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.

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!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Greetings and here's wishing all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day.

This morning I prepared the blue bowl for its second fusing. Here it is, in the kiln, ready for firing. Taking it back up to full fuse temperature may mean that I will not be able to see the results until later tomorrow afternoon.

I had great fun arranging all the curls on top of it. I believe I have made the right decision and I want to thank Deborah and Karen for their words of encouragement as I re-work this piece to become (hopefully) even better than the original design.

I took a profile view to show how these curls 'stand up' on top of the surface. During the fusing process they will drop and become part of the glass surface. They will retain their circles and curls, but become part of the piece in the fusing process.



The dam, to maintain its 3/8" thickness, is held in place with steel pins. A technique I picked up in Patty Gray's November class at D & L. I couldn't believe that I could use steel pins in my kiln, but I can. As an added safeguard I used some kiln blocks as additional reinforcements to the dam.

Last, but certainly not least, is a picture of two of our three bassets. As I worked on this piece this morning, they kept me company....sleeping on their beds. Newton is on the left, Bueller is the one on the right. As an added bonus, today we went to the big dog show up in Denver and saw lots of our basset friends. Couldn't ask for a better day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Aspen Branch - Painted Bowl

This is the largest of my Aspen Branch Series. It's a bowl, approximately 13" in diameter and about 2" deep.

I used Peter McGrain's Vitri-Fusaille technique to paint the branch and leaf stems. I just loved Karen's earlier comment on the beginning of this piece when I mentioned how I felt less timid painting this one! I really did feel more free to let myself paint what I pictured. Now I know this is just simple line drawing stuff...I just think it adds so much to a piece. It's great fun and I plan on doing more painting on glass.

For my next go round on this design, I think I'm going to use green leaves. It's so hard to tell how pretty the glass is for the leaves here. I used a very colorful Bullseye streaky that had reds, rusts, greens, and even some blues. That glass reminded me of autumn colors. I still find it very pretty, just too dark in the photo to show how everything turned out.

Keeper of My Heart

The fourth in my series, Symbols of Love. I found some beautiful satin cord and thought that would make a nice diversion for some of these heart pendants. This one has some beautiful deep red to it and the satin cord is a merlot color.

I am very happy to report that my very first heart to sell, Pink is the One, was purchased by fellow artist and friend, Karen Phipps. Thank you Karen!! It's on its way to the windy city! :)