AAE Glass wants to share some great glass art from Barbara Sargent of The Glass Jewelry Shack. Barbara has been a friend for years. Her work is great and her website is professional. She is offering FREE SHIPPING now, so be sure to take advantage. Here is more about Barbara in her own words.
I grew up in a small town and live in that same town today. I was born into a loving family of 7. I was married at the ripe age of 21 and had a son by the age of 23. They are the rocks of my life. My husband and son work together building homes and other various construction jobs.
I have been doing some form of craft since I learned hand and eye coordination. My mom used to try to throw things away and I would pull them back out of the garbage and make things out of them. First it was making doll furniture out of egg cartons or whatever I could get my hands on to make that doll house look great. Seems funny today!! As I got older I have loved several crafts such as: woodworking, flower arranging, rubber stamping, scrapbooking, polymer clay jewelry and finally, glass jewelry.
I first began by stringing beads together, but I wanted to be different. I did not want to be a designer of just putting beads together. I figured if I designed the beads, my jewelry would always be different. So, I began with Polymer clay; they were definitely different!! No two pieces were exactly alike.....but I could not get them to shine..tried many things, but nothing satisfied me. So, I went to a place in New York (50 miles) from my home; called Corning Glass. I became a member the same day!! I was so excited about glass and the beauty of it all.......I just fell in love with everything and anything made with glass. I did sit down and make one bead with their instruction and it was great fun and could not stop imagining all the different ways to form the glass to make beads and much more.
I started buying books and more books and then embraced the internet for things I could not find in books. After about a year, I felt comfortable with my first purchase of a torch to make glass beads. With the books near my side, I began to melt glass in the flame and in forms that I have to this day because they were so bad!! LOL!! Just keeping the glass on the mandrel was a chore. After many hours and days of practice, I got pretty good. A year later, I was placing an order through one of my glass vendors and I asked him if he had a minute to talk about glass. He asked me if I had ever heard of glass fusing, "Glass Fusing" what is that? We discussed it for a bit and before I knew it, I was buying every book I could find on fused glass.
My husband during this whole process would keep asking me, "Is this still a hobby?" LOL!! Currently today, I am still scrapbooking, making beautiful cards and floral arrangements for stores locally. Oh, I was also working full time through all of these years. So, I think I was working to pay a few bills and buy any craft items needed, but having the time of my life.
Finally after all the reading and research, I purchased my first kiln and began another era of trail and error glass. Still have a few of those pieces as well. Even today some of the glass I put together does not become the masterpiece I had hoped for, and then it turns around and surprises me the next batch. But today I have my own website as you can see and I am currently selling at the Settlement House in Sylvania, PA; Country Cafe in Sayre, PA; Bearly Enough in Mansfield, PA, PA North Country Artisan in Towanda, PA and Corning Glass in Corning, NY!!! Very excited about Corning Glass!!! Funny I fell in love with glass while looking at all the wonders of glass in their showroom and now I am an artist in that very same showroom. What a dream come true!
Currently I am reaching out to other states. I currently do a list of craft and art shows, home shows and thoroughly love seeing and talking to people about glass. A list of my shows are shown on this website. Just go to my "Show and Events" calendar. My customers love the dicrhroic glass especially!! As I talk to people at these shows, I am reminded of all the cheap glass that is coming into this country. I do not know how they do it so cheap, I cannot. But of course they sell thousands of the same pieces.
That brings me to my final paragraph. My pieces are one of a kind. You will not find them anywhere else. Nowhere!! You may see a similar piece, but never the same. The glass forms it's own beauty. You will benefit from thousands of compliments on your glass jewelry because of it's mysterious look. Dichroic glass is just stunning to see in the sunlight. Many of my return customers tell me they have received so many compliments on the pieces they have purchased.
In closing, thank you for stopping in and I hope to meet you some day or I just might see one of my designs about your chest or a ring on your finger or a set of earrings that you just can't help but notice. So, I will say "Thank you" now an tell you that my dream is to be walking down the street someday and notice one of my designs coming toward me. Thanks again!!
Thanks for sharing,
AAE
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