paint / glass / paint / glass

Oh my goodness! I have discovered glass paint...

It is kind of like I've found the Rosetta Stone. Not quite the Holy Grail... but approaching it with wide eyes and bated breath.

I know, I know... a little dramatic. But still, it's like I found a missing vowel in my own language. Things I've been trying to do in enamel, in glass, in silver... can now be done with little Elmer's glue-shaped bottles of paint.

It's simple and it's silly. But when I am able to draw something that will permanently be part of the glass, I feel like I've been freed ~ from searching for the perfect stamp, from using black and white instead of color, from being forced to use only graphic shapes and elements in my glass work, and for that matter... using only dichroic glass. It makes all those other things more about being themselves and not trying to be something else. It makes them merely tools for specific purposes, as is this. But it just gives me another way to be creative in a way I have been craving.

I will take these to the Arts and Ideas fest and see how they go over! :)

Arts and Ideas, Here we Come!

I am so completely psyched... this is my third year living in New Haven, so it's my third year of getting excited about the New Haven International Arts & Ideas Festival!

Last year, I emailed them asking if there were any craft vending opportunities and they advised there weren't. This year, I caught myself wondering ... why not? I mean, it's an ARTS and Ideas fest! There should be all kinds of artists: visual and performing. I tried to get a permit last year to vend on Chapel Street at the same time as the festival to no avail either. So when A&I rolled around again this year, I sadly decided not to pursue getting a space there.

But then today something magical happened... someone from the CT Etsy Team posted a note on our group bulletin board that there was a billboard with info about the show. So I emailed the address she mentioned and received an answer... nay, a phone call offering spaces at the show! The organizer who called me seemed so pleased to have found a group of local artisans who want to get together and sell at the show!

So, I got info about how to apply and also that I need a hawker's license in New Haven to do any street vending. They have "day" permits and "year" permits... the year long ones require a police background check!! Not that I have any outstanding parking tickets or anything, but my library fines give me pause... so I'm leaning toward the "day" permit.

I posted the event info on the group board and it looks like there are a couple interested people. If 3 of us share a table for 2 days, it'll only cost $90 each including table and hawker's license... not a bad deal at all for such a well attended venue. If nothing else, it'll be a chance to get the team and individual names out there ~ plus cross market to our other upcoming events.

Love it!!