Date: Fri 14-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Moliver-Booth-painting

Full Text:

Creating A New Life For Glass

(with photos)

BY JAN HOWARD

A plain vase of clear glass or wine glasses can be given a new life and attain

new beauty and usefulness through a simple design plan and some paint brushes

and paints.

Paula Moliver of Newtown will lead a free workshop, "Painting on Glass," for

adults on Monday, May 17, at 10 am, in the Cyrenius H. Booth Library's meeting

room. The program, which takes about an hour, is limited to ten participants.

For information or to register, call the circulation desk of the library at

426-4533.

Workshop attendees should bring a wine glass, vase, tile or other glass object

they would like to decorate. Mrs Moliver will demonstrate how to add flowers,

stripes or other form of decoration that will give the item a brand-new and

unique look.

Paula Moliver's creative designs have appeared in various crafts magazines.

She and her husband, Kenneth, are frequent contributors of new ideas for

decorative craft items.

Paula had no previous art training when she began creating her designs.

Despite her obvious talent, she did not seek a degree in art design.

"I never was encouraged to do so," she said this week. "I was good in science,

and I was encouraged to go do something in science so I could make an income."

She graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook with a

bachelor's of science degree in marine geology and a minor in chemistry.

Though she wanted to put her marine geology to work in a job after graduation,

she worked in a lab instead. "It's not really what I wanted to do," she said.

Since then, Paula has taken classes in several types of crafts and has taught

workshops and classes at C.H. Booth Library and through the town's Parks and

Recreation's adult education courses, including decorative wood painting. She

plans to teach painting on silk in her next adult ed class.

She loves the creative design work she does now.

"My mother and grandmother were both craftsmen and did knitting and

crocheting, and my aunt painted furniture and designs on walls," said Paula.

"I grew up with it, so that's what you do."

Paula and her husband create and market their freelance craft designs through

the home-based business, called Moliver Made. Their bylines have appeared on

several designs in crafts magazines.

"It's great, it's something we can do together," Paula said. The

husband-and-wife team has been working together on crafts design for about

seven years.

"We like the designing part of it," she said. "There are so many things to

do."

Painting on glass requires brushes of several different sizes, which will be

provided in Monday's workshop. The brushes are made of synthetic material for

use with acrylic and water-based paints. The paints that will be used are made

for non-porous materials, such as glass or tiles, she explained.

Paula said some people like to create a design for their backsplash tile in

the kitchen. Stencils can be used so the design can be uniformly placed on

each tile.

Painting on glass is "simple," she said.

"It's easy. I'll show you that anybody can paint on glass. It's just a few

strokes. You take a brush, dip it in the paint, and put it on the glass."

Various design styles can be created, such as flowers, stripes or angles, she

pointed out.

One technique has painters putting a design on flexible stamps made of

bendable plastic and then pressing the stamps onto the glass to create a

different effect. Another technique is to place a design inside a glass object

and paint the design onto the outside, she said.

If the design is later baked on, the glassware can be put in the dishwasher.

If it is unbaked, it is better to hand wash the item.

"I belong to several different craft societies," Paula said, through which she

networks for ideas for new crafts. New product information is obtained and

additional contacts are developed through her design work for crafts magazines

and membership in crafts associations. Newsletters from those groups keep her

up-to-date on company mergers, new editors of magazines, and other helpful

information for freelancers.

When submitting craft designs to magazines, Paula includes step-by-step

instructions for making the item and lists the materials needed and the

products used. She also includes line art and a photograph of the item.

If the design is accepted, she then sends the craft item to the magazine. Once

accepted, it can take from six months to a year before a design is published.

If the design is rejected, her material is returned and she can submit it to

another magazine. "I've gotten rejections. It's the nature of the beast," said

Paula.

Timing is the key as in all freelance work. Designs sent in to craft magazines

at this time of year are for Christmas or Valentine's Day, she noted.

One of the first designs she submitted as a freelance artist made the front

cover of a crafts magazine.

Paula receives payment after a design is published, and the paint manufacturer

also pays a flat fee if its name is mentioned in the design. Paint companies

also promote artisans who have been published using their products, and often

will donate paint for a design project, she said.

Paula has participated in various trade shows. She recently created designs

for the Association for Crafts and Creative Industry and plans to submit a

painting-on-glass design for the Press Day show at the World Trade Center in

New York City in October.

She will take her portfolio to the Society of Craft Designers seminar in Long

Beach, Calif., in September. About 200 designers show up for the seminar,

along with craft magazine publishers and editors, and product manufacturers,

who might buy a design they see. "A manufacturer may ask if they can use a

design you exhibit to advertise their products," she said.

The Molivers have lived in Newtown since 1981. Paula and Kenneth have three

children, Zackary, 10, Shayna, 9, and Alex, 6.

In addition to her design work, Paula loves to read and to garden. She took a

master gardener course through the University of Connecticut Extension Center

in Bethel. "That was a lot of fun," she said. "You can be creative in a

garden, too."

The artist has also conducted three "Side-by-Side" painting programs at

Newtown's library for children and their parents, and she plans to present

another before summer.

The programs are fun, even for the parents, she said.

"We got a lot of fathers and grandmothers to get involved," she said. "I try

to think of fun things parents and kids like to do.

"Painting is painting," she said. "It doesn't matter what you paint on. It's a

common thread."