glassy crush

Social Butterfly, originally uploaded by lyzardqueen.

I am completely enamored with a glass artist. No, not *that* way. I still like men. Some days.

First, go look at her website. Glass by Sarah Her beads are incredible swirls of colors and dots. They aren't perfectly round. Nothing is even and in straight lines. It's crazy chaos. And it works. Absolutely fantastic.

Then, this is the part that gets me. Sarah is in tel aviv. Admittedly, I have never been to tel aviv or anywhere near it. I am not certain what life is like there. But regardless, I live in the United States where I am sure there are a bazillion opportunities for economic success, if only I just act on the right ones. From reading Sarah's blog, it seems that she ships most of her beads to the US and parts of Europe. So, that means that the world did not beat a path to her door. She had to create a market despite her location. (Note to self: Never again whine about "local market" and lack of opportunity, as long as there are decently dependable post offices in every town and the internet to sell on.)

Guess what else? Sarah is young. And single. She wasn't a middle aged house wife who could dabble at a hobby and turn it into a little business while not worrying about who was paying the rent. She just jumped in and did it and made it work. (Note to self: No more being afraid to jump in and take a chance. I don't even have rent or mortgage to pay or a full-time job to quit. No excuses.)

And she works on a hothead. A $40 torch with tanks of MAPP gas from the hardware store. No fancy $500 torch and Oxygen concentrators. (Yeah yeah, stop buying equipment and just practice on the stuff I've got. Get the basics down. Master the techniques till my abilities outgrow my equipment. Push the limits. Then buy more.)

And she's a relatively new beadmaker. No joke. According to her personal story on her blog, she took her first beadmaking class less than 2 years ago. November 2005 she took her first glass class. That spring, a few months later, she was selling beads on ebay. Successfully selling them. For more money than I hope to get any time soon. A few months later, she quit her "real job" and has been a full-time beadmaker ever since. That means that something like 6 months from starting her first class, she was a successful full-time beadmaker, supporting herself. Something that some beadmakers never accomplish. (So there goes my excuse about not having enough experience. I just need to get motivated to get the basic skills perfected again and keep practicing and make it a reality.)

So, there ya have it. A young single woman learns a new craft, takes the leap, and completely supports herself in about six months from starting with the most basic of equipment and apparently an incredible artistic vision.

When I look at her work and think about these things, I feel like a total slacker. On the other hand, it makes me realize that if she can do it, I surely can do it too. I probably have it much easier than she did. She inspires me to get up and try. Really try.

If you aren't familiar with her work, go look now. I know you will want to buy something.