Ketuba

A ketuba is a Jewish marriage document. I made this for my brother and sister- in - law. I illustrated it, did all the calligraphy in English and Hebrew, and made the stained glass frame.

Hello out there, in TV land.

Maybe you saw me on the Marta Stewart Show recently. (Follow this link, the video button then loads in a few seconds.)

I tried to pack a lot of information into a very quick segment. Some things I wanted to share that I didn't get to mention on the show include:

I usually spend 1- 2 hours on the torch for EACH BEAD, then about 5 hours in the kiln. The necklace I was wearing has been evolving over 12 years! It's about 5 pounds of glass and silver and silk, distributed around my neck. The silk lining on the back of the necklace makes it really comfortable against the skin.

My work is available in my etsy shop as well as from my studio, just email me at JenineBressner@gmail.com to order work, but know that it takes time for me to make each piece after it's ordered.

I'm making chandeliers of lampworked glass and lasercut textile plant forms, as well as chandeliers of glass rain and light. These and other works will be exhibited in my first solo show, opening at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft on January 21, 2011.

The glass supplier I deal with in Pennsylvania is called Wale Apparatus. They have really personable service and they just celebrated 40 years in business! I recommend ordering supplies from them.

The headband I wore in the teaser (pictured above) is something I made from textiles that I lasercut! I make a lot of work in media other than glass, so please feel free to go back through this blog to see other things, or visit my flickr page!

I AM GOING TO BE ON THE MARTHA STEWART SHOW!

Wednesday, October 20th, I will be demonstrating glass torchwork on the Martha Stewart Show! The entire episode will be about the Maker Faire!

Well, that happened and here's a link to the video!

Downtown Installation

My installation for the Providence Art Windows will be up until early November! This session's windows have been such a hit that they decided to extend the show.You can visit mine at 201 Westminster Street in Providence, Rhode Island.

Pastels on Concrete

The Providence Community Library sponsored a square in the Rotary Club's Annual Street Painting Festival in downtown Providence. I was asked to help find an artist who might do a mural for PCL. I decided it would be easier to do it myself than to talk someone else into doing it, plus I love PCL. The murals would be judged in a contest with cash prizes. My intention was to make something simple, just to accomplish it, and then get back to my own work.

When I arrived in the morning, I had no clear idea of what I wanted make. I've never done a sidewalk painting before. I decided on sunset clouds and the Atlantic Mills towers, (those icons of Olneyville!) I had no visual reference materials, so I worked from my imagination and I made it up as I went along. My beginning was a little tentative, but the longer I worked, the more I wanted to do this street painting to the best of my abilities.

I was there from 11 AM until 6 PM (but not working the entire time.) Parts of my fingerprints are now gone, abraded from rubbing the concrete while blending colors. I stayed until the very end because I thought I might possibly win something, but was disappointed when I didn't win anything (especially because so many prizes were given out.) My expectations had been elevated both by peoples' positive responses, and by how I perceived my work in relation to the other entries that I witnessed. I guess it just didn't feel fair to do a whole day's work and get nothing material from it-- except the rest of the box of used pastels-- particularly because sometimes I feel like I don't get monetarily compensated for most of the work that I do. I don't have to make a lot of money, but I do have to treat myself fairly. I'm glad that the Rotary Club is raising money for good causes, but they still could have done that without me. Right now I can't afford to be doing work for free, but I became engrossed in the street painting, and I allowed myself to because I thought I could be a contender. I don't even know if I would have had to give all the money to PCL because they paid the $25 entry fee for the square, but I'd have been proud to have to figure that out. Later I learned that there was only one judge for the adult category!

Hire me! Really creative problem solving and valuable advice-- only select jobs that are appropriate to my specific range of abilities and fit in my schedule, one dollar per minute or fifty dollars per hour. That's hella cheap because I can do a lot of different types of skilled work!

Find contact info and partial CV at Jenine.net. Or buy something from Jenine.etsy.com.

Thank you for caring.