jackie simmonds artyfacts

 The title may be a little confusing to some of you.........I can hear you thinking "how does she carve GLASS?  Surely that is not possible?"       Well, you are right.  glass is not w...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2024/03/kiln-carving-with-glass.html

Some of you may know that I make glass accessories, employing a technique related to the fancy-sounding "Pate de Verre" technique, using glass paste, made from finely ground glass and a binder of...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2024/03/colourful-glass-accessories.html

I have found that working with glass is challenging in a very different way to anything I have worked with before...I have to work in collaboration with a kiln, as I used to do with my enamelled ...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2023/09/unpredictable-but-nice-surprises-in.html

  Since I had a stroke which left me with shaky hands , drawing is a BIG problem, BUT I have found a way to produce images on glass which require no drawing skills at all!  Once upon a tim...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2023/07/simple-screenprinting-for-glass-artists.html

     THANK GOODNESS I HAVE TAUGHT MYSELF HOW TO CREATE GLASS ITEMS WITHOUT THE NEED TO CUT ANY GLASS AT ALL. Glass comes in crushed form....powder, or "frit" which is glass crushed i...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2023/03/no-need-to-cut-glass.html

 I often find myself biting my tongue when looking at glass images of Silver Birch, or Aspen trees, created in glass.  All too often, the artist has simply cut strips of white glass, and painte...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/is-it-tree-trunk-or-is-it-ladder.html

The great thing about working with a medium like glass, is that there is always something new to learn .  Glass artists are experimental souls, and some come up with inventions or ideas that the...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/using-freezer-to-make-glass-pieces-and.html

 I know that tolerance is a good thing..............but it is something I sometimes lack, and when it comes to images of trees, I have recently seen rather too many images of Birch or Aspen tree...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/05/what-to-consider-when-creating-image-of.html

A while ago, I visited Israel and had the pleasure of meeting Professor Yossi Leshem, who is involved in  something called The Atlas Project, which brings together Israelis, Palestinians and Jor...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/02/owls-instead-of-pesticides.html

 It is only February 2022, so it is still the beginning of a new year.  I have some new followers, forgive me for not acknowledging you but I will try to send out a newsletter shortly.  So I t...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/02/new-work-for-new-year.html

When browsing one day, I spotted this set of moulds: I liked the idea very much, but was not so keen on the price!  They were available in the USA for over $100, and although I do sometime...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2022/01/spiral-decoration-organic-shape.html

 GLASS LANDSCAPES…SHOULD I USE OPAQUE GLASS, OR CLEAR, FOR MY “BASE” GLASS?   One has to take into account transparency and opaqueness in glass when creating images I do understand t...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/10/glass-landscapesshouldi-use-opaque.html

 The stroke I had during my heart surgery left me with problems with sketching and drawing - and so with painting too.  I literally could not draw a straight line, or any line, for that matter....

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/08/where-theres-will-theres-way.html

 I hope I will be forgiven for posting a more personal blog this week, but I would love to share some special news with you all. Some background:  My husband Geoffrey, as a young man, was nev...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/06/hope-i-will-be-forgiven-for-posting.html

I really like this expression, and it is so apt for me right now. For so many years, I sketched and painted.  Even though I turned to other craft pursuits for a change of pace, I would still...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/04/when-life-gives-you-lemons-make.html

 Why do hares box? It is all to do with mating. There can be some confusion about whether boxing hares are male or female, and the answer is both: an amorous male (or buck) and a fed-up female...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/03/mad-as-march-hare.html

Mosquitoes bite you, leaving horrible itchy red welts. Bees and wasps sting. Flies are just disgusting. But there’s something magical about dragonflies.   Dragonflies were some of the fir...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-wonder-of-dragonfly.html

I am working my way back into working with glass, and decided to start with "glass casting" - that is, creating big chunks of glass out of crushed glass and decorative elements.  The way it work...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/new-works-in-glass-for-valentines-day.html

 IS SNOW JUST WHITE? Well, the answer is yes, snow is white, we all know that....but creating an image with snow, whether in paint, or enamels or glass, means catching the nuances of colour wh...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2020/11/snow-just-white-well-answer-is-yes-snow.html

  My body has decided, over the last few months, to give me a hard time.  My balance is really poor, and I have been trekking to and from an oxygen chamber (supposed to help people who have...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2020/09/again-change-of-creative-pace.html

As I have been trained as an artist, I do know a bit about drawing, and how to represent our 3 dimensional world in a two dimensional manner - ie on a flat surface.    So to me, the answer t...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2020/05/q-i-work-with-glass-so-why-do-i-need-to.html

I wonder how many of you have seen the beautiful work of Dale Chihuly, and in particular his amazing installations last year at Kew Gardens?  I was particularly taken by his waterlily flowers, w...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2020/05/inspired-by-dale-chihuly.html

When I have time (and am well enough - my health is a struggle right now) I read glassy posts on FB and even respond occasionally. I saw someone say this, to a glass/landscape painter, and it p...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2020/02/inspiration-and-how-to-find-it.html

Some years ago I visited Alaska, and during a walk on a glacier, I marvelled at the sights...in particular the "caves" in the ice, with deep, dark turquoise centres, shading out to beautiful...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2019/09/alaskan-inspiration-bowl.html

Some time ago, I produced several images of autumn thickets...tangled woodland scenes.  I sold quite a few, but this one stuck with me, and I had to admit to myself that it lacked punch. I ha...

https://jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.com/2019/08/using-photoshop-to-improve-disliked.html