It has indeed, been a long time.  Certainly time to get back to writing.  I was inspired to write by my studio cat "Goofy", short for Goofball.  She was a foundling this past July and made her way into our studio and hearts.  Not to mention the pocket book. 
She is a tortoiseshell, in charcoal, grey and tan.  Unusual in colour, she is also extremely affectionate, something tortoiseshells are not known for. 

She is a continuing source of annoyance and entertainment.  She wants to be where the action is and spends most of her day wandering between mine, Louise's and Kaytlyn's work stations. 

It's been a long time!

Hi everyone.  Sorry that it has been a long time since I blogged.  Life has been busy.  I'm a Grandmother again, another little boy, and this one doesn't cry when I pick him up.  I even was able to rock him to sleep.  See, I'm not a total loser Grandma!

Anyways, I hope to be able to get back to blogging and keep you up to date with what is new in the studio. 

Today I appreciate having the time to blog.

So Many Possibilities!

It's been a few days and a couple of fusing firings, but each in its own time.  This firing was a center piece for a wall jewel.  I wanted to create bubbles with baking soda.  Went a little heavy handed and got a large bubble that imploded and a smaller one that the surface just dented.  I ground the piece to fit.  I like the effect.  It has distinct possibilities.  I have to smoke the piece to get a real sense of what it will look like.  Colour?  Another consideration.  So many possibilities, so little time.!  Sigh...

Here is the piece with light going through it.

One technical detail to sort out yet is the bubble that imploded had very sharp edges.  Fire polish?



A day with possibilities presenting themselves is one to be thankful for!

Blowing Bubbles

 

Well, I got my first results on trying to create bubbles using baking soda. I got bubbles! Unfortunately, I used too much baking soda and one of the pieces imploded. I didn't mind the result. The second test, on which I used a smaller amount of baking soda, the largest bubble was sunken, but hadn't imploded. They are kind of fun. I'm testing today with brushed on small amount of baking soda and baking soda diluted with water. We'll see what we get...

I also tested using other metals sandwiched between glass. Stainless steel, brass and steel wool. Interesting, but nothing that really caught my attention. Here's to tomorrow's results. 

Here's to cutting my fingers.  If I bleed, I know I'm still alive.  That's always a good thing.

Meeting with my Mentor

Yesterday Lee Brady came for a play date.  He brought more glass with him from his own stock that I will have to replace when my order comes in.  Yipee!  New colours to play with.

I had a partially finished sculptural piece to show him.  We had considerable discussion with regard to what possible solutions could exist for the interior space and developed a work plan for the experimentation.  Initially, I will work with clear glass, trying various textural options, as well as creating forms of various sizes and shapes for creating pockets.  It will be interesting to see the results.  

We also discussed our final project.  We are going to try to set up a visit with Joan and Al Hiebert at their glass blowing facility, to try sand casting. 

Normally, my day in the studio is relatively interruption free, but yesterday, it was like I had a revolving door on the studio.  Friends dropped in.  Shoppers wanted to meet me.  Staff had a million questions.  I felt badly that Lee came all this way to work with me and here we had constant interruptions.  Such is life!

I am thankful that I have people in my life, even when it becomes an interruption. 

More Lemonade

Yesterday's blog was a lead in for the results of the last fusing.  I trapped air, causing a large air bubble in the piece.  The first step was to figure out why it happened...I failed to leave an escape route for the air, hence it was trapped...then to view the aesthetics to see how I felt about it.  I excitedly realized that it provided an opportunity to create a interior surface that might work well with my sculptures.  So I cracked the bubble and added a found object.  I really like what I ended up with.  I believe that I will follow this new track to see where it leads!

It's wonderful to see a whole new avenue open up to you and then to run with it.

Turning disappointments into adventures

We all try things that fail, or don't quite work.  I learned a valuable lesson from a piece that I submitted to a jurying.  The jurors (2) didn't like the piece but couldn't explain what it was that they didn't like about it.  Rather than being devastated about their comments, I took the piece home and hung it on the wall in my studio.  I didn't mind the piece, but I wanted to understand where they were coming from.  For a month I walked past it and thought about it.  Eventually, I removed some manufactured crystals out of the piece and replaced them with tumbled rocks.  That was it.  The man made, machined aspect of the crystals jarred against the subtle nature of the piece and made it uncomfortable.  The rocks complimented the earthiness of the work.  Suddenly I had a sculpture that went from ok to incredible. 

Turning lemons into lemonade is just another way of looking at life.