Macro Sunday: Rainbow in glass

Rainbows make me happy and put a smile on most people's faces. When my son was little, I had a prism hanging in the window and he used to dance in the sun and rainbows. That memory was the inspiration for making these small rainbows in spiral form....

Handcrafted Sparkly Rainbow Spiral by me

Macro Sunday makes a rainbow of colors and shapes. Take some time to enjoy what other macro photographers have posted today.....

....and don't forget to keep creating!

Surprise

My Rainbow Spiral is in an Etsy Treasury. Cool surprise this morning.

A Tour in Pictures....

A typical early spring day in the studio of Cindy Gimbrone....

Rise early morning so I can get to work...


Hat and sweatshirt because the studio doesn't have heat...


Happily melting colored glass to create a Rainbow Spiral at the torch....


Placing hot Rainbow Spiral beads into the kiln to anneal....


Cleaned and annealed Rainbow Spiral Bead...


Spirit of Independence Windchine Ornament using the Rainbow Spiral.

Ornament Thursday's Independence Day

It's almost the 4th of July. Red, white and blue, fireworks and picnics all in celebration of the independence of the United States. So, you're thinking, this Ornament Thursday is about red, white and blue and U.S. patriotism. That's the obvious path, right?

You should know by now, I don't take the obvious path.

So today isn't about red, white and blue but it is about the beads - afterall, I am an INDEPENDENT business woman - and it is about the independent spirit.

So, I've chosen to represent the independent spirit with a rainbow spiral. Crafted into a wind chime-like ornament, it reminds me of the glass wind chimes I collect. I have 10 - 15 artist made wind chimes made of glass, ceramic, metal and wood. Every summer growing up on the farm, my mother hung a set of wind chimes on our porch. There was always a strong breeze blowing across the pasture and the chimes made lovely wind-music.





The obvious metaphor is blowing in the wind, free and independent but do I need to remind you, I don't do obvious either. My Independence Day is about the spirit represented by chakra colors the rainbow represents, the life force in each of us.

I've added a simple word-charm "BE" - to remind us to let our spirits just be.

Let's see what the rest of the INDEPENDENT business women of Ornament Thursday are up to this month....

Alexa Westerfield aka Swell Designer
Craft some red, white, and blue drink charms from vintage wartime posters. They'll make a big bang at your 4th of July cookout!

Art Bead Scene
Field of Poppies bracelet project from Heather.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Celebrate the Independent Spirit

Joolz by Lisa
Lisa takes a shot at teeny tiny beads for a change

Linda at BeadStyle Magazine
Childhood memories of Independence Day's past inspired this necklace.

Michelle's Take on Independence
Over at http design, Michelle has scuplted a piece which gives a different perspective on independence.

Strands of Beads
Melissa sees stars this month while considering the meaning of independence

What is America to Me?
Michelle's favorite words on our country...

Over the Rainbow....

I thought the video was appropriate since today's post is about Rainbows. Last week, I blogged about Alternative Styles, the inspiration behind the bead series "Heartz n Skullz." On my recent Studio Saturday on Art Bead Scene, I took you into my studio to show you a new spiral, The Rainbow Spiral or Spiraled Chakra Colors, both are the same prismatic colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. But the request for the chakra colors in a rainbow wasn't the first time I was asked to make a bead in those colors. A couple of years ago, I was making glass hands regularly. I had a request to make a hand in the chakra colors. My base color could be whatever I wanted - so if you read my blog, you know I love to work with yellow. This yellow is a pearly shampoo glass so I couldn't resist.

At my shows, I usually have glass hands among the beads, but don't have them on my website. I'm thinking of bringing them back to the website. Do you think I should?

New Spiral: Chakra or Rainbow?

In my Etsy shop, I have an announcement that custom orders are accepted. A couple of weeks ago, I had a potential customer contact me and ask if I could make a rainbow colored spiral. This is a good opportunity to do a brief FAQ on custom orders.

Most custom orders are requests for variations on a bead style I'm already making. So, I don't have to master a new technique to do them. That's good for the customer because it keeps the cost down.

At the torch, I give myself 3 times or 3 tries at making the custom order. I don't usually like the first but generally by the 2nd try, I've made the customers bead. I make one more to allow for the unforseen accident where I may drop or crack a bead.

So, I made this bead for a customer who was a little apprehensive - a yogini who wasn't aware how the bead was made. When she received it, she was thrilled! So was I! I love how this has turned out. So much so, I'm adding the Rainbow Spiral to my regular line of spirals.