Ann Mills

~ Do you do just glass or do you use other mediums?

I've been dabbling with metals for a while now. I'm pretty unconventional & I love to mix things up that don't necessarily go together. I recently went on a trip to San Antonio,TX where I met an extremely talented, friendly & sharing jewelry artist from Brazil. I picked her brain for hours...lol She showed me some of the most beautiful jewelry I've ever seen, that she had made out of found objects & recycled materials such as aluminum, wood, cinnamon, shells & even coconuts of all things. The experience really opened up my eyes & my imagination to what is possible when mixing mediums. And the possibilities are endless! In parting, we agreed to barter glass beads & pendants in exchange for materials from Brazil & I think this will be the beginning of not only a beautiful friendship, but an excellent learning experience for me.

~ How did you get your start in glass?

Many moons ago I was fortunate enough to cross paths with & meet a local artist & fellow surfer named Robert Mickelsen. To me (at the time), he was no one special, just another guy (I was sooo naive), but we got along really well & our personalities immediately clicked. We exchanged contact info & I knew right away that we would cross paths again some day. About a year later, Robbin (a nickname his close friends refer to him as) contacted me & asked me if I would like to work for him as his personal assistant & studio manager. I didn't hesitate to say yes & in fact I went in that very day. That was probably one of the smartest decisions I had ever made. I must say that in all the years I worked beside & with Robbin...well, that was in fact probably the best job that I ever had. He introduced me to flamework & taught me just about everything I know in that medium, including how to market my work & run a craft business. Through him, I was able to participate in wholesale & retail shows, meet many collectors, retailers, gallery owners & many more flameworkers & artists of different mediums. I credit him as my teacher, mentor & one of my best friends. He is & will probably always be, my biggest influence in the art of flamework.

~ What are you working on now?

Right now I would say that I am in a transition period. I'm having a lot of fun playing with different shapes & styles making pendants & beads. I'm also having a blast designing some (what I consider to be) pretty unconventional jewelry pieces.

~ Do you have a signature style or something you feel you’ve "come up with"?

I tend to gravitate towards organics, although I really can't take any credit for "coming up with" a particular style of beads and/or jewelry. I would have to say that my focus right now is more with experimenting & creating different shapes & textures, rather than the detail work. Speaking of detail work, since I have a lot of experience with sandblasting, I would really like to incorporate that into my beads & pendants. I want to do some resist work & graal on my beads soon. It would be a lot more scaled down than what I am used to, but I've certainly been experimenting.

~ What are your feelings on the dreaded "copying" subject?

I tend to stay away from that subject whenever possible.

~ What are some of the favorite projects that you've completed and why?

I've done a lot of work in the past, but I'd have to say that making the jewelry for the bridal party of my son's wedding was the most satisfying & rewarding for me so far. I didn't make the beads in those pieces, they were made by my friend & fellow flameworker Barbara Svetlick, but I think that's what makes them so special. Those jewelry pieces were the product of a combined effort & made with a lot of love. You can't put a price on that...those kind of memories & that kind of friendship. Because of Barb's kindness & generosity, I was able to make my son & daughter-in-law's dreams of a perfect wedding come true. And I don't think there's anything that can top that.

~ Do you teach? If so where

I don't teach formerly, although I am set up for that in my studio. I have taught a few friends in the past & have been turning down offers of would be students who want to learn the craft simply because I don't have the time. I have been referring the inquiries to other local flameworkers in my area, but I might decide to teach someday, if I ever have the extra time.

~ What’s on your iPod or stereo?

I love all kinds of music & I listen to whatever suits my mood on any given day. Daughtry, Godsmack, India Arie, The Counting Crows, John Hiatt, Cake, AC/DC, G Love & Special Sauce, etc., etc., etc. Way too many to mention here, but my tastes run from country to r&b to hip-hop to heavy metal & back to good ole' rock -n- roll. I'm very open-minded & all over the board when it comes to music.

~ Who have been inspirations within the glass community?

Wow, there are so many. Robert Mickelsen is of course probably my biggest inspiration, but I also admire Paul Stankard, Shane Fero, Elizabeth Mears, Julie Riggs, Marble Slinger, Josh Bergesen, Valla Erikson, Susan Corbett, Sky McDonagh & Barbara Svetlick, many of whom I am fortunate enough to know & call my friends. I could go on & on, there are so many who inspire.

~ Where do you think glass is heading and what direction do you seem to be heading?

Progression in flamework & working with glass seems to be moving full steam ahead. I see so many who are breaking molds & trying new things. I know many who are extending their current limits of performance. I see so many who innovate & go beyond commonly accepted boundaries. They are forever & constantly pushing that envelope. Although on a side note, the bad economic situation our country finds itself in has made it hard for those who are not financially able to meet their continuing supply & furthering education needs and/or wishes. From what I can see, in spite of all this, the progression of new folks interested in learning this craft certainly hasn't diminished. Speaking for myself, I seem to be headed in several different directions at once right now, but I think that's mostly due to my personal home situation & all that entails. I had to put my craft on the back burner for a while & so I feel like I am just beginning again (because in a weird way, I am). There's also so much that I want to try at once. My biggest problem is not being able to focus on one thing at a time. Right now it's scaling down to smaller work & making beads & jewelry that sets me apart (wish me luck with that! lol). I've also decided to expand from selling exclusively to galleries to also selling myself through several new venues this coming year. Only time will tell how that will work out, but I'm pretty flexible & open-minded, so I've been known to go backwards a bit or run in circles at times, but that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me.

~ What tools of the trade do you use the most in your glass?

A graphite paddle, my marble mold & an old butter knife.

~ What is your current work space setup?

I had to move my studio from a large outbuilding on my property to an extra back room of my house after Tropical Storm Faye decided to flood practically my whole town a while back. The room is smaller than I would like, but it's very private, has it's own private entrance besides the one connecting it to my kitchen, it's cozy, has a/c & heat, a computer, enough room to store my jewelry making supplies, I can torch in my pj's if I want, there's enough room that I can sleep in it if need be, it's really close to my bathroom & it is DRY!! The most important part of all (to me anyway). I have 3 torches, 2 Barracudas on tanked oxygen & a Bobcat hooked up to my new Regalia. I'll be adding a Lynx to my torch collection soon if I get my way. I have 2 kilns, a large floor kiln which I don't even use anymore and a small Skutt bead kiln which I love! I also have a sandblaster which I left in the outbuilding since it's too big & messy to have here in my little studio. And my DH who is an HVAC Tech did all my ventilation for me.

~ If you could talk to someone brand new to the community what advice would you give them?

To practice, practice, practice & try to go with the flow of where the glass is taking you. Don't think too much, just relax & see where you end up. Try not to compare yourself to others as we are all different & have our own experience, styles & skill levels. To never be afraid to ask questions, because we were all new at this at one time or another. And most importantly, to be yourself.

~ Please list where others can find your work, blog, website or online store.

Please note that all my venues are either empty, not completed, outdated or they need to be worked on. I am working on updating everything & when my website is finished, which will hopefully be sooner than later, there will be a list of all my gallery clients there & also a web store where you can buy directly from me.

Website - www.moonlightinspirations.net
Blog - http://moonlightinspirations.blogspot.com/
Etsy - http://glassgirl321.etsy.com
Artfire - http://www.artfire.com/users/moonlightinspirations