Margaret Zinser

A surprise trip to Butterfly Wonderland

2018-09-25T14:50:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was our two year anniversary. The last two years have flown by, and I'm so lucky to have Thomas in my life. As a surprise, Thomas took me up to Phoenix this past weekend for a short hotel stay, a great dinner at Arrogant Butcher, and - best of all- a visit to Butterfly Wonderland. Thomas told me to pack my camera, and I'm so glad he did! I took hundreds of pics of the thousands of butterflies in the conservatory. I left filled with lots of new butterfly species to explore in my own work. Here are a few highlights:

A Clipper, Parthenos sylvia

Madagascan Moon Moth, Argema mittrei, freshly emerged

A Malachite (one of my all-time-favorite butterflies), Siproeta stelenes

Morpho peleides. (While Morphos are most widely known for their iridescent blue color, the ventral view of their wings is just as gorgeous.)

Another all-time favorite butterfly, the Paper Kite, Idea leuconoe. I love watching these butterflies in flight; their size makes them seem like they'll fall right out of the air if they stop fluttering even for a second (but they don't).

A Royal Blue, Myscelia ethusa.

A Tiger longwing (I think?) Heliconius hecale

A White Peacock, Anartia jatrophae

Brown Siproeta, Siproeta epaphus

Common Birdwing, Troides helena cerberus

Doris longwing, Laparus doris

Summer trip to Corning, NY

2018-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

My big trip this summer was to Corning, New York to take a class with Jason Howard at the Corning Studio. The class focused on hollow stemware in borosilicate glass. I chose this class for several reasons, the first being that I don't do much hollow work and it's very far out of my comfort zone. I was certainly challenged by the new (to me) techniques and I learned so much. I've known Jason for years and love his work. He held nothing back in the class! We spent the first day working on flaring feet for stemware, starting with a small bubble of scalloped tubing (which is a lot harder to work with than regular tubing), opening a small hole, and then flaring it out by spinning (evenly) to get it to flare into a flat foot. It's terribly fun when it goes well, and comically torturous when it doesn't.

As part of the class, Corning live streams a demonstration from instructors. If you'd like to see Jason's demonstration of a Tazzo (wide flat bowl shape), click here. The demo lasts about an hour, and it's time well spent: it's a joy to watch him work on the torch!

Below are pics of a couple pieces and parts I made during my time there. Hopefully next summer I'll return to Corning for another week-long class!

Custom Butterfly Mezuzah

2018-05-24T16:54:00.004-07:00

I have had the pleasure of working on a few extra-special, heart-centered projects lately, and I'm excited to share this one with you. A dear friend of a dear friend of mine, Emily, messaged me to ask if I'd be willing to make a butterfly-themed Mezuzah for her new home. After lots of emails discussing ideas, colors, and form, we settled on a design, and I got to work!

In case you aren't familiar with them, mezuzahs are decorative cases that hold a scroll with Hebrew verses from the Torah. They are meant to be positioned inside the doorway of a Jewish household, to "write the words of God on the gates and doorposts of your house."

We planned the sculpture for the mezuzah around a section of clear borosilicate tubing that would hold the Torah scroll, with foliage that created a framework for the butterflies. You can see that at the top and bottom of the piece, I added two holes through which screws could attach the piece to the wall. (I also made two glass covers for the screws to attach once it's installed.)

I'm so very honored that Emily asked me to work on this very special piece for her home. The entire process was a joy.

Blue, Blue, Blue

2017-07-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is a quick post, to share a few pics of the necklace I finished a couple weeks ago. This is in the same style as the other large butterfly wing necklaces I wrote about a few posts back, using macrame with waxed linen, perle cotton, flameworked borosilicate glass wings, onyx, Czech glass beads, and spinel. I'm delighted with how this one turned out! Please contact me for purchasing info if you're interested in this lovely piece!

New(ish) hobby: Temari balls

2017-07-05T13:44:00.001-07:00

As is the case with many creative types, I've realized that I'm happiest when I spend as much time as possible in the creation of something- be it glass, my garden, food, crafts, you name it. I like having several open projects at at time, and like having at least a few projects that I can work on outside the studio, often when my husband and I are relaxing together after work. Last year, most of my projects were for our wedding in September of 2016. (We made a LOT for our wedding, but that's for a separate post.) As last Christmas approached, I wanted to make some non-glass gifts for family, so I looked to my craft "bucket list" (the list of things I want to learn someday), and remembered an article I read about Japanese Temari. I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole was...

About Temari: These intricately embroidered cloth and thread balls have a rich history in China and Japan. Originally made as toys for kids, Temari later became a folk craft, given on important occasions, or as an auspicious gift for the New Year. Traditionally, temari are made with recycled materials- rice hulls for the core, yarn and fabric scraps to create the mari (ball), and then decorated with threads in intricate geometric patterns. To read more about temari and their history, here are a few links:

http://www.temari.com/history.htm

http://www.temarikai.com/

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/12/temari/

My first temari really sucked. I hadn't learned yet about properly marking divisions, winding thread so that it doesn't unravel into a tangled mess, and laying out a design properly. Geometric patterns on a sphere are NOT to be eyeballed. As is the case with tile setting, a very small variance on one end of a project turns into a very large glaring mistake. I learned those lessons the hard way (and am still learning them). I do love making them, and I've embraced the process of learning, of making mistakes, of starting slow and enjoying the ride.

This is my second temari, with a much simpler basketweave design (that still has quite a few minor errors).

Instead of the traditional rice hull (or fabric) core, I've been using glass marbles as the core to my temari, and it gives them a really nice weight. The process of these temari is as follows: I start with the marble (often only a 1" marble), then wrap it in LOTS of yarn to get the mari close to the size I want. Then, I wrap the yarn with a LOT more thread, to completely cover the yarn and to provide a base onto which I can stitch/ embroider the design using perle cotton (it holds together a bit more nicely than embroidery floss). The stitching starts with division lines, separating the mari into 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 sections. I took pics of a simple Uwagake Chidori Kagari (overlapping zigzag ) kiku (chrysanthemum) design. This is a very common beginner design in temari, with almost endless variations to explore within this technique alone.

Most I've kept, and some I've given away as gifts. I doubt I'll ever sell the temari I made, as they are so time intensive, I'm still quite slow, and have a lot still to learn.

This gray and tan toned set is one I hope to continue building- playing with increasingly complex divisions/ designs, all made to fill a basket that sits on our dining room table.

Enjoy!

Virtue Glass Flame Fest

2017-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, I traveled to Rockville, Maryland for Virtue Flameworks' Annual Flame Fest, an event in which they bring together teams of artists for a long weekend of collaboration. I've known Matt and Amy, the owners of Virtue Glass, for many years, and was so honored to be included in this year's event.

The three days were intense, tiring, inspiring, and terribly fun. The bulk of my time was spent working on a team with 4 other artists: Michael G-Check, Phil Sundling, Matty Phunk, and Rob Campellone. Together, we created a wall piece that included parts made by all of us. Rob made the green hollow disc that acted as a foundation for crows, hands, and branches (made by Phil and yours truly). Matty spent hours painstakingly creating, cutting apart, and reassembling flat cane that acted as the frame for the piece. Michael made the molecular bubbly elements and handled a lot of the final assembly. Our final night- during the last leg of final attachments- went very late (this pic was taken at approximately 4 AM), but our piece was a success. I had a wonderful time getting to work with these guys!

I also worked on a few smaller projects with other artists at the event: a winged "Goofball" creature with Joey Trankina; a colorful ruffle bowl with butterflies with Jason Gordon, another branched functional piece with Phil, and an articulated butterfly with friend Kim Edwards (https://www.kimedwardsglass.com/). Photos below!

And a bonus: Robert Kincheloe, artist and friend, making popcorn in an enormous glass bubble on the lathe:

Bigger projects: Butterfly Wing Necklaces

2017-05-30T13:24:00.001-07:00

For years, I've been wanting to build some larger, more complex, more time-consuming pieces utilizing butterfly wings. I stumbled along with a few different approaches, many using jump rings, but wasn't happy with the result- wire/ metal gave too much movement and not enough structure to the wings. I knew the solution was in fiber- and I realized the solution was in a macrame technique from Stephanie Sersich (http://sssbeads.com/). I've since made a few necklaces using this approach, and I'm delighted with how they've turned out.

The first necklaces used borosilicate glass, in shades reminiscent of the oranges/ ambers in Monarch butterflies. I wanted to capture the imagery around Monarchs overwintering on trees; I just love the layers upon layers of wings! Aside from the 40 or so glass wings in the necklace, I used vintage Czech seed beads and faceted onyx beads with the waxed linen and perle cotton. This one is modeled by my dear friend Kelli, and found its forever home last year.

The most recent necklace I finished was in shades of blues and greens, this time using my vitreous enameled, soft glass wings. There's around 35 wings in this one, along with turquoise, apatite, sodalite, and fibers in muted blues and greens to match the wings. I use a flameworked borosilicate hook as the clasp. For as bulky as these necklaces are, they're surprisingly comfortable. The fiber/ macrame provides quite a bit of structure and helps to distribute the weight evenly around the necklace. The movement is a lot of fun, too- just enough to remind you that they're butterflies, but not so much that the wearer jingles every time they move!

I'm working on a vibrant blue version right now- any color requests for the next necklaces? I'm thinking pinks/ ambers/ purples might be next...

New work just posted on my website!

2015-06-29T15:37:00.003-07:00

Just a quick fly-by to let you know that AJ (the assistant extraordinaire) and I just posted a handful of new work to my website- please check it out! In this week's posting, you'll find a couple really lovely butterflies, a revisited variation on Bees, and some findings out of borosilicate glass: bails and two kinds of clasps.

Bijoux Bee and National Pollinator Week!

2015-06-18T10:07:00.001-07:00

I haven't talked much here about my "other" business, Bijoux Bee. Several years ago, working on a couple glass projects with a friend who has a laser engraver, I kept wanting to explore other mediums, particularly wood. I initially wanted to make lightweight components that could complement my glasswork, but my ideas quickly expanded beyond that, and so I decided to separate the two bodies of work. My boyfriend, Tom, gets all the credit for the business name, logo, and our website, and he still helps out with some of the design work. (Our Heart style theme is entirely his!)

What I love about Bijoux Bee is that not only provides an outlet for my "non-glass" ideas, but it creates a wide variety of affordable, wearable, and very lightweight jewelry. It's a beautiful complement to my work in glass, and you'll see a lot of common themes that carry over between both my glass and wood work. While the vast majority of what we make gets sold to boutiques, galleries, and shops around the US, Etsy serves as our retail online storefront. Check it out!

In celebration of National Pollinator week, we're honoring the bees, of course. So, just for this week, use the coupon code "POLLEN" and get 20% off.

What's new out of the shop this week

2015-06-18T09:58:00.002-07:00

With the help of my lovely assistant, AJ (oh, the novelty of having help has NOT worn off), I just posted a nice handful of new work to my website.

I'm most excited about two things: a newer, smaller variation on the Beetles I've been making for years, and a great selection of matching Maze Marbles and coordinating beads. Photos below.

An extraordinary week of learning

2015-06-12T14:07:00.001-07:00

What an amazing week! For the last 5 days, I've been taking a class at the Bay Area Glass Institute with two phenomenal artists: Beau Tsai and Demetra Theophanous. The focus of the class was in representing natural, realistic life forms in borosilicate glass. I signed up for several reasons. First, this is the first time Beau has taught a group class in his thirty plus years of lampworking, so I knew this was a real opportunity. Second, Beau and Demetra's work complement each other nicely, and I admire both of their work for their remarkable technique, use of color, and manipulation of texture and form. While most of my exploration in borosilicate up to this point has been in smaller components (beads), I've long wanted to get over my fears of assembling larger, complex pieces out of those components. The class more than met my wishes- both Beau and Demetra were so very generous with their time, technique, inspiration, and encouraging words. I can't wait to get home, order more color, and take the first steps to implementing what I've learned this week and adapting it to my own work. Aside from being inspiring and educational, I had a blast, too, much due to the hospitality of fellow artist Joy Munshower, who creates amazing bas-relief animal beads. I was so grateful to have a class buddy!
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Here are a few highlights from the class: the fish, chickadee, and seahorse/ seaweed/ coral pieces I made in the class, Beau working on a Kingfisher bird sculpture, and our group for the week (Bob, Andrea, Beau, Demetra, Heather, Terry, me, Joy, and Nick).

I lost my marbles to Zac. It's a good thing.

2015-06-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

Zac Cohen, marble collector-turned-purveyor, just stocked his site with a handful of marbles and beads from me. The bulk of what he has available are a style variation on my Maze marbles and beads that I revisited because he asked nicely; I'd done a few marbles in this Paisley-esque theme several years ago. Zac found a pic deeply buried on the web, and asked if I'd do a few different color themes for him to sell. Check out his website- he has a beautifully curated collection of work from many talented, diverse artists. (photo credit to Zac and his photographer extraordinaire). Many thanks to Zac for choosing to rep my work and to all of you!

Change is good.

2015-05-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

I'm a bad blogger. Rather, I'm a neglectful blogger. I'd like to change that. I enjoy sharing more than just a few words on Facebook or Twitter, so it's time to return to that.

The last couple months have brought many small, but highly significant, positive changes to the way I'm approaching my studio time, and breathing some life into this blog is part of that. "They" say that acknowledging a problem is the first step to change, and I acknowledged that I became undisciplined about sharing and posting work online, updating my website, and many of the things that let all of you know that I'm still working as hard as a busy bee. I put up all sorts of ridiculous emotional blocks to posting work (be it on my website, or simply in sharing pictures on social media), and that silly bashful outlook had to stop. The tasks involved in website maintenance are probably my least favorite tasks in the land of self-employment (aside from doing taxes), so I avoided doing so. That is not in the interest of maintaining a thriving life of a self-supporting artist. It was time for some change.

The first step was bringing in help. And as it does, synchronicity abounded. A long time customer-turned-friend, AJ, mentioned she'd love to find some part-time work in the same week I was deciding to bring someone in to help. She's just here with me a few hours a week, but those hours are beyond meaningful to me! The time we schedule at the start of each week force a measure of accountability to having a nice handful of beads, marbles, and jewelry finished up, photographed, and ready to post. AJ walks in, says hello to the dogs, and handles the rest. We're a bit more than a month in, and I am so very grateful for her help. It's simple, it works, and I'm thankful. With pieces now being regularly posted to MZGlass, many other nice little changes have happened: I'm doing my morning pages again (Artist's Way tool), getting more time in the studio, finding more joy in sharing pics online of what I've made, and most importantly, feeling much better about my little slice of creative paradise. The change is good.

Collaborative Owl Project with Kim Fields

2012-03-05T20:07:00.000-08:00

Two years ago, after the February Tucson shows, Kim Fields stuck around for a few days for us to play in the studio. She left behind a small black and white owl, which sat in my studio, untouched for months. Right before the Bead and Button show, I added bright color and detail, and turned the very beautiful owl into a bright fantasy version. Kim's work made such an interesting canvas to paint- so many more little textures and details!

So, after that first owl, we decided to do more. This small batch of 9 owls have a combined total of close to 4 work days between the Kim and me, and I think they definitely show it. While I don't tire of insect-related content, stepping into the world of other winged creatures sure was fun!

A few of these are still available for purchase. Contact me for details.

Collaborative Projects: Fall 2011 with Calvin Mickle/ Calm

2012-03-05T19:50:00.001-08:00

Playing with friends is fun. Working with friends is fun. Playing and working at the same time with friends is even more fun. With that simple fact in mind, I have been embracing the opportunity to play with friends. Certainly the most significant, and long-term collaboration has been with friend and local artist, Calvin Mickle.

I posted an album on Facebook with far more photos, but here's what I wrote about that album:

A few months ago, Calvin asked me to be his partner in an upcoming Flame Off (Glassroots Art Show, November 2011). “You know I’m a soft glass bead lady” I replied. Instead of reconsidering and finding a boro-working chick (as I kind of expected him to), Calvin grinned, and responded: “You won’t be any more.”
In July (2011), Calvin and I started working together. Every once in a while, Calvin came to my studio to practice. We decided early on that we’d be adapting some of the bee/honey/ honeycomb theme glass I’d been working on in soft glass to a larger scale, but how that all played out was still wide open. So we worked, not just on bee stuff, but on lots of bug-themed things, keeping in content with which I was familiar, helping me to get more comfortable with boro as a medium, and getting both of us more comfortable working together. For most of our collabs, Calvin worked on the bulk of the structure of our pieces, and I on small details. I’m still learning, can’t begin to keep up with his talent, speed, and versatility as an artist. That said, I have far more ideas than my current skill level with borosilicate can accommodate. With that in mind, much of our collaborative time took the shape of lessons- many of the components that I was to make I could do at other times, so when we were together, I watched Calvin work, and learned. Always patient and calm (I know, I know, how appropriate), Calvin didn’t judge or diminish my bead-lady sensibility or my bumpy road of learning. We had fun. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate/ teacher / friend.
Working with boro has been soul-feeding, humbling, educational. That’s not to say soft glass couldn’t, or already hasn’t, facilitated these same ends, but this year, boro wins the prize in my book. Soft glass has been off my bench since August. Though I continued to teach soft glass beads all summer and fall, it’s been boro going into the flame from my torch. I’m stoked about glass again, and I didn’t know that I needed a re-stoking until it was in motion. With the bigger canvas, different technical considerations, I am as far from white page syndrome/ writer’s block as I could possibly be, overflowing with ideas, some of which I can’t implement fully because I haven’t yet learned enough. That is a magical place to be as an artist. Each seal, each connection is better than the one before it, and those little steps are so exciting. I’m far from done with soft glass, but I’m done choosing one or the other. I’m more deeply rooted in a path of exploration in glass, and for that, I’m more grateful than words can possibly convey. So to Calvin, dear friend, you were the catalyst. THANK YOU. Our collaborations have resulted in pieces that I am more proud of than just about anything I’ve made before. And, we won kilns! Thank you.

And without further ado, here are a few photos:

Garden Project Continues...

2012-03-05T16:18:00.001-08:00

Last September, not long after my most recent (ugh, I know I'm bad at regularly updating this blog) blog post, I expanded my veggie garden. By adding 3 more units of raised planters, I nearly quadrupled my available growing space, and hopefully allowing me to grow year-round, and to grow all the odd varieties of seeds I stumble across. My awesome Mom and Dad helped out, and this project would not have come together nearly as well without their help. Dad and I hauled nearly 3 tons of compost from my driveway to fill the planters, and Mom helped me plant seeds. On this same visit, she also taught me how to make pickles and jams, so I can take full advantage of every morsel of veggie goodness this garden makes.

This garden has been full of lessons, many of which were unexpected. I've learned plenty of the Botany that I missed in college, of course, but the two unexpected opportunities for learning have been in non-attachment, and in keen observation. In a garden (and in life, for that matter), things don't always turn out as expected, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes, for the better.

My winter garden definitely didn't turn out as I expected. The bulk of these planters are along a north-facing wall, and many of the plants I put in last fall just haven't produced as enthusiastically as I'd hoped. My mistake was in not remembering how sideways winter sun is here, and how much that wall would block the sunshine so many of these veggies need, especially in cold winter weather. Six months after sowing, my cauliflower is just now starting to make a flower head (now that the sun is high enough), and my beets are just starting to make the bulbous roots I've dreamed of since September. Nothing was lost entirely; they're just going slower than expected. The plants in full sun, however, took off- and I have become an expert in cooking broccoli rapini, because my garden produced enough to feed half of southern Arizona. In the first warm week of February, the rapini bolted to flower, bringing me a late winter dose of beautiful yellow flowers, and a ton of very happy bees.

Until this winter, arugula was a special treat. Now, I'm ok if I don't see it for a little while. One 3 foot row of arugula gave me more than I could possibly need. The bitter, peppery leaves went into salads, pastas, and finally (to use up gobs of it before it bolted too) into a neat pesto recipe. I mixed it with garbanzo beans (following the suggestion of a garden blogger whose link I can no longer find), parmesan reggiano, garlic, and olive oil. It mixes beautifully with yogurt or sour cream to make a nice spread for sandwiches or a dip for well, anything. As long as you like arugula.

A month later, the rapini has been delegated to the compost pile, the arugula thinned substantially, and the early summer garden plants are now in the ground: tomatoes, tomatillo, a pepper plant or 2, squash, herbs, melon. Beans will go in next month, as will a few more chili plants. All in all, counting the flowers (sunflowers, echinacea, hibiscus) that can be used for tea, the herbs, winter veggies, and summer veg, I have over 80 varieties of edibles growing right now. I'm eating something out of this garden almost every day. (Last night, my dinner was blessed with tender carrot thinnings, salad greens, Scarlet Globe radishes, beet greens, and chard.) Two years ago, I only had broccoli and chard. Not bad for forward motion.

I know not every single one of those 80 varieties of edibles will be prize-winning champions, but I'm excited to see how this spring and summer garden goes. I know I shouldn't hold on too tightly to the notion of feeding myself and my neighbors off this garden, but... A few dreams of heirloom caprese salads, stuffed squash blossoms, and Hibiscus tea can't be a bad thing. Stay tuned. There will be more garden reporting soon.

the quiet winter garden, sometime in December '11

the Rapini that took over the world, February '12

early Feb, right before cutting down the rapini and planting the spring garden seeds

Tuning Back In

2011-06-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. I'm home after a long run of travel to the Glass Art Society Conference in Seattle, followed by a trip to Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee. Both trips were spectacular. My talk at GAS went well, just as I hoped. Just enough people showed up to create a nice audience, but not so many that I was too nervous, either.

photo by Eugenia Diaz de Vivar

This was my second trip to GAS, and like my first time attending the conference in New Orleans in 2004, the trip was enormously inspiring and educational. Of course, I was disappointed that the conference didn't happen in Tucson, as was originally intended (damn you, SB1070!!!), but I love Seattle, so I got over it quickly. Favorite highlights included getting to meet artist (on whom I've had a several-year-long artist-crush) Ginny Ruffner after her talk and a screening of the documentary just recently made about her, and seeing the De La Torre brothers create a border-issue-themed piece at Seattle Glassblowing Studio.

The cool weather in Milwaukee was a nice change of pace, with averages there being a full 40 degrees lower than they are here in Tucson. Over the years, B & B has turned into an odd kind of family reunion, a gathering of old friends, artists, and customers, and I truly enjoy my time in Milwaukee. My UnGlassy Glass class last Saturday was full of enthusiastic and creative students, and I couldn't have asked for a better group!
While there, I signed up for the Bead Bonanza show on October 9 in Michigan (I'm already in the area teaching classes), made a few neat trades, and did a bunch of other wheelin', dealing, plotting and scheming for future classes, collaborations, and shows.
After the show ended on Sunday, friend Devin Somerville took me to a local street-fair on Locust Street. It was a perfect unwinding to the weekend. Devin introduced me to his old pal, Arno Michaels, who recently published a memoir about his departure from being a racist skinhead during the 80's and 90's to becoming someone who teaches, writes, and facilitates discussions about tolerance, non-violence, and forgiveness. His book is called My Life After Hate, and so far, it's a great read. Check it out.

Two great trips... but wow, I'm glad to be home. I set myself up for a crazy summer of travel, and I'm glad this first leg is done. Next week I head up to Seattle again to help out at the David Grisman concert that's benefitting Beads of Courage (see my previous post from yesterday). After Seattle, I head straight to my working vacation each year, also known as High Sierra Music Festival. Hopefully I'll be disciplined enough to write from the road about that trip.

In the meantime, this week has four goals, in no particular order. 1. Get caught up on the paper (emails, breathing life back into this blog and my website, show apps, articles, etc.) 2. Make beads for High Sierra. 3. Get caught up on sleep. 4. Get plenty of quality time with my animals and garden. Wish me luck. So far, so good. However, my cat, Minou, seems not-so-understanding of the goals that involve things other than petting her.

Beads of Courage Benefit Concert

2011-06-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

This great event is first in Beads of Courage's concert series. I'll be there, seeing the concert, and helping out with volunteers and what-not.

I'm so excited to see David Grisman again; I've been a fan for longer than I've been working with glass. This will be my fourth or fifth time seeing Grisman, but I have a feeling this will be my absolute favorite performance of Grisman's. He's playing to support Beads of Courage, and that makes him an even MORE amazing musician! Hope to see you there!

Veggies and follow-through

2011-06-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago, not long after I started this dusty blog, I wrote about building a compost bin, and wanting to start a veggie garden.

It took me quite some time to really get that going, but that project is officially underway.

Last winter (2009/10), I planted just a few winter plants: broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts. This past winter, I planted broccoli again, but the deep freeze in February pretty much killed it off. The rainbow chard, I planted, however, apparently took the freeze as a challenge. I put the chard seedings in the ground in November, and now, in June, I still have a regular supply of chard. To be honest, I'm a little sick of chard, and so are my friends. I learned my lesson not to plant quite so much next time. It IS a beautiful plant, though.

On planting day, March 27

This past March, I decided to expand the garden, to start moving toward growing enough veggies that my grocery bills start to shrink. After reading a great book, called Extreme Gardening (by Dave Owens) I planned my spring/ early summer raised bed garden. I found this book to be extraordinarily helpful- a must-have for any desert gardener. I built three large boxes, and one small one, all filled with compost, and composted mulch.

I planted the first two boxes on March 27 or so.

From seed: zucchini, butternut squash, melon (HoneyGirl hybrid), radishes, sunflowers, nasturtium, carrots, basil, dill.

From transplants: cherry tomatoes, an heirloom tomato, chili peppers, bell pepper, snapdragons, marigold, more basil, more basil...

The last two boxes were planted at the end of April.

I wasn't as impressed with the transplants from Home Depot as I was with those planted from seed. So, this time it was all from seed: more zucchini, 2 varieties of yellow squash, bush beans, cucumbers, cilantro, dill, more sunflowers, chiltepin (a native pepper plant), and thyme.

On May 30 or so

Now, just a bit more than 60 days after the first planting, I've had a regular supply of veggies, supplementing my deliveries from Matt's Organics. The radishes were fantastic- and I can't wait to plant more varieties at the end of the summer. The first zucchini has been making the most delicious, small, sweet, and crunchy zucchinis. My favorite preparation has been to sautee it, with just a pinch of fennel pollen and black pepper. mmmm. Tasty.

The cherry tomato plants are doing great, though very few have actually made it in the house. We eat them right out of the garden.

I'll write more on the garden as it continues to develop. This long post brings you up to speed on this little project. I have big plans for this garden- namely, to build 3 or so more areas like this one, so I have a set of raised boxes for each season. Fruit trees are in the plans too. I'm a little garden-obsessed these days. This is pretty fun. Home grown food, great bug-watching... it's hard to go wrong!

Open House Nov 6 & 7

2010-10-20T20:51:00.001-07:00

Etsy! and Caterpillars!

2010-10-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's been my week... Now that the Design Challenge is mostly wrapped up, my focus has been on setting up an Etsy store, and making new Caterpillar beads. These guys are so much fun to make- mostly done in the flame, with a few little embellishments using vitreous enamels. I'm working on a long post right now that explains their 'evolution'- expect that in a couple days. But I couldn't wait to share them, and the new Etsy store. Right now, in the store, you'll find a few of these Caterpillar beads, and another handful of finished jewelry pieces. I'm adding more this week, and will be sending "New Work Alerts" once I have a bit more added. So, this is a pre-preview, of sorts? Please, click on over to my Etsy store, and let me know what you think!

I'm working this week on adding more to my website- more, different caterpillars, earrings, and more jewelry. Maybe some other new beads too... I have quite a few projects in process, and it's always hard to tell which one will be 'cooked' first.

Expect more from me later this week! Until then, happy beading!

Design Challenge Winners!

2010-10-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a tough week making decisions, and tallying votes! I have to say how amazed I am(and all of the other judges were) by your creativity, innovation, and inspiration in your designs with my beadies. There were 23 entries, which is more than I expected for this first Design Challenge (yes, there will be more). THANK YOU for putting your energy, time, and spirit into this Challenge!

To see the entries, visit my website (captions are coming):

http://mzglass.com/gallery/54-the-amazing-entries-from-2010

or, if you're on Facebook, check them out here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2085693&id=1536554639

JUDGING: I enlisted the help of 4 other judges: Sara Hardin (Soft Flex master), JC Herrell (bead artist), Janice Zinser (my awesome mom), and Star Vasquez (bead artist). Each judge picked their first, second, and third best pieces. We worked a little magic and turned those votes into scores (3 points for 1st, 2 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd). All of our choices were between 9 entries, so this was a very close contest.

So, without further ado,

The WINNER of the 2010 Design Challenge is Christy Puetz with her amazing seed-beaded Beetle neckpiece, which received 8 points in judging. Christy will win $600 worth of my work, and a gift from Soft Flex!

2nd place: AJ Reardon with her "Beetles are Lovely Too" necklace, which received 5 points in judging. AJ wins $300 worth of MZ Glass goodies!

3rd place: Gail MacKenzie with her "Tribute to the Red Hot Beetles", which received 4 points in judging. Gail wins $100 worth of MZ Glass goodies!

Gail was also selected by Sara Hardin for the 'Best use of Soft Flex and MZ Glass pieces', and will be getting a selection of Soft Flex Trio packs!

The other artists that received scores were Rickie Voges, Valerie Fordham (for her entry #18), Rebecca Moore (for her entries #8 and #10), Elizabeth Fensin, and William Justiniano. All of these entries had between 1 and 3 points from judging, so you can see how close this contest was! Every judge commented on how difficult it was to choose winners.

Again, thank you to ALL of you who entered. If you didn't win this year (or if you DID win!), it's not to early to start designing for next year's Challenge! I'm thinking I will have this as a continuing contest- because I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing my beads become part of your creative process! Expect details on the next Challenge in the not-so-distant future.

MZ Glass Design Challenge

2010-04-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

So after getting so excited to see a few of my beads at my last show "come back" to me, assembled into beautiful jewelry, I decided to have a little fun, and have a contest.

I'm giving away a total of $1000 of my work to show that, even though this contest is to embrace fun and creativity, I'd love to see your best efforts. So PLEASE consider entering!

Here's the info:
MZ Glass Design Challenge

How do you use your MZ Glass Beads? MZ would love to know!

The CHALLENGE:

Use any of MZ’s work in an amazing design project. Any sort of project is fair game: jewelry, wearable art, wall hangings, anything that includes parts that MZ has made. Mix MZ Glass accents or focal beads with your own components to make something spectacular. If you’ve already made a piece with older MZ Glass beads, feel free to enter it! If you have a great idea for any of my current beads, here’s a little gift to help you! Enter CHALLENGE as the coupon code on www.mzglass.com, and get 20% off your purchase. (Now, once you use the coupon, you really need to enter the contest! Don’t leave me hangin’!) You can also mention the design challenge at any of my shows this summer and get an equivalent discount for components you’ll use for the contest.

Then, take great photographs of your piece. You can include up to 3 pictures with each entry.

Send those pictures, with your contact information, and all the important info about the piece you made to mz@mzglass.com. Include DESIGN CHALLENGE in the subject line of your email. I’ll post those pictures to the Design Challenge Page on MZ’s website, and on the Design Challenge page on Facebook.

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

Winners will be announced by SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

Pieces will be judged by MZ and a few other artists and friends. More details on judges and judging will be coming soon. We’ll vote and pick 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Of course, technique, originality, quality, awesomeness of design, and fabulousness of how you used your MZ Glass beads in the piece will be considered.

The SPOILS:

1st Place: $600 in MZ Glass goodies, your choice at a show or on the website

2nd Place: $300 in MZ Glass goodies, your choice at a show or on the website

3rd Place: $100 in MZ Glass goodies, your choice at a show or on the website

A few pointers:

• Make sure your photos do justice to your creation! Use neutral (not busy) backgrounds. Include close-ups!

• You can enter as many times as you want!

• MZ (one of your Design Challenge judges) is excited to see any of your creations using her beads. She’s really excited about seeing how her new work is being used- particularly the Butterflies, Doodles, and Spirals. She’s also really excited to see her accent beads used creatively!

• Submit your entry on time! You have plenty of time to finish your piece! The contest will close on September 1, 2010 at 11:59 PM. Entries that come in after that will not be considered.

• Send each entry to mz@mzglass.com with DESIGN CHALLENGE in the subject line of your email. Feel free to follow up to make sure I received your entry (in case I don’t respond to your email).

• Be sure each entry includes the following:

o Your name as you want it to appear in the show & tells of this Design Challenge.

o Your contact info (email, phone, address)

o The title of the piece, year of creation, and year of MZ Glass pieces used (if you don’t know this last one, feel free to ask me for help).

o A great description of the piece. Include materials and methods used in the construction of the piece.

o You can submit up to 3 photos for each entry.

Ok, that just about covers it. Design away!

Bead Inspired Mesa

2010-03-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I headed up to the Phoenix area for Beads of Courage's annual board meeting, and one of our fundraisers, Bead Inspired. What a fantastic weekend! The Arizona chapter of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, one of the first groups to ever make beads for BOC, hosted the event at Mesa Arts Center. The spectacular day included beadmaking all day, performances by several awesome music acts, and culimated in a reception and live auction in the evening. The Phoenix area has several hospitals that participate in BOC programs, so this event brought together beadmakers, caregivers, and kids in BOC programs. It was beautiful and overwhelming to see kids, wearing their strands of courage, enjoying the beadmaking, bead stringing, and all the other fun activities Bead Inspired offered. The event was a huge success, and many thanks to all who put in so much hard work to make it happen!

What's new, what's out, what's coming

2010-03-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! 2010 is shaping up to be a great year, filled with steady positive changes, and that’s what I want to cover in this post.

What’s new?

A month ago, I posted a blog about the new additions to my body of work: Butterflies and Doodles. Just yesterday, I launched a new website, that brings a ton of positive change on its own. You’ll find shopping is much easier, and navigation improved within the website. I think the site ‘matches’ me and my work a lot more- more photos, more color. I’m really excited about it, and about the new work projects. Poke around; let me know what you think! With the launch of the site, I posted work from all of the series I make, but added quite a few Butterflies. A big round of Doodles will come with my next posting.

What’s out?

At the end of last year, as the ideas for the Butterflies and Doodles started to percolate, I decided to do a little creative house-cleaning. I realized that quite a few bead series were starting to feel …ummmm…. too familiar. I firmly believe that my energy and intention get captured within each piece I make, and that in turn comes across in the work. Fresh energy creates fresh work. Stale energy creates stale work. Getting to make a living from beads is a blessing, and at no point do I ever want to take that for granted. If boredom persists, I may as well start looking for an office job… I want to be feeling gratitude and joy when I play with glass, and I want that energy in every piece made and sold. (That said, it doesn’t mean we can’t use art to work through negative emotions. I do it all the time, but boredom is not an emotion welcome in my studio.) So, wanting to foster good, fresh, joyful energy in everything I make, I allowed myself to put a few of my well-established series to bed. So, the Biologicals, Talisman, and the Pendant series (that never really got a name) are done.

Please don’t misunderstand- I still love all of these series. But I wanted to make sure to ‘retire’ them before stale energy ruined them for me, and, a bit downstream, ruined them for you. I still have a few left in each series, and in the coming weeks, I’ll offer what I still have for sale on the website. If you’re antsy to get that Biologicals or Talisman focal you’ve always wanted, feel free to email me in the meantime.

What’s coming?

I’m in the process of figuring that one out. We (my web guy and I) still need to get the Enamels E-Tutorial JC Herrell and I wrote in a comfortable place on the website, and that’s coming soon. You’ll see the ‘retired’ series for sale in a bit. I know that over the next months, I’ll be making more finished jewelry, adding earrings, beaded necklaces, and accessories for my beads to the website. The Butterflies and Doodles will each see more development as I play around within each series. Past that, I’m not sure what’s coming. I have a few projects simmering on a back burner while this website project finishes up, and it’s hard to tell where my attention will focus, and even harder to tell which of these projects will be ‘cooked’ first. I know that, whatever comes, I’ll be excited to share it with you. ;)