Monday, March 30, 2009

Another Etsy Treasury Created


Last night I was able to create another Etsy Treasury, which I called "He will lift you up...." . When you get to the treasury page, the rest of the statement is, "on Angel's wings".

I don't know what it is about angels, but I find them....well I don't really know what is the best adjective to use, so I'll just say.... they are beautiful. I know that my Guardian Angel has worked overtime throughout my life, keeping me safe.

I found such wonderful, eclectic pieces for this treasury. I think each item is so lovely, in its own way. I hope you will take a moment to check out the work of other artists that I've selected for this one and maybe even visit their Etsy stores. Thanks!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mystic Pools

Another pair of earrings! I'm very happy with the wire design in this pair. I think I've found a style that I'll want to incorporate in others.

I used Wasser glass to make this pair and they have a great turquoise with copper look. I added a piece of dichroic frit to the center and as the glass fused, the wasser glass tends to envelope the frit. It takes on a lot of depth when this happens and I just love the look. They reminded me of Mystic Pools, so that's how they got their name.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Spring Emerges

With all the snow we have had in the past 24 hours, my former case of spring fever has been drenched in all the snow drifts surrounding the house. However, I have my trusty glass creations to keep the spirit of spring alive!

Here is a pair of earrings that remind me of spring. I call them "Spring Emerges" and I have a couple of pendants that match them. One is an exact match, the other I called Spring Flowers, An Amulet. The amulet has a little more contrast to it with French Vanilla on top of the Mineral Green...I really like its distinctive shape.

I used Bullseye's Mineral Green as the backdrop and I'm quite taken with this very soft, subtle shade of green. It is on my shopping list for when I head to Denver on Monday to pick up my new machine at D & L.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Better Pictures, I think

I've been working on my photographs and I think I have a better picture of "Ancient Writings ~ Earrings". So here is one of the pictures I'm happier with.

Now that we are having a spring blizzard in the Rockies, I cannot go up to Denver tomorrow to pick up my new machine and will do that on Monday. My focus is on jewelry and wire wrapping at the moment. Hope to have more things ready for my Etsy store.

Thanks to all of you for your kind works, support and encouragement.

Another Lemonade Award!

I have been blessed again with another Lemonade Award! This time, Sandy of SCJ Jewelry Design nominated me. Sandy is a very talented jewelry designer/creator and she has a very special line, called The Awareness Collection in which she is helping to raise money for breast cancer. Sandy, you are a terrific person! And thank you for this honor, I am humbled.

In my Tuesday post, I was the recipient of my first Lemonade Award and explained it then. However, it is worth repeating: A Lemonade Award is given to bloggers that show a positive attitude and gratitude. I think it also exemplifies people who have a willingness to share their ideas, support and online friendship.

Here are the rules for the award:
1.Put the logo on your blog or post
2.Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.
3.Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5.Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

Here is my second list of nominees:
Stephen Richard: He has two very informative/helpful blogs for glass artists ~~
Glass Tips and Verrier I find Stephen's work to be just lovely and his Glass Tips are very beneficial. Clear, concise.
Cathyann's Studio who has a passion for painting
Designs by Misa, a wonderful wire jewelry artist
Mona and The Gaffer Girls, these guys are such fun and do wonderful things in glass and for the glass artists!
Leslie Saeta's blog, Painting Is My Passion
Celeste Paints
Musings by Janelle Goodwin
Shona's Designs
Bobbi's My Wired Imagination
Marilyn's My New Sky
NyxEnchantments

My thanks to all of you, and again to my previous nominees too.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Dreaming with the Burn Factor

At the beginning of this year, we set our goals and I am still working to achieve them. Sometimes you need to reassess and figure out if you need to change your approach. So far, I feel like I'm still on target with my 2009 goals and need to re-focus on a few. I probably need to set some different goals too.

As a result, I've been thinking that nothing helps motivate quite as well as that Dream that has what I like to call the 'burn factor'. Something that is an incentive to motivate you to go all out to achieve your goals and as a result, you can reward yourself with this incentive.

Here's mine... The Paragon Pearl 56, designed by the creative folks at Bullseye Glass. Yowser! Now THAT's a huge incentive for me. My dream kiln. The interior chamber of this bad boy is 56" wide, 30" deep, and 16 1/2" high. "A whole lotta cookin' could go on in there" :D

The point is that this is a reward that I can really get a 'burn' for. It motivates me to do better. I plan on posting a picture of this jewel where I can see it often...like all the time. So, I will put a picture of it by my computer monitor and by one of my work areas in the glass studio. You get the idea, somewhere to help remind me that this is something I'm working to achieve. I have to achieve my goals before I can have this type of a reward.

What will help motivate you in your work/business? Anyone else have a dream with the burn factor? Care to share? Remember, the incentive may change for you too and that's ok, as long as you are working to be the best you can be in your work. Happy creating all!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Lemonade Award!

I have been nominated by Kristin, of K S Jewellery Designs, for A Lemonade Award! First let me say thank you to Kristin for this honor; she is a gifted jewelry designer and a admire her talent. And let me add that I am in great company, as Kristin nominated 9 other bloggers for this award.

What is a Lemonade Award? It is awarded to bloggers that show a positive attitude and gratitude. Now it's my turn to share....

Here are the rules for the award:
1.Put the logo on your blog or post
2.Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.
3.Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5.Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

My Choices for the Award:
Karen Phipps, A Visual Journey
Tracey Clarke, Brainworks
Daily Silk Painting with Deborah Younglao
Sandy Cahill Johnson, SCJ Jewelry Design
Luann Udell

Linda Steider, Steider Studio Blog
Sharmon Davidson, True Adventures of an Art Addict
Sophie, Life & Jewelry
Becca, Notes From Smelly Rhino Studio
Iona Drozda, Drozda's Art Life

All of these talented people have inspired and helped me in my artistic journey. They have provided advice, positive support, and great inspiration. My heartfelt thanks to all of you. And yes, there are more I would add to this list, for now I will leave it at the 10 I've nominated. Let's enjoy the lemonade! Cheers.

Monday, March 23, 2009

"Growing Love" - A Work in Progress

I became a fan of Renee Phillips of Manhattan Arts after reading her article about Vanity Galleries in Art Calendar Magazine last year. As a result, I purchased two of her books, Presentation Power Tools for Fine Artists and Success Now! I have read both and find Renees' advice invaluable. I also subscribe to her newsletter and a couple of weeks ago, there was a Call for Artists for their juried online gallery called Celebrate HerStory 2009. I wanted to share this with all of you, as I hope you will consider entering your works too. As I read about Celebrate HerStory 2009, I knew I wanted to enter something and I had a vision of what I wanted to create.

So, here is the start of my work for this entry, which I think I will call "Growing Love". It symbolizes how our love grows during the course of our lives. The love we have for our parents, our husband/wife/significant other, our children (if we have them), our friends, our pets....well, you get the idea.

It seems that many of you enjoy seeing my work in progress and I thought I would continue with that for this piece.

The picture at the top of this post is how "Growing Love" looked after it was fused. It seems to me like this represents some of that earthy, organic look and feel my work tends to have. The straight lines sort of moved and became more wavy as the hearts fused into them. This is a bit of a fantasy of how hearts grow and what a plant or bouquet of them might look like.

This is a shot of the glass I choose, Bullseye of course, which for me has such wonderful color pallets. The top red/white streaky glass, is the one I have used for my Symbols of Love jewelry and it fuses to such a rich color. I also used white, another pink, and some pink streamers in clear.




Then its time to start cutting the strips. I decided to make them 3/8" and as so many of us love the tools of our respective trades, I couldn't resist showing my trusty Beetle Bits cutting system. A very handy tool for the glass artist. You can see how this cutting system lets me set up the width I want to cut. The yellow and orange guides to the right are positioned to hold the glass in place at the correct distance. The little 'beetle' cutting tool is at the bottom of this picture and it is set on the black guide, running a perfect score at the correct width.




The end result is an assortment of glass strips that I played with for a while until I got the color combination/layout that I wanted.







This shows all the colors arranged in a 9" square. Ultimately, I felt it was better to keep the background fairly ordered and clean to act as the proper stage for the 'heart shaped flowers'.







Next I started working on the hearts. There are three hearts, but each is made up of 5 layers of glass, each layer/heart is just a little bit smaller than the one it sits on.









And then I placed the hearts on top of the glass strip base. At first I used the green stringers like plant stems starting at the bottom of the piece, but as I looked at it...I felt it should be a little more mystical. I changed it to have the green stringers coming from the top. Like someone was holding them and the heart bouquet was coming down from an imaginary sky.




Here is a side view showing the height of everything before the fusing took place.







And the last shot is a detail view of the 'flowers' after the fusing. I added one last stringer as the center of each flower.

On to the coldworking phase, which should be minimal for this piece. I will wait for my new machine to complete that aspect of the work.


Hope you enjoyed this work in progress. And I hope all of you consider a submission to Celebrate HerStory 2009. Oh yes, I hope my piece will be accepted...if not, I sure had fun creating it. :)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Another Pair of Earrings

I have finished another pair of earrings, along with a matching pendant. I feel like I'm making progress.

I used Savoy dichroic glass for these and as the photo shows, they reflect different colors depending on the angle. The dichroic glass has a clear glass cap and I always feel that helps give depth to a piece. The pattern reminds me of ancient hieroglyphs. I'm calling this one "The Ancients".

Lots of irons in the fire this weekend. A new design just went in the kiln and I'm working on my first wire wrapped ring. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Happy, Colorful, Special Animals


I think most of you know that I have a very special place in my heart for animals. They are such blessings. I find it incredible to earn their trust. That being said, I have been fortunate enough to create another Etsy Treasury that I call, "Happy, Colorful, Special Animals"

I'm especially pleased that I could include two artists again that I know, Tracy Clarke and Rebecca Salcedo

If you have a chance, please check out the treasury and all the wonderful works there. Thanks.

Friday, March 20, 2009

First Day of Spring


Spring is here, of course, living in Colorado that also means that there's always a chance of snow! It's in the forecast for Monday.

However, I received this lovely sheet of dichroic glass from CBS (Coatings by Sandberg), the corkscrew pattern, this week and it will be the source of some lovely jewelry. It's almost too pretty to cut, but I will as there's something about the mixed colors on dichroic that produces lovely results.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Investment in the business....ok, new toy... wait, it's BOTH!

I have finally taken the leap and purchased a real piece of coldworking equipment. With some of my latest thick pieces, this is just a necessity.

Part of the impetus for this purchase was D & L had/has a screaming price on this particular machine after their Kent Lauer classes earlier this month. They will have extra machines for Kent's dichroic sculpture classes (which I took last fall) and then offer them at a discount. Their discount this go round was too good to pass up.

I pick up this jewel next Friday, along with some other items. Now, it may not look real pretty to most of you, but it is a real beauty to me. Another work horse tool to add to my arsenal. I love tools!

The machine I currently use is more for a 'hobbyist' and was a temporary measure until I could justify a professional model. Well, I'm to a point where I need this industrial machine. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to finish Meteor Shower in time for the submission deadline. :(

I really need a machine with the capabilities of this new one I'm getting in order to complete the cold work in time. That's ok, things happen for a reason, so maybe there's another...possibly better venue for Meteor Showers. I'll keep all of you posted.

And thanks so much to all the people who follow and comment on my blog. I enjoy the interactions and friendships a great deal.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Meteor Showers

My latest project from this past weekend. I tend to move from one thing to another as you have probably noticed. I feel like I need to multi-task when I work on things. Last Friday, I received a call for artists for a show in Denver and the deadline is Monday, 3/23. I'm hoping that I can have this ready for submission, but the coldworking is time consuming. So if I don't finish it in time for the deadline, I think it will fit nicely in some other shows I plan on doing. I do wish I'd receive Calls for Artists with longer lead times for submissions...oh well.

I call this Meteor Showers. This is one of those cases where, when I saw the stringers a few weeks ago, I had this vision of what they would look like streaming down from clouds....breaking through the atmosphere. This is one of the thickest pieces I've made yet (see the detail in the last picture here) and I'm finding that I enjoy the effects of frit, stringers, and thick glass results.

I thought I would show some of the progress on how this was built. I started with a circle of Bullseye's Marzipan. It is one of my favorites as I think it has such a warm, rich quality. Their Marzipan is a striker glass, which means that it 'strikes' the rich Marzipan color when it reaches full fuse temperature. I placed this in a stainless steel ring with a fiber dam.





Then I started to add some of the stringer drops that represent the meteors. Here is where I started layering shades of blue frit, with clear frit and more stringers. I used combinations from two of my stringer batches, one with a lighter steel blue and another with a dark midnight blue. I'm beginning to understand this frit addiction and once you get started, it sort of grabs your attention and begs you to try more with it!


In this next shot, I've added more layers of frit and stringers. I want that suspended effect between the elements once it is fused.








Final phase of layering. Everything is in place and ready for the mound of clear glass pieces. You can sort of see that mass of blue stringers I put at the top to represent the clouds the meteors are passing through.







A side view showing the mound of glass placed on top of the design.







Another view, taken just prior to placing it in the kiln for firing.








My first glimpse, while in the kiln, after the fusing process. Oh yes, it has some reddish/pink striker randomly mixed in there and I think that adds to the drama of the meteor strikes.









Trying to show that this is approximately 1 inch thick.

I think it is going to be a very interesting bowl when complete.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Revised Artist Statement - Part Two

Ok, I think I may have a better one that what I posted earlier. I kept some of the same parts, but I think there may have been a disconnect, so I hope I've tied things together better with this one. Again, I'd appreciate any thoughts/feedback/suggestions.

I am a child, sitting in church on a Sunday morning with my parents, lost in the beauty of the stained glass windows there, some dating back to the mid to late 1800s. There are figures, flowers, decorative accents; rich colors of blue, gold, green, and red….oh how I love the red. The sunlight begins to emerge from the clouds and the light comes through these windows bringing them to life! Brilliant colors of light radiate from the figures in these windows. I wonder who chose the patterns, the colors? Who created the graceful outlines for the glass pieces? Who painted the details of the faces, their flowing robes? How was it possible to do this?

Nature. The trees.........The mountains...........The flowers

Sky. The sun.........The clouds..........The stars

These elements are the driving forces in my work.

As an only child my imagination created wonderful fantasy worlds. One of my favorite pastimes on a warm summer day was lying in a soft blanket of grass, looking up at the slow moving clouds as they drifted across the sky. I searched for shapes in those big fluffy clouds, finding the most unusual collection of things. Admit it, we all did that, right?

Today, my imagination still finds those shapes, only now I find them in glass. My work is inspired by nature, realized in glass.

The Light........Refractions.............Reflections...........Prisms

I am a glass artist.

Revised Artist Statment

Today, I was introduced to Luann Udell's blog through Cynthia Morgan's blog. And Luann really got me thinking that I need to revise my artist statement. Not an easy thing.

I've gone through a number of iterations and I'm to a point where I feel like I'm ready for others to give me feedback. So here it is and please, let me know what you like, don't like, does it make sense? I'm hoping it is a good starting point to convey who I am as an artist. Thanks!


Nature.
The trees
The mountains
The flowers

Sky.
The sun
The clouds
The stars

These elements are the driving forces in my work.

As an only child, one of my favorite pastimes on a warm summer day was laying in a soft blanket of grass, looking up at the slow moving clouds as they drifted across the sky. I searched for shapes in those big fluffy clouds, finding the most unusual collection of things.

Today, my imagination still finds those shapes and I am awestruck by the natural beauty of this world. My work is inspired by nature, realized in glass.

The Light.
Refractions
Reflections
Prisms

I am a glass artist.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Turquoise Glass Earrings

These are the earrings I worked on this weekend.

When I first start working on earrings, I feel I always need to tweak my process and I'm pretty picky about how they turn out. That being said, this pair will not be for sale as I'm not as happy with the end result. They are just ok, in my opinion and I need to build on making the next pairs better. I wanted to share a picture of these as some of you have been asking to see me do earrings.

I find the hard thing about using glass in earrings is symmetry. Symmetry in glass size, color, wire wrap. These didn't turn out as a mirror image of each other, my error. I've seen earrings that were manufactured this way, but generally I believe people want them to be mirror images of each other. So I will continue to work on my process and once I'm really happy with the results, then I'll start making them available for sale. It just takes practice.

I imagine we all have things that we do artistically that we aren't as fond of doing...right now making earrings falls into that category for me. Once I reach a level where I'm happy with my earring work, I'll enjoy making them.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Irresistible

Another of the crinklized dichroic pendants wire wrapped. This one has a teal to magenta color shift depending on the light. It's hard for me to pick a favorite out of these as I think this glass from Coatings by Sandburg is so beautiful. I think the textured surface adds so much to the glass' ability to catch and reflect light even more than normal. When I looked at this, all I could think was 'Irresistible' so that's its title.

I experimented with my wire wrapping too and added a few different swirls. My approach probably is not terribly conventional, as I just look at a piece and it sort of 'tells' me where the wire should go....most of the time that works, other times...not so much and the wrap goes in the recycle pile. I chalk that up to developing my wire art style.

And I am working on a pair of earrings but they are not quite done, so I hope to post a picture of them this weekend.

Friday, March 13, 2009

ready...Set....Paint!

Yep, I just created another treasury! This time it is dedicated to painters...you guys rock! I called this one "ready...Set....Paint!" and two of the featured individuals are my online artist friends, Tracey Clarke and Rebecca Salcedo.

I think the work in this treasury is fantastic and I hope you'll check it out.

Happy creating all!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Blue Beauty - The First Wire Wrapped Crinkelized Pendant


A little while ago you may recall I did a test run of the new Crinklized Dichroic from Coatings by Sandburg (CBS). They've been 'patiently' waiting for me to start wire wrapping them and I finally have. This is the first one, and I'm calling it Blue Beauty. Pictures really don't do it justice. This new crinklized glass is so beautiful. It's richly colored and has a lot of sparkle. This is a deep turquoise blue. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

More Stringers

I worked on another batch of stringers Sunday afternoon. These are a few that I find very interesting and they have given me an idea for another bowl. Variations were created by mixing different colors of glass, twisting the glass 'strings' while they were still molten (I wear protective gloves), and for some just pulling them with no twists to see what color is present when left alone.

This group was a mixture of clear, navy transparent, and marzipan. All Bullseye glass, of course!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Eclipse of the Black Moon

I started work on another piece this weekend and took some work in progress pictures. It's not finished and is waiting in line behind "Hues of Nature" for coldworking.

I'm calling this one "Eclipse of the Black Moon". This first picture shows how it looked after the fusing was complete, the fiber dam in place that kept it at the 3/8" depth.

After my unsuccessful columbine piece, I decided to go more abstract and utilize some of the stringers I've been making over the past couple of months. I had this design in my head that involved red and black. When fusing black, you have to be careful so the black doesn't overwhelm the piece in the process. This is close to what I was thinking about in terms of imagery and just started to evolve into this design as I worked with the stringers.

This rich red Bullseye that became the background. I added some black, rust, and amber stringers. I layered a circle of black with a circle of red on top, and a few more stringers. I took a photo before the fusing to show how the stringers were place upon the surface of the top piece of glass.



This photo was also taken after the fusing and shows how I sandwiched a dark gray between two of the reds so from the side it will also have something of interest.

I'm also considering a umber paint wash that I'll use on the surface and then add some more effects to emphasize the glass elements. I'll add that once I'm done with the coldworking.

Once all the prep work is done, then the last step will be to slump this in a 8" square dish mold that I have.

Stay tuned for more pics ...... :)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

I'm Having a Blast with Treasuries!

I think I'm getting the hang of creating these Treasuries on Etsy! It's a lot of fun because I can create themes that I like. Being a glass artist, I figured it was time to place some attention on a few of the wonderfully talented glass artists I've found on Etsy. Unfortunately, they only give us 12 slots for the selections, but I have LOTs more I would love to feature.

So, this is my latest Etsy Treasury selection, "Simply Mad About Glass!!!"

If you have a chance to visit this treasury, I hope you like these artists as much as I do and take a minute to check out their work.

Thanks!

Stringers with a Twist

I can't seem to resist making stringers. I had a beautiful, variegated blue that was from a previous failed vase attempt...I think....anyway, I love this color shading and thought it would be great for some abstract work with other stringers I've made. I also added a blue cab to the glass mixture that I just didn't like the size and end result, so I knew I wouldn't wire wrap it. And finally I included the 'shavings' from Neptune (formerly the blue bowl). It's wonderful to know these things can be recycled.

I did this batch yesterday and some of the results are pictured here. Yep, all from the same firing. I keep trying the twisting technique to achieve some of the spiral patterns you see here. Sometimes I just pull the strings and add a curl to the end. I found these very interesting and I'm thinking about a grouping like this as a design for a bowl or plate. What do you think?

And thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on my previous post about the Twilight pendant and the cause. My friend was very pleased and the folks at Taylor Elementary will be having the silent auction on April 3. I'll post about how the auction went after the 3rd.

Clearly, earrings are popular and I promise I will do my best to add these back into my body of work. You'll see them here first. Thanks for all the interest!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

"A Little Bit Of Twilight"

A few weeks ago, a friend approached me about donating a piece of my work for a silent auction at the school her daughter attends. The purpose of the auction is to help raise money for the art department because teaching art isn't deemed as something worthy of funding. The parents still want their children to learn art. Not only does that inspire creativity, but it also helps them with their other studies.

Of course I said yes and this is the piece I'm donating. I call it "A Little Bit of Twilight".

A New Treasury - Collection of Beautiful Crosses

Right place, right time. I am definitely having fun putting together Etsy Treasuries with beautiful pieces I find there. I just created this one tonight and called it, A Collection of Beautiful Crosses. If you have a chance, check it out and visit the shops of other Etsians featured in this collection. Hope you enjoy.

And today was Christmas for me. I received Karen's painting, Medicine Bottle #2. It's even more gorgeous that her picture of it on her blog. I have promptly hung it in just the right spot in my studio. Love it, love it, love it. Thank you Karen.

In follow up to last night's post, I have new designs in mind for my next fusing adventure. I still need to finish Hues of Nature, which I will do this weekend. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Columbine Plate - After 1st fusing


Well, I'm undecided. I know this picture doesn't show the depth of the flowers. They are encased in about 1/2" of clear glass. I'm not sure if something is missing and I need to do more to this or not.

It may be hard to see, but a couple of the clear glass chips, slid as the fusing process started and caught on the edge of the fiber dam (top, left of center). No real problem as I can saw them off and then work on all the edges in the coldworking process.

Right now I'm kind of going "hmmmmm".... not sure. It may need some tweaks. I do like creating these thicker pieces. They may lend themselves to something even more abstract so I can work the stringers into the different layers of clear glass. Definitely undecided.

**************** A couple of hours have past since I posted this and now I'm certain, this is one of those things that I just need to chalk up to a learning experience. I don't like the way the flowers turned out; they needed to fuse more completely. And the layering of other colors amongst the pieces needs to happen. That being said, I will not go any further with this piece and it will probably be turned into stringers (mixed with other colors) to become part of another piece. It's ok, sometimes things like this happen and that's how we learn and grow. ***********

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

New Project - Columbine Plate

One of the projects I started this weekend was the start of a 7" square plate, with a Columbine design. I took project progression pictures to show how I built this and hopefully the fusing, which is taking place tonight, will produce a good result.

I wanted to have three Columbines and this picture shows them when I was done with that portion of it.




This photo shows the start of the project, with a 7" square base of Bullseye French Vanilla. The mosaic tile clippers to the right of the base are what I used to cut the pieces of clear glass that go over the top of the flowers.



Next I added some purple confetti glass to form the basic shape of the flower petals. In this photo, you can see in the top center the photo of Columbines I was using as a reference.

I built on top of those with various sizes and colors of frit and confetti. The stems were pieces from the stringers I made several weeks ago. Everything was was glued in place so I could add the top layers of clear glass and not disturb the design.

In order to contain the clear glass chips I would place on top of the flowers, I built a clear glass box, gluing that on top of the vanilla base. This dried overnight so it would be secure enough for me to add the clear glass fill.






Once all of that was in place, I wrapped the exterior of the 'box' in fiber strips to keep the glass at its 1/2" depth. For extra safety, I used kiln posts to hold the fiber strips in place, shown in the last picture.






Tomorrow I'll see if my vision for this turns out as I hope.

Featured on Made for You Blog

Today I'm featured on another blog, Made for You. Catherine Dooley is the owner of this blog and she also has an Etsy store called dreamland's crafts. If you have a chance, click on the link to Made for You and you can read a little more about me. You need to scroll down as she has another Colorado artist featured in this section.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Websites Updated

It's been another busy weekend. I guess I just need to accept the fact that when you work at a full time, day job, the weekends will ALWAYS be busy.

I've started coldworking the Hues of Nature bowl. Nothing significant to report at this time, except that I continue to be happy with its progress.

I started a new project today, this one is an abstract of three columbines. It's provided a few challenges and I started to take pictures of the progress. I will post these as I have the build stage finished and it's ready to go in the kiln.

Ok, I'm just a glass addict! But that's a good thing right? Today I couldn't resist doing another batch of stringers. This time, a taupe color, from a previously failed attempt at fusing something. So, I had a lot of fun shaping the molten glass strings as they flowed from my little kiln. Nice diversion.

And throughout the course of this weekend, I've been updating my personal website and our joint studio website. This can be an never ending task, but I'm happy with the updates to the jewelry, stained glass, and kilnwork galleries. If you feel like it, please check them out and give me any feedback. I trust my artist friends.

Thank you all. Make it a wonderful week of creativity!!!