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The promised  video of Valerie Bartron's lampwork process!

4/4/2017

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Valerie Bartron is our April Artist of the Month.

3/30/2017

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By Leti Wesolowski, contributor


Valerie Bartron is a self-taught artist who has been designing lampwork beads and jewelry since 2012. She creates her original art using an oxygen and propane fueled torch, Italian glass and American-made double helix glass. She achieves unusual and interesting designs by adding pure silver, enamel powders and special reduction frit and annealing each piece for lasting durability. She has been a member of Commonwheel for over a year now and has participated with her lampwork jewelry at many gallery shows and at our Labor Day Weekend Art Festival. Valerie enjoys creating unique “molten treasures” to fit her customer’s unique styles.
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A group of Valerie's colorful beads and pendants.

​How did you get interested in lampworking?
It was purely serendipity! A good friend was preparing for an overseas move. Unbeknownst to me she had a lampwork studio she hadn't touched for well over five years and she decided to sell it off. At a luncheon she asked if any of us might be interested in purchasing her studio. When I asked what type of studio set up she had she said “lampwork”. I thought she was talking about light fixtures. That's how unfamiliar I was with this art! I was curious and asked if she could show me exactly what she did. After the luncheon I went directly to her house and watched her make a simple round bead. That was the beginning of my love affair with glass art i.e. lampwork!
Where do you get inspiration?
I love natural beauty. I find inspiration in such things as landscapes, flowers, beautiful fabrics, just to name a few. I also love texture! I've realized most of my beads have a raised design or texture. I also get inspiration from people's needs.
​Tell us about your creative process-- how do you transform a rod of glass into a perfect glass bead?
When I notice something particularly beautiful I take note of the colors and shapes. I'll try to figure out how to create this in glass. As strange as it might sound, it's not unusual for me to dream of a way to achieve the different layers of glass to make what I see in my mind’s eye.
 
Is there a glass artist(s) that you admire/follow?
Yes! Astrid Riedel from South Africa, Patty Leota Genack from Beulah, CO., and Jody Welch from Black Forest, CO., to name just a few. Their work is absolutely amazing! I’ll never stop learning from others.
 
There are glass beads and then there are amazing tree of life pendants! Which one do you enjoy the most?
The Tree of Life pendants are definitely the ones I enjoy making. Partly because they seem to represent something special for so many. I find it humbling and fulfilling when somebody purchases a piece that isn't simply jewelry but symbolizes something really special to them. It took a long time to develop the skills to make the Tree of Life pendant. They take many hours from start to the finished product.
​What is your proudest achievement?
I'm fairly new to this medium. I've only been a lampworker for just short of five years. After a year of continuous work my oldest daughter asked if she could bring some of my beads into a well-established bead shop to see if they would be interested in buying them. When they ended up buying over $900 worth and asked me to continue to bring beads in, that was without a doubt a day I won't forget.
 
Being accepted into the Commonwheel Artists Co-op was a thrill! I was searching for someone to make sterling silver neck rings to hang my Tree of Life pendants. I met up with a husband and wife team, members of the Commonwheel. They do beautiful sterling silver work! I brought in a few of my pieces I had intended to hang off the neck rings. They were very kind and said they loved my work. They told me when a space became available for a jeweler that I should apply. It took a little over a year before one opened. The rest is history…
 
What is your best seller/ your favorite piece of all time? What is the story behind it?
I love making all sorts of beads! The Tree of Life pendants are without question my best seller. I love the mountain setting in which we live in. I wanted to see if I could capture in some small way our beautiful scenery. That's how the Tree of Life pendant was born.
 
The vessels are special to me as well. I have several clients that have purchased multiple vessels for essential oils. An example was a close friend who was preparing for a trip to Italy. She was nervous as she gets motion sickness. She often used essential oils to help soothe her symptoms. Her mother wanting to give her something special as a departing gift asked if I could make a piece of jewelry to be worn to hold the essential oils. That's when I taught myself how to make small vessels. I used her favorite colors along with some sterling silver foil inherited from her grandfather who was once a jeweler.
 
I've also made vessels for people that wish to put their pets or loved ones’ ashes in. I permanently seal them. No one knows except for the client what is held inside. I've also made beads with ash encased inside to put into a necklace. It's not for everyone but those that choose to do it seem to get comfort from having it close and unassuming.
What’s next for you?
I work in what's called soft glass. Simply said this glass melts at a lower temperature than other art glass. There are so many beautiful colors to choose from. It's easy to get carried away. Before you know it you've invested in thousands of dollars’ worth! There's a fabulous glass, Double Helix which is a reactive glass, meaning it changes colors depending on the type of flame you put it in. It's a difficult glass to learn to use but the rewards are amazing! I'm on my third torch and have another on order. Each type of torch is used for a specific type of work. I started off with a $45 Hothead which was perfect to learn on. As my pieces got a little bigger and the detail more refined I purchased new torches. I'm always looking for something new and unique I can make. If I get stumped on how to achieve a certain technique, there are wonderful online lampwork communities to tap into!
 
In the past I've always purchased sterling silver pieces to hang my pendants on as well as chain. I'm just beginning to learn how to do my own soldering and create my own bails for my pieces. Recently I've started incorporating semi-precious stone chain to enhance my work.
 
I could do this work for another 30 years and just scratch the surface of possibilities!
​
To see Valerie’s designs in person visit Commonwheel Artist Co-op and take advantage of 10% off all purchases of Valerie’s jewelry in April 2017. She offers a wide selection of necklaces, pendants on chains, loose beads, earrings and bracelets.


You can find her work also at our online shop here. Locally, her loose beads are sold in White Rabbit Beads and heArt Market in old Colorado City, and Chimayo Turquoise in Woodland Park. Follow her Facebook page at facebook.com/atouchofglassforyou


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Dare to Express--Meet the Artists #2

4/14/2016

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​Step out of your comfort zone and feel the exhilaration of trying something new. Explore the possible creative ways of displaying and enjoying your beloved jewelry pieces by integrating diverse artistic mediums.  You might find that an exotic pendant can be displayed in your home on an interesting wall art piece when it is not hanging around your neck.  A gorgeous ring or bracelet may have a place to rest in a small shadow box that has a poem or haiku specifically written for the piece of personal adornment.  A painting can become three dimensional when adding another artistic component.  The possibilities are endless.  Can you visualize a wonderful piece of pottery embellished with a removable piece of jewelry
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Ace McCasland, "Growth"
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AceMcCasland
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Mo Morrow and Carol Bilbery
when you bury a seed into the earth,
whisper to it . . .grow
when it's curved neck begins to emerge,
shedding the weight of the soil,
whisper: grow
when the first leaves reach to embrace the sun,
whisper: you are growing
when the hail storms fall and the freezes come late,
whisper: you can still grow
when the rabbits nibble and the deer destroy,
you will grow
when branches stretch, flowers unfold, fruit hangs
how you have grown
when the leaves color and drop, the flowers wilt and fade,
whisper: you will grow again
when the seeds fall and bury into the earth once more,
whisper to them: grow . . .
           Ace McCasland
 
Ace McCasland’s current works are about growth: growth within / growth without / growth as an artist / growth as a solitary soul exploring this planet, seeking, wondering, investigating, wandering, dreaming, striving... 


Ace wandered (and settled) into Colorado eleven years ago after exploring and hiking and driving all over the west, stopping a bit to live in places like Point Arena, California / Moab, Utah / Flagstaff, Arizona. Her experiences have included driving converted 1956 tour buses for Green Tortoise Adventure Travel, travelling and performing with a three ring circus along the East Coast, working on the White Mountain Apache Tribe Reservation in Arizona, hiking into (and out of) the Grand Canyon at least seven times, living out of a '72 Toyota Land Cruiser for over three years while exploring the U.S., and failing miserably at surfing on the Sea of Cortez.  Having settled in one place has allowed for explorations in gardening, and in art, and she cannot get enough of either.
 
 
                                                            ****
 
Frank and Ginny Maiolo’s love of nature presents itself in organic designs using beautiful gemstones, sea glass and mixed metals. Drawing upon their love of nature, world travel, and creative imaginations they collaborate to produce a unique style of jewelry.  Combining the masculine and feminine, simple and complex we create distinctive metalwork designs that are timeless in their beauty and form. 
 
How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, how I would love to wear jewelry like that?” Have you been drawn to something but do not feel comfortable purchasing it and displaying it in your home because it is different from your usual style? Fear is the great inhibitor! This gallery show is about allowing yourself to look at that fear while providing internal permission to “Dare to Express” by playfully incorporating art into your daily living.
 
We will have live music opening night, April 15th. “The Brothers Heath" are local boys from Monument, Colorado playing Blue Grass and Americana.
 
 
                                                            ****
 
Mo Morrow has several great loves when it comes to art media—clay, paint, and fiber being among the top. When she was surprised by twins 23 years ago she was at a loss to find a medium that would be compatible with a household of 5 very curious and active children. Voila! Polymer clay! It could be kept out of reach of grabby little fingers (most of the time), and she could find relief from the chaos by creating tightly organized tiny quilt squares. It was a corner of the universe that she could control and used her Math brain to piece shapes that she couldn’t sew out of fabric. Now that her house is quiet and empty she still loves to enter the magical realm of miniature geometry and looks for new ways to explore and connect landscape painting with quilt design.

Oftentimes a piece of jewelry is only brought out into the open when it is worn. This keeps the view of it confined within a limited context, and narrows the concept of the work. Mo is offering jewelry for “Dare to Express” that could be purchased with a larger piece of art so it can be enjoyed all the time. It is an opportunity to break out and think outside of the jewelry box!

“Dare to Express” was conceived as an inspiration to create jewelry that pushes the individual—artist as well as consumer—beyond their public self-identity. There are whole universes inside every person that lie untapped until that person is inspired to create something new.
 
A maxim Mo reminds herself of when facing a new work is that it takes a lot of bad art to come up with good art. With this show we are pushing beyond the safety of our tried and true expressions, and there are sure to be many fascinating surprises along the way!
 
                                                             ****
Our newest member, Valerie Bartron, writes “I forge my art in fire, constantly turning and blending, marking and cooling, mixing the elements of earth, wind, and fire to create what my mind’s eye sees for another in hope that my orbs please the fancy of one such as yourself, or perhaps for a lover.”
​
Destiny struck in August of 2012. A friend was moving out of the country and decided didn't want to take her lampwork studio with her. At the time Valerie had no idea what lampwork was. She watched as her friend fired up the torch, created a simple round bead, and Valerie found myself absolutely captivated with the process that she purchased the entire studio that day.
 
With endless hours of practice, Valerie began creating special pieces for friends and family. At one point her daughter asked what she was going to do with her bounty of beads and asked if she could take them to a bead boutique to see if they were interested. The owner bought all of the beads and proceeded to order more. That was the beginning of a wonderful journey and the start of her business, “A Touch of Glass”.
 
Each piece is a signed original, crafted in her home-based studio in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Valerie creates using an oxygen and propane fueled torch, imported Italian glass and Double Helix glass made in the USA. She often adds other elements such as pure silver, enamel powders and special reduction frit to give the beads unusual and interesting finishes. Each bead is annealed in a digitally controlled kiln for lasting durability.
 
“I hope my pieces provide as much joy to the individual wearing it as I experienced while creating my molten treasures.”

                                                            ****

Brenda Hadnagy is contributing two pieces for “Dare to Express” displaying her trademark ceramic birds in addition to being created to display jewelry.
 
 
                                                            ****
 
Joy Morauski graduated from the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo, Colorado with a B.A. in Art and Anthropology. She has been one of the lucky few that have continued to produce pots since graduating (albeit only part-time) and appreciates every minute of it.
 
Over the years Joy has worked in a variety of locations using one degree or the other.  In North Dakota she worked as an archaeologist on the Fort Union Archaeological Project.  In Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, she taught ceramic classes and was Studio Manager.  Joy has also participated in various workshops at Truro Center for the Arts, and had the opportunity to work with many renowned artists such as George Segal, Toshiko Takaezu, Bennett Bean, Sidney Simon, Daniel Mack and Harvey Sadow.
 
Joy says, “it has been too long since I have gone outside the ‘true’ pottery realm; and ‘Dare to Express’ gave me inspiration to do expand my ‘wings’. I have always found contrasting elements fascinating hence the hard nails piercing the soft clay. I am excited to continue to develop a new direction and look forward to what ideas and methods pour out.”

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    Juanita Canzoneri
    Co-op Member 2004-2019, mosaic artist, Marketing Manager/Shop Coordinator, former co-op treasurer and president.

    Julia L. Wright
    Co-op member since 1976, feather artist, digital photography artist, Festival Coordinator and blog contributor.

    Leti Wesolowski
    Co-op member since 2014, jeweler designer, gallery curator and blog contributor.

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