artists » Francesca DeCaire

Sunshyne Silverwear – Spoon Pendant Giveaway

Sep 082011

Remember a few weeks back when I was in the city VENDING IN A FREAKING FLOOD?! An artists group, RNEST was mentioned before the downpour.

Referring to the handwritten URL scribbled on the back of a business card, I typed the letters into my browser. The Rochester New York Etsy Street Team instantly grabbed my attention. I NEED to be part of this group. They are so alive and motivated! This is what I’ve been looking for!

Taken the necessary steps to become a member, my application is currently being reviewed. In the meantime I’ll be familiarizing myself with members of the group. Erin Gursslin of Sunshyne Silverwear turns old spoons into wearable art. Let me introduce you to her current giveaway!

My giveaway is a little nontraditional. The person with the most points by the expiration of the ‘game’ gets their choice of one of the three pendants pictured above.
Earning points is easy, you don’t even need to leave your computer for most of them!

Erin’s detailed giveaway is impressive. She encourages participants to help promote her business in numerous ways. Erin offers a selection of three spoons for the prize winner to choose from. I’m a fan of “Birds on a Wire“, pictured above. I hope she has a helper to assist in keeping track of the points, it looks like a lot of work. Her giveaway starts today and ends midnight, September 13th. Check it out here.

Briduviel’s World – Artist Bridget Paddock

Miscellaneous 1 Response »

Aug 132011

To put it simply the Avon festival was a flop. Although it did motivate me to work avidly the past few weeks. Also, I finally have a festival tent. Tomorrow is another day and another show – Bread & Water Theatre’s Music and Art Fair. You never know when the crowd will hit.

During the festival I had several visits to my booth from a neighborly vendor, artist Bridget Paddock. She was charming, whimsical, and a pleasure to have conversation with. We talked art and shared experiences. She was effortlessly able to keep me in a positive frame of mind. Towards the end of the show she proposed we do a trade.

Bridgets plaques are available in 7 inch, and 3 inch magnets. I absolutely adore them. On the back of the plaques she describes her personal inspiration in detail. Browse briduvielsworld.com to learn more about Bridget Paddock.

Cute Glass Animials From Art For Us Studio

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Aug 092011

I approached the Cute Glass Animals booth at the Park Ave Festival like a child running to an ice cream truck. This vendors audience was swamped with excited kids. Mini figurines are so fun. Why haven’t I thought to make something like this yet? Cupcakes, strawberries, penguins, cats, dogs, etc. - without a hole! You bet I will be experimenting. If I had a doll house I would furnish it in glass! Granted enough time, I would make everything that crossed my mind.

Can you spot the dragon, cat, and dog? Before selecting a few figurines, I looked over each and every one. Making a choice was very difficult, I practically had to pick them out at random or my mind was going to blow.

Delish Handmade Glass

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Aug 082011

Looking forward to Halloween in August is only natural when you are preparing holiday inventory. Sculpting pumpkins, candy corn, ghosts, black cats, and beads of the like, has been a blast.

I bought this swirly and curly pumpkin from artists Chelsea Foehr and Jeremy Griffith at the Park Ave festival. Looking through the shapes, textures, and colors of their glass items was mesmerizing. This pumpkin suited my mood best, it will be a great inspiration for my torching sessions this week. Wouldn’t you know, Deslish Handmade Glass, opens their studio to the public during Rochester’s First Friday event in the Hungerford Building.

Tomorrow fat cat black cat beads are on the agenda, I’m dressing them with half moons on their backsides. Corn on the cob beads are also on the list of things to do for the Avon Corn Festival, coming up this Saturday. I hope to see you there if you are from the area.

In Awe Glassworks – David Deibler

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Aug 072011

Lucas and I ventured the Park Avenue Festival yesterday after we dropped Daddy off for a visit with his close friend. If it hadn’t been for Jason’s desire to play tiger woods I may have passed the festival by. Hate on the weather man, he’s always messing with our plans. Turns out there was no rain, even with a 60% chance. Jason will be pedaling home tonight, hopefully he lucks out as well as the vendors did.

I purchased this hand blown vessel from David Deibler of In Awe Glassworks. It took me a while to make my choice from his lovely selection of artwork. Inevitably I went with my gut. This small vessel hit home and took me back in time. When I first learned to work with glass I made vessels blown from Pyrex tubing, very similar to this style. Now that this sparkly textural friend lives with me, I won’t be able to help but dust off the old tubing and work with it again. Wild flowers will look just lovely placed in this vessel.

I attempted linking to Dave’s site, blog, or Facebook, but I couldn’t find a thing about him online other than festival listings. It seems his domain may have expired.

Here we go, I found him.

Good News and More Good News

Miscellaneous 3 Responses »

Mar 242011

Being a hermit lampworker it’s about time I step out of my shell. Recently I’ve been engaging in some popular glass bead forums like Lampwork Etc. I began reading a thread about artists participating in the Beads of Courage program by means of consignment. Etsy was a fine choice to move toward making a livelihood, but I need to branch out. There couldn’t be a better way, I thought, than to sell my beads and have 50% of the sales go to children with illness. I wrote a letter to Lori Greenberg, Beads of Courage Director of Development and lampwork Artist. I have looked up to her for some time. I asked her to view my work, expressing that I would be proud to become involved with the beads of courage shop.

While making beads I kept checking my iphone to see if she had responded. When I saw that she had, I couldn’t contain myself. Jumping up and down, I opened the email from Lori. It stated, We would be happy to carry your beads in our consignment Artist Gallery. Yesterday I sent my first delivery, hopefully my beads will sell through their program. I anticipate making many future delivery’s to Beads of Courage.

My first shipment:

But wait, I’m not done yet. There’s more good news. I received a letter that has me on cloud 9. Marilynne from Studio 34 picked up a business card of mine that I left behind at Mahany Welding. She contacted me, asking if I would be interested in a mentoring program where they help artists become instructors. I responded telling Marilynne I would love to get out of my garage once in a while to work with some people. I meet with her tomorrow, I can’t wait to tell you all about how it goes.

Stringer Application

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Feb 032011

I am eager to get into the garage, hoping for a 40 or 50 degree day here in Rochester, NY (and a babysitter). There is a tutorial about stringer application that I am grateful to have stumbled upon. Pulling stringer is no problem for me and applying dots with it is not as challenging as drawing a linear design. Fine stringer line work has been difficult. I just haven’t found that “sweet spot” in the flame yet. The glass always goes all squirly on me. If I practice a more sensible technique, rather than applying the stringer hastily, I will be able to achieve my goal. A higher level of effort is required with this style of application compared to dabbing dots onto a bead. While browsing the web for lampwork beads I find myself envious of beads that have perfectly controlled stringer application.

When warmer weather comes my way I intend to watch this inspiring video tutorial by Laura Sparling repeatedly and practice, practice, practice. Her work is clean and consistent, her stringer demonstration is concise. It appears that she has mastered some of the fundamental lampwork bead techniques. I find myself reading Laura’s latest blog entries avidly. I’m having a good time getting to know her through her writings.

Back on The Torch

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Aug 012010

After attending the bead bazaar for the ISGB gathering and speaking with Leah Fairbanks I learned that I can can continue to work on my beads while pregnant. Of course following certain precautions. Leah worked in her second trimester, but said it became uncomfortable for her in her third Trimester. I also met a woman who said she worked through her entire pregnancy every day and she was there with her healthy young child. My new living arrangement has a garage, so I can set up my studio 100% better than in my past situations. I will be setting up in a week or so to work and will call it quits temporarily once again as the weather becomes unsuitable for a garage studio.

Seeing Leah’s beads in person was a rush. It was a privilege to meet her and was wonderful to have the opportunity to handle her beads. This image is one of the many gorgeous beads she provided for the show. Gosh do I wish I could have started a collection today.

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