Man...Stop the Snow!

We've had over 15 inches of snow in the past few days!

While my husband & son shoveled us out

I worked overtime in the studio in anticipation of the upcoming

Crafts Emporium!!



Can you guess what inspired this piece??

I'm working on lots of new work & also dyed-up some beautiful

cut velvet scarves.

Crafts Emporium

November 19th & 20th

Dena'ina Convention Center

Anchorage, Alaska

See you there!



Textures of Hawaii

It's hard to believe a month has passed since we were in Hawaii. The studio has been crazy busy with shipments going out everyday, accordion gigs, honey bee checks, spring gardening & getting ready for an exciting trip to Denali park for work & family fun!

After going through my Hawaii pictures I thought I'd post a few that I took while hiking with my family. I found these images very inspirational. I've always loved photography & in the past even had my own darkroom for developing black & white photos. Textures, tints, & shadows are also important in glass ~ these were / are ideas to incorporate into my work.

Footprints. I love the grandules of sand...looks like frit.

Tire tracks. The sand looks so creamy.

Lava rock. Bubbles & shadows.

Pod cluster. Interesting group. The ridges look like a ladder.

King spider in web. This was so beautiful as the morning light sparkled on the

web ~ it looked like glitter. I took a whole series of photos as the light

changed.

My darling child surfing!

Glass on the Edge

Here's a new glass technique inspired by Cynthia Morgan a glass artist in Portland, Oregon. She's a casting & warm glass expert who is very open & willing to share her techniques. When I left a comment on her blog she left me some very helpful suggestions regarding open casting using Luminar ~ a material that I've had in the studio & hadn't had time to experiment with in the past. I believe she's in the process of moving her studio so some of her recent posts have been about having a glass garage sale & using up all the scrap glass she's accumulated.

Glass scraps are like fabric scraps if you're a quilter or paper scraps if you're a scrapper. It's hard to throw away even the smallest piece of material but as you are working more & more pieces are created. Then there's the dilemma of how to store & organize all these small pieces??? I could relate to her comments about the volume of scraps she had in her studio & her upcoming move since I had just moved my studio in January. I had large plastic bins (& bins & bins) of scraps all organized by COE, color & transparency, & thickness. These bins were HEAVY & I actually thought about tossing a few of them into the dumpster but I knew I'd regret it later so when the moving guys were in the studio moving all the heavy furniture I had them move the scrap bins.

I'm all about using up my glass bits & pieces so I thought I'd play around with this a bit. It's like putting a puzzle together or piecing a bargello quilt. Quite time consuming but meditative & calming. I decided to set-up a prepared mold or two on the cutting table & randomly fill them with scraps as I was cutting glass for other pieces.

I started by choosing a standard 3mm thickness of glass that I would use throughout this project. Then cutting the glass into thin strips of about 1/4" wide. After I had a small pile of strips I put them on edge & started stacking them together & alternating where they started & stopped ~ sort of like putting in a wood floor. Alternating the strips would ensure strength as they fused together during the firing.

I had decided to use clear Tetka as my primary color with a strip of fractured white for interest. I worked width-wise & length-wise as I went & occasionally would push a whole length down to adjust the design pattern or placement of the strips. The mold I chose worked well as it is an elongated oval & has a gradual dip into the bottom. An easy shape for a first time process ~ I'm all about success & reinforcement for myself!

Here's a look at the filled mold prior to the firing. It looks pretty already! You get an idea of how the edges of the clear glass will reflect the light. The photo below is a side shot of the mold & gives a little perspective of the depth of the piece. It's subtle.

Ready for the kiln. I used a tackfuse schedule but modified with a longer annealing time. For a schedule like this I usually start the kiln at night so it runs at night & then has a gradual cool-down. That way I'm also not tempted to open the kiln early to check on things & risk shock.

I think the end result is cool & I love how it looks & feels. It has possibilities for sconces & components for sculpture but for now I'm going to finish filling up the other mold on my cutting table. This is addictive.

I got my Wish!

Well, I asked for Anchorage to get some ash & yesterday we did! Here's a picture of the ash cloud from the Kenai Peninsula. The Anchorage Airport has been closed since yesterday & the newspaper reports that it will re-open after crews get the ash cleaned-up ~ provided the volcano doesn't blow again.

I'm off to collect some ash. My nephews live in Minnesota so this might be something interesting for them to share with their classmates. I''ll be sending them some of the ash, newspaper articles, a book about volcanos & I'm going to experiment with some of it in my glass projects. It's a great learning opportunity for all of us!

Here's a picture of my car before I swept the ash off & into a plastic bag.

Are you Hip?

Glass belt buckles are the rage, baby! I've been making them for myself for some time & for fun thought I'd goggle it to see what's happening in the world. Holy moly! Glass belt buckles retail for upwards of $100! That's for opaque & transparent glass ~ not even dichroic. Here's a dichroic buckle that I made for myself. I love wearing them on my hipster pants.

I made a few that were in a "Bauhaus" / retro style design & color wise. I already gave one to a friend....for FREE! You lucky girl!! Enjoy it ;)!