Found treasures!

I love spring in Texas, it actually feels like summers days I've experienced  in other places that I've lived!

Every spring I go on a hunt for treasures.  Treasures that other people are tired of, or just have no use or room for anymore.  On my journey I also made a new friend. Lu was walking her neighborhood and purchased items she couldn't carry so we got in my car and took the journey together!  What a great way to make a new friend!

I usually look for art in different forms and this year it just so happened to come in the form of plates. It seemed that every house I went to had commemorative art plates.

It was amazing that they came from all different parts of the world, California, Peru, France Italy and . + the mold from England.

 California

Peru

 Set of six from France

 Italy








My all time favorite! Copper chocolate lion mold from England

I really enjoyed the treasure hunt this year!!!

Let there be sunlight!

My hubby and brother have been hard at work today!  My studio has some natural light now!  They not only  got my windows in, they even replaced my old cracked bathroom window.  They finished up for the night exhausted but happy with their accomplishments! I'm pretty happy myself right now!

                                             Great Job Guys!!!!

Meanwhile, I have also been working with some french vanilla glass along with clear dichro.  There are two pieces cooling in the kiln and are blank slates right now.  Hopefully I will have them turned into something beautiful soon.

Say Si

What a wonderful evening at Say Si! Beautiful art, food, live music, a great group of Artists and Patrons for a great youth art program in San Antonio!

The artwork was spectacular and the overall event was great!  Over 200 artists participated and donated their work to be put up for auction. I bid on a piece but I was quickly out bid. To make sure I left with a piece of art tonight I went into the Middle school/High school Gallery and bought a beautiful  piece of art  right off the wall!  When I showed my  youngest son the art, he really liked it so I gave it to him!
I left before the auction closed, but I did notice that my piece had a couple of bids.  I hope who ever wins the glass art I created really enjoys it!  I had fun participating with Say Si this year!

This is the piece of art I purchased tonight created by a high school student.

Just beautiful work!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A little bird singing outside my window woke me up this morning. What pleasant way to wake up on my 44th birthday!

Yesterday I drove my daughter back to UT Austin after spending spring break week at home. I always enjoy spending time with her and I think she just needed to relax and catch up on her sleep. We had a great week together!

Since I was going to Austin, I decided to check out Helios Glass.   They had open studio yesterday from 4pm-9pm and I thought it would be nice to hang around some creative minds. I've have got to say the owners are the friendliest people!!! They taught me a few simple things that will make my life much easier working my glass, and I thank them very much!  The other artists attending the open studio had BEAUTIFUL glass work that they were working on. I myself, bought a few pieces of glass and spent a couple of hours playing!  I had a fun evening there and look forward to going back! If your ever in Austin, I highly recommend a visit there!

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

   

Studio in the works

             I thought by now I would have a fully functioning studio. Well, it's going to take a while since I don't want to work in a box. I need natural light, which in turn means, I need windows to be created and installed. In addition to the "natural light" expense, I still need to get the electrician to wire the studio, so I can use my tools.  I have waited more than a decade to get my own space to work in and it seems that it requires some extra time and whole lot more money than I originally thought.  I hope this "project" can be completed by summer so I can can start working.

             On another note, I found out yesterday that after this semester I will need four more classes to graduate with an associates degree in fine arts with a concentration of drawing and painting.  The funny thing is, they won't let me continue with drawing and painting classes, my requirement is design, go figure. Maybe I'll be able to apply the design classes to my glass work. I know that I really don't need a degree to be an artist, but the accomplishment of completing a degree will  bring me satisfaction.  Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to take this piece of paper and continue on to something bigger and better.

These are the colors that I have chosen to go on the walls (pale yellow) and ceiling (pale blue). I have also picked a pale green to go in the trimming and some of the work tables.  I want to feel as if I'm outside.

  

Success..... finally!

This week I finally and successfully completed a 10" plate with Blue Himalayan Poppies, that I feel is worthy to donate for auction at Say Si!

If your in the San Antonio area, please check out the Say Si auction "Small Scale Work for a Larger Cause"  for details on dates and ticket prices!  Hope to see you there!

                                         Glass fused 10" plate with Blue Himalayan Poppies.

Say Si artwork & workshop update

        It's amazing how time passes so quickly. We're already in February and I feel like I should have accomplished a bit more in January.

          In regards to the Say Si auction, I designed my first plate and didn't care for it after I finished.  The second plate, as I mentioned in my previous post, had a few mishaps.  In my latest setback, after I fixed the size of it, I didn't wait until it was thoroughly dry before I started the kiln to slump it in the mold.  Glass artists know when there is any moisture in the kiln, it can trap the moisture and create bubbles. The design turned out really nice, except for the bubbles. I have until February 16th to deliver my  artwork to Say Si.  I'm going back to cutting board this week with a new design.

I'm not one to shy away from showing my disasters so here they are:

 As you can see, the bubbles rise under each flower........ (2nd plate)

The placement of the small bud on the bottom is something that just doesn't look right....... and I don't like the blue frit against the black & red. (1st plate)

Okay, so onto the update of my workshop.  Friday I picked up the paint, thinking that today I would be painting the walls and the ceiling.  Not so, tape, float and sanding are still occurring in there right now as I type.  At this moment I'm just happy that it's being worked on :)

Have a wonderful February!!!