Why marbles?

A question I often get asked, is “why marbles?”
Well, when I was a kid I was brought up by my grandparents. My grandmother was as much a tomboy as it was possible for a woman born in the 40’s to be. She spent a good deal of time playing with her brothers, and one thing they all had in common was they liked to play marbles. 
Well, she’d tell me stories about these days, which of course made me want my own. So to the dollar store we went and she taught me to play when we got home.  I’d play with friends in the neighborhood or school.  I moved a lot so it was good tool to make friends.  

When I first started doing glass and learned that you could make marbles by hand, I was intrigued. However once I met one of my teachers who went by the moniker “marble mark”, I was hooked.  He introduced me to all of the different makers, their styles, their colors, their place in history and educated me about the different processes used to make them both by hand and machine. They can be a toy, or they can be a collectors item, or even an industrial tool and their colors and variations are seemingly endless. 
My favorite thing about making marbles is that you have a 360 degree canvas, and you’re able to use it in so many uniquely different ways to accentuate the colors you’ve chosen.  They bring joy to children, adults, and older folks alike for so many different reasons.  If something I’ve made makes you smile, I feel like I’m doing my job.
 Years later when I was in my 20’s grandma found the actual bag of marbles from when she was a little girl and gave it to me. A cowgirl’s red and white drawstring pouch with tassles. It still had all of my uncles marbles in there she’d won over the years along with however many other nameless contenders.
She always said whatever I did with my life, to make sure I was having fun, otherwise what’s the point and she always supported me in it. 
She’s passed now, but for me every piece is another little nod to her that says “Hey lady, we made it”.