So, if You're Wondering What Angela Garren Has Been Doing Lately...

Then take a look at these!!!

Remember how Ang describes herself:

Smartass, I'm a smartass. Some days, the spiritual side of me takes over. . .but in the end, I'm still a smartass.

Mom, Wife, Sculptor, Smartass. . .that about covers it :)

In spite of her description,

Ang's work a serious dedication to art.

Each painting is unique and individual.

Also,

Take a look at Ang's Blog.

Click HERE.

I Love This One!!!

Once in a Blue Moon.

Here's the Inspiration.

Here's the painting.

This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it!

Doesn't this look like a quilt block?

I Love it!!!

Since Ang is not on Etsy,

if you are interested in any of these paintings, 

contact her on Facebook

or

email her

HERE.

Didn't I tell you she was great!!!

I'm a Big, Fat Copy Cat!

Do you remember this post by AngelinaBeadalina in her blog? Quick, go and take a look. It's important for this blog.













Ang, made this elephant and showed it in her blog.

If you have read Ang's blog or followed her art online or visited her Etsy shop, you have been fortunate enough to come to know an exceptional artist! That is reason enough to call AngelinaBeadalina, a master of her craft! This now takes us back to this elephant, and why I wanted to talk about it.

Yes, I am a big, fat copy cat. Yes, I deliberately copied a piece of Ang's work. In this day and age when copying issues are huge in the glass community, I copied this elephant without Ang's permission, but with Ang's gracious permission I am going to show you my version of Ang's elephant.

















Clearly, you will see differences. I don't know why, but so many of my sculptures have boogers in their noses. We used different glass colors, but I don't think this is a bad copy. I'm also not as good a sculptural artist as Ang is, but I'm working on it.

Oh, and lest you think I will benefit from my act of being a big, fat copy cat, I'm not. This bead will be in my next box to Beads of Courage. Thanks, Ang!

Artfire Stores of Great Value

There will be more later, but for now, here are some of my favorites!

Presenting some Artfire Stores.
AngelinaBeadalina

Deronda Designs

BeadTowne

Glass by GirlFriday 1962

Sun Daisy Glass

Be sure to visit! You won't be disappointed!

Only 23 Shopping Days Left

I'm still shopping Etsy. It's a great way to shop! Today, we're visiting a fabulous artist's shop: Angelina Beadalina's Shop on Etsy. I love Ang's work! She is truly an awesome sculptor! She only has 3 items in her store, so you need to get right over there and shop.












This is one of my favorite pieces in Ang's store. It's called: Buddha and Labyrinth Glass and Wood Sculpture. Ang has combined my favorite mediuim, glass, with wood. This is a marvelous sculpture. I love it!


















This piece speaks to me of loneliness and sadness as the woman faces the world alone. Wow! It's called A Deep Lonesome Mariah Blows Tonight. I can say no more. It's stunning!





















This magnificent work of art speaks for itself. Ang calls it Serene Scene. She is the picture of serenity. Go visit Ang's store. You won't be disappointed.

Creativity Unleashed--Sort of

A few days ago, I talked about creativity, and how do you do it? I read a few blogs. I thought. I drew in my journal. I read a few blogs. When it comes to creativity, the main message is thinking outside of the box. I remembered Marcy Lamberson's blog "Bead Makeovers: Taking your beads in another direction." She took her famous cupcake bead, and she added a new twist--a sweet little butterfly to that bead. Cool! I read AngelinaBeadalina's blog: "Just a Little Warped at the Torch--that's me!" I saw how she uses her whole body when she sculpts. She poses. She twists. She turns. Cool! So I thought, let's just play. I pulled out a bead I had been saving for whatever reason, and I don't know. I felt it was really ugly! I pulled out my wire, and I cut some lenghts of wire. I started to wire wrap this bead. There was something about the wire that spoke to me and said, "Let me do the work. You just wrap." So I did! A spark of creativity began to blossom. The wire twisted and turned. Well, I like the results!















I had named this bead "Primitive Bead." It does look rather tribal, but since I am not good at naming beads, I called my daughter and asked her what I should name it. I described the bead to her and she said, "Bird's Nest Fusion." Colaborative work! I really do like this piece.

Fueled with that success, I pulled out another bead. It's a multicolored disc. I wanted to figure out a way to add a bail and mount that bail. I cut 3 more lengths of wire. Again, the wire did the work. I just became the hands for the wire. It twisted, and it was braided. Again, I asked my daughter for a name. She said, "Mesa Metallic." I love to collorate with her! Great names!
Take a look at this one! (I had named it Creative Disc." Oh, well, I need to work on names.












Last, but not least, I let Marcy Lamberson challenge me. I re read her cupcake blog. I thought, "Okay, what can I add?" I called this one, "The Surfer." I like that name! Jenny didn't feel that was a good name. She did come up with a better one: "Univited Guest." What do you think? If the truth be told, I really called it cupcake octopus. Oh, well, I guess I'm going to have to get my creativity flowing when it comes to names. At least, when it comes to beads, I've got a good start!

Angelina Beadalina - Mother, Sculptor, Writer

Angelina Beadalina is one of the many wonderful friends I have met online. It is my dearest wish that she, along with so many others, and I will get to meet in person and not just in cyberspace. Ang, being the sweetheart that she is, agreed to an "interview" with me for this blog. Check out Ang's blog, if you haven't already. It's full of humor, life, common sense, emotions, marriage, children, and, of course, glass.

Here's is Ang's bio:

I'm a member of Club 1966, born in February of that year to Stanley and Clara Greer in Louisville, Kentucky. I'm the oldest of three kids, and that means I was the one who specialized in stirring up trouble and trying to jump back out of the way while my sister and brother faced the consequences. I grew up, graduated from college (Murray State University, 1988), and moved away from home. Now, here I am in the flatlands, married to Ricky the BeanCounter/GearHead, raising James Stanley and Katherine Clara, and having a blast being an artist.

How did you become Angelinabeadalina?

I had to think of an online user name when I signed up for LampworkEtc, and I wanted it to have something to do with beads, just in case I liked glass and wanted to stick with it. My daughter had an Angelina Ballerina video that she never watched, but I kept toying with that name. AngelinaBeadalina just popped out, and it turned out to be pretty catchy, even if it is a mouthful.


If you had taken the road less traveled, where would you be today?

Would you believe it? I did take the road less traveled. At least, I was on a very nicely paved road, riding with the prince in his carriage toward the fancy castle, when I decided it wasn't the right place for me. I jumped out and hitched a ride with one of Robin Hood's merry men, and here I am in just the right place for me! The forest turned out to be home, and we have our own merry band of munchkins, so I'd say I'm a pretty lucky girl.







If you could be a flower, which one would you be and why?

An old fashioned, ruffley, sweet scented rose. My mom has had a bunch of those since I was a kid, and I can't remember a summer when I haven't stuck one of those pinkish/purplish blooms up to my face and inhaled deeply. Those roses have been part of a birthday card to my mom, they've decorated wedding gifts to cousins, and they've been arranged in pretty vases every summer. I'm kind of like them, ya know? I'm not a conventional girly-girl, but I'm still feminine and sometimes sweet.

Choose a Star Wars character. Who is it? Why?

If you'd asked me this question long ago, in a decade far away, my answer would have been Han Solo, the swashbuckling pirate of the future, a little bit bad but mostly good at heart. Never wanted to be Leia, the funky hair always freaked me out! If you ask me nowadays, then I have to tell you about my very own Star Wars character. My son, the 7 year old Jedi-brain, was arguing with me about something one day this summer when I blurted out, "Of course, I'm right, son. After all, I'm older than Yoda, and I know everything. In fact, I am actually Yoda's Jedi Master." Well, he only hesitated a bit before he declared, "No way, Mom. Yoda is 800 years old, and you are only 42." Ah, but you could see the wheels visibly turning when I answered, "Yes, 42. But 42 what? Years, or centuries??" Uh-huh, the Force is with me :)

You are a phenomenal sculptor! Which work your art is your favorite? Why?

You know, I'm pretty much hooked on sculpting because that's the thing that seems most natural to me when I'm melting glass. Well, sculpting and stringer work, although I have to make the stringer bug be quiet when I'm in sculpting mode or I end up putting way too much "stuff" on a sculpture and completely losing the "less is more" impact it would've had. As for my favorite, it's almost always the last thing I made! I do fall in love with each one, whether it happens at the torch or whether it happens months later when I finally figure out just the right way to display a sculpture that's been patiently waiting for me to listen to its story.


When you compare your life with your art, where does one begin and the other end, or do they merge into one?

Art never felt like a genuine part of my life until I discovered glass at the age of 40. I was always a little bit artistic, always a lot creative, and always too scared of failure to ever really attempt anything that might be considered art instead of just dabbling. Glass, sculpture, and a book about religious art came together all at once and changed my whole outlook on life and art. Art isn't just a subject to study anymore. Art is life. They are bound together by the briefest observations of the colors of a sunrise, by the "aha" moments like when you realize there are spirals everywhere in the universe, by inspirations that fill your mind and won't let go until you create something. What's really satisfying to me is to look at my kids and see how art is naturally a part of their perspective on life, while when I was 6 or 7 years old, I only knew that I liked a new box of crayons and that I could color in someone else's drawings in a coloring book all day long.

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall—which one are you? Why?


Fall, definitely fall! It's school time, ya know, and I have always loved school. I adored all of my teachers, from Mrs. Owsley in first grade to Ms. Howard in the sixth grade to Mrs. Alicna and "Mom" Springer in high school. Well, okay, I'll admit there were a few exceptions along the way. For instance, my seventh grade class can be credited with helping a new teacher turn her life around, quit teaching snot-nosed-almost-teenagers, go to law school,and become a judge. We ran her off, and I, the perennial teacher's pet, was right there with the pack. I do believe we were one of the best things to ever happen to her. Heck, the woman became a respected judge, after all!

Oh, but back to the good things about fall-- watching the leaves change colors has always been one of the best things about my favorite season. When I was getting ready to start first grade, my mom let me pick out a new pair of shoes. I chose a brown pair of zip up knee high boots. Brown, mind you! Me, the lover of all things blue.


If you could be a vegetable, which one would you be? Why?

Potato. I'm pretty plain, but you can dress me up and take me anywhere!


Didn't I tell you she was great! Thanks, Ang!
Be sure to check out Ang's website and her ETSY store to see more art made by this awesome sculptor!

My Beadalina Arrived Today!

When you see the work of a fabulous artist who goes by the name of Angelina Beadalina, you know why I wanted to own a piece of her work! Well, today I do! This is an absolutely fabulous sculpture that I will treasure for the rest of my life, and knowing that it's a Beadalina, well, that will make this piece of art even more special. Ang, thank you for your ability to share your talent with us through this glass medium! I am truly impressed by the quality of your work and your ability to take a glob of glass and fashion it into this marvelous work of art. I'm sure that everyone will agree with me when they see this woman with her hair blowing in the wind. She's mine now!