Artist Spotlight on Suz from Solar Flare Creations

This weeks spotlight is on a woman who not only creates work that I love, but is also a dear friend of mine.  An Australian native, Suz is a teacher, lampwork artist, jewelry artist, and a medieval recreationist.  How she finds time for all of that plus juggling a husband and a dog I don't know, maybe days in Australia are longer or something :)

It is a cold and dreary day here on my side of the world so I chose this pair of earrings out of her ArtFire shop.  I love the bright, sunny colors, they remind me that Summer will come again, even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment.

Aren't they yummy!

And now, here's Suz in her own words.

1) Name, Location Suzanne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

2) Where can you be found online? www.solarflarecreations.com.au  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5377222  http://suzanne-catching-up.blogspot.com/  http://www.artfire.com/users/SolarFlareCreations  3) What do you do? I am a secondary Art & Photography teacher who makes glass beads as a hobby. 4) How long have you done it? About 6 years. 5) How did you start? An American Ex-pat living in Melbourne told me about Lampworking, and pointed out the course in the Adult Education guide for the local TAFE college. I took a beginner’s course with Kathryn Wardill, and a few months later, an Intermediate Course. 6) Why did you choose this and not something else? I’ve dabbled in many arts and crafts over the years. As an Art/Tech teacher, I had covered about 15 studio areas in my training, but for my own personal expression it has been painting, photography, singing and now glass. There is something very addictive about working with an open flame and molten glass, which tends to take over my other artistic interests. Except singing – I still perform in musical theatre regularly. 7) How did you learn your craft? As I mentioned, I took some lessons to begin with, but I have also found the interaction with other beadmakers on various forums invaluable for expanding my skills and raising the bar. 8) Is this a full time profession for you or do you have another job? I teach secondary school full time, so it is only a hobby at the moment. 9) If this isn’t your full time profession, would you do it full time if you could? Probably not. My husband has always been concerned that if sales became the imperative driving my glass work, the fun would be gone, so he has encouraged me to make it a ‘self funding hobby’. On the other hand, regular sales help keep up the momentum, make me torch more regularly and more productively to replace sold inventory. 10) Anything you want to share with others in your craft or who may be considering your craft? Be warned – it’s addictive!! It’s hard to dabble and not get sucked in. ☺ 11) Anything that I didn’t ask that you would like to talk about? I am also involved in medieval re-enactment, and I research and recreate historical beads. There are various articles and a ‘bead timeline’ I have created under ‘SCA” on my webpage.

Introducing Daniela Ridley of Creations by Daniela

Just in time for spring we have this beautiful butterfly necklace from Daniela.  Daniela has a lot of beautiful beaded jewelry items on her ArtFire shop.  You don't want to miss them.

And now, here is Daniela, in her own words.

1) Name, Location Daniela, Gatesville, Texas 2) Where can you be found online? I can be found in several places: http://creationsbydaniela.artfire.com Or you can follow my blog at: http://creationsbydaniela.blogspot.com Or follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/creationsbydani I also have a plumbdrop page: http://www.plumdrop.com/members/creationsbydaniela 3) What do you do? I crochet, make jewelry and play with clay! 4) How long have you done it? I have been crocheting on and off for about 10 years. I began learning how to make jewelry in the summer of 2008 and just a few months ago discovered the awesome possibilities of polymer clay. 5) How did you start? Crocheting: I decided about 10 years ago, I needed something to help me relax. My mom always told me crocheting and knitting were so relaxing. My husband was in the Army and I had 2 young boys, plus I was working full time and had a few part time jobs as well. I bought a skein of pretty denim blue yarn, a size H hook and the book “I can’t believe I’m crocheting”…. I thought I was doing pretty good, had about 10 rows done but my piece wasn’t very big. I also thought I was practicing a single crochet. I remember I couldn’t sleep one night and was up at 2:00 am trying to crochet. The stitches were so tight and so close together! I kept thinking as I gripped the hook tighter and tighter to force it through each stitch, this is supposed to be relaxing but it isn’t! The next morning I took my piece in to a co-worker who crocheted. I explained that I was practicing my single crochet stitch and couldn’t figure out why my piece was so small and tight. After she finished laughing, she pointed to my stitches and told me I had practiced 10 rows of slip stitches… ugh. No wonder they were so tight! Once I got the hang of the single stitch (obviously I mastered the slip stitch) the other stitches came together nicely! I still have that little lap blanket with all of my stitches…. Jewelry: I thought I was burned out on crocheting about 5 years ago. I just finished my Bachelors degree in Psychology and was starting my Masters of Arts in Human Services in the summer of 2008 and decided I needed something to do other than study. I picked up a jewelry magazine, some beads and tools, and made a necklace. One necklace was all it took, and I was hooked. I have made many in the last 9 months and enjoy the ability to make a piece to fit my mood or outfit, or as a gift, or special order for someone. Polymer Clay: I happened to see a bracelet made from polymer clay in a magazine (it is the bracelet on my plumbdrop page by the way). I wanted to make it and decided I liked it! I am still learning the process but clay is such a neat medium to work with! 6) Why did you choose this and not something else? I actually tried knitting once. I needed to use my knees to hold one needle and my hand to work with the yarn and other needle. Something told me that just wasn’t going to work for me! I also know how to cross stitch, but have not picked that up in 10 years. I was self taught at that, and found out although I am right handed, I make my x’s as if I were left handed… comes from mirroring what I see others doing! 7) How did you learn your craft? Self-taught in all of them 8) Is this a full time profession for you or do you have another job? Unfortunately I have a day job. I work as a Probation Officer. Plus I’m a wife, mother and student. 9) If this isn’t your full time profession, would you do it full time if you could? I would love to be able to spend more time developing my skills with these three crafts. I also would like to one day make my own beads, but I know that right now, I just don’t have time for anything else. I have fun doing what I do and really enjoy the complements that I get and I enjoy hearing about the complements that my customers get from others when they wear my pieces. 10) Anything you want to share with others in your craft or who may be considering your craft? Don’t be afraid to create what you like. There will always be someone that says they don’t like that piece; on the other hand, the same piece will get rave reviews from another person. Create what inspires you and what makes you happy. Learn to think outside of the box; find color combinations that go well together but that you don’t often see. Get a color wheel! 11) Anything that I didn’t ask that you would like to talk about? I think it’s great that you are spotlighting artisans! Thanks so much for the opportunity to participate! I can’t wait to see which piece you pick out to spot light with this! God Bless!