One of the concepts from the Peter Senge’s book the Fifth Discipline is Personal Mastery. 

 “People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never ‘arrive’. Sometimes, language, such as the term ‘personal mastery’ creates a misleading sense of definiteness, of black and white. But personal mastery is not something you possess. It is a process.  It is a lifelong discipline.”

 So how does the beginners mind fit in?

 “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

Shunryu Suzuki

So it seems to be about bringing your knowledge and expertise to a situation while being open to new ideas, possibilities and options.

May 9th, 2009 | Category: Creative Exploration | Comments (4)

Just when I think I’ve gotten my tent set-up down cold, a new challenge presents itself.

Last weekend was the first outdoor show of the season. Our first challenge was the layout.  The organizers set up the park so that each artist had a space that was exactly 10 by 10 to fit in a 10 x 10 tent.    Since we opted to set up on Saturday we had to snug our tent in between 3 neighbors.  We managed to get the canopy in place and were ready to add the legs when we discovered a family of mice had taken up residence in one of the tent pole bags. 

I was both annoyed and in awe at how hard they had to work to build their nest.  We store the tent poles up on the rafters in our garden shed. They got most of their building material from the storage area of the Corgi Cottage. They chewed a hole in one of the tent walls.  They gathered yarn, feathers and other treasures including a few nibbles from the new, soft wood floor I use at indoor shows!

We found 4 baby mice.  Their parents are somewhere between Williamsburg and Richmond.  I’m not sure when they escaped.  All I can say is that I hope that my car isn’t their new home! These little guys managed to survive being pulled from the rafters, dropped on driveway, tossed in the car where they spent the night at the bottom of a pile of assorted show paraphernalia.   They made the 45-minute trip to Richmond, were piled on my cart, and were tossed on the ground.  Think about it…mice in metal poles and not one casualty.  They did have that deer in the headlight look!

My discovery drew a crowd probably because I screamed.  I don’t know what it is about mice that make me scream.  They’re cute, quite harmless.  I think it’s that they show up in unexpected places, like your washing machine. 

The welfare of this family became everyone’s concern.  We scooped up the babies, put them in a paper bag, and finished putting up the tent.  I was ready to release them when one of the officials informed me that I needed to move my car.  He told me if I waited too long I might not be able to get a good parking place.  So I carried my bag of mice past the food booths to my car.  I held the bag tight. You can imagine what I was thinking as I moved my car. 

I walked into a wooded area at the edge of the park and set them free.  When I got back to the booth one of my neighbors asked me if I gave them water.  I said, “Not to worry…it looks like rain.”

May 5th, 2009 | Category: View From My Booth | Comments (3)

Here is my final project.  I took this picture with my phone at end of class today. I used some of the colors in my Calrsbad Cavern color sample.  I decided to model my pattern after a quilt.  Now all I need to do is decide how to finish it!

The class was great.  I can’t wait to start applying what I learned.  I have to get some jewelry ready the Art in the Park show in Richmond this weekend.  I plan to add some color samples to each firing this week.

April 26th, 2009 | Category: Creative Exploration | Leave a comment

Here are two  pictures I took with my IPhone of some of my favorite samples from the Color Theory Workshop. 

This has been a great experience.  I’m looking at color in a new way.  My final project if firing in the kiln tonight.  I pulled some of the colors from the Carlsbad Cavern inspired sample, and made what I think will be the beginning of a glass quilt.

April 25th, 2009 | Category: Creative Exploration | Leave a comment

Today my favorite exercise was creating color samples base on images.  The goal of this activity wasn’t to create a stylized version of a photograph, but to create a glass sample based on the colors found in an image. 

I used a Time Life book with photographs from all over the world as a point of departure. When I got started  I thought I would be drawn to places that I’ve held in my memory because of the impact they had on me when I saw them in person.   I was surprised that images I selected were of places I’ve never visited.    My first sample for this activity was based on the Great Barrier Reef. 

The second sample was based on Carlsbad Caverns. 

I enjoyed creating two very different color schemes based on these remarkable places.  Even if these initial samples don’t quite capture what I’m looking for I think further exploration of these color schemes will be an enjoyable part of the creative process.

April 24th, 2009 | Category: Creative Exploration | Leave a comment

This week I’m taking a class at Vitrum Studios  with Richard Parrish called Color Theory for Glass: Fear No Color.   Yesterday we looked at the Bullseye Glass line of opaque and transparent glass in the context of the color wheel.  This was an interesting exercise that has opened my eyes to a new way of looking at color.  Today we took this a step further and developed a series of color samples. 

April 23rd, 2009 | Category: Creative Exploration | Leave a comment

I like to do a mix of wholesale and retail shows throughout the year.  Retail shows are a great opportunity for me to have direct contact with customers.  The feedback I get at these shows helps me to refine my line and offer suggestions to my wholesale customers about top selling items.  As I’ve started to plan my fall show season a few key points come to mind.

• What type of show is it?

For me the most successful events have been well established Festivals and/or Art Shows.  Typically events like An Occasion for the Arts in Williamsburg VA, or the Festival in the Park in Charlotte NC have been great events for me.  These shows have been around for many years and have a great following.  Events like these have a lot of traffic.  High traffic usually results in great sales.

• Where is the show located?

How long will it take me to get there?  Is there an opportunity for me to visit a new area?  Two years ago I did the Atalaya Arts and Crafts Festival in Huntington Beach South Carolina.  I picked this show because of its overall reputation as well its location.  I’d never been to this part of South Carolina, so this was a great opportunity to spend some time exploring.

• What are the requirements to get into the show?

I’ve found that juried shows have a better quality and draw more people that are interested in what I have to offer.  I participated in two shows last year where the only requirement was to write a check.  In both instances my sales were below my overall expectations.

In addition to networking with other artists I use the following resources to select shows:

• Zapp
• Juried Art Services
• Sunshine Artist Magazine

April 8th, 2009 | Category: View From My Booth | Leave a comment

I have a check list that I run through whenever I get ready for a show.   As part of my preparation process I went to the bank to get cash to make change.  My first flight to Las Vegas was delayed so I had to run through the Charlotte Airport in order to make my connection.  I was weighed down by rolls of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.

I made it just before the door closed.  When I got to my seat it occurred to m that I was traveling to the Glass Craft Expo in Las Vegas and that I would be staying in a Casino!

April 3rd, 2009 | Category: View From My Booth | Leave a comment

I have a special sale running through April 30^th.  For every $100 you spend you get a free pair of earrings!  If you’d like more information please contact me at 757-250-3337 or email me at nancy@nglassworks.com.

March 25th, 2009 | Category: Fusing Art, Creativity and Business | Leave a comment