Tom Holland Class!!!!!

I attended Tom Holland's workshop last weekend with Pinar and other 7 other wonderful girls. Well, I know I am sooo lucky, okey !!! :)

He was here in Istanbul for the International Bead Conference. Myself and Pinar were waiting for this class for months. Finally we met him on Friday at the opening of the Conference. What a great night it was!!! World's famous bead artists were there from all around the world. When the class started on Saturday morning we were over the moon with the girls. Sage (his wife) was supposed to come with him to teach but somehow she couldn't make it. He said he was teaching on his own for the first time since they've started to work together but he did great all the same. He is such a wonderful man and an amazing teacher. We've learnt so much in just a short space of time !!!! Now I can say I am an expert on stringer control, feathering, raking, poking and dotting!! lol!! Just joking.. Ye, ye I know if I keep torching like 6 hours a day for 17 years I can be an expert like him but of course not just in two days!!! "Thank you so much Tom! You are great!!!"

Here are a couple of pictures from the class.


Me (standing on the left or glued to Tom more like it, lol! )

And the whole class together. Starting from left : Claire, me,Pinar, Fatma, Rachel (Tom's friend), Tom, Tulay, Elif, Banu and Burcu. :) (It was great to meet all of you girls. Hope we can see each other again soon)



And this is his "wedding bead" which he is wearing very proudly!!!

Apparently his wife made it and he is wearing it instead of a wedding ring!!!!

I love the idea of this sooo much.

Isn't it just a gorgeous bead!!!

New ideas, techniques and designs floating around in my head right now. I just can't wait to go home to torch today.

Hope you all had a brilliant weekend just like I did.

See you later.

Ilknur

Here are two focals I made last weekend just before I run out of oxy.
I am thinking to get an oxy con because I am really tired of the tanks. Debbie, a friend from Glass Furnace, told me that she bought one and very happy with it. She also invited me to her studio to try it out before buying one. Thanks Debbie, I'll probably call in next week.

Have a nice day everyone!!!

Bohemian Dreams !!!

I found myself making purple hollow beads again on Sunday. I made them for my sis Nurg and my sis-in-law Dilek ages ago. Making hollow beads is a great challange and so much fun at the same time. While I make them I get to a point of thinking that it'll never ever going to be a round bead but then I continue to turn the mandrel in the flame and I see the magic happens. I just love it!!! I should start to make more hollows since I have a kiln and I can anneal them now!!! Yee, you can see that I am the happiest girl in the world just beacuse I have a kiln!
It was a huge step for me and I love that big toy in my studio.

Okey enough of talking, here they are ;
Bohemian Dreams... :)



Later everyone.
Have a nice week.
Ilknur

PRAGUE PICTURES !

Here are a few of them.

Famous Astrological clock, Orloj.

Rest is "HERE" on the flickr.
I hope you'll enjoy!

Great weekends everyone!
Cheers.

Incredible Prague !!!

Hiii everyone,

I am home. :)

We had a fantastic time in Prague. Very mystical and romantic city! The weather was so nice for October so we were able to have long walks around the city, stopping now and then on the street cafes. Incredible architecture, a beautiful river, fantastic bridges, clasical music concerts, puppet shows, delicious food and glass!!! What else you can ask for?

There were crystal and glass shops in every corner but the shop "I absolutely fell in love with every pieces in it" wasn't the Czech one, lol! It was a Swedish one, KOSTA BODA. The shop was in the old town where we spent most of our times. And I visited it every day, two or three times a day!! All the sculptures were very unique and most of them were limited edition pieces. I wanted to buy all of them and take them home with me. Yes, all of them... They were just soooooo beautiful !!!! They don't let you to take pictures in the shop but I found these pictures in a magazin in the hotel room. Unfortunately the pictures don't show of their real beauty. But you get the idea!

Left : Mazzai, Guardian of equality and cultural diverstiy.

Right : Bazteba; Symbol of beauty and love.

Poseidon


And my most favorite one "Little Janus"

Now I have to go and edit the rest of the pictures and put them on internet.

I'll let you know as soon as I finish it.

Travelling is great but I think the best part of it is "coming back home"

Because there is no place like home. :)

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Cheers.

Ilknur