The Glass Slipper | Lampwork by Sarah Hornik | A blog about glass, beads and everything in between
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The Glass Slipper
Sarah : 10; Hollowness : 0
Ha! So, I CAN make hollow beads.
Turns out, it was just one of those many cases where the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid) applies. Not to mention, the DJAOYBYHTBTD rule (Don't Jump Ahead Of Yourself Before You Have The Basic Technique Down), and of course, the easily forgettable YDHTGSUFLJBIDTOPOTVFT rule (You Don't Have To Give Something Up For Life Just Because It Didn't Turn Out Perfect On The Very First Try).
This set is called Hellos, and it's up for auction!
I told you to expect a lot of twisties (complex ones!) this week! These focals are also up on eBay.
And now, I am all out of twisties (well, the cool ones) and must make more, so I will have something to put on the 8,398 hollows I intend to make by the end of the week.
(Does anyone know of a good tutorial on how to stop making hollows?)
As for the "new" eBay policy: at least until world economy starts to look better, I must go back to the golden rule (hmmm, many rules today) of eBay 101: The starting price of an auction should never be lower than the lowest price you feel comfortable selling the item for. I will also be offering "Buy It Now" prices here and there, for those of you who don't like waiting around. Shipping is still free!
Hey, if world economy suddenly does start to look better, could someone please e-mail me and tell me about it? 'Cause as you know, I am living in a bubble. A nice hollow bubble. Like a hollow bead. Mmmmm.
I listed a bunch of new beads on Etsy yesterday - you're invited to check them out. Enjoy!
Defying Gravity
A few days ago, I was rudely awakened around 11am by a deafeningly loud "VOOOSHCRASHBANG!"
I opened my eyes, slowly looked around, and everything seemed normal (well, as normal as things can seem at 11am). WTF?
Then came another one. "VOOOSHCRASHBANG!"
At that point, I was beginning to freak out. As I lay in bed, wondering what to do, this thought was literally going through my mind: OMG, we're at WAR! Tel Aviv is under attack! I think a plane just crashed into the building on my right, and then another one crashed into the building on my left! Now - whomever the enemy is this time - I hope they aren't going to crash into MY building! Because I really, REALLY don't feel like getting out of bed this early.
What do I do? Do I get out of bed to look out the window and check if World War III has actually broken out, or do I just assume this is a bad dream and try to sleep through all the noise? I stay in bed, of course. It took me a few moments to come to my senses. Oh right, Independence Day is in a couple of days. There's probably going to be something-or-other with planes going on, and now they're rehearsing - and they're using MY tax dollar to wake me up before noon. Goddammit.
The next morning, the planes were "rehearsing" again, at the exact same painfully early time of day. Being woken up two mornings in a row, I decided that whatever this little event was, I was going to boycott it. I mean, planes? Planes are boring. A long-lost childhood memory slipped into mind... When my brother and I were very young (in upstate New York), my parents used to drive us to the Albany airport on some weekends, just to stand there outside the fence - for what always felt like hours - and watch the little planes take off. Jonathan, who was two or three years old at the time, found this endlessly fascinating and was always excited to go - and my parents always seemed equally entertained, for some strange reason. For me, the whole experience was as tedious as going to the dentist. Do we HAVE TO go watch the planes AGAIN?! But... but... planes are BORING! (Maybe I was mentally preparing for my trip to Australia.)
Anyway, to make a long story short, when the planes woke me up on the morning of Independence Day, I was at least expecting it. So I decided - goddammit, if my tax dollar is paying for an air show, then I am freaking getting out of bed and stepping out on the freaking balcony to watch the freaking planes.
I ended up feeling glad that I did make that huge effort to watch the air show, because it actually turned out to be kind of cool.
Kind of.
Okay, okay, it was cool.
This last one was the bastard that kept waking me up. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how much noise it makes for such a small plane. VOOSHCRASHBANG! When it flips over, it is so narrow that it almost looks like a flying piece of paper.
A few more photos here.
(On a side note - I love how I keep saying that I never wake up before noon, and yet no one ever seems to actually believe me.)
I'm not entirely sure how the two are related - but the night before Independence Day, I was randomly browsing around LucioBubacco.com, when I came across this video. It's just a short clip, but notice what he is doing - he gently swings the drippy molten glass, and it actually bends up towards him, forming a perfect curve. No adjustments necessary. Murano magic or what?
It's a funny clip - judging by his shirt, the ring on his finger and the fact that someone in the background is saying "groovy!", it looks like it may have been shot in the seventies... but then again, I don't think they had that kind of music back then. Weird. Yes, I admit, I watched the clip repeatedly... errrr... several times, even though I saw the whole thing in person just a month ago. (Has it been a whole month? How could that be?)
So, after the air show had quieted down, all I think was: Hey, if those big noisy hunks of metal can flip around the sky so effortlessly, and the Maestro can turn glass into a perfect curve with just a subtle twitch of the wrist, then I can... I can... somehow twist that into a creative excuse for the really weird beads I'm about to make! Yeah! Gravity's got nothing on me.
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These three will be up on eBay tomorrow, along with a few others.
In the meantime, there are some rather nice (and slightly more sane) beads patiently waiting there. I've come to the sad conclusion that I can't start my auctions at $0.99 anymore - at least not for a while - so this could be your chance to get a cool bead for a really good price!
As for today - well, today I had to set the gravity-weirdness thing aside, because I was having a Pati Walton attack. This has been happening more and more frequently ever since I got back from Murano. A Pati Walton attack is a good thing, obviously - it's what I've been calling those rare days (or nights) when I suddenly find myself armed with endless patience and motivation to pull miles and miles of complex cane. I can't tell you how much I envy Pati's ability to just do that on a regular basis, and with such perfection (makes me wonder if perhaps 'Pati' stands for 'patience'). Today's attack was more extreme than ever before, so you can expect to see lots of twisties (complex ones!) on my beads in the near future. LOTS.
Have a great weekend! See ya soon.
Winners
Thanks so much to all of you for your wishes and comments! You bunch of beadaholics were the cause of many birthday smiles.
And the 5 winners are...
Esther
Rimma
Orit
Rozelle
Laura Critchfield
Congrats! Please e-mail me (sarah.hornik@gmail.com) with your mailing address, and let me know the name of the bead you'd like from my Etsy shop!
(Give me a couple of options, in case two people want the same one... I will try my best to make everyone happy!)
As for the rest of you... well, one Sarah Bead has officially been buried deep in the sand on the beach in Tel Aviv. Yes, I actually went to the beach! It turned out to be quite the surreal experience, because on the way there, I ran into an ancient ex - whom I hadn't seen or spoken to in years - baby stroller, baby and all.
"Uh... is that yours?"
"Yeah, he's mine."
"Oh, cool. How old is he?"
"He's a year and nine... wait, today is the first of the month, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
The little blue-eyed guy waves at me enthusiastically from his stroller. Cute kid.
"No, uh, wait... it's the second. It's my birthday! Duh."
"Oh, right. Happy birthday!"
We do a bit of catching up. He asks if I'm still doing that bead thing. Yeah, I am. I proudly tell him about how I just got back from Italy, and am going to Australia next month.
"Does that have something to do with the beads?"
"Yeah, I'm teaching now."
"Teaching? You?" He stares in me in disbelief.
"Yeah, I teach workshops.
"You mean, teaching? Like, teaching, as in standing in front of a class and explaining to people how to do stuff?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Teaching? Are you sure?"
"Teaching."
"Teaching? You actually have the patience for that now?"
"Well, I haven't killed anybody yet."
Mr. X keeps staring in disbelief. X Junior is still waving happily. I find myself feeling slightly old (hey, it's my birthday), but happy. Mr. X is probably a really great dad.
Then, I went to find a nice spot on the beach to bury my sacrificial bead. I've got photos to prove it!
See? I went to the beach. I was actually there.
I could not have taken this photo from my balcony!
A last goodbye to the bead
I left a little marker in the sand.
(Does it look a bit like a millefiori chip, or is that just me?)
This has nothing to do with the bead thing - I just really like this photo.
I really like this photo too.
Maybe I should go outside more often.
A year older.
Thanks again to all of you, for your part in making my birthday a happy day.
No bitching, no complaining - just beads today! (And other stuff!)
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I must say, I find it extremely ironic (this is NOT a complaint, just a general observation!) that I spent two whole weeks surrounded by millefiori in every possible way, and yet the thought to buy some never even crossed my mind. Seriously, if you've ever been to Murano, you know you can't even open your eyes there without seeing loads of millefiori everywhere you look. Not only that, but I was at the Effetre warehouse, where at least 90% of the stock is millefiori rods. Tons and tons of them. "These are cool, but I don't use this stuff in my beads", I was thinking to myself, while trying to snap as many photos possible while no one was looking. "There's no chance I'd ever want to." And now, of course - I can't seem to make a single bead without millefiori. How did that happen? I'm not exactly sure. But I can't get enough of it, my local supplier doesn't have a wide enough variety (not wide enough for me, anyway), and I am ripping my hair out here and feeling like a total idiot. Once again, the obvious conclusion: must go back to Murano. MUST go back to Murano. |
 Here I am at the Effetre warehouse, and yes, those are rods of millefiori, and there were TONS more. Did I think to buy any? No. DUH. |
Here are some of my latest beads, millefiori and all, now on the Bay:
Okay. Now it is 23:59...
Wait...
Wait...
Wait...
It's midnight! May 2nd! I just made it through another year! Woohoo!
Avril suggested that in honor of my birthday, I go down to the beach and bury one of my beads in the sand, while wishing that someone special finds it someday. I think that's an awesome idea, and I'm gonna do it tomorrow. I have a bead ready and everything. (If you happen to be that someone special, please excuse the bead release - I can't be bothered to clean it out.)
But then I started thinking - hey, if some random special person is going to get a free bead, why not my blog readers? I mean, you're ALL special! Right? And besides, I kinda like you guys.
SO, here's what I'm going to do. Since I'm 32, and 3 + 2 = 5, I'm going to give out 5 free beads tomorrow night, to 5 random people. All you have to do is wish me a happy birthday, and I'll enter your name in the drawing! (Avril, you're entered automatically.)
You've got till midnight tomorrow, Israel time. The five winners can pick any bead they want from my Etsy shop!
See ya tomorrow.
Fantasies, Frustration and other F-words
Here comes another one of those way-too-personal posts. Writing stuff makes me feel better sometimes. Enjoy, or whatever it is you folks do with my brutal honesty. Please don't tell me things could be worse. I know things could be worse.
I think I want to live in Murano.
Maybe someday, in the distant future. Maybe sometime soon. Hell, maybe even tomorrow.
I've been thinking about it a lot this past week. Suddenly, the idea of living on a little island, where everything and everyone is all about glass, seems more appealing than ever. But it's more than that. I find myself craving the peaceful, quiet atmosphere; brought on by the lack of motor vehicles, or by the way everything closes down at night, or possibly just because of the glass - with so much glass around, how could things not be peaceful and quiet? Sure, I've been referring to it as "Glass Fantasy Land", but it's not - it's not a fantasy land. It's not really just an amusement park or a Disneyland for glass enthusiasts. Real people actually live real lives there. Honestly, I saw them with my own eyes. Why couldn't I be one of them?
I have no idea if there would ever be any way for me to pull that off.
I'm just feeling so disconnected lately. I find myself walking through the streets of this city - only when I absolutely have to - looking around, observing, soaking in the noise and the humidity and not really liking anything I see. Tel Aviv is far from being the most beautiful city in the world, but it does have its sweet spots. There are vast beaches and even a few parks. It's spring now, and everything is in bloom. There is interesting architecture in some places, if you look closely. There are museums and art galleries. There's good food - any kind you could possibly crave (lots of the vegetarian kind, even). There's always a lot going on, at just about any hour of the day. It's probably a cool place to be if you're a tourist, or if you're not a hermit. But somehow, none of this makes me feel any kind of desire to step outside my home. I'll do it, if I absolutely have to.
I'm not depressed. It's not a weird hermit thing. I know it's a drastic thing to say, but I just feel like I don't belong here anymore.
While I was in Italy, a couple of people asked the inevitable question: "what is it like, living in Israel?"
I was somewhat surprised to discover that I had to force myself to come up with some kind of answer that wouldn't make me sound like an idiot (hey, let's talk about GLASS!). What IS it like, living in Israel? I'm not entirely sure. Sometimes I feel like I don't even live in Israel. I live in a little country called Sarahland. It's a place with its own rules and regulations, and obviously - its own time zone. Population: one. Two, if you count Moby (you should). Nothing I do in my life has anything to do whatsoever with whatever is happening outside these walls. If Sarahland had its own postal service and its own supermarket, there would never be any real need to cross the border.
Israel? Yeah, it's out there. The Passover holiday, which went on last week, totally passed me by (I had a supply of bread in the freezer. I don't eat cardboard). While everyone else seemed to be caught up in the holiday spirit, cooking feasts, buying gifts, doing the traditional spring cleaning, I just wanted to be here making beads (spring cleaning? Yeah right). I honestly couldn't care less about this kind of thing. I don't care about the politics. I know you're supposed to, especially when you live in a place like this, but I just don't. My morals and ideals are elsewhere. Besides those, there are very few things I actually care about that aren't made out of glass. There are so few people I actually feel close to in real life. What am I doing here? I'm not sure if I know how to answer that anymore.
Add all the financial troubles to that, and I just can't help feeling resent. The dollar rate. Fuck the stupid dollar. It is really making my life much more difficult than it needs to be. Back when the exchange rate was high, landlords always charged rent in dollars - meaning, as the rate went up (which it always did), they'd make more money. Do they make less money if the rate goes down? But of course not. Over the past year, almost all rental contracts in Tel Aviv have changed to shekels. For me personally, as my income is in dollars, this means a 50% increase to what I used to pay (and counting). There's nothing anyone can do about it, but sit back and let the rich get richer. And then come the taxes. Fuck taxes. This country makes you pay so many different taxes that I can't even keep track of them all. It's like you have this bucket, and you're supposed to fill it with water, but there's an irreparable hole in the bottom and nothing will ever stop the water from dripping away. All you can do is run around like crazy, trying to get more water from wherever you can, so you don't find yourself completely dried out.
This country lends no support whatsoever to small businesses. I should know; I've had two pretty successful ones. The basic approach is, if you're small, you're going to get screwed - deal with it. I mean, let's face it - I bring a lot of money into this country, for one person. I'm an artist who tries to represent this country with pride (well, not at the moment, but generally, I do). I'm a productive member of this society that I don't exactly live in. I even served in the freaking army for two years, way back when. You'd think that maybe once in a while - not often, just like once every five or ten years or so - I'd get a break. Just a nice pat on the back or something, instead of constant demands to pay more and more taxes. Some kind of appreciation, from someone, somewhere? Anything? Anyone? Nah. No one ever gets that. It's not like I'm actually expecting it or anything.
So, fuck the government. Artistic appreciation? Yeah, I get tons of that. People sometimes talk about me on forums and such, and I get really nice e-mails every now and then. A couple of weeks ago, at my local glass supplier, I voluntarily explained the mysteries of EDP to a confused beginner beadmaker who stared at me in total awe. Are YOU the one with that website? Yeah, that's me. I'm the one with that website.
That website and I have been making beads in Israel for two and a half years. Last year, there was a double-spread article, all about me, in one of the country's most popular newspapers. You don't get much more free publicity than that. Want to know how many people I have actually sold beads to, in Israel? Five. Five, and one of them was my mother. Want to know how many angry e-mails I have received, from various Israelis demanding to know how I have the nerve to charge so much money for "just one bead" - or expressing their objection to the fact that if they wanted a bead they'd have to order it online like everybody else? Lots. Want to know how many stupid e-mails I have received from idiot macho guys, along the lines of "let's go out for coffee baby, I am obviously a total idiot but I know exactly what you need to improve your business"? You don't want to know. Trust me. And people sometimes wonder why I don't try to sell my creations to local bead shops.
I'm not angry at anyone or anything in particular. I know it's nothing personal against me - it's just the way things are here. It's the way people are. It's the way everything is. That's what it's like, living in Israel.
I think I want to live in Murano.
I can only imagine what that would be like. I know it's not a perfect fantasy land. I'm sure the charm wears off after a while - you can't feel like a tourist forever. I'm sure there are many things there that could potentially get on one's nerves. I'm sure you have to pay taxes in Italy. But just the thought, of being truly surrounded by what I truly love... being able to discuss it with just about any random person on the street... I think that would make life so much better.
Hey, I can fantasize, right?
Thanks and Thoughts
First of all, I owe a big thanks to all of you for your support after my last post. Writing that was not as easy as some may think. I wish I could afford to send a free bead to each and every one of you, but since I can't - here's a little tip for those of you who are beadmakers. I just discovered this yesterday:
- Make a base bead in CiM Hades.
- Roll in silver foil.
- Burn the silver away.
- Encase in the new pale aqua from Effetre. The reactions are stunning. (This would probably work with ordinary pale aqua, but I haven't tried - let me know!)
A few different people have been suggesting that I take on some web design work, just until things start to look better (US$, I hate you in ways I cannot describe). The thought had actually crossed my mind once or twice on its own. If I wanted to do that, I could make a couple of phone calls and probably be swamped with work by the end of the day - assuming that market is more-or-less in the same place I left it two years ago - honestly, I have no idea and don't really care. After giving it some serious thought, all I can say is - no way. I'm not about to go back to working in an industry that sucks every last drop of life out of you, promising to pay you for your troubles as soon as its secretary gets back from maternity leave. (When is that going to be? Uh, we're not exactly sure. Our secretary is actually a virgin, but she just went on a date last night and says it went really well! Just hang in there.)
I can't. I won't. I just won't do it. I can think of at least 15,000 unpleasant things I'd rather do for a little extra money. Hell, I'd even wait tables if worse comes to worst. I tried that once, in my very early twenties. It was a short career that ended, after just three days, with me spilling an entire cup of boiling hot tea on an innocent tourist who just happened to be holding a camera in her hands. I'm not sure if the whole event was more traumatic for me or for her (or for the poor camera), but the owner of the restaurant... ummm... never really called me back.
As of now, I'm sticking to my glass like a crooked mandrel coated with crappy bead release. I plan on spending the month of May working as hard as humanly possible - and then I'm off to Oz. I'll survive. It's what I do best.
As for my lecture in the UK - more thanks to you guys! I now have a general idea of what it's going to be about, but I'm still trying to come up with a snappy title and description. In the meantime, Jenn gets a freebie! Send me your mailing address (sarah.hornik@gmail.com).
I'll head back to the torch now. Thanks again. See you soon.
Hello from Starving Artist Central
I know it's a long shot, but does anyone who reads my ramblings here happen to secretly be a particularly generous multimillionaire who finds me somewhat entertaining?
If you're not, but you can afford to buy a bead, could you please bid on one of my auctions tonight? I'm feeling kind of pathetic right now, but I DESPERATELY NEED CASH. The past couple of weeks have been like trying to run up an escalator that's going down.
Besides, I personally think I've been producing some of my best work ever lately.
Back to the torch... later.
Some Sad News
I learned from Quinton this morning that Walter Novello, the store manager of Vetrofond on Murano, was killed in a car crash yesterday.
While I never met Walter in person, I understand that he was a huge help to Q and played a very essential behind-the-scenes role in making Murano Magic what it was for all of us. Not only that, but I've been told he was a genuinely nice guy. This world is so unfair sometimes.
I wish I had got the chance to thank him.
My sincere condolences go out to Walter's wife and son, to Laura and Mr. Moretti and everyone else at the Vetrofond factory.
More Post-Murano Madness
I Say Carrot
Yes. It is a carrot. Or a Sarrot? Either way, it is totally Linda Lee's fault.
After that happened, I started thinking... about hollow beads. For a couple of years now, I've been asking myself from time to time: "is there any way I could incorporate some Sarahness into a hollow bead?" - and usually coming up with same answer; "nah". I suddenly realized that the question I should have been asking all along, was: "is there any way I could incorporate some hollowness into a Sarah bead?"
I decided I had to at least give it a try. This is the first one I made, and the hollow part was actually easier than I had expected it to be.
Of course, I discovered a little dent in it the next morning.- but oblivious to that at the time, I started making more partially-hollows. Or at least, attempting to.
This one WAS hollow - I swear - until I noticed a little bubble in it. Wait a minute, I thought to myself, how can this bead have a BUBBLE in it if it's HOLLOW? After examining it under the light numerous times, I learned that the bead was indeed not hollow. I am still wondering how that is technically possible - I saw the air with my own eyes! Where did it all go? But anyway, I finally brought myself to accept the unhollowness, decorated it with some tentacles and now I'm really happy with the results. It's called La Flamma.
Then I made this one, which actually came out okay, so I decided to give it to my mother for her birthday.
(You start to get the feeling that you might be just a bit too Murano-obsessed lately, when your mother opens her birthday present and the first words out of her mouth are "oh, cool, TENTACLES!")
Then I made this one, that came out technically okay; I just don't really like it that much. (Ignore the drops of water on the inside - those should evaporate at some point.)
And then this one, where the hollowness went all weird again (here I thought I had finally come up with a good way to conquer the crappy millefiori white). It's sort of half-hollow. The lines that look like cracks are just the edges of the oddly-shaped bubble that is the hollow part.
I don't think I'll be attempting any more hollowness in the near future. It's very time-consuming, making the unpredictable results all the more frustrating.
If you happen to like one of these three, despite the above-mentioned issues - I'll sell them to you for $30 a piece, or all three for $75, shipping included. E-mail me. (First come, first served.)
SOLD - thanks!
Some sad news:
My first beach glass bead cracked as well, making me wonder if the reason all this fantastic glass was discarded in the first place was that whoever initially tried to work with it discovered it was incompatible with everything, or just generally problematic. Damn. It seemed like such a cool concept.
Maybe it's like I was saying on one of the last nights in Italy, as we were throwing all our unwanted beads into the lagoon - maybe Murano is just a little island floating around in one big icy cold jar of rejection.
Thanks #1:
For your responses to my last post. I have till the end of the weekend to make up my mind, so keep those great ideas coming!
Thanks #2:
To my students, whomever you are, that have been buying Cattwalk tools and mentioning my name - now I get to choose a free press! Woohoo! Catt rocks.
If you're in Israel, have a happy holiday!
See ya soon.
I need your input.
Here's the deal: as I may have mentioned, I am supposed to give a lecture as part of my participation in the International Festival of Glass in the UK.
Yikes.
I'm not much of a public speaker.
I'm not much of a deadline-meeter either, and I was supposed to deliver the title and subject of my lecture a million years ago. Now it is getting really late. Some part of my mind is still floating around in glass fantasy land, I think.
I don't know what the title and subject of my lecture are. I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not sure if they'd be anything anyone wants to listen to.
So, here's where you come in. If you were forced to sit in a room and listen to me blabber and stutter for an hour, what would you like to hear me blabbering and stuttering about? It can be anything related to me, my glass, etc. I can incorporate a slideshow if I want (I think I want).
Creative ideas welcome. If your suggestion inspires me into thinking I can actually do this, there just might be a free bead in it for you.
