View contributing artists' links below

Martina Marugg

Stephanie McCain

Sheila Morley

Kim Griffith

Rifie Hogan

Debbie Lewis

Sandy Morrice

Florence Sauerbrey

Welcome to Galleria JATO!

...a JetAge Studio e-zine about glass artists, glass organizations, news and business. Our vision is to bridge the networking gaps, share ideas and bring glass artists from all around the world together to get inspired!

"What's in a name"? The acronym "JATO" stands for "Jet Assisted Take Off"; a fitting play on words for our new networking forum. Here we hope to inspire and help your ideas "take off" in great new artistic directions. We welcome you to participate in our e-zine, so please feel free to contact us with your ideas, or to share your work with us.

Leave us a comment on any of our stories! Tell us your thoughts!
(Comments are sent to us directly. We will not publish your email address.)

March 2010

Elvis is Back in the Building!

Approaching two years ago, I designed a couple of logos for my very favorite glassmaker's famous "Elvis" boro line. The TAG (Trautman Art Glass, the One, the Only, the Famous!) "Three Kings" tee shirt logo debuted a while back, but just earlier this month I found out my design (which originally was made as promo sticker imagery) incredibly made it's way to "wearable art" status! I just had to toot my horn (blush!), and if I do say so myself, this shirt really rocks! Seen here worn by the on site TAG model "Jeremé", he sports it perfectly accessorized in his high fashion leather jacket. You may say he looks like a "Man of Action", a "Jet-Setter" perhaps...either way he's rockin' it! Now don'cha just wanna go get one for yourself? Yes you DO! Get it here from the folks at TAG.

Bottom left: Detail of the "Red Elvis" custom design tee shirt, with the original sticker (insert). Coincidentally, we have a few of these stickers available....you can request one for free with the next order you place with us, but you have to request it upon check out, and while supplies last!

Bottom right: Jenny, THE TAG-Lass is wearing our "Three Kings" design. Isn't she ravishing?!!

Story and original designs above by Renee Wiggins. Photos by TAG. All images are copyrighted.

December 2009

The Perfect Workspace = Inspiration: Conversation with Martina Marugg

You might be familiar with Swiss lampwork artist Martina Marugg; creator of bold and vibrant yet organic work that's wildly intricate in it's beautifully fluid way. Martina is a lifelong and "hands on" crafts person having worked with many different materials for as long as she could remember.

"I'm a material junkie! I love to create, no matter what 
material you're offering me, I'd create something with that 
material. No matter if it's wood, glass, wool, food, paint or 
music.....whatever. I just need to do something with the material 
that's given. Really, it's more than just "need". I can not help  
creating something, I just have to do it." And for Martina, glass is her latest obsession and "material of choice".

Martina hasn't always been a glass artist, however. In fact, she didn't really realize she was even an "artist" for some time, "Everyone knew (I was an artist), except me. I'm still struggling with the idea that I might be an artist", she says, "but I'm an artist, for sure."

Many of us who have a love of working with our hands usually have "inner artists" that change our creative paths profoundly throughout life. Fortunately, we often draw on our past professions and experiences to take our work to the next level. For Martina, her previous profession as an architect had led her to creating the "perfect" ergonomic glass working studio. We were so inspired by her unique space "challenges" and design sensibility that we wanted to share her newly renovated studio story.

It all starts with a plan.

The first challenge of course comes from designing within the room size itself. Martina, who lives in the historic town of Maienfeld, started to work on a "room" within the upper half of a former stable house her family owns. Unique to this space was it's very lofty ceilings and bright light. She knew she would have some challenges in making this room ultimately functional, but drew on her past experiences of architecture and love of design to first draw up the bare-bones plan.

As I began to interview Martina, it became clear that great design plans not only come from knowing your space's benefits and limitations, but more importantly from what you want to do with the space provided. Martina knew she wanted multiple work stations, a large work surface and an organized studio, so she kept that in mind as her priorities. It was easy for her to determine the actual square foot of her studio, but the next step was to decide what was the best use for the entire space. Details such as work surface area and equipment requirements with their measurements was essential for her to figure out her studio's ergonomic flow.

"I designed my studio the way I would design my kitchen; it's just custom made" she remembers. "I did know that my new working bench  should be this large and that I'd need to have that much space between my table, and my glass shelf at my back needed to be 1.3 yards which is ideal for reaching for the glass behind me...." All great details for consideration.

She then found the table she wanted, which became the anchor of the design for the flow of the area. "I knew I'd love to have a  table that is three quarters of a yard wide and as long as possible which was two and three quarter yards long." She adds, "A table this long seems very large, but it's wonderful for two people  working there. Each torch is one yard away from the other with room to spare on each side. This is a good distance to feel safe with lots of room to work."

With the table now in place, Martina added other functional pieces such as the organized glass rack behind the work surface area, and shelving unit in front.

View of the studio and it's two
work stations. Safety is also a priority,
here you can see the galvanized work surface and shelves.

Unique challenges offer unique solutions.

As you can see, the space is extremely lofty, so it was incredibly challenging for Martina to develop an adequate ventilation system without the clutter of the duct work overhead, or a noisy motor circulating the system's air.

" I had to think and think and think about this! But suddenly I've had this idea and boom, it did work!" Martina recalls. " I don't know or have any idea at all why and how I came up with this idea, but I guess this is a part of my job as an architect and it's creativity. It's a part of knowing how to come up with unusual solutions. That's certainly the creative part of it, and certainly my job as an architect. I'm sure I would not have been able to find this solution without my education as an architect."

And the solution is nothing short of amazing! Martina fabricated a duct system that is situated underneath the shelving unit (which also serves as much needed storage and work space as well as a protective barrier to the rest of the room from any flying hot glass) and out of sight of her work space! She also needed a solution to where to put the motor for the system. Being short on space in this small studio, she decided to hire a contractor to cut a hole in the wall, and fix the unit outside on the building's exterior. Brilliant!

Left: Martina's vast palette of glass in her custom made glass rack, we know we're drooling over it!

Bottom: One of Martina's beautiful hollow
bead creations.

With everything now in place, and solutions made to many of the design challenges, Martina's finished studio is an ergonomic, organized and inspirational studio. We hope her story inspires you as well. To see more of Martina's wonderful creations (coming directly from her great new studio, no less!), visit her website; www.mARTinabead.com .

If you're thinking about creating your perfect studio, or just want some ideas to improve your space, consider these tips:

Jotting down your ideas, desires, inspirations and wishes is an important first step in the creative process to creating the perfect studio. We recommend keeping a journal of your thoughts and spend some time thinking about what it is that you don't like about your space, what you do like, and what are the parts of your studio that need improvement (such as organization).

An interesting way to think about ergonomic design is to look at your kitchen and it's efficiency, as Martina did. Most kitchens are designed around the "triangle" rule (see http://www.kitchens.com/design/layouts/work-triangle.aspx for a definition). Studios, too, can benefit from this principle, and can help determine your perfect work flow.

Remember, you also have height to work with, so don't be afraid to use your vertical space as well as floor space. Shelving units of course are the natural solution for organization, we also like using cork boards to post inspirational imagery, but other solutions to think about might include installing a chalkboard to jot down ideas quickly, or for a slick urban look - a sheet of steel to stick magnets with notes to. These are all great uses for your wall space to help organize your studio, so don't leave them empty!
Have fun!

November 2009

Artist Spotlight: Stephanie McCain

We recently got an email with this image attached and just had to share these little gems. Stephanie McCain created this gorgeous romantic custom set using various watercolor-like transparent colors over ivory, and adorned with silver-rich glasses and goldstone details. She also has used our "Passion Flower" murrini chips for accents; a perfect color pairing for the feel of these beads.

Stephanie is a long-time bead artist offering incredibly patterned and fun bead sets in her Etsy store: AvasBeadGarden. Her use of color and style is really awesome and a great inspiration. She also accepts custom orders. All inquiries can be made directly through her Etsy site. Go check her out!

October 2009

Product Spotlight: Enamel Decals by Sheila Morley

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to talk to Sheila Morley about a fascinating product she offers and has recently come into the spotlight; enamel decals for the lampworker. Enamel decals; a medium perfected over hundreds of years has generally been regarded as a decorating technique for the ceramicist. Today, it's combined with modern day technology, expanding its uses. Decals are an exciting new technique now being explored by lampworkers and the possibilities are endless! So what are they and how do they work?

They start out as high resolution digital photographic images or imagery created in the computer which is then printed on special decal paper, Sheila explains. To use them, the process starts by first creating your bead.

 "The beads are made ahead of time and once they've cooled to room temperature, the decal is placed in water and literally slides off the paper. You can then place it on your piece. Since the decal is flexible, it can cover the surface like skin.  This allows for attachment to any curves in the glass and really opens up a whole new vocabulary for the glass artist. "

The next step in the process involves "setting" or "curing" the dry decal to the surface, making it a permanent design element.

"The bead is then placed into a kiln and brought back up to flame working temperatures. Carefully heat the bead in the torch flame so as to not distort the shape of the bead. The enamel will fuse at a temperature of 1300 degrees (Fahrenheit)."

When I asked what other effects can be achieved using the decals, Sheila replied, "You can encase these images!" Wow! How cool is that? I was very excited to hear the colors stayed true even under encasement. Just think of the possible layered effects that can be achieved throughout your creations! The sky truly is the limit when using these decals.

Sheila offers many different decal designs and patterns on her website, www.sheilamorley.com as well as in her Etsy store. Decal sheets are available in both 1”x3” sheets, and 3”x3”.  The 1” x 3” sheet has approximately 26 small images, and 8 large. The 3”x3” sheet has about three times that of the smaller sheet. Custom images can also be made, and we especially love the idea that artist signatures can be made as decals! What a great way to digitally "sign" your work! Just check out her examples in her two stores. If you're interested in her pre-made decals or need some custom work, contact Sheila for a quote.

All decal purchases come with directions, which includes both lampworking and fusing instructions. Also keep an eye out for her tutorial in an upcoming issue of Glassline magazine, and more image inspiration updated on her website.

Top Right: fused decals on Sheila's sample bead.
Middle: example of the flexibility of the decals.
Left: flame curing the decals.

June 2009

Artist Spotlight: Collaborations with artist Sharon Elliott

I recently participated in a jewelry design and business competition, and my portfolio included a few collaborative pieces with master bead weaving artist; Sharon Elliott from Sharon Kay Designs. Sharon has been using my beads in her wonderful designs for quite a long time, and we really enjoy the excitement that comes from working with each of our medium's unique color palettes. Our pieces have been shown in a few venues over the recent years, and many of Sharon's designs are currently available at a very unique and inspiring gallery called "Level 9" located in Cave Creek, Arizona.

Sharon has been working with beads and weaving great designs for over 15 years. She has always had an interest in working with different materials and jewelry design, but very early on in her design career she discovered that she had an allergy to alloyed metals that became impossible for her to work with. Still, the passion for designing colorful wearable art was ever present. She soon discovered the art of bead weaving, which solved her allergy dilemma.

Sharon's designs are very modern expressions in color, technique and tactile experience. She enjoys working with unexpected color combinations which always keeps her designs fresh and fun. Likewise, she enjoys watching yearly color trends in the fashion and textile industries to inspire her work.

"Every year there is a color that really stands out for designs. I look at the color trends, and let it influence my work; nothing ever gets boring that way!"

Her passion for learning new techniques, working with new colors and one-of-a-kind beads continues to make her work evolve. What's the future for her work?

"I really enjoy free-form bead weaving, and I would like to use more of that technique. It's fun and surprising, and always takes you down different paths; much different from the ideas you had at the beginning of the project."

Sharon's favorite materials include using size 6 beads or larger for most of her free-form works, as well as the miniscule size 15 beads. She also loves to use faceted crystals, semi-precious stones and pearls.

Yes, I'm very lucky to be able to work and collaborate with such a talented artist. I'm also very lucky, because Sharon is my mother! To inquire about her work, please contact me.

Top and top right: Snake-like cable woven in shiny black and metallic fuchsia beads make up the main design in this necklace. Added components include; facetted onyx, gold plated caps, one-of-a-kind glass focal bead by Renee Wiggins and a woven button closure.

Middle: Free-form one-of-a-kind woven necklace with many types of semi-precious, metallic and iridescent seed beads. Interchangeable Focal bead by Renee Wiggins.

Right: Lariat style necklace woven with a "spiral rope stitch", and adorned with many facetted crystal beads in peridot, fuchsia and opalescent white. Focal bead by Renee Wiggins.

Story and images by Renee Wiggins

Northcoast Beadmakers

I wanted to share another great Australian based group out of  the Sunshine Coast area and Northern Brisbane suburbs; the "Northcoast Beadmakers". This group of approximately 25 members (and still growing!) was originally started and is run by Kim Griffith, better known as Kimmyg. Having been established for over five years now, the group features skilled artisan beadmakers, contemporary jewellery designers and jewellers alike. This group stands out for us because they're not just a group, they're an online e-commerce site functioning as an online gallery, shop, blog, and knowledge base. You'll find not only beautiful one-of-a-kind focal beads, bead sets and ready-to-wear items from these folks, but the site also offers lots of lampworking and beading supplies! Kim imports, manufactures and sources a wide range of semi-precious stones, pearls, cording, wire as well as quality silver findings.

"My aim is to offer the beading community a wide range of options from a single site”, says Kim “a site where the customer is spoilt for choice and can purchase all the things needed to make their unique visions a reality in finished jewellery with the simple option of a single payment and a single package! I also aim to continue supporting both established and new Australian Beadmakers enabling our customers to have an ever increasing number of choices covering a wide range of styles and skills”.

And they also offer free global shipping on lampworked beads and finished handmade jewellery, as well as a money back guarantee on the finished jewellery.....how cool is that?

Another great thing about this group is that they collectively market each other's work there by gaining a wide customer base for each other. They also regularly advertise in the leading beading magazines in Australia. Currently, established flameworkers such as Tracy Brown, Sarah Murphy, Penel Bigg, Bev Butler, Teri Roberts and Sue Bishop present their work alongside some less well known names such as Sally Shepherd and Alan Ussher. But they all share the same goals as artists, and as the group continues to expand, so shall their success.

An exciting new networking plan for the group is the introduction of a featured gallery called “International Friends”. For Kim, this now offers further possibilities, and she is working on expanding this new direction to include some well known flameworkers she met during a recent trip to the US. We can't wait to see this new feature!

If you are a lampworker with a high quality product and would like to make further enquiries about joining Northcoast Beadmakers, please feel free to contact Kim.

Frit Happens "All About Murrini" competition is now underway!

*The competition is now closed. Congratulations to Rachel Elliott for winning our JetAge Studio murrini in this fun event!! Visit her website to check out this innovative artist's work!

Do you want a chance to win some JetAge Studio murrini, a gorgeous bead by Anouk Jasperse or some of her fantastic murrini, or maybe a selected Jo Wolfe "Mojo Box" full of lampworking goodies? Then join the "All About Murrini" contest now! The competition is now off and running, and is open to members of the Frit Happens lampworking community based in the UK. You don't have to live in the UK, just be a member of the online forum and enter the competition. You can enter as many times as you like, and the more the better. Eligibility is simple:

1. Post a picture of your bead creations using any murrini in the "All About Murrini" thread and it earns you one entry point.
2. Share a tip or trick about using or making murrini and it earns you two entries and finally,
3. Creating and sharing a tutorial earns you 10 entries in the prize draw. Yahoo!

The competition will run until 20th of July 2009, and the winners will be picked at random for 4 fantastic prizes. People at all levels of lampworking experience are invited to enter. This competition promises to be good fun and a great opportunity to share information on using and getting the most out of murrini, and to inspire those who haven't yet jumped into using them. Jo, creator/designer of the "Mojo Boxes", is also the competition's moderator. Not only that, but she is also planning on putting together a really useful and informative permanent page on making and using murrini for the forum's wiki by the end of the competition. What a great way to keep the inspiration and knowledge going! Good luck to all who enter!

Above: Front and back view of a recent bead made by Renee Wiggins. This bead was made with a base of CiM Celadon, and a hand mixed custom color by Renee. A few murrini were then placed on the base and melted in. Over them, she placed a dot of clear and melted in and marvered the encased murrini flat. The whole bead base was encased in clear, and then some gold leaf was applied. After the clear was completely melted in, she then shaped the bead with a press, applied a twisty

cane in coral, some more murrini (melted completely in) and finally added raised dots of turquoise.

Top Right and left: These two beads were made in a similar way as the the above bead.

May 2009

Artist Spotlight: Florence Sauerbrey

Fun, fun, colorful beads! These tube beads are just a few examples of what Florence "Flonche" Sauerbrey has been doing with our JetAge Studio murrini lately. Vibrant and sleek, these little beauties really caught our eye with their movement and graphic detail. A long-time lampworking and jewelry artist, Florence currently sells her gorgeous creations out of her Etsy store named "Loupiac". She's a prolific artist and has tons of beautiful focal beads and bead sets available to buy, so why not check out more of her work?

Dale Chihuly-"The Nature of Glass"

The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is now winding down it's wonderful exhibit featuring the work of Dale Chihuly. Since November 22, 2008, these amazing sculptures have been a part of our desert oasis, but it will soon be leaving us come May 31. I was recently invited to view the show with a good friend and, while I was expecting to see traditional Chihuly undulating and bulbous sculptures, I was completely taken by surprise by many of the installations in the exhibit. Not only was the enormous and sheer amounts of richly colored glass incredible, but I was completely surprised by the amazing similarities these sculptures have with the desert plants. Hundreds of towering spiky, twisting, and textured jewel toned glass "reeds", "herons", "sahuaros" and "ferns" were placed in their own sections throughout the botanical garden. The contrast between the mostly monochromatic desert colors framing the glass was perfect.

Above, representational reeds and herons amid agaves and Mesquite trees.

Left,
two separate installations in the exhibit show the amazing shapes the artist chose to incorporate into our desert oasis.

Reading the short article on the Desert Botanical Garden's site, they state this exhibit is a first for Chihuly in that his work has never before been shown in an outdoor, desert environment. I found that to be interesting, and thought much of his work to be perfectly suited to the shapes of the desert.

More than 15 separate installations were scattered throughout the desert paths, these images are just a few of them. Enjoy!

Above and Right, twisting red and orange snake like shapes nearly 4 feet high grace a native plant bed now flowering from our recent rains.

Right and Below, we were not disappointed expecting to see grand traditional "chandeliers" from Chihuly. The detail images are so fascinating.

The Australian Glass Beadmakers Guild

The AGBG is such a wonderful group of glass artists, and you might not know about this forum. Like Lampwork Etc., AGBG is a lampworking community that shares exchanges of all things lampworking; from the show-n-tell galleries to monthly challenges and all that good friendly and fun exchange of ideas in between. They're based in Brisbane.

JetAge Studio had the great privilege of recently meeting with a couple of Australian Glass Beadmakers Guild artists, and winners of some colorful murrini in a recent themed challenge: "Colour Reaction-It's A Chain Reaction!" Hosted by the hostess with the mostess, bead sculptor and "Challenge Keeper" Rifie Hogan.

Debbie Lewis and Sandy Morrice got the goods from their contributions, and sharing their knowledge with reactive glass combinations.

"These beads are made on a White base, with dots of Rubino Oro around the equator and Ink Blue around the edges. All melted in, then Pink dots placed on top of the Rubino and heated until the reaction happens", Debbie notes of her bead set (right).

For Sandy's bead (above, two views of the same bead), she used a Vetrofond Black Base then rolled in silver foil, encased in clear and then added Raku frit and finished off by swirling corners, capping in clear. Totally cosmic!

Thanks to our Australian friends at AGBG for contributing in this fun forum challenge. To read more about these artists, please click on the artists' thumbnail links to the left.