So I took Extreme Fusing 1 and 2 with Tanya Veit from AAE. Now the Pinnacle of all Fused Glass Classes – Boot Camp! Now I’m retired Air Force so I know what boot camp is but Tanya – kicked our butts! Of course I’ve never had so much fun!.
Quick funny story – I was heading out of the country for a Business Trip when I got the email about Tanya’s Fused Glass boot camp (I’m in the airport going through security) and I call Molly and tell her I need this Fused Glass boot camp – please sign me up! (FYI: you don’t wait to get into one of Tanya’s class – they fill in practically minutes) I’m giving Molly my CC# as I’m in the security line (not the smartest thing to do). Yep I’m addicted to Tanya’s Fused Glass workshops.
So January 2013 I took AAE’s Extreme Fused Glass Boot camp. What made this workshop even better (If possible) is I went with Diane (whom I met and became friends with in Extreme Fusing 2). *Side note Diane and I brought our children (teenagers) with us and went to Orlando first – wow what a blast at Universal Studios. After sending them home we drove to Cape Coral for a whirlwind week of glass fusing and coldworking!
As Tanya said on her site “let me set the scene…5 days, all day, 15 projects in 5 days” including: sandblasting etching (I found a new love – more later), Pattern Bar, kiln carving, strip plate, high temp boil, reactive glass bar, frit worked bar, paint, mosaic, etc. *Most of the pictures listed above are of the actual pieces we made in class and are ALL mine!! However, Diane and I got together this month and again in Sept to make more of each Technique! I’m so Happy!!! I’ll do a blog once they are all slumped etc. So now instead of being stingy maybe I’ll have some additional Fused Glass pieces for sale. Albeit, these fused glass pieces are large and custom work would be best. Please let me know if you want any technique I’ve mentioned in this blog custom made.
Additionally, I learned to pull glass vitrograph (very scary for me – I’m a chicken when it comes to extreme heat) and I got to watch John (Tanya’s husband & flamework artist) make a stunning flamework glass marble.
We had a splendid group of ladies in our fused glass boot camp (3 of which were in Extreme 2 with me) who are also my fused glass Facebook group (only boot camp members allowed so we added more from the next boot camp class – all are fun, talented and fit right in). If you have a passion for something i.e., glass, gardening, etc., I highly recommend gathering a group of talented, giving, fun, like-minded people and creating a Facebook group like ours. We share our successes, failures, and questions. Now when I have a question or want to talk fused glass when I get home from work (my husband’s eyes tend to roll back in his head after the first 5 minutes) I write my Fused Glass ladies and they are always there to discuss glass!
We made plates and bowls during the boot camp albeit I also made jewelry. These are some of the fused glass Pendants, earrings, bracelets I’ve made using techniques from Tanya’s “Extreme Fused Glass Jewelry Boot camp”.
So now you know why I love taking Tanya’s classes but I’m sure you are wondering why I am talking about another Glass artist in my blog – well several reasons; 1) Tanya is truly a magnificent teacher and artist (along with her wonderful team including John [her husband / fabulous flame-work artist), Molly her beautiful / talented (assistant is too small of a word) and of course the words behind it all Mark (her talented and intelligent brother-in-law) deserve every accolade; 2) I think it’s important for my customers/readers to know several of my techniques I learned from the best artists in the world; 3) did I say I love Tanya’s technique; well that’s reasons 3, 4, 5, 6, all the way up to 10! 🙂 My sincere thanks to Tanya and the entire AAE Family!
BTW, did I tell you Tanya has been published countless times but my favorite is the article in Glass Art (May/June 2013). The fact that my fused glass boot camp group picture is featured in the article has nothing to do with it. 🙂
I’m sure you noticed there wasn’t 15 pixs of our pieces but the blog is pretty long already. Albeit if you look at the new site you’ll see variations on painted pendants, melts, mosaics and much more.
BTW I like to share (my reason for my Fused Glass blog) and I think it’s important to share my experiences with these amazing artists. My next blog is on my fused glass class with David Alcala’s.
Don’t forget to check out all my sites, Fused Glass by Karen, My Etsy store, my Art fire Store, my Pinterest, and my YouTube Channel.
If you have any questions please email me. As always if you have any questions or if you would like a custom fused glass artwork piece please let me know.
Karen
