April 2021 Creativity Challenge
Spring Flowers
Congratulations to Mary Lowe!
We are all ready to enjoy spring, and what a better way to celebrate than with your interpretation of spring flowers.
Flower by Karen Leonardo using her petal pressers
Thank you to our sponsor, Leonardo Lampwork! 
Artist Statement
Spring in Southern California usually brings massive blooms of California Poppies and other wildflowers that carpet the foothills and desert regions and attract thousands of visitors. My entry tries to capture that scene using about 70 flameworked flowers on headpins and arranged on a landscape of moss. This piece was inspired by Floor Kaspers' assemblage pieces that she described in the recent Sunday Creator Series.
Entry
Artist Statement
Hello everyone
The Spring is here and what would it be without the beautiful flowers?
But what would the world of flowers be without bees, small animals and of course us humans?
Therefore, it is important to pay attention to everything around us, then we all live on the most beautiful planet and we should protect that!
For my flower and the bee I used opaque colors and transparent for the wings.
Pearly Greetings
Entry
Artist Statement
My name is Mary Brown and I am from the BC, Canada International Chapter. These fanciful flowers are made of my favourite colours and strung on a stretchy titanium netted ribbon. I love the flexibility and strength of the titanium webbing. It is soft and conforms to your contours, perfectly displaying the beauty of the flowers. And who wouldn’t want to adorn themselves in flowers, our heralds of spring?
Entry
Artist Statement
Although these are not technically flowers, they are plants and are very pretty too. I have a piece of driftwood with a hole that I thought would be perfect for succulents. But it has been challenging to keep them alive. When I saw this challenge, it inspired me to try making some NO maintenance plants. Made from Effetre and raku glass off the end of mandrels and placed in a planter. No water required!
Entry
Artist Statement
This was my first foray into sculptural work. Really didn't know what I was doing, but tried things I thought would work. Base of Effetre transparent black, rose of Effetre dark red, and leaf of grass green.
Entry
Artist Statement
Spring can be a very fickle time of year here in New England, with temperatures in the 70's one day and a coating of snow the next! I used Double Helix murrini for the flowers on these beads and Psyche for the vines.
Entry
Artist Statement
Spring flowers make it (almost) worth suffering through the upstate New York winters. Every year I look forward to these blooms and they inspire my beadmaking in so many ways. And even though I love the look of deeply embedded, encased florals, when somebody else makes them, I keep coming back to textured surface designs in my own work. Recently I have been working on more subtle color combinations as in the orchid pendant in front.
Entry
Artist Statement
I really enjoy spring flowers after a long winter. This small wreath is my way of bringing a bit of color to any small space all year.
Entry
Artist Statement
My name is Michelle Gray and I am part of the International Chapter, as I live in Australia.
It is not Spring here in the southern hemisphere….we are coming into our Winter. However, typical of spring flowers in Australia is our national flower, the golden wattle. More typical of where I live in Central Queensland is this specimen, known as the Queensland Silver Wattle. It is found in abundance in the native flora of the outback of Queensland during our Spring (September). The leaves are typically quite ‘furry’ to feel, which give it an overall ‘silvery’ look. I have sandblasted the leaves to give them that softer feel.
Entry
Artist Statement
So Cal Flamesurfers - Cherry Blossom Marble
I've been a furnace glass blower for over 35 years but COVID has ended that. I have been lampworking for 25 years. Also I am an elementary school art teacher (best job ever). I make beads, marbles, small blown vessels, ornaments, etc. I sell my art and work at a cooperative gallery called Ten Women (we are actually 24 now). I live in Santa Monica, CA. I love all things glass.
Entry
Artist Statement
I belong to the Pacific Pyros' chapter. My inspiration for my entry is the first flower to bloom in my yard each spring and the first sign of bees to visit. They make me feel like spring will actually happen.
Hope you are well and safe.
Entry
Artist Statement
Here's a couple of pics of my flower beads inspired by Elizabethan embroidery.
Entry
Artist Statement
Here is one of my iris flowers that blossom every spring outside of my studio windows. I started making iris beads during COVID, when I was doing weekly online demos on Facebook. You can find a free tutorial for it and other flowers on my YouTube channel. (Just look up my name).
My awesome home chapter is Southern Flames in Atlanta, GA and I'm also delighted to belong to Florida Glass Dragons and Arizona Society of Glass Beadmakers. More chapters = more glass fun! Hope to see you at the online Gathering this June!
Entry
Artist Statement
I am a lampworker/jewelry designer from Houston, Texas. I’ve been a lampworker for 15 years, mostly self-taught. I only make flowers on wire and an occasional flower pendant or bead. I used to make flowers so I could use them in my jewelry, but now I make jewelry so I can show the best use of my flowers. Lampwork has been quite a journey for me.
Entry
Artist Statement
I've always enjoyed creating flowers in glass. A little over a year ago I was fortunate enough to be able to take some classes where I learned some new lampworking techniques. Then COVID happened, and social distancing gave me time to practice those techniques until I felt comfortable with my execution. Although I am still experimenting, I've had some exciting results. I have been working on this style of glass floral pendant since last August.
Entry
Artist Statement
What says spring flowers better than hydrangea flowers? They invoke excitement for the upcoming summer, strolls along seaside cottages in the warm sunshine, and the return of outdoor gardening! Here is a collection of hydrangea beads in honor of spring. They are made with frit stringer on a base of opalino glass using a similar technique to Diane Woodall’s delphinium Beads of Courage tutorial.
Entry
Artist Statement
I think daisies are the friendliest of flowers. They are sweet, simple, and fresh. I look forward to seeing them every spring.
Peace, Love, Lampwork
Entry
Artist Statement
I live and create in Alaska. As I look out from my studio at the frozen lake and landscape with 3 feet of snow still on the ground, I dream of the spring flowers that show up late May and early June in this area, and that’s the inspiration for this pendant.
Entry
Artist Statement
My submission is egg-shaped, encased floral beads. The birds on our farm are laying their eggs already, and chicks are hatching. I was in a hurry for flowers, so I made my own!
Entry
Artist Statement
I wanted to capture the essence of new spring growth and colors arriving in my garden with these implosion marbles.
Entry
Artist Statement
Inspiration always surrounds us! Thanks for the creative push!
Entry
Artist Statement
Living in Florida we have flowers year around and it's easy to forget that burst of joy when you spy the first spring bloom. I wanted to honor that joy with this little bouquet. I’ve been playing with headpins lately and this challenge was a great way to further that exploration. The larger flowers are a construct of multiple head pins and the smaller flowers and leaves are single head pins. I wanted many forms, shapes and textures, as well as colors, in this grouping both for interest and as a nod to the variety of blooms that spring puts forth every year.
Entry
Artist Statement
My favorite spring wildflower is the Pacific Coast Native Wild Iris. They grow all over our redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the beginning of April to the middle of May.
I tried many combinations of colors for the iris cane. I had difficulty coming up with a beautiful background. I tried many combinations of frit, transparent, and opaque glass.
The background of this bead is Electra over white with stripes of Triton encased with Aether. The flower cane is white with stripes of Effetre black.
Entry
Creativity Challenges
April Entries
