Blue Moon Glassworks May Newsletter

Blue Moon Glassworks Newsletter

Upcoming Events

• Jewelry Fusing
- May 6, 2008

• Beginner's Stained Glass - Copper Foil
- May 15, 2008

• Beginner Bead Making
- May 18, 2008

• Fusing & Slumping
- May 21, 2008

Product of the Month

uncle Al's

Major Attraction

Magnetic Tool Bar

This 13” magnetic tool bar is a great addition to any workbench. It was designed and built by Al Janelle and originally used on his lampworking table, but we’ve also found that it’s a great addition to any workbench, whether you are a flameworker or stained glass artist.

$44.95

April was a busy month at Blue Moon. We welcomed Andrea Guarino back to our Lampworking Studio. Andrea taught three 2-day classes and the students all took home beautiful beads, a wealth of knowledge and great memories of the time we all spent together. We enjoyed visiting with Al Janelle when he came over to see Andrea while she was in town. Those two go back a long way and they have terrific stories from the early days of lampworking. We had some laughs and asked them lots of questions. It was a fun time for all.

On April 28th we celebrated our 24th Wedding Anniversary. We had Anniversary Lunch because Jim’s Beginners Lead & Foil Class started that night. We reminisced about our years together and especially our “Blue Moon Years” which have proven to be the best of the best. It is wonderful when you get up each morning and want to go to work. We are very thankful that we feel this way and that we have the greatest Blue Moon Team to help us make Blue Moon a special place every day – a giant thanks to Lisa Jo, Jody and Bob for all you do!

Jim & Rose

Bob's Stained Glass Tip:

When building a stained glass panel, I have found it necessary to check the following before cutting glass to avoid problems.

Clean the glass on both sides before cutting your pattern. Clean glass will score and break better and will avoid damage to your glass cutter wheel. You will be able to see imperfections in the glass. It's frustrating to find a scratch in the glass pattern later, that requires replacement.

Make sure the glass cutter oil is reaching and lubricating the cutting wheel to avoid "scratching" versus scoring the glass to ensure better breaks along the score line, and to avoid damage to the cuttng wheel.

Andrea Guarino was our Guest Instructor for the month of April. The students all left with beautiful Sea Gardens, Galaxy Beads and several other Guarino creations.

Please view the pictures from her class here.

Flo Vazquez

Glenda Kronke

Our Artist of the Month for May is actually two women who share the same studio & gallery space. Flo Vazquez and Glenda Kronke are two of the owners of East By South East Studios. I’ve known Flo for the past 6 years, from the beginning of her glass working experience. I met Glenda recently when I went over for a tour of their gallery and workspace. I was immediately impressed with the quality of their work and the incredible work space they have carved out for themselves. If you can find the time to go see their work in person in their gallery you’re in for a real treat. In the meantime you can see their work here on our artist of the month page as well as by visiting both of their web sites. There is a lot more information about both of these talented women on their respective web pages.

Besides the wonderful gallery space at East By South East Studios, they have a fully equipped cold working area complete with 24” lap grinder, 6” wet belt grinder, lathe, & sand blasting cabinet. This area is available to rent time in if you don’t currently have access to this type of equipment. Contact Glenda or Flo to make those arrangements. They also occasionally bring in instructors to teach specialty techniques in their studio. Keep in touch with Flo and Glenda for the latest happenings at East By South East Studios. We know you will enjoy the gallery of works for this month’s Artists of the Month!

Lisa's Lampworkers Tip:

Stringer Control: Applying stringer is like writing with a ballpoint pen. You have to apply pressure to the paper with the pen in order for the ink to flow. It's the same with stringer. When you apply stringer, you must keep the pressure against the bead with the stringer in order for the stringer to flow evenly.

We'd love to hear directly from you! If you have something you'd like to share in the newsletter, or have any questions about classes or products, please let us know.

Phone: 512-380-0770
jim@austinbluemoon.com
www.austinbluemoon.com

Blue Moon Glassworks
108 West 43rd Street
Austin, TX 78751

Al Janelle's

Twisted Ribbon Cane

We were in for quite a treat at last month’s meeting of the Austin Fireflies. We had a wonderful demonstration by Al Janelle who showed us how to make a twisted ribbon cane. The setup grew and grew as Al assembled the components until it was ready for he and Dave Butts to finally make the pull!! As you can see from the picture on the left, it turned out perfect. Take a minute and look at pictures of his demo along with some of Al’s beads and canes here.

Also, you can see pictures of our Fireflies work here.

Next Meeting :

7pm, May 31, 2008