Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Glass Boxes ~!

Another class I was able to participate in while at the
Glass Expo  in Vegas was "Making Glass Boxes" with
Karen Carey of Custom Stained Glass.

Karen & her husband, Tim, own a glass shop
in Southgate, Michigan.
They offer a full range of glass, supplies & classes.
They are very popular teachers at the Glass Expo
& the first offering of this class filled up immediately!!

I was on the wait list & emailed the organizer & said
I'd take a class anytime if they were willing to teach 
a second class.

Because they are such generous souls
(and probably had the screws put to them by the promoter)
they did offer another class & I was lucky enough to participate.


Karen is the originator of this technique.

It's beautiful, unusual & the possibilities are endless.




These boxes are made with stained glass.
The only color that Karen said doesn't work well is green.
Notice what color I picked!?!?

I can't help myself ~ green is one of my favorite colors.

If they'd had orange glass I'd have picked that color ~ it's my favorite over green.
Orange probably explodes.

For whatever reason, green glass doesn't adhere.
I was slowest in the class because I was
literally watching the glue dry!

I'm very curious about that so next time I'm laying on the beach
& have nothing to do I'm going to goggle it & do some research.

Anyway...what do you think about my first
"Glass Box" ala Karen Carney design?

Thank you Karen & Tim!!

I loved the class & hope to see you at the next Expo!



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Equipment & Strippers ~

While at the Glass Expo in Vegas
I bought some new equipment.
One of the things I have wanted for years is a
really good quality circle cutter.

I have a couple of small lens cutters but they only
expand to about 6 inches & the cutting is so-so.

Monorail makes a beautiful circle cutter!
I'm a bit of a tool junkie, I admit it & I've looked at this
particular tool in past years but had a hard time justifying the >$200 price tag.
This year, I decided to treat myself ~
plus it was free shipping!!

My husband thinks I'm one of few woman who
love to get tools for gifts ~
Nice drill with extra batteries ~ love it!
Carharts for the shop ~ love it!
New set of socket wrenches ~ love it!
Saw blades ~ love it!

(Sorry this picture is sideways ~ I formatted the correct orientation & when it uploads it turns vertical.  UGH!)

So, this long narrow box arrives in the mail.
I like to play a little game where I guess what's in the box
before I open it so I glanced at the return address & saw the word
STRIPPERS.....

UHHHHH?????  What??
Even my postal carrier was intrigued & asked me what I ordered?
She had a little smirk on her face & I knew she was thinking it
was something of a personal nature.

But......you were wrong "Queen."
Yes, my mail carriers name is "Queen."

Anyway, it was my new circle cutter from MONORAIL ~
The full company name is DK MONORAIL STRIPPERS?

WHO KNEW?


Here it is all assembled!
I'm loving my new deluxe tool!

Heavy weight, well made & sure to last a lifetime!
Thanks Monorail!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Peter McGrain ~ Glass Artist & Accordion Player

One of the classes I participated in while at the
Glass Expo was a glass painting class with Peter McGrain.
This is technique is described as
Vitri-fus'alle: a word made-up by Peter.

This technique incorporates fusing with traditional
glass painting used to embellish stained glass.
Think of the beautiful stained glass in European churches
and that's the influence & look created...with a modern twist!


(here are Peter's hands working on the light table.  I have more
pictures of him but he didn't answer my email for permission
to show them here so it's only his hands for now....)

Traditional glass painting uses the methods of
tracing and matting.  These are layers upon layers of
painted tints that are built up & then removed to create the
shading & highlights in the figures.

Here's my humble study via Peter McGrain.


Peter recommends using System 96 glass ~
I've been considering switching over to 96 vs 90 due to a variety
of issues so maybe this will clinch my decision.
I'm excited to play with this technique & see
where it goes.  Have lots of ideas rumbling around in my head.

Thanks Peter for an inspiring & fun class!
During the class I also found out that Peter is an accordion player!
I knew I liked him!