Interview with the artist - Pamela from Willow Walker Designs

I have always been fascinated by glass and admire artists who work with it. One of them is Pamela from Willow Walker Designs who will tell us about what she does today. Be prepared for some serious beauty.

Starfire, teal and purple wire wrapped dichroic glass pendant

 

Tell us a little about who you are and where you come from.

I am an Oregon girl, born and raised. I have spent my life in the central part of Oregon, west of the Cascade Mountain range where it is mainly ranches, forest, desert and open land.  We are fairly dry here and boast of “260 days of sunshine a year”.  I have been here in Bend since 1983.

What's your craft and how did you get to do it in the first place?

I love glass and I love jewelry. 

Wire wrapped jewelry is my passion. My involvement in stained glass led me to glass fusing with dichroic glass which led me to wire wrapping as a way to set my glass cabochons without a torch.  Although I have learned to do that too since then and enjoy combining with wire wrapping.

Silver stars etched dichroic fused glass earrings

I created my first stained glass sun catcher at the ripe old age of eight and have been involved with glass ever since. When I was 14, my parents moved back to their home town and opened a retail-custom stained glass business. One of the things we tried was glass fusing.  After graduating high school I left the nest and didn’t get to play with fusing until my mother became ill and passed away. At this time my father’s favorite glass manufacturer was launching their own line of fusing glass. I fell in love with dichroic fused glass jewelry that was in the shop. I scrounged through mom’s glass, found a few pieces of fusible and dichroic glass. I made a few pendants and showed my dad. The next thing I knew he bought me an early Christmas gift in 2006 of a pound of dichroic scrap glass. About three days later it was gone and I had a beautiful collection of pendants, earrings and bracelets. I loved creating it and have never stopped.

Is there a story behind your business name? 

I used to do black powder re-enactments or as we call them “Rondezvous”. Everyone gets a nickname sooner or later. Mine is Willow Walker and I love it and chose to use it for my business name.

Blue, gold and pink dichroic art glass wire wrapped pendant

I think this is one of the most asked questions – what inspires you? 
 
Sometimes it is the beauty that surrounds us, other times the glass itself, a color combination, a new technique and of course the beautiful pieces made by my fellow wire wrappers.

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.
 
I was born on April first, so I am a “fool”!

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what? 

I am a stained glass professional. I also enjoy flower gardening and sewing. I try not to let myself go much further for the sake of my sanity and my wallet.

Art Deco etched dichroic fused glass pendant

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

 

I have no absolute favorites. I love each and every piece, some more than others, but I am unable to pick just one. I did a woven frame necklace that I fought getting the base wires to weave as tight as I wanted. I was working with rose 14k gold filled wire and needed to be using a finer gauge of wire that I still don’t have. One of these days I will, though.

 

Is there someone whom you admire and who inspires you? 

Many, many talented wire wrappers! I admire and am inspired by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong, Iza Malzyck, Debbie Fang, Magdalena Borjenko, Bobbi Maw, Perri Jackson, Lisa Lynn Barth and many, many more.

 

If you had free choice of just one supply you can use for your craft/art, what would you be dreaming of, no matter how expensive?

 

Hard question, but I believe I would have to answer Dichroic Glass.

Pewter grey dichroic glass post earrings

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

WillowWalker Designs on Etsy.

 

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell the world out there?

Over the years I have tried a variety of dichroic fused glass jewelry styles, from simple wire wrapped cabochons, different effects created during the fusing process and more. It has only been the last four years that I knew where I wanted to go with it. The variety one will find in my Etsy store definitely reflects that. I am working my way through adding all the older items I still have before I get the newer, fancier stuff listed, so please keep on checking back!

I consider this necklace to be the fanciest, prettiest piece I have created so far, that and its matching earrings. I sold the set to a local jewelry store and they sold it within a week!

I am not surprised, it's a beautiful set! Thank you for sharing a little more about the artist behind your lovely pieces, Pam!

Interview with the artist - Christina from Little CLUUs

Today I'd like you to welcome Christina whom I met on deviantART and who will tell us about dragons and "Little CLUUs" ;-)
 

Tiger dragon with marble

Tell us a little about who you are and where you come from.

My name is Christina and I was born and raised in Reno, NV. I've been into arts since I was very small. I got my masters in the violin when I was in high school and performed professionally for many years. And then in my later years of high school and into college I made video games for a living. After I realized I didn't want to sit in front of a computer for my career I started airbrushing and doing custom paint jobs on motorcycles and cars etc. And then after having my son almost 3 years ago I began sculpting and doing chainmaille for work :)

What's your craft and how did you get to do it in the first place?

Currently I'm doing chainmaille and polymer clay sculpting. I got into chainmaille from a friend that did it and thought it was a really unique jewelry that you don't see often. And with sculpting I've dabbled with it since middle school and I have a love of dragons so I started practicing sculpting then and here they are!

Baby Nightfury dragon

What's the story behind your business name?

Well, it was a bit of a secret, but I guess I'll let y'all know ;) My creations are all very special to me because I do spend quite a bit of time on them and I care about every little detail so in a sense they are little pieces of me. So that's why Little (for part of myself I put into the sculptures/jewelry) and then CLUUs, ... My initials are CLW and when you say it phonetically it sounds like 'clue' and if you say the letter 'W' it's a double u, so my initials spelled out are CLUU and together it is little pieces of me :3

I think this is one of the most asked questions – where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from all over the place! If I'm even out doing errands and I see a pattern or maybe a flower I like, I take those colors or the way something's shaped to make what I do. Or if it's something like the holidays it's always fun to have 'themed' pieces.

Fire gecko

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.

Let's see, a random fun thing lol. I am an owner and lover of exotic birds. I have a few that are pets and I also accept birds that are rescues that need a home.

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

Oh yes. I dabble in many things lol. I've been make art dolls lately which has been a ton of fun. I also do some plushies. I still do airbrushing and make art panels with it. I make resin pieces for jewelry of display. I do glass etching and make ornaments. I paint traditionally and I do digital art. I think if there's something out there, I've tried it once lol. I love art :3

Rainbow of butterflies bracelet

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

My favorite piece...that's a tough one. I think my all time favorite would have to be my Tropical Rainbow Dragon. I had the concept for that piece in my head for a long time and I knew it would take me forever to make, but once I got going on it I loved it. Over 60 hours later, and that one was finished. And I think that one would also qualify for hardest to make because there is no paintwork involved so the color blending and the gradient was all done scale by scale to give a nice flow to the colors.

Tropical rainbow dragon

Is there someone whom you admire and who inspires you?

I think I would have to give a lot of my inspiration to Peña who makes some very beautiful dragons. And also to nature lol. There is nothing more beautiful than what Mother Nature makes, so it's always nice to just go out in the world and see some amazing things.

If you had free choice of just one supply you can use for your craft, what would you be dreaming of, no matter how expensive?

Ooooo.....well if I had only one item I would have to pick my clay. But if I could have a dream item, it would actually be a limited set of Iwata airbrushes lol.

Wrestling twin baby dragons

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

Yes I do. You can find creations I make here at my etsy store Little CLUUs.

Or for custom orders you can get ahold of me on etsy or here on DA :3

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell the world out there?

Never give up! Seriously! I get asked all the time how to improve on ANY craft and it's just patience and practice. I'm always here to help, you just need to ask. One of my favorite things as an artist is seeing something I've made and it inspires another to make something of their own!

Thank you for being here, Christina, I'm looking forward to seeing more of your dragons and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Interview with the artist - Gail from Stormy Designs

Today we will meet Gail who is the face behind Stormy Designs, a shop with lots of color as you will see soon.

Tell us a little about who you are and where you come from.

I'm a widow and I have 3 beautiful daughters who have blessed me with 10 wonderful grandchildren. I come from an artistic family. My father was a professional photographer who loved to paint and draw, and my mother hand colored the portraits for the studio with oil paint or colored pencil, back before color film was invented. She was always sewing or crocheting something. I guess I inherited their artistic abilities to some extent.

Triple fishtail bracelet

Have you always been creative?

I have always drawn, painted or made things with my hands even as a small child. I remember my father teaching me how to color properly and to shade with the crayon so that my coloring looked more dimensional. I've done wood work, cutting out different animals and such and painting them and years ago had a successful business of it in northern VA. I've worked with beading since I was a child, wire wrapping in my later years. About 8 years ago I started working with polymer clay and loved sculpting with it. I made my own beads and wire wrapped earrings, bracelets and necklaces and made ornaments and such for a couple years. The polymer clay items that are currently in my shop are the remains of my claying period. A few years ago I moved into a smaller living space and gave up crafting for a few years.

Ladybug leaves clay choker

What or who inspired you to do what you do now?

Last year my granddaughter Bella made me a rainbow loom bracelet and I was intrigued. I searched online, found the loom and bands, bought them and have been creating ever since.

Bird of Paradise bracelet

Where does your inspiration come from?

Color and nature inspire me. I love working with different colors, seeing which ones compliment each other.

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

I love creating web graphics. I use Paint Shop Pro to create with and have used it for many years. I make my own tiled backgrounds and banners for my blog http://stormysdesigns.blogspot.com/ and my own banners and buttons for my shops.

Does your crafting leave you time for other hobbies, too?

Yes, I love to read, have been a bookworm all of my life. I read books mostly on my phone now, it's easier than lugging a huge novel around and my phone is always with me.

Polymer clay fall leaf earrings

Is there something you would really like to try doing, anything from a new craft to bungee jumping?

LOL it wouldn't be bungee jumping because I have a terrible fear of heights and falling. I would love to try learning to crochet, it's pretty similar to working on the rainbow loom.

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite?

That's really hard to choose an absolute favorite. I love all of my creations, but if I really had to choose it would have to be my Black, Metallic Purple & Metallic Gold Cincofish bracelet.

Cincofish bracelet

I love those colors together, and the bracelet pattern, Cincofish, is one that I created myself.

Which one was the hardest to make and why?

That would have to be my Coral bracelet, it took hours and hours just to twist all of those "coral" bands.

Coral bracelet

If you had free choice of a supply you need for your craft, no matter how expensive, what would you pick?

An unlimited supply of bands in all of the colors available.

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

I sell online at Zibbet and at Handmade Artists.

Is there anything else you want to tell us?

I love custom orders! If you see something in my shop that you'd like in a different color or size, just let me know. I'd be glad to make something just for you.

Thank you for your time, Gail. I am sure you'll want to get to back to your loom now to make more lovely and colorful designs for us all to see!

Interview with the artist - Maria from Caribbean Dreams

Today I want you to welcome fellow Zibbeter Maria from Caribbean Dreams.

Most of Maria's pieces are one of a kind and there is such a variety that it was hard to pick something to start this interview!

Caged fluorite pendant

Tell us a little about who you are and where you come from.

I was born on the beautiful island of Cuba a few years before the revolution. We had to leave and ended up in Philadelphia, PA, well north of where most Cubans ended up at that time [Miami]. My hometown is Havana, but mom is from San Cristobal in Pinar del Rio, an absolutely gorgeous province just west of Havana. While I've never been back, after 50+ years I've very much looking forward to when Cuba opens back up and I can see my patria.

You crochet and make jewelry. Which one came first and what got you started?

Crochet came first in my life as I learned how as a girl, but then I wandered away from it doing plastic canvas, counted cross stitch, and then jewelry. Now that I'm older, my hands sometimes start to ache from working with wire, jump rings, and metal clay, so I slowly got back into crochet. Now, what I work on any given day is dictated by what orders I've received and their delivery requirements.
 

Wear Anywhere shrug

I think this is one of the most asked questions – where does your inspiration come from?

This one is easy for me. All I have to do is look around to be inspired. I'm also a voracious reader and I've found inspiration in books more than once. Shapes, colors, it's all out there...all you have to do is see.

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.

I can find "fun" in just about anything I do. Sitting here trying to think about what I do for fun and I'm drawing a total blank...did I mention I'm a voracious reader? Love the escape that reading provides.  Oh! Got it!! I love to travel [haven't done any in a while] with Mexico very high on my hit parade.
 

Bright gold Hana Gusari weave

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

Every now and then I'll pull out some cross stitch. I like large, intricate designs, so when I start one I know it will be a work in progress for months. Teresa Wentzler is a favorite designer of mine.

Is there something you would really like to try doing, anything from a new craft to bungee jumping?

Ahhh, there's so much!! From a craft standpoint, I want to try polymer and glass clay work, as well as glass slumping. From a bucket list standpoint, I'd love to bring up the courage to sky dive [just once would be enough].

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

My absolute favorite piece is a wrapped slab of Chinese turquoise. I do have it offered for sale in my shop, but it would kill me if it actually sold.

Chinese Turquoise set

 
As of this writing, the hardest piece to get perfect has been a glass, resin and charm piece I call Island Dreaming. Getting the crushed glass just right [and not having it drift from adding resin] was a bear.
 

Island Dreaming pendant

Is there someone whom you admire and who inspires you, both in your work and life?

The Dalai Lama. I'd love to meet that man and have the opportunity to chat with him for a couple of hours.

If you had free choice of one supply you need for your work, no matter how expensive, what would it be?

Really, really, high quality [not wool!!] yarn in weights from lace to extra bulky. Bet you thought I'd say Precious Metal Clay [fine silver], but not now...

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

I only sell on Zibbet at Caribbean Dreams, also under my own URL Caribbean Dreams Jewelry. I do have a page Caribbean Dreams Jewelry on Facebook where I post works in progress and items I've finished as special orders.

Left curving shell pendant in fine silver

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell us?

I love the challenge of getting a nebulous idea from a customer and turning that idea into a gorgeous reality just for them.
The harder, the better.


Thank you so much for being here, Maria, and for sharing a little of your passion with us! I hope everyone will have as much fun browsing your shop as I had. 

Interview with the artist - Sue from Dinglefritz

Please welcome another beader and Zibbeter today who will tell us more about herself and what she does. Hello Sue!

Tell us a little about who you are and where you come from.

I am Sue Clark Koenig and live in Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. I retired in 2005 after many (too many) years in state government. I wasn't quite ready to "do nothing", so I opened a travel agency which has done well - far beyond my expectations, and it has allowed my husband and me to travel throughout most of the world.

The Night Out set

On our last around the world cruise in 2013 I started buying beads on a whim. Now realize that I hadn't done any beading since I was a little kid at summer camp, so when I got home, I had a bit of a learning curve. Thank heavens for YouTube and many other websites that teach basic beading stitches. Luckily I'm a quick learner and I love to design and I started making some jewelry pieces which, of course, led me to having to buy additional supplies. Pretty soon it became a very fun hobby and, of course, I kept buying more pretty supplies. Soon I had a whole box full of necklaces, bracelets, whatever, so I decided maybe I should try one of the online shops and Dinglefritz was born. I still make the jewelry just as a fun hobby, but the sales help paying for my supplies. I don't take custom orders as I want to remain it a fun hobby rather than something stressful - I have enough of that in my travel business.

Your business name is very interesting, where does it come from and what does it mean?

I chose Dinglefritz as the name of the shop because it's just a funny word that I've used to describe frivolous "stuff" like decorations on fabric or jewelry. When I would be making something, I'd say "I think it needs some sort of Dinglefritz here and here." There's another definition of the dinglefritz that has it meaning "a weird person". That might also fit ... but I'll leave it open :-)

Lavender crystals necklace

I think this is one of the most asked questions - where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration for all my jewelry comes from the beads. Sometimes if I don't have a particular design in mind, I'll just make a pile of beads in the colors I want to use and look at them until something jumps out at me.

White and mint green bead embroidered bracelet

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.

I'd rather travel than bead, but since I can't do that, beading is a fun hobby.

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

My other hobby is quilting although it's taken a backseat to beading over the last year.

Brown LC Tiles Quilt

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

I don't really have a favorite piece, I pretty much like everything I make - some more than others. If I'm just not liking the way something is turning out, I tend to cut it apart and make something different. I find bead embroidered pieces the most difficult, but I love them, so I have made several. They are so time-consuming I tend to get bored and usually end up taking a break and making something else that is strung or bead woven.

Is there someone you admire and who inspires you?

Oh my, I'll weasel out of this question by saying that I've "met" so many wonderful beaders - mostly on Facebook.

Green lampwork earrings

If you had free choice of just one supply you can use for your craft, what would you be dreaming of, no matter how expensive?

BEADS.

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

Dinglefritz on Zibbet and Dinglefritz on Facebook.

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell the world out there?

Life is terminal - do what you want to do now as you might not have another chance.

Thank you for this interview, Sue, and keep on beading!

Interview with the artist - Rachael from Rachael's Wire Garden

Today I am happy to welcome Rachael, a jewelry artist I met on deviantART. Does her business name make you curious?

Let's jump right in then.

What's your craft and how did you get to do it in the first place?

The kind of crafts I make are mainly wire-wrapped Tree of Life pendants, but I do create other occasional wire-wrapped jewelry or ornaments as well. I became inspired to learn how to wire-wrap after coming across some beautiful wire-wrapped stone cabochons. That particular art form wasn’t proving to be my finesse, but then I came across the Tree of Life design. It took me a couple tries before I got one to look halfway decent lol, but from day one I had so many ideas running through my head. Now, I have a little bit more skill in which to execute them.

Celtic Peridot Tree of Life

I think this is one of the most asked questions – where does your inspiration come from?

I actually have never been asked this question before, but I'm very happy to finally answer it =] I get my inspiration from all different kinds of sources, but it all comes down to things that I love: nature, people, a type of culture, holidays... even some of my favorite TV shows or video games haha. There is no lack of things that I love, so the inspiration is always flowing.

 

Fairy of the Roses

What's your favorite tree in nature?

The Wisteria tree. I've heard that Japan has a BEAUTIFUL garden of wisteria trees, and I'd absolutely love to go there someday. The pictures I've seen are like nothing I've ever seen before.

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.

I love, love, LOVE jellyfish.

Cloud Tree of Life

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

I do many other forms of crafts, yes! When I was little, I was constantly making weird little creations out of toilet paper rolls, old candy wrappers, and TAPE – LOTS of tape – and that strange sense of creativity continued along as I grew up. I’ve moved on from toilet paper rolls since then lol, and onto bigger things like making quilts, plushies, and clothes. I also like to be very decorative with food I make (cakes, for example), though I’m not very good at it.

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

Hmm, that's a tricky one lol. I have quite a few favorites, but my MOST favorite would probably be my "Winter is Coming" pendant that's themed to House Stark from Game of Thrones. That particular design has a lot of sentimental feelings attached with it, as it was the first piece that gave me recognition as an jewelry artist.

Winter Is Coming

The piece that was the most difficult to make (so far) was my ornament, "Rainbow Bridge." (which is actually my favorite of Rachael's pieces) It took an extremely long amount of time to create; both the actual making of it and also trying to figure out how to incorporate the concept. Rainbow Bridge is a comforting poem for anyone who has lost a pet. Being the big animal lover that I am, I wanted to theme a Tree of Life design around this poem. But, seeing as "trees" and "paw prints" don't really go together lol, it was a little bit of a challenge. I'm pretty happy with the end result though =]

Rainbow Bridge paw print ornament

Is there someone whom you admire and who inspires you?

My mom. She has always encouraged my creative side, and the only reason I even started making wire-wrapped jewelry is because she helped get me started.

Eywa Tree of Souls

If you had free choice of one supply you need for your work, no matter how expensive, what would it be?

Sterling silver wire. I haven't been able to work with sterling silver as much as I'd like to because of the cost, but eventually as my shop continues to grow, I hope to work with it more and more.

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

You can find my jewelry for sale on my Etsy site Rachael's Wire Garden.

 

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell us?

Even though I’ve done artsy things my whole life, I’m fairly new in the artist community. It has been such a wonderful experience for me to really get out there and share my art with other people, but I’ve also been faced with many new challenges and trials. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to keep being yourself and not get discouraged. I don’t know what kind of doors will open up in my life now that I’ve started down this road, but I’m very excited for any opportunities that may come my way!

Thank you for letting us learn a bit more about you and your work, Rachael, and all the best for your future!

Well, people, how about a little stroll in the garden now?