sign of coming famine. If less than seven, it means

you will have a good harvest.

In Belgium, people believed that if a Ladybug crawled across

a young girl's hand, she would be married within a year.

People in Switzerland told their young children

that they were brought to them, as babies, by Ladybugs.

(...and we thought Storks did that)!

In some Asian cultures, it is believed that the Ladybug understands

human language, and has been blessed by God, Himself.

In Brussels, the black spots on the back of a Ladybug indicate to the

person holding it how many children he/she will have.

According to a Norse legend, the Ladybug came to earth

riding on a bolt of lightning.

The Victorians in Britain believed that if a Ladybug alighted on your

hand, you would be receiving new gloves.....if it landed on your head,

a new hat would be in your future, and so on.

In the 1800's, some doctors used Ladybugs to treat measles! They

also believed that if you mashed ladybugs (ewww!) and put them

into a cavity, the insects would stop a toothache!

During the Pioneer days, if a family found a Ladybug in their log cabin

during the winter, it was considered a "Good Omen".

In the Spring, if numerous Ladybugs are seen flying around,

British farmers say it forecasts many bountiful crops.

Many Bretons believe that the arrival of Ladybugs will bring fair weather.

Folklore suggests if you catch a Ladybug in your home, count the number

of spots and that's how many dollars you'll soon find.

In Norway, if a man and a woman spot a Ladybug at the same time,

there will be a romance between them.

(Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/ladybug/ and http://www.celticbug.com/Legends/Lore.html)

Ladybug necklace - glass figurines

Made like all my other sculptures freeformed in a flame (a very little flame this time) with softglass from Lauscha and Murano.

The silver chain is made of 925er sterling silver and 17.72 inches long.

The leave is about only 1.06 inch long.

You can also choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes.

~Please regard, that all my work is handmade and unique,

so there can be little variations in color and shape~

Pen history

2010-05-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

The feather keel and the broad reed feather especially for headings remained the most important instrument for writing on parchment and paper from old Roman into the modern times. Feathers of the raven, peacock, swan or goose proved for the sensitive surface of parchment as best suitably. Either bald scraped or kept in the original status, the natural curvature of the feather of the human hand formed a perfect match. Beside ink, pen and parchment the pen knife - a longer, sharp blade - was the indispensable tool for the writing. With its help the writings were smoothed, disturbing feather flags were scraped, errors erased and the feather points cut and sharpened.

The expansion of trade in the17th and 18th century, the developing sciences and arts, drove the requirement of writing materials into astronomical heights. A goose supplied only 10 to 12 good feather keels. At the beginning of the 19th century approximately 50 million feather keels were used annually in Germany. The European main producers were Russia and Poland. 27 million feather keels were imported by England from St. Petersburg per year. The bank of England used alone 1.5 million. A writer used 5 feather keels per day. It is easy to imagine how often the work had to be interrupted for a careful sharpening. The occupation of the feather cutter spread rapidly.

For economic reasons the Londoner bankers thought about a remedy. In the year 1809 a machine, this was able to divide quills lengthwise and crosswise several times, was applied for patent. About 20 pieces could be won in from a feather in such a way. They were sharpened and put into a wooden "penholder". The ancestors of the penholder were born. On the search for pen points, this could not be used up so rapidly, even the glassmaker tried their luck. German, Japanese and also North American glassmaker were the first to test thin glass rods with facets tapered to a point. After immersing in the ink cask a sufficient amount of ink could be collected in the facet-like holes and slowly drop to the point. Despite substantial advantages such as almost no wear and corrosion, useable on wood, paper, leather and similar materials - the glass pen did not become generally accepted. The material broke too easily.

Only as succeeded to improving the coherence and capillary strength the glass pen became a hit for export. French, American and German manufacturers used this glass pen in fountain pens and offered this as an ideal writing instrument in offices.

Venetian Glass Pen - writing glassart

2010-05-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

The entire pen is made of glass! From nib to end, the pen is carefully crafted to pull up ink and evenly deposit it on paper. Smoothly elegant and visually appealing.

Like any traditional pen, you need to dip it in the ink regularly, to recharge the nib.

Glass Artists worldwide - Omur Duruerk

2010-05-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

Omur Duruerk is an English philologist and glass designer. She started her flameworking career in 2005 with Julie Anne Denton in İstanbul Glass Furnace. Till then she has been working on glass beads and human figures.

Till 2006 she worked for enlivening her ideal ; having a glass studio…

In 2006 she opened Karma Design Studio with her husband Fatih Duruerk where they can create a world with all glass(using fusion, cast and flameworking techniques.)

All of the necklaces and the beads you have seen in her web page are designed and produced by Omur Duruerk. In her designs she loves using gold and silver leaves as supplementary materials inside glass beads.The beads are produced from Effetre glass rods exported from Italy Murano island.When they are arrived Karma design studio , they are melted in 1200 C degree with the flame of torch in the hands of Omur Duruerk. Now they are ready to shape… The rod can transform a woman body, bird or a bead for a necklace with the will of Omur.

Now Duruerk is working in her studio, creating new “wearable object”(one of my beloved sayings of Diana East's ) collections and teaching flameworking technique to the inclined people. She also shares her knowledge with other flameworkers in Turkey and other parts of the world.

http://www.karmatasarimatolyesi.com/
http://www.omurduruerk.net/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/omurduruerk
http://www.myglassart.org/omurduruerk

Venetian Glass Pen - writing glassart

2010-05-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Helix Earrings

2010-05-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the earrings are not undestroyable but very sturdily,

Glass figurine jewelry - Hummingbird Earrings

2010-05-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

Little Hummingbirds, only few gram easily.
1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,

the little birds are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with surgeon stole hooks: about 1 inch

Obsidian - the only natural glass

2010-05-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly without crystal growth. Obsidian is commonly found within the margins of rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows, where the chemical composition (high silica content) induces a high viscosity and polymerization degree of the lava. The inhibition of atomic diffusion through this highly viscous and polymerized lava explains the lack of crystal growth. Because of this lack of crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness, leading to its ancient use as projectile points and blades, and its modern use as surgical scalpel blades.

Obsidian is mineral-like, but not a true mineral because as a glass it is not crystalline; in addition, its composition is too complex to comprise a single mineral. It is sometimes classified as a mineraloid. Though obsidian is dark in color similar to mafic rocks such as basalt, obsidian's composition is extremely felsic. Obsidian consists mainly of SiO₂ (silicon dioxide), usually 70% or more. Crystalline rocks with obsidian's composition include granite and rhyolite.

Because obsidian is metastable at the Earth's surface (over time the glass becomes fine-grained mineral crystals), no obsidian has been found that is older than Cretaceous age. This breakdown of obsidian is accelerated by the presence of water. Obsidian has low water content when fresh, typically less than 1% water by weight, but becomes progressively hydrated when exposed to groundwater, forming perlite. Tektites were once thought by many to be obsidian produced by lunar volcanic eruptions, though few scientists now adhere to this hypothesis.

Pure obsidian is usually dark in appearance, though the color varies depending on the presence of impurities.
Iron and magnesium typically give the obsidian a dark green to brown to black color. A very few samples are nearly colorless. In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals of cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern (snowflake obsidian).

It may contain patterns of gas bubbles remaining from the lava flow, aligned along layers created as the molten rock was flowing before being cooled. These bubbles can produce interesting effects such as a golden sheen (sheen obsidian) or a rainbow sheen (rainbow obsidian).

Occurrence

Obsidian can be found in locations which have experienced rhyolitic eruptions. It can be found in Armenia, Canada, Chile, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Argentina and United States.

Obsidian flows which may be hiked on are found within the calderas of Newberry Volcano and Medicine Lake Volcano in the Cascade Range of western North America, and at Inyo Craters east of the Sierra Nevada in California. Yellowstone National Park has a mountainside containing obsidian located between Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Geyser Basin, and deposits can be found in many other western U.S. states including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Obsidian can also be found in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia.

Historical use

Obsidian was valued in Stone Age cultures because, like flint, it could be fractured to produce sharp blades or arrowheads. Like all glass and some other types of naturally occurring rocks, obsidian breaks with a characteristic conchoidal fracture. It was also polished to create early mirrors.
Modern archaeologists have developed a relative dating system, Obsidian hydration dating, to calculate the age of obsidian artifacts.

In Ubaid in the 5th millennium BC, blades were manufactured from obsidian mined in today's Turkey.

Americas

Lithic analysis can be instrumental in understanding prehispanic groups in Mesoamerica. A careful analysis of obsidian in a culture or place can be of considerable use to reconstruct commerce, production, distribution and thereby understand economic, social and political aspects of a civilization. This is the case in Yaxchilán, a Maya city where even warfare implications have been studied linked with obsidian use and its debris.

Another example is the archeological recovery at coastal Chumash sites in California indicating considerable trade with the distant site of Casa Diablo in the Sierra Mountains.

Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans' use of obsidian was extensive and sophisticated; including carved and worked obsidian for tools and decorative objects. Mesoamericans also made a type of sword with obsidian blades mounted in a wooden body. Called a macuahuitl, the weapon was capable of inflicting terrible injuries, combining the sharp cutting edge of an obsidian blade with the ragged cut of a serrated weapon.
Native American people traded obsidian throughout the Americas.

Each volcano and in some cases each volcanic eruption produces a distinguishable type of obsidian, making it possible for archaeologists to trace the origins of a particular artifact. Similar tracing techniques have allowed obsidian to be identified in Greece also as coming from Melos, Nisyros or Yiali, islands in the Aegean Sea. Obsidian cores and blades were traded great distances inland from the coast.

In Chile obsidian tools from Chaitén Volcano have been found as far away as in Chan-Chan 400 km north of the volcano and also in sites 400 km south of it.

Easter Island

Obsidian was also used on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) for edged tools such as Mataia and the pupils of the eyes of their Moai (statues).

Current use

Obsidian has been used for blades in surgery, as well-crafted obsidian blades have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, the cutting edge of the blade being only about 3 nanometers thick.

Even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope; when examined even under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even.

One study found that obsidian produced narrower scars, fewer inflammatory cells, and less granulation tissue in a group of rats.

Obsidian is also used for ornamental purposes and as a gemstone. It possesses the property of presenting a different appearance according to the manner in which it is cut: when cut in one direction it is jet black; in another it is glistening gray. "Apache tears" are small rounded obsidian nuggets embedded within a grayish-white perlite matrix.
Plinths for audio turntables have been made of obsidian since the 1970s; e.g. the greyish-black SH-10B3 plinth by Technics.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian)

Win your favorite from my shop :-)

2010-05-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Follow the

White Rabbit

Just copy and paste what you like best in my shop.
If you are the last one to post for 48 hours, I'll send you that glassart for free!

Glassy Greetings
Karo

Etsy
Buy Handmade
Glasmagie

Hummingbird Earrings - unique glassart to wear

2010-05-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Little Hummingbirds, only few gram easily.

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the little birds are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with surgeon stole hooks: about 1 inch

Wear real Glass Art!

Floral Bottle Stopper Tutorial by Ross

2010-05-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

Ross: This is my best guess at making a borosilicate wine bottle stopper. This is just me winging it, I don't claim to be an expert. If you want to see what the pros do with this floral technique, look up Eugene Rain, Sabina Boehm, John Kobuki and many others. Verbal "typo", I got the rubber stopper at the brewing supply shop not the "brewery" as I said in the video.
If you do make it all the way through the video Please rate or leave a comment.

You can find Ross work on Etsy under the Pseudonym NightCatDesign

Can you see little pink elephants?

2010-05-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here you can see, for the first time proven in a photo, that there are actually herds of miniature little pink elephants, the so far as halluzinogen assumed fabulous creatures.

We wish you much joy at this crazy gift.

freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame, original thurigian glassart
every single piece is unique,
my work is not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length: 4 elephants from 0,5 to 0,8 inches

Love?

Glassblowing

2010-05-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

.Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating the molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of the blowpipe, or blow tube. A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer.

Technology

Principles

As a novel glass forming technique created in the middle of the last century BC, glassblowing exploited a working property of glass which was previously unknown to the glassworkers – inflation. Inflation refers to the expansion of a molten blob of glass by introducing a small amount of air to it. This property is based on the liquid structure of glass where the atoms are held together by strong chemical bonds in a disordered and random network, therefore molten glass is viscous enough to be blown and gradually hardens as it loses heat. In order to increase the stiffness of the molten glass, which in turn facilitates the process of blowing, there is a subtle change in the composition of glass. With reference to their studies of the ancient glass assemblages from Sepphoris of Israel, Fischer and McCray postulated that the concentration of natron, which acts as flux in glass, is slightly lower in blown vessels than those manufactured by casting. Lower concentration of natron would have allowed the glass to be stiffer for blowing.

During blowing, thinner layers of glass cool faster than thicker ones and become more viscous than the thicker layers. This allows production of blown glass with uniform thickness, instead of facilitating blow-through of the thinned layers.
A full range of glassblowing techniques was developed within decades of its invention and the two major methods of glassblowing are as follows:

Free-blowing

This method held a pre-eminent position in glassforming ever since its introduction in the middle of the first century BC until the late nineteenth century and is still widely used nowadays as a glassforming technique. The process of free-blowing involves the blowing of short puffs of air into a molten portion of glass which is gathered at one end of the blowpipe. This has the effect of forming an elastic skin on the interior of the glass blob that matches the exterior caused by the removal of heat from the furnace. The glassworker can then quickly inflate the molten glass to a coherent blob and work it into a desired shape. The Toledo Museum of Art attempted to reconstruct the ancient free-blowing technique by using clay blowpipes. The result proved that short clay blowpipes of about 30–60 cm facilitate free-blowing because they are simple to handle, easy to manipulate and can be re-used several times. Skilled workers are capable of shaping almost any vessel forms by rotating the pipe, swinging it and controlling the temperature of the piece while they blow. They can produce a great variety of glass objects, ranging from drinking cups to window glass.

An outstanding example of the free-blowing technique is the which is a cameo manufactured during the Roman period. An experiment was carried out by Gudenrath and Whitehouse with the aim of re-creating the Portland Vase. A full amount of blue glass required for the body of the vase was gathered on the end of the blowpipe and was subsequently dipped into a pot of hot white glass. Inflation occurred when the glassworker blew the molten glass into a sphere which was then stretched or elongated into a vase with a layer of white glass overlying the blue body.

Mold-blowing

Mold-blowing was an alternate glassblowing method that came after the invention of free-blowing during the first part of the second quarter of the first century AD. A glob of molten glass is placed on the end of the blowpipe which is then inflated into a wooden or metal carved mold. In this way, the shape and the texture of the bubble of glass is determined by the design on the interior of the mold rather than the skill of the glassworker.

Two types of molds, namely single-piece mold and multi-piece mold, are frequently used to produce mold-blown vessels. The former allows the finished glass object to be removed in one movement by pulling it upwards from the single-piece mold and is largely employed to produce tableware and utilitarian vessels for storage and transportation. Whereas the latter is made in multi-paneled mold that join together, thus permitting the development of more sophisticated surface modeling, texture and design.

The Roman leaf beaker which is now on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum was blown in a three-part mold decorated with the foliage relief frieze of four vertical plants. Meanwhile, Taylor and Hill tried to reproduce mold-blown vessels by using three-part molds made of different materials. The result suggested that metal, in particular bronze, molds are more effective in producing high-relief design on glass than plaster molds and wooden molds. In view of this, the development of the mold-blowing technique has enabled the speedy production of glass objects in large quantity, thus encouraging the mass production and widespread distribution of glass objects.

In modern context

The transformation of raw materials into glass takes place around 2400°F (~1315 °C); the glass emits enough heat to appear almost white hot. The glass is then left to "fine out" (allowing the bubbles to rise out of the mass), and then the working temperature is reduced in the furnace to around 2000 °F (~1100 °C). At this stage, the glass appears to be a bright orange color. Though most glassblowing is done between 1600 and 1900 °F (~870 to ~1040 °C), "Soda-lime" glass remains somewhat plastic and workable as low as 1350 °F (~730 °C). Annealing is usually done between 700 and 900 °F (~370 to ~480 °C).

Glassblowing involves three furnaces. The first, which contains a crucible of molten glass, is simply referred to as "the furnace." The second is called the "glory hole", and is used to reheat a piece in between steps of working with it. The final furnace is called the "lehr" or "annealer", and is used to slowly cool the glass, over a period of a few hours to a few days, depending on the size of the pieces. This keeps the glass from cracking due to thermal stress. Historically, all three furnaces were contained in one, with a set of progressively cooler chambers for each of the three purposes. Many glassblowing studios in Mexico and South America still employ this method.

The major tools involved are the blowpipe (or blow tube), the punty (pontil or punt), bench, marver, seers, blocks, jacks, paddles, tweezers, paper, and a variety of shears. The tip of the blowpipe is first preheated; then dipped in the molten glass in the furnace. The molten glass is 'gathered' on to the blowpipe in much the same way that honey is picked up on a dipper.

Then, this glass is rolled on the marver (marvering), which was traditionally a flat slab of marble, but today is more commonly a fairly thick flat sheet of steel. This forms a cool skin on the exterior of the molten glass and shapes it. Then air is blown into the pipe, creating a bubble. Then, one can gather over that bubble to create a larger piece. Blocks are ladle-like tools made from water-soaked fruit wood and are used similarly to the marver to shape and cool a piece in the early steps of creation. The bench is a glassblower's workstation, and has a place for the glassblower to sit, a place for the handheld tools, and two rails that the pipe or punty rides on while the blower works with the piece.

Jacks are a tool shaped somewhat like large tweezers with two blades. Jacks are used for forming shape later in the creation of a piece. Paddles are flat pieces of wood or graphite used for creating flat spots such as a bottom. Tweezers are used to pick out details or to pull on the glass. There are two important types of shears, straight shears and diamond shears. Straight shears are essentially bulky scissors, used for making linear cuts. Diamond shears have blades that form a diamond shape when partially open. These are used for cutting off masses of glass. Once a piece has been blown to its approximate final size, the bottom is finalized. Then, the piece is transferred to a punty, and the top is finalized.

There are many ways to apply patterns and color to blown glass, including rolling molten glass in powdered color or larger pieces of colored glass called frit. Complex patterns with great detail can be created through the use of cane (rods of colored glass) and murrine (rods cut in cross-sections to reveal patterns). These pieces of color can be arranged in a pattern and 'picked up' by rolling a bubble of molten glass over them. One of the most exacting and complicated caneworking techniques is 'reticello', which involves creating two bubbles from cane, each twisted in a different direction and then combining them and blowing out the final form.

A lampworker, usually operating on a much smaller scale, historically used alcohol lamps and breath or bellows-driven air to create a hot flame at a workbench to manipulate preformed glass rods and tubes. These stock materials took form as laboratory glassware, beads, and durable scientific "specimens"—miniature glass sculpture. The craft, which was raised to an art form in the late 1960s by Hans Godo Frabel (later followed by lampwork artists such as Milon Townsend and Robert Mickelson), is still practised today.

The modern lampworker uses a flame of oxygen and propane or natural gas. The modern torch permits working both the soft glass from the furnace worker and the borosilicate glass (low-expansion) of the scientific glassblower who may have multiple headed torches and special lathes to help form the glass or fused quartz used for special projects. The molten glass is attached to a stainless steel or iron rod called a penty (or a penty rod, a pontil, or a mandrel) for shaping and transferring a hollow piece from the blowpipe for an opening to create from.

History

Origins

Glassblowing is a glass forming technique which was invented by the Phoenicians at approximately 50 BC somewhere along the Syro-Palestinian coast. The earliest evidence of glassblowing comes from a collection of waste from a glass workshop, including fragments of glass tubes, glass rods and tiny blown bottles, which was dumped in a mikvah, a ritual bath in the Jewish Quarter of Old City of Jerusalem dated from 37 to 4 BC.

Some of the glass tubes recovered are fire-closed at one end and are partially inflated by blowing through the open end while still hot to form small bottle, thus they are considered as a rudimentary form of blowpipe.

Hence, tube blowing not only represents the initial attempts of experimentation by glassworkers at blowing glass, it is also a revolutionary step the induced a change in conception and a deep understanding of glass.Such invention swiftly eclipsed all other traditional methods, such as casting and core-forming, in working glass.

In the Roman Empire

The invention of glassblowing was coincided with the establishment of the Roman Empire in the first century BC which served to provide impetus to its spread and dominance^. Glassblowing was greatly encouraged under the Roman rule, although Roman citizens could not be "in trade", in particular under the reign of Augustus, therefore glass was being blown in many areas of the Roman world^. On the eastern borders of the Empire, the first glass workshops were set up by the Phoenicians in the birthplace of glassblowing in contemporary Syria, Israel, and Palestine, as well as in the neighbouring province of Cyprus. Ennion for example, was among one of the most prominent glassworkers from Syria of the time. He was renowned for producing the multi-paneled mould-blown glass vessels that were complex in their shapes, arrangement and decorative motifs.

The complexity of designs of these mould-blown glass vessels illustrated that the
sophistication of the glassworkers in the eastern regions of the Roman Empire. Mould-blown glass vessels manufactured by the workshops of Ennion and other contemporary glassworkers such as Jason, Nikon, Aristeas and Meges, constitutes some of the earliest evidence of glassblowing found in the eastern territories. Meanwhile, the glassblowing technique reached Egypt and was described in a fragmentary poem printed on the papyrus which was dated to third century AD. Besides, the Roman hegemony over the Mediterranean areas resulted in the substitution of Hellenistic casting, core-forming and mosaic fusion techniques by blowing.

The earliest evidence of blowing in Hellenistic consists of small blown bottles for perfume and oil retrieved from the glass workshops on the Greek island of Samothrace and at Corinth in mainland Greece which were dated to first century AD.

On the other hand, the Phoenician glassworkers exploited their glassblowing techniques and set up their workshops in the western territories of the Roman Empire first in Italy by the middle of the first century AD Rome, the heartland of the Empire, soon became a major glassblowing centre and more glassblowing workshops were subsequently established in other provinces of Italy, for example Campania, Morgantina and Aquileia.

A great variety of blown glass objects, ranging from unguentaria (toiletry container for perfume) to cameo, from tableware to window glass, were produced. From there, escaping craftsmen forbidden to travel otherwise advanced to the rest of Europe by building their glassblowing workshops in the north of the Alps which is now Switzerland and then at sites in northern Europe in present-day France and Belgium.

Surviving evidence, such as blowpipes and moulds which are indicative of the presence of blowing, was fragmentary and limited. Fragments of clay blowpipes were retrieved from the late first century AD glass workshop at Avenches in Switzerland.Clay blowpipes, also known as mouthblowers, were made by the ancient glassworkers due to the accessibility and availability of the resources before the introduction of the metal blowpipes. Hollow iron rods, together with blown vessel fragments and glass waste dating to approximately fourth century A.D, were recovered from the glass workshop in Merida of Spain, as well as in Salona in Croatia.

Meanwhile, one of the most prolific glassblowing centres of the Roman period was established in Cologne on the river Rhine in Germany by late first century BC. Stone base mould and terracotta base mould were discovered from these Rhineland workshops suggesting the adoption and the application of mould-blowing technique by the glassworkers. Besides, blown flagons and blown jars decorated with ribbing, as well as blown perfume bottles with letters CCAA or CCA which stand for Colonia Claudia Agrippiniensis, were produced from the Rhineland workshops. Remains of blown blue-green glass vessels, for example bottles with a handle, collared bowls and indented beakers, were found in abundance from the local glass workshops at Poetovio and Celeia in Slovenia.

Middle Ages

The glass blowing tradition was carried on in Europe from the medieval period through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in the demise of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. During the early medieval period, the Franks manipulated the technique of glassblowing by creating the simple corrugated moulds and developing the claws decoration techniques. Blown glass objects, such as the drinking vessels that imitated the shape of the animal horn were produced in the Rhine and Meuse valleys, as well as in Belgium.

On the other hand, the Renaissance Europe witnessed the revitalization of glass industry in Italy. Glassblowing, in particular the mould-blowing technique, was employed by the Venetian glassworkers from Murano to produce the fine glassware which is also known as cristallo. The technique of glassblowing, coupled with the cylinder and crown methods, was used to manufacture sheet or flat glass for window panes in the late seventeenth century.

The applicability of glassblowing was so widespread that glass was being blown in many parts of the world, for example, in China, Japan and the Islamic Lands. The Byzantine glassworkers made mould-blown glass decorated with Jewish and Christian symbols in Jerusalem between late sixth century and the middle of the seventh century AD. Mould-blown vessels with facets, relief and linear-cut decoration were discovered at Samarra in the Islamic Lands.

Recent developments

The "studio glass movement" began in 1962 when Harvey Littleton, a ceramics professor, and Dominick Labino, a chemist and engineer, held two workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art, during which they started experimenting with melting glass in a small furnace and creating blown glass art. Thus Littleton and Labino are credited with being the first to make molten glass available to artists working in private studios. This approach to glassblowing blossomed into a worldwide movement, producing such flamboyant and prolific artists as Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni, Fritz Driesbach and Marvin Lipofsky as well as scores of other modern glass artists. Today there are many different institutions around the world that offer glassmaking resources.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glassblowing)

2010-05-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Crown glass was an early type of window glass. In this process, glass was blown into a "crown" or hollow globe. This was then transferred from the blowpipe to a pontil and then flattened by reheating and spinning out the bowl-shaped piece of glass (bullion) into a flat disk by centrifugal force, up to 5 or 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 metres) in diameter. The glass was then cut to the size required.

The thinnest glass was in a band at the edge of the disk, with the glass becoming thicker and more opaque toward the center.
Due to the distribution of the best glass, in order to fill large window spaces many small diamond shapes would be cut from the edge of the disk and these would be mounted into a lead lattice work and fitted in the window. Known as a bullseye, the thicker center area around the pontil mark was used for less expensive windows.
Crown glass was one of the two most common processes for making glass for windows up until the 19th century. The other was blown plate. The process was first perfected by French glassmakers in the 1320s, notably around Rouen. The process was kept a careful trade secret. As a result, crown glass was not made in London until 1678.

Crown glass is one of many types of hand-blown glass. Other methods include: broad sheet, blown plate, polished plate and cylinder blown sheet. These methods of manufacture lasted at least until the end of the 19th century. The early 20th century marks the move away from hand-blown to machine manufactured glass such as rolled plate, machine drawn cylinder sheet, flat drawn sheet, single and twin ground polished plate and float glass.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_glass_(window))

Butterflies - handcrafted glass figurines

2010-05-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

Seven happy little butterflies made from freeformed glass with little hooles at the end of one wing to hang them up in the air. Made with love to greet spring and summer.

I use all the colors of the rainbow. The colors of your butterflies may also come as a surprise and not always as same as in the picture.

You can also choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes.

freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame, original thurigian glassart
every single piece is unique,
my work is not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length: about 2 inches

~Please regard, that all my work is handmade and unique, so there can be little variations in color and shape~

Buy on Etsy

Green and golden Snake Pendant

2010-05-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Snakes are mysterious, sexy, elegantly and beautiful.

freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
my work is not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length: about 1,8 inches

Now on Etsy

Birth of a Butterfly Part 1

2010-05-06T16:42:00.001-07:00

Pufferfish Earrings - wearable glassfigurine jewelry

2010-05-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

I love "Finding Nemo" and I love "Puff".. :-)

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the pufferfishes are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with goldplated surgeon-stole hooks: about 1 inch

Buy me :-)

Helix Earrings

2010-05-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the earrings are not undestroyable but very sturdily,

Love me?

Elves and Faerie leaves - wearable glassfigurine jewelry

2010-05-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the leaves are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with surgeon-stole hooks: about 1,4 inches

Birth of a Butterfly Part 2

2010-05-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

Golden Snake Earrings - wearable glass figurines

2010-05-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

elegantly snakes with golden sparks

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the snakes are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with goldplated surgeon-stole hooks: about 2,3 inches

Now on Etsy

Faerie earrings - glass figurines

2010-05-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

little elves to magic your days

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the elves are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with genuine silver hooks: about 1 inch

Love?

1 pair Elephant Earrings blue with genuine silver hooks

2010-05-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

little elephant to make you happy :-)

1 pair
freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame,
every single piece is unique,
the elephants are not undestroyable but very sturdily,
overall length with genuine silver hooks: about 1 inch

Now on Etsy

Dragon earrings - green glass figurines - wearable glassart

2010-05-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Where dragons live there is magic, chaos and often enough fire. But there are secrets, adventures and even the possibility to learn about a new world...

1 pair freeformed from a masterglassblower (me :-)) in a flame, every single piece is unique, the dragons are not undestroyable but very sturdily, overall length with sterling silver hooks: about 1,60 inches

You can also choose your favourite colors and mail me your wishes.

~Please regard, that all my work is handmade and unique, so there can be little variations in color and shape~

Now on Etsy

Welcome , Willkommen, Osiyo, Bienvenu...

2010-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

So now I am here, show you my work like I would do on every market and in every school I visited in the last years and will answer all your questions as long as I can. I am on Deviantart now for some time and very fresh on Etsy and enjoy both communities there. I have found good friends and so much support I want to give some back. So this will be my first blog in english and I hope you will enjoy it.

I started working with glass in 1998, lived and learned glassblowing in Lauscha, a really small Town in the Thuringian Forest who became known for its glassblowing. You like to decorate your christsmastree with glass? The baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany, by Hans Greiner who produced garlands of glass beads similar to the popcorn strands and tin figures that could be hung on trees. The popularity of these decorations grew into the production of glass figures made by highly skilled artisans with clay molds. (source for further information wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_ornament)

I have worked with glass for nearly twelve years. And I am still at the surface. I am a softglass artist from Germany, so please excuse when my english is not always perfect. I am getting better and will not be offended, if you correct me from time to time.

2003 I started my own business.
2005 I graduated as a masterglassblower.

I love to work massiv, combined with stone, wood, bone and other materials nature provides.