Leah Curly Glass

Sometimes in the search for ways to broaden our art, we run up against the barrier of not having the skill or tools to see our vision out. This is where collaborating with another artist comes in. They can bring their own ideas and methods to the table, expanding your original ideas.

When I moved to Portland, I started attending the PDX Etsy Street Team weekly teatimes where I first met Leah Pellegrini. Leah makes beautiful fused glass mobiles, and some of them had lampwork on them. I had started selling little glass puddle earrings that were created with the stained glass foil method. Leah and I began talking about her creating smaller fused glass circles with lampwork on them and I would make them into wearable pieces. Our collaboration was born. I sort of jokingly call it Leah Curly Glass.

Of course, for collaborations to succeed, they need to mesh working styles, time schedules, and such, and require a bit of communication to make sure what works for one is working for the other. While we are still working out some of the "this works, this doesn't", we are both pretty excited about how it's going. Leah has posted more about it on her blog, The Garden of Leah, too. I think I'm lucky as my partner in my first artistic collaboration is pretty laid back and is letting me explore my idea while creating these necklaces. A couple of the finished items are for sale in Leah's Etsy shop. I'll write more about the process of creating these wearable works of art in the future.