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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Coming Soon - New Fused Glass Pendants

I loaded all 300 of these fused glass beauties into the kiln yesterday.I'm excited about some of the new color combination and refined shapes I've been working on! I'll be wire wrapping them and getting them into galleries and Etsy for online shopping soon.
Cheers!
Meagan

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Arrowmont - Workshop Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN. Classes are held in one and two-week sessions and run from May 30 - Oct 17, 2010.

Sign up now! Clay, fiber, textiles, glass, wood turning, wood working, marbling, metals, books, baskets, printmaking, photography, drawing, and painting!

If you have never been to Arrowmont, it is a truly an unbelievable experience. I am just one of many who proudly state that going to Arrowmont changed my life!

I am excited to be teaching All Fired Up! Experiments with Glass and Clay August 22 - 28 in the glass studio. It will be a fun one-week "crash course" on fused glass, low-fire clay and techniques for combining the two.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 2010 Online Catalog

Save 15% - Register before March 1st.
Summer 2010 Registration form - Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts

Other Deadlines:
Arrowmont Artist-In-Residence Program - February 1, 2010
Arrowmont Studio Assistantship, Work Study Program and Scholarships - March 1, 2010

A peek inside the kiln before firing- small kiln castings; Fused Glass and More! Fall 2007

Students hard at work with their first clay/glass project; Fused Glass and More! Fall 2007

Glass Fusing 101, Fall 2008

What a great class! Glass Fusing 101, Fall 2008

Hope to see you there!

Cheers!
Meagan

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How do you measure Results?

There are certain things I have learned about myself. I tend to measure "results" in quantitative amounts or by actions completed.

For example, today I finished and shipped work to 3 galleries (amount, action); shaped and grooved 25 glass pendants (amount, action); removed the dead vines, sticks and yard debris from behind the studio (3 trashcans full) (action, amount); spent 1 hour at the gym; you get the idea... I like to start the day with a list and check things off to mark the progress.
However, there is a flaw in this system that I continue to struggle with.

How to feel productive doing "nothing"? And by this I mean the quiet, still, thought provoking moments that require a lot of concentration and soul searching. This is a lot tougher to do! And I usually avoid it by trucking ahead doing things that need immediate attention or have tangible results.

If I had written down "spend 2+ hours thinking and sketching" rather than "come up with brilliant idea for next project" I could cross the former off the list instead of stressing over the latter.

But if I want my work to improve, I have to stop and ask myself the tough questions. Why did I do this that way? What am I trying to say? What do I want to communicate to the viewer? What is my work about? How could I have done so-and-so better? And does anyone really care?

While I believe I know the answers to these questions on some level, it is extremely difficult for me to articulate these ideas both verbally and visually.

Ultimately, I want my work to be the best (technically and conceptually) it possibly can. Being back in school has been a tremendous help with this process. Someone else is now holding me accountable; pushing me to address issues that I would otherwise avoid or procrastinate.

So, do you struggle with similar feelings? How do you slow down the forward momentum to make time for reflection? How do you carve out time for these tasks? How do you tackle the tough questions? How do you keep from getting frustrated? How do you measure Results?

Whew! All those questions call for a glass of wine!

Cheers!
Meagan

PS - Write 1 blog post (amount, action) :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

CURVEilinear - now showing in NC!

(sorry this is so blurry! I've been fighting with both a pdf and jpg version and still cant seem to get a clear attachment. Whew! love technology!)

Meagan

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Currents: Contemporary Ceramics - Opening Reception

Currents: Contemporary Ceramics

January 11-29, 2010

Focus Gallery
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Juried by Linda Arbuckle and John Byrd

TONIGHT - Opening Reception on Friday, January 15, from 7pm-9pm