Got Glass?

Got Glass?

 

Yep ~ !

 

I've got almost 700 pounds of glass.

66 sheets of tetka.

 54 pounds of power & frit

& a bunch of misc "stuff" like stringer, confetti, & tip sheets.

 

 

Thanks Bullseye Glass Co!

 

This is a short post ~ I've got work to do!!

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!

Learning to Sew ~

It's spring break so my son & I are working on some new projects.

One is learning to sew...or teaching a 7 year old

to operate the machine & complete a project.

The first step is to choose the colors ~

My plan was to use up some pre-cut fabric noodles, sew them together,

cut them back into strips, sew again, & then make some small

projects like potholders, doll blankets, etc.

You know...things I need for the house & kitchen?

William's plan was to sew up the noodles into a tube,

stuff it & make a "snake."

After making his fabric color choices he got right down to business

on the machine.  He's sewn before & even remembered to put the

right sides of the fabric together before starting the seam.

Good job William!

He needed a little help to guide the fabric straight &

 keep the machine at a steady speed. 

 Notice the machine??

It's a 1938 Singer.

Perfect for quilting & teaching kids to sew.

It only sews back & forward but after all these

years & many projects it still sews like a dream.

It's a perfect size for little hands.

After sewing the strips together & turning the tube

right side out ~ stuffing was next.

The puppy had ripped a hole in a sofa pillow so Will thought

it was perfect to use for stuffing.

A sword also works well to push the stuffing down into the snake.

Next...tongue & button eyes!

(notice the crazy hair & weird "clothes" ???

It's a jammy day at our house)

Aurora....Over Salmon!

So...

Onward....

 with the Aurora Series.

Here's the salmon samples I'm working on for my reps.

 Each is an original.

Different colors & types of glass.

This is a salmon in the round & available

in both a 7.5" size or a 12" size.

We like to use the 7.5" size for desserts or a

ball of salmon pate'. 

Yumm!

Shopping for salmon fishing charters today!



Aurora Series ~

I'm working on a new series of glass that I'm calling the

Aurora Series.

It's been a bit challenging ~ I'm still trying to get the colors right.

These are made  with many, many, layers of powdered glass.

I've been getting my opaques & transparents mixed up

which is not a good thing!

These have all been fired twice because I was trying

to intensify the colors.
I forget how washed out the transparents are when fired.

The beauty of them though is that they look like watercolor washes.

I think I need to paint these first ~ that seems to help get the colors

& the washes in the glass correct.

Just What Every Artist Wants To See....NOT!

I donate my work to lots of non-profits. 

Look closely below.

See it??

Yes, that's one coaster from a set of four that was

donated to a favorite non-profit...or should I say

"previous favorite" non-profit???  :/

Someone who works at this particular institution thought it would be

funny to send me a thank you note for the art glass coaster

that's helping to stabilize a piece of electrical equipment.

hmmmm?  Not sure how I feel about this?

How would you react??

KAKM Art Showcase Auction ~

As the season premier for Downton Abby on Masterpiece Theatre

starts this weekend I'm reminded of how much I appreciate

Public Radio & TV.

If you're a PBS fan here's a way you can support your habit too!

If you're an artist, donate a piece of your work to the annual

Art Showcase Auction.  If you're a listener, become a

patron by bidding on some great art or donate

cash for a membership!

As a long time supporter & member, I donate a piece of art

every year.  I think it's been over 20 years of donation

& it's been a pleasure.

Here's my art glass piece for this year's event ~

A large 16" glass sculpture.

This can be mounted on a wall, placed in a stand,

or used functionally as a serving platter.

Best of all it's dishwasher safe!  :)

KAKM Art Showcase Auction

SAT. & SUN. FEBRUARY 11 & 12, 2012

PreBuy Open House at APTI 1:00 – 5:00 pm

THURS., FRI. & SAT. FEBRUARY 16, 17 & 18

Live on KAKM Channel 7 TV

Call 907.550.8432 for tickets and more info!

Inspiring!

I've been painting a lot lately.

I go in spurs of mediums (always glass)

but  ** spurs **

in other mediums:  fiber, sewing, painting, clay, metal, mixed media.

I'm not the neatest artist.

I thrive on organized chaos. 

Everything has it's place it's just not always in its place!

I work in my studio every day & in the wee hours of the morning ~

(that's when I call my Dad, wake him up & he says..."now, who is this??"

I aspire to having every tool & supply in its place ~ it just isn't very realistic for a

working artist who's actually making a living *  as an artist.

It's interesting to me when other artists show pictures

of their studio with every single pencil & piece of paper tucked away in bins & drawers.

How, how, how do you create anything??

(maybe they clean it up & then take pictures?  Yes!  That's it!!)

I'm very visual so I love to see all my materials & supplies.

Seeing everything inspires me to go where I probably wouldn't otherwise.

If it's tucked away I forget what I have... oh, that's probably where the

artist inventory & catalog card system come into play ~ :)

I'm usually working my my studio but when I'm painting there's

better light in my house and so....

all my supplies end up on counter & dinning table. 

This works to my advantage because then Will wants to paint
(or do whatever I'm doing).

He has a good eye for color & composition.

I had a blank & gesso'd canvas laying on the table thinking

he'd probably want to paint & ....bahhhhawahhhhh!!  my evil plan worked!!

This is a painting of  "a day" & "big foot has his BIG FOOT caught in a jail."

hmmm ?  Where did he hear about "big foot?"

 

I'm loving the sun & turquoise sky.

Correction...it's not big foot's "foot"  it is his "toe."

please make note of that....toe.  is.  caught.  in.  jail.

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

* "making a living" for me is all about "life style."

An artist life style is a whole other post.

UAA Crafts Fair ~

Please join me for my last event of the year!

~ Another favorite event & only 1 day ~

Booth number 43 in the student union cafeteria!

Lots of sale items & close-outs for the holidays.

As a UAA Alumni I'm happy to support the University

& love being back on campus...minus the homework!

See you Saturday!

Arts & Crafts Emporium ~

Don't hide out at home today!

Join me today for the second day of the 

Arts & Crafts Emporium!

11 to 5 pm

Dena'iana Convention Center

Aurora over Anchorage!

The northern hemisphere is being treated to

 beautiful aurora displays.

It's magical.

How I Love Sports ~

So......

My dear husband thinks I'm not into SPORTS?

Imagine that....(?)

So in the spirit of loving sports, here's a little trivia for you.

What famous sports movie does the above image reference?

It's my favorite sports movie of all time.

The first person to correctly identify the name of

"the sports movie"  will win a prize!!!

Yeah for prizes!?!?!

Comment with your winning movie name & win!

Can You Say Lederhosen??

The Main Squeeze (plus Stephan & his beautiful family) at St. Marks.

Thank you for inviting us to share in your Octkober Fest Celebration.

We enjoyed the friendship, fabulous German food,

dancing (especially the 7 month old who waltzed with her Grandmother) & music!!

Stephan also graced us with his homemade German forest cake at the

end of our performance ~ delicious!!  

We love a man in lederhosen ~ plus he can cook!?!?

Thank you for your kindness & for inviting us to help celebrate the season.

Happy Equinox!

The Start of Ocktoberfest Season ~

It's the start of Oktoberfest season so you know what that means, right?

Lots of accordion playing, dancing, eating & drink beer!

The Main Squeeze kicked off our gig list last night at the

American Legion Post 28 to a full house.

Authentic German cuisine was served & it was

beyond fabulous! 

Thanks to everyone who attended & thanks to

Post 28 for letting us entertain you.

It was a pleasure!

It was a war ~

It was a war & the drones lost!

They've been tossed out of the hive by the workers as

 they are expendable going into the winter.

It's hard to tell but there are lots of bees in the grass.

While cleaning up the bodies a not-quite dead

soldier had a last hurrah & stung me between my toes!

OUCH! 

A lesson to not wear sandals around the hives.

Say Hallelujah!

It was a fabulous day at the Alaska State Fair!

We renewed our public radio membership &

 received 2 free tickets to

"A Prairie Home Companion."

Courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio & KSKA.

Here's Garrison Keiller preaching to the masses.

On the mountain top...or at least in front of it!

(That's beautiful Pioneer Peak behind him.)

A sunny day, live radio show & the Alaska State Fair ~
doesn't get any better.

Wonky Comb ~

In between rain showers & downpours I've been trying to get into the bee hives.

I have two supers of honey to harvest & wonky frames of comb to check on.

This is what it looked like the last time I checked one of the hives a little over a week ago.

Two separate combs built together on one frame ~ one started from

the top & one from the bottom... 

 Stuck together!

It's beautiful white comb on the top & gooey, honey-filled, comb on the bottom.

Here you can see how the two combs are overlapping.

I removed one of the combs & in doing so the other

comb bent at a right angle to the frame.

Here it is after beekeeper surgery...all tied up with string.

Some beeks use rubber bands to hold the comb in the frame

 ~ & I've tried that in the past ~

however this hive has removed the rubber bands & strewn them in the lawn when I tried to fix up their poor engineering previously.

My theory is that they don't like the smell or texture of the rubber

and prefer the organic cotton string(?)

Hey....that might be a good science project!

For William...not me  :)

Queen Bee Alert

It's almost time for the spring packages of bees to arrive.

Packages typically arrive around the middle of April so in

March I get itchy to check the hives & see how the girls have done over the winter.  

This past week it was finally warm enough to pop the top & take a peek inside. 

Usually I rap on the side of hive first & if all is well & gentle hum accelerates.

Unfortuanately, when I rapped there was no answerinh hum.

Oh-oh.....

This is a freaky picture because the bees look so healthy & perfectly perserved!

But....unfortunately, they are dead.  They were down to this little bit of honey in comb.

The queen & her attendants were clustered around it.

We saved the queen & this piece of the comb for William's science project.

Usually, we just shake out the few that are dead onto the grass for the birds to feed on but there were 10's of thousands!  A large colony can have well over 60,000 bees living inside it's walls & these were both big & healthy hives going into the fall.

I had high hopes for them this year!

Unfortunately, there were just too many bees & soon we had to put them in a trash bag.

We said a little blessing to thank them for their environmental work & then put them into the compost pile we've saved for our worm composting.

I've never seen so many bees!  It's a double edged sword with a large & healthy hive going into a long winter....there just isn't enough reserves to get them through to April.

Gaining Light ~ Glass Wall Sconces

I'm working on a set of glass wall sconces to replace the

glass from another set

 I had made in dark colors ~ see the glass above.
Transparent cobalt, sky blue, spring green, neo-lavendar & aqua. 

The glass base is an irid clear and if you look closely

you can see the diamond pattern. 

This really added a nice shimmer when  lit.

Although I love these colors they were dark & didn't let a lot of light through. 

Nice & soothing in the winter & beautiful on a cobalt painted wall.

BUT....it's spring time in Alaska

& I've been in a cleaning & painting mode.

The cobalt wall has been painted a buff color & with the trims white I wanted a lighter colored glass sconce on these fixtures.

The fixture hardware  is custom made & sold by Bullseye Glass Co. & sells for about $116 each ~  lamp fixture hardware (11.75" X 7.5").  This fixture hardware is made to fit the glass slumped over the lamp bender conic mold (#8740).

Here's a picture of the mold. 

 It's been brushed with kiln wash & is in the kiln ready for use.

I contemplated using many colors of glass but in the end decided to go with something light & neutral.  The glass base is clear tetka (3mm)  topped with white fractures, stringers (1mm & 2 mm in white, ivory, & transparent gold),  & frit in a variety of sizes & chunks. 

 I really like the bigger chunk effect.

Final glass after firing & slump firing.

Here's the glass mounted & lit. 

 I'm loving the color combo & the radiating light effect on the wall.

Art For Your Feet!

 I'm so excited to share my beautiful new,
handcrafted, felted slippers with you! 

These are custom felted slippers made for me by
Veerle of the Meer van Veer Blog fame. 

Veerle is a talented fiber & glass artist living in Belgium. 
She frequently shows newly crocheted or knitted clothing items on her blog. 
Beautiful art pieces  that I drool over.  

 I especially love the new hats she's been whipping up.

 I can't believe how quickly she constructs these pieces.

She had shown a pair of felted slippers similar to these on her blog & I asked if she could make them in my size & she responded "yes...no problem."  I was excited because I have big feet so the fact that she was willing to knit large was great.  In knitting "large" I'm not exaggerating because items that are felted must initially be knit very over sized & are then felted with agitation & hot water to shrink them down to the correct size.  This process results in a thick material that can even be cut without unraveling & is incredibly warm. 

 Perfect for Alaskan winters & standing on a concrete floor in the studio.

A couple of weeks later they arrived in my mail box!  They are a perfect fit (euro 41) & so soft!  I love felted items  ~ so warm, thick & snugly.  This yarn is so soft & beautiful!

She has a lovely hand crafted tag attached & labels sewn into the foot of the slipper but my favorite thing is the "grippers"  (non-skid plastic) that is on the bottom of each slipper.  Can you tell that the black rubber squiggles spell out her name?  How cool is that??   Very clever.

Thank you Veerle!  I love my new slippers. 

Visit her blog to see what she's creating & where she's showing her work.  If you're not in Belgium she may even design something & mail it to you!