fire and glass

I had an interesting discussion with one of my favorite customers the other day about setting the opening bid on Ebay. It's difficult to strike just the right number...low enough to bring in bids but not so low that you'll lose out should your item sell for just one bid. One of the thoughts was this; if the seller sets a very low opening bid consistently in their auctions it's possible to establish a customer base who would then in the future begin to raise the prices themselves. The buyer sets the price. I like that idea fine, I'm just not so sure about that 'in the future' bit...the seller would have to commit to the idea for several auctions. How long should one accept lower prices for their work? For the most part I have been opening at a price that I'm 'fairly' (let's be honest..I would like to see some bidding wars) happy with if it only sold at that price. This discussion has been hashed over and over again among artists in the field...we...

For you guys commenting...I did not realize that I had to okay it before it was published, so sorry about that and thanks for participating! I love it. I'm just redeeming myself today with a quickie shot of my lovely desk all primed for productivity. There is a story about that desk.. A good friend of mine let me know that someones parents were moving into a care home and the children were selling some of their belongings, one of which was this desk. I went out to take a look. The address turned out to be a little mobile home. There were boxes of belongings and worn furniture so stacked you could barely get around. It struck me how sad it must be to have to pack your life up like that. I don't know...maybe they were quite satisfied with the arrangement. I do tend to fantasize... anyway. I liked the desk..I liked that it was a rolltop and all my work could be covered without putting anything away. Very cool feature. I got it home and was cleaning it out. There in the back of one...

Today is going to be a work day..and not a fun work day like turning on my torch and burning glass work day, but a scrub the floor kind of work day. I'm not fond of cleaning my house. I do like the results though so today has to be a work day. Unfortunately. In all of your wide world travels have you ever come across the FlyLady ? Lofty thoughts but.. staying organized just does not happen for some people. We must actually like things a little chaotic. I go through cycles it seems, and I have a need right now for some orderly rows and matched towels... I need the Fly Lady.

My studio got cleaned up enough for me to dig out some rods of silver glass I'd tucked away a couple of months ago. Not that is was that messy. I just happened to spy them at the bottom of my upturned wine crate (great flea market find last summer..) This glass is a little difficult to work to its greatest potential and I'd given up on it back then. I'm not sure what has changed but I could see while I was creating the beads that I was getting some fantastic color....muted shades of pinky purples and bronze. I held my breath until they were done cooking(all of my work is kiln annealed, of course ..)..and yep. They're quite lovely. Now I wonder if I can do it again ...