I wish you a very warm welcome to Glass Tales and to my website. My 'home page' will be an amalgam of information, including what I've been up to recently, with thoughts and wishes for the future.
Everything you will see during your travels around this site has been designed and made by me, Joanne Rohrer. Where I may have used another artist's materials (e.g. handmade lampwork beads in some of my jewellery), acknowledgement is given. I have the huge pleasure of knowing some wonderful people in this world and wish to spread the word about their fantastic skills and products whenever I can!
Just in case you hadn't realised that I'd been away... well, I'm back! George and I had an absolutely gorgeous time away in the south of France, staying near Carcassonne. Being the francophile that I am, it was heaven to be speaking the language again and indulging in all things French, particularly the carbohydrates, protein and fruit in the more complex form of bread, cheese and wine. How I didn't manage to put on weight I'll never know, but then we were only away for one week... I don't think there was one tiny road we didn't travel down or one castle in the 50 mile radius of Carcassonne that we didn't see. The resounding highlight of our holiday was the Cathar castle of Peyrepeteuse. Ascents of any gradient are a bit of a challenge for me to say the least: this castle was perched rather breathtakingly and precariously on a craggy mountain top, as any self-respecting castle should be. I did have to think seriously about whether to attempt the climb, but after much huffing, puffing and a few tears, we made it to the top and I've never felt more rewarded in my life. I shall remember that experience for a few years to come...
Sometimes it's easy to forget just how valuable a break can be. Different surroundings have the potential to offer new inspirations; I took notes whenever I could. Textiles have always been a major source of inspiration in my lampwork, so I was astounded to discover the European Centre for Patchwork in a tiny village near Narbonne. Not only did it house an impressive gallery of contemporary patchwork, but a superior collection of textiles from all around the world. It reminded me of my own tiny collection which rarely sees the light of day, ranging from mud cloths from Mali, Indonesian ikats, kuba cloths from Zaire, to my favourite - a green, red and gold Benares sari... I was given an extremely touching commission from a lady who popped in during Surrey Open Studios - it's been on my mind since her visit and I now know what I'm going to make for her.
Having somehow missed all of Wimbledon, I found myself this afternoon/evening watching the men's final with my heart pounding away. Having lived for a number of years in Switzerland doesn't really give me much of a bias, but 'come on Federer!'. I've always had a soft spot for him, sorry, for his superlative skills at tennis. I've been updating my home page during the match, just to break the tension! I've had to update my previous last sentence to reflect the result of the match; and I would have to say that, without bitterness or reservation, Nadal deserved his win.
I had such a great time during Surrey Artists Open Studios, that I'm considering how I might be able to open up my studio more frequently throughout the year, with my landlord's permission of course. As I've said on my 'Studio' page, you're always welcome to visit as long as you let me know when you'd like to come. However, it could be a lot of fun to have specific opening times to give more people the opportunity to see what lampworking is all about. I'll keep you posted on what I finally arrange. In the meantime, you can always catch up with me at bead fairs and the next one for me is locally: the Beadwork Fair at Ardingly, West Sussex on 27th July 2008. I really like this venue and the first one held there in January 2008 was a lot of fun. I really look forward to seeing you there, along with my other lampworking friends who will also be exhibiting: Sharon Reynolds, Sarah Downton, Tuffnell Glass and Mike Poole (www.tillermanbeads.com is the address for his beautiful lampwork website, although I could not link to it at the time of writing this).
If you have any questions at all in the meantime, please do not hesitate to drop me a line by email - I'd love to hear from you :-)
Last updated: Sunday 6th July 2008