Sharry Miller

Glowing Glass Mosaic

Now that I've finally finished writing about my Bhutan trip, I can get back to sharing other things with you. First on my agenda is to brag about the wonderful mosaic glass blocks Celeste and Rachelle made this weekend during one of my Sea Turtle Arts classes. These blocks are designed to have a light inside of them (either a strand of clear twinkle lights or a single nightlight-style bulb) so that the mosaic glows... Read more →

Sun Catchers

My apologies to Celeste and Kim. We had a great time making stained glass sun catchers this weekend, but I failed to share the results with you after we were done yesterday. The fun of glass was overshadowed by the thrill of my first bike ride of the year. Today's ride was fun, but hardly newsworthy, so I'm taking this opportunity to belatedly share their creations with you. This was Celeste's first stained glass project... Read more →

More Steampunk Glass

Now that the gift is given, I can share with you one of the latest glass pieces I made. This one is similar to another I made in that I fused tiny watch gears and copper spirals between white and clear glass, but this time I wanted to experiment with embedding a wire into the glass that could then be used for the hanger. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, although next time... Read more →

Class Coasters

Perhaps my favorite part of teaching glass classes is seeing the amazingly different creations people come up with. Faced with the same four 3.5-inch squares of clear glass and bins of scrap glass and millefiori, Nanci, Celeste, and Carly made sets of coasters that looked like they'd been separated into different rooms. Not only did each have her own unique sense of style, but they were completely uninfluenced by what the others were doing. Wonderful!... Read more →

Glass Steampunk Owl

Yesterday I forced myself down to the studio to do something, no matter what it was. Of course, I ended up having a great time. I thought I'd share a couple of the things I made. I stole the idea for this owl made of circles from a bead I saw in a magazine (if I weren't so lazy, I'd go downstairs and find out who it was so I could give her credit -... Read more →

Three Fish

It feels like forever since I've had anything creative to post about. I've finally been spending a bit of time in my studio, and I wanted to share with you what I've been making. It's unbelievable how much fun I've been having making these funky salmon. They're not terribly big, about 10 inches long and 3.5 inches wide - proper salmon proportions and nothing longer will fit in my kiln. They're just big enough to... Read more →

Glass Mosaics

Hmm, I realize now that I forgot to have Christmas music playing during my class yesterday. That would have been appropriate while making mosaic Christmas ornaments. We were so crowdedwith eight people in my little studio, however, that we wouldn't have been able to hear it anyway. I think everyone had fun and was pleased with their results. As always, beauty was created. Jan's dove will be a lovely gift for a friend Linda claimed... Read more →

More Stars in the Galaxy

Sunday afternoon I hosted three lovely women (and Rowan) for another successful class making bevel stars. We had a wonderful time and the results were beautiful. I learned a thing or two, too. After the first class a few weeks ago, I changed the length of the class from two hours to five. We actually took a bit over six hours this time - next time I'm going to divide it into two days. Five... Read more →

Wire Work Class

As always, yesterday's Sea Turtle Arts' class was a rousing success. Denyse Brown taught six of us how to make fun and funky jewelry with wire - it was her beginning wire work class. Not surprisingly, I'm eager to show off the incredible talent hiding in Valdez. Denyse demonstrates again how to do a secure eye wrap with wire as Bonnie, Donna and Mary practice theirs. Jan and Joyce concentrate as they practice making the... Read more →

Alaskan Artists on Display

After spending a day working in my hotel room in Anchorage, I enjoyed spending several hours with my mother-in-law, Carol. The highlight of our afternoon was a trip to the Anchorage Museum to see the 28th biennial Earth, Fire & Fibre exhibit. As always, these artworks by Alaskans from around the state were varied and wonderful. I enjoy them not only for their own sakes, but also for the inspiration I derive from them. I... Read more →