Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Back from Turkey...

Hi all, I am back from Turkey, I had the most fun in one of the best classes I have had in a long time...the Glass Furnace & all of its staff were as nice as ever. Although the weather was colder than the last few times I was there, the grounds & the river were still very lovely to visit...in my two week class I had 4 great students, Aybuke, Elif, Nasrine & Gozde, my class assistant & translator Gunay was with us the whole time too (thanks for all the work girl). In the first 3 day class we also had my new boy friend Alten & his assistant in real life Gulsan in the class as well, then on the last 3 days we had a total of 14 students in class with me & Gunay (16 of us in total) which made for a fun busy room full of glass bead makers...we had so much fun, the picture above was taken on the second day of the advanced class...

This past Saturday was graduation, many of the students got their certificates the day before after class ended, only the original four & Meneske were able to stay for the ceremony & exhibition day.

I will never forget the amount of fun we all had in the past two weeks...we made so many beads & had a great adventure...I so miss everyone & wish to see them again very soon. my next class at the Glass Furnace is scheduled for May 30th to June 12th of 2010. As usual I will have the two week class, plus two 4 or 5 day advanced classes as well...

Below you will find some random photos of our time at the Glass Furnace...

some of the beads I made while in class... Here we all had fun trying on my sun hat, sadly not too much sun for me to wear it...Gozde had the best hat attitude... After everyone got their certificates, our class photo...we had all cried a bit at this point... Aybuke's Exhibit... Nasrine's exhibit... Gunay's Exhibit... Menekse's Exhibit... Elif's Exhibit... Gozde's Exhibit... Gunay, Fulya (last year students, life time friends) & me... The Bee Kingdom doing their magic...awesome that we got to see them... Need I say more...I mean Really??? Nasrine plays pool, rather well...my student who came from Iran for the class... My new friend Gaye, whom I met through my old friend Pinar Hakim, Gaye was the reason we had 10 students for the advanced part of the class, thanks a bunch girl, see you next year... Student from last year & this year & friend forever Mari-Liis who came from Estonia to have some fun with us... another shot from Istanbul, this one from the ramp while waiting for the next train to come, watching the big cruise ships on the Bosphorus sea...Turkey is so lovely & did I mention I love the people & the food...

Thanks for stopping by...life is good...will have beads for you next week...

Jelveh

Peace

13 comments:

jozd5150 said...

What a great teacher you are, as the beads made by your students are beautiful! Thanks for sharing your trip with all of us :)

N Valentine Studio said...

Looks like you had a blast! I absolutely loved it in turkey and the Glass Furnace is such an amazing place! I hope to go back. Fulya and Pinar are such sweet hearts! Great beads!

Brenda H said...

Jelveh, what wonderful memories you will always have to cherish from your trips to Turkey, and such beautiful friendships. That's what life should be about, I've always said there is nothing like good friends to share life and laughter with. What a platter of beads girl! When did you all sleep and where was the pool table? Glad you're home safely, thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Peace and love.

Gaye Döşer said...

Thank you soo much for everything.
frienship, teaching, condor...everyhing...
I learn soo much technique
Thank you again.

Mel P said...

Wow beautiful beads Jelveh, you are an awsome teacher. It looks and sounds like you had an amazing time in Turkey, it is one of my most favourite places that I have been too. Hmm I may need to start saving so up pennies to join you next year:0)
xxx

ikkinlala said...

Your students made some gorgeous beads!

jelveh Designs said...

Thanks for all the good kind words everyone, the students were awesome and very talented, i got lucky in that regard...
As friends go, I love love Pinar Hakim, if not for her I would have never even known about the glass furnace, she is an awesome lady and a very talented beadmaker and glass artist...in fact i have a big blog post coming about pinar and some of her yummy beads...
Jelveh
Peace

ginny said...

Hi Jelveh:
Love the pictures, love the beads, love reading about your classes and LOVE the sun hat!
Welcome home, sweet Jelveh!!!!
Ginny

GOZDE said...

hi my sweet hodjam :))
i miss you and our class so much.you are like a great mother who hugs all her students like her children and care about them.
btw you were right,i had gollestones,15-20 piece :D i had an operation 2 days ago on my birthday.now i am in rest at my home and said a big bye bye to smoking habit.3 days passed without cigarettes.because now i see,how a great luck to be a healthy person.i have lots of pain now but feel better everyday.

my eyes get tears when i saw that pics:)we had great time with you and as i said to you too;"we are lucky cuz we have jelveh"and of course Günay is the best helped everyone of us.

kiss&love from gözde

jelveh Designs said...

Thanks Ginny we had a great time...
oh the answer to a question up there, the pool table is at the school in the hanging out area of the quad, above the infinity pool area...the school has dorm rooms and we got very little sleep as we were always playing with glass or having talks and making jewerly...

Gozde girl, I am so glad to hear you are ok and that you have quit smoking, sorry you had to go through all that pain and surgery... I can not believe I diagnosed you from your symptoms...glad it is all over now & you are doing well...I am so proud of you for not smoking...thanks for all the kind words too, I had the best time in my class with all of you and can not wait to see you again next year...we should get together for dinner when I am over for the May-June 2010 class, you wont be needing my classes anymore, can not wait to see the yummies you make...lots of love...
Jelveh
Peace

ginny said...

Did you bring Turkish silver back to sell? I am dying to know!! LOL

Brenda H said...

Me too on the Turkish silver Jelveh. It's truly beautiful silver!
Peace,

gunay said...

Jelveh joon, I have added my comments last week, but it was disappeared.
I am just back from my Black Sea trip on the mountains.
Thank you for the lovely time we shared in Glass Furnace. Not only making beautiful beads, we also learnt Persian songs, tasted delicious Persian meal,
received replies for all our questions, talked, laughed, cared each other, became a big family. It was difficult to leave all the fun and go to sleep at nights.
Thank you Jelveh, thank you all the friends and thank you Glass Furnace team for making this experience unforgettable.
Gunay