Our Offical Grand Opening Reception!

Please join us for an evening of wine and refreshments to celebrate the Grand Opening of our new studio/store in downtown La Conner. That same evening, right out in front of our store, Santa will be visiting to help with the annual town tree lighting. Then I suggest you treat yourself to a nice dinner at one of the many wonderful downtown restaurants. Heck, make a night of it. There are many special places to stay. We’ll have tons of great art beads and jewelry for sale. If you mention this card you will receive 10% off. Scott will be doing live torch demos throughout the night. Hope to see you here!!
Thanks, Monica and Scott Bouwens

Scott's Back on the Torch!

A beautiful sample of a recent batch of beads that emerged from the kiln one chilly October morning. "Fire in a Bottle"

Updated Studio Shots. Scott's glass studio is in here now! Woo Hoo!

Bearfoot Art Glass Studio October 1, 2008

New Slideshow of our Studio in La Conner, WA - now open!

Bearfoot Art Glass Studio August 7, 2008

Our New Studio/Gallery is opening soon!!

I've been too busy to keep up the blog for quite some time, but I look forward to posting again regularly. In the meantime, here are a couple slide shows of the exterior of our new studio/gallery in La Conner, WA. We are sooo excited. I'll show an updated slide show by the end of the week. We hope to open on Monday.




Bearfoot Art Studio and Lampwork Bead Museum - coming soon!




Inside Bearfoot Art Studio in progress

Tulip Time in the Skagit Valley - we are proud locals.

Every year we go to visit our local tulip fields in bloom. Breathtaking as always. I will never tire of the beauty of the Skagit Valley. This picutre is from Tulip Town. The tulips are pretty much done now and the tourist fields are closed.

As for business, Scott is working very hard to finish up tool orders. We still have a couple new tools to introduce, but it's hard to take the time to get that going when people's orders are due. We do our best to make the customers number one.

Oh, my sister had a girl. 8 pounds, 2 ounces. 19" long. Her Mother-in-Law guessed the exact weight and height. Can you believe it! I am a very proud Auntie.

New Video Camera equals Great New Video Clips!!

Since Scott is getting more and more into video production, we had to bite the bullet and get a new video camera. Why take all of that time to reshoot everything later. It just made sense. Here is the first of many informational video clips to come. I think you'll be impressed. I am!

Scott is full of surprises.

He's still got it! You should see him on a trampoline.

Computer Issues

Our computer died a few days ago and we've had to put a lot of effort into copying information and getting our new computer up and running. We're all set now though and are catching up with things as fast as we are able. My sister is due with her baby girl any day now, so if you don't get a timely response from me if you e-mail, I am likely at her side cheering her on.
New tools will still be introduced soon. Scott needs to fill tools orders for now and then we'll launch the new products. Photo shoots, video making, and website changes all take time. Time....oh time......I am finding there is never enough time to do things as fast as I would like, but what can you do. You just keep truckin'.
Mo

New Portfolio Format

I'm not totally done with our new portfolio pages, but I was too excited to wait. I will be adding/changing pictures when I can. I find this to be an easy way to get a feel for Scott's work quickly and in an organized fashion. More about this later, but here is a link. Oh and by the way.......hint.......some cool new tools are on the way again in early May or maybe even late April. We'll see. I'll keep you posted. Join our e-newsletter from our website if you want to receive our monthly newsletters. That way you'll be the first to know when we offer something new.
http://bearfootart.myjalbum.net/BearfootArtPortfolio/

Northwest Bead Retreat at Frantz Art Glass

Mike Frantz - A character that you just gotta love.


Donna Galstad's Demo. Silver Core Bead Methods With and Without Bead Caps.

Yummy seafood lunch.

We had a great time this weekend at the 1st annual Northwest Bead Retreat at Frantz Art Glass in Shelton, WA. It was an event for the Northwest ISGB chapter. I (Monica) got to go to some of the demos! We didn't get a lot of pictures because I had the two kids with me most of the time and Scott did a demo on Saturday. I wish I could have seen it. Scott said he had some nice reactions and enthusiasm. I always knew that if others could see Scott work they would be amazed. The tool system he has invented is amazing and his talent as a glass artist is equally amazing. Can you tell I'm proud. Good job Scott. I really am proud of you. It is nice of you to want to share what you know and have learned with others and share the tools so you can help others continue to do what they love.

Monica

The Snow Geese in Skagit Valley Video Clip by Scott

Every year countless Snow Geese fly from Siberia to our local area (the Skagit Valley) to spend their winter. Trumpeter Swans winter here as well. We get a lot of enjoyment from seeing the birds....or shall I call it "The Swarm".

Making Variegated Glass Flat Stringers with The Electric Mandrel Spinner

These five photos show Scott making a Variegated Glass Cane Flat Stringer. A very cool technique! This is one he showed during his presentation at the Gathering 2007.

Making Variegated Glass Flat Stringers with The Electric Mandrel Spinner

What a mess!

So, in case you are wondering where your order is or why there have not been new beads on eBay, well, here is your answer. Plumbing. When one only has one toilet in the house and showers need to be taken, you drop everything and fix the pluming when it stops working. Scott fixed it himself. What a handyman! It was yucky though. Very yucky and it involved a four foot long root about eight inches in diameter. No wonder our drains had been draining slowly. All fixed now and Scott feels quite proud. Now back to biz.

Making Twisty Canes Fast and Easy with The Electric Mandrel Spinner

Watch Scott use The Electric Mandrel Spinner, which he invented and sells, to make quick and tight twisty canes with ease. He no longer makes and sells the workstation that you see, but he does sell the Rolling Marvers, but they are handheld or benchmounted.

Making Glass Twisty Canes with Electric Mandrel Spinner

Tack and Spin using The Electric Mandrel Spinner

I am pleased to show you a new slide show I have put together using WebShots. I intend to put together informational slide shows like this one to show you on a regular basis. Enjoy! I'd love to hear your comments on any of our blogs.

A great technique that is unique to The Electric Mandrel Spinner. Try doing this by hand alone. Note the super fine lines. Keep in mind that these lines are all laid down in seconds. After laying the lines, try raking them for an added effect.

Tack and Spin Lampwork using The Electric Mandrel Spinner

The Dragon's Lair

These pictures show an entry we did recently for a juried competition. I did the mosaic work and put it all together and Scott did the glass work. We didn't get into the competition, but our jury scores were not bad. I agree with their comments. One comment was that the background colors were too much like the pieces and therefore the glass items did not "pop". I agree. We scrambed to get this together in time for the deadline and did our best with what we had and what we could do at the time. It is still fun though and I wanted to show it to you anyway.

We are having plumbing issues at our house today, grrrr. Scott went to rent a snake. After that gets fixed, Scott will be working on tools and beads. We hope to get a couple more bead auctions up on eBay tonight, but we'll see how today goes. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I just might have to go buy a couple cans of Guiness so we can toast tonight.

I have added 11 new focals to the bead store today.

MO

A Spinner is born.

Check this out. This is the very first Electric Mandrel Spinner that Scott invented back in 2004. Our first introduction of this tool was at The Best Bead Show II in Tucson 2005. Scott has since made it more simple and light-weight. I love to see this fine piece of work. We save ours like it belongs in a museum. It all started here and it has since helped a lot of people. Scott does quality work and it is fun to see how he tinkered to put this machine together. Tiny nuts and bolts and great precision and a spinner is born. Scott's Electric Mandrel Spinners have saved his wrists and hands from fatigue and his production and precision in his work increased greatly. He jokes that he "gave himself a raise."

Monica

How did Scott do this?

How did Scott achieve these bubbles in such a uniform fashion? You will find out tomorrow when we introduce one of our two new tools. We are working on getting the website ready to introduce this tool and Scott is making a video clip and doing a photo shoot. If you are signed up for our e-newsletter (from our main website in the left column), you will receive our newsletter announcing the new tools and other happenings. Check back.....two very fun tools!!!!

Cracking Glass

Grrrr. I was so excited to see the kiln opening this morning to see the large lentil beads that Scott had made the night before. There was about 9 gorgeous beads. THEY WERE ALL CRACKED!! We had this problem a few time recently and thought it might be the kiln, so Scott tried a few things and it seemed to be working fine. Scott called Craig at Arrow Springs and he suggested some things to try for testing glass compatibility issues. A black glass we received recently turned out to be the culprit. It is supposed to be compatible with Effetre, but it failed the tests by a long shot. Scott will post some of the info he learned here and some pictures regarding this issue. So sad. What a waste of time and money. Oh well, what can you do. We learned a great way to test glass compatibility and we're glad that the problem was not with the kiln. We'll be back on eBay on a regular basis now. We would have had more up by now, but now you see why.
Ciao!
Monica

It's Working! I love it!

This is going to be so much fun. This is so user friendly and easy to maintain and update.

We're Here!!

Scott is making buttons now!
We just signed up and this is our first post. I'm so excited! This is going to be fun. The look will probably change, but I wanted to just get started. This is kind of a test one. I am going to try inserting a photo and also a video clip to see if it will work. Be the first to leave a comment for us! We'd love to hear from you.

Thanks and will write more later.