Rush

Holy crap.

You know how you feel when you accomplish something really big or important? That heart-racing, soul bursting, don't-know-whether-to-primal-scream-or-cry-for-some-weird-reason feeling? Yeah. I have that.

I completed my second glass art class at Brazee Street Studios, and you guys? This stuff is incredible.

This month's adventure (read about last month's here) included arting up some red glass to make another bowl for my collection. The instructor showed us tons of cool ideas and techniques, but I had something in mind. Apparently, when you layer turquoise and french vanilla glass pieces, it creates a really cool chemical reaction when they fuse together. You can see some examples here. I thought this would look especially nice on the red base, so I gathered my glass pieces and started playing around with how I wanted to place them.

The instructor mentioned that if anybody wanted to try cutting glass, we could have a free lesson. Now, if you know me at all, you should know that I generally don't get along with sharp objects. Raise your hand if you've had to file workers' compensation paperwork for an exacto knife injury on the job! Woo! This workplace injury free since...aw, crap.

But that didn't stop me. I wanted to learn. I needed to learn. And it was a little tricky, but I did it! With all digits intact upon completion!

You can call me Chi-fucking-huly at this point.

This sounds so ridiculous, but I was proud. It was another example of getting over a mental roadblock to just DO SOMETHING that I wanted to try. It doesn't matter if I suck at it or hate it. It matters that I give myself a chance, something that's far to easy to bypass when you settle into a certain comfort zone.

Anyway, since I was the only one who decided to take the instructor up on glass cutting 101, I got plenty of one-on-one time. I felt kind of bad for her after a while, because I asked...a lot of questions. She was SO patient and encouraging, though, which made for a great experience. She even let me cut my own rod dots! Here's what I ended up with:

Hand-cut sheet glass layers in the center with frit on top, plus double-layers of rod dots alternated with layered turquoise sheet glass squares/french vanilla rods. Whew! You still with me?

I learned that layering on top of the turquoise and french vanilla layers would lead to multiple chemical reactions, so I am VERY excited to see how this little experiment turns out. Stay tuned, because I'm showing you next week whether you want to see it or not. It's your lucky day!

With my heart practically exploding out of my chest, I walked out of the studio last night with my head held high. And, admittedly, desperately craving MOAR ART PLEEZE.

I had a vision. I learned how to do something new. I practiced. I tried again. I created. 

I did it.

I DID it, man. And it feels fucking fantastic.