I love tools!

Just like every artist, I love tools.  I love to collect them, use them and most of all buy them!

My newest tool is a router with it's own table.  I was so  excited with the new purchase that I came home, read the step by step instructions and put it together in about an hour. Now I'm not a carpenter,  It's one thing to read the instructions and put a tool together, it's a whole other story to use the tool. So I waited for someone to show me how to use my new tool :) Well, my husband and my brother were so excited about MY new tool, that they were more than willing to "show" me how to use it. By the end of the night, THEY had completed the wood portion of MY project.  It's all good though!  I took notes and what felt like a math lesson from my brother. Now I'm  confident I can create whatever I feel like:)

Well, the whole idea about getting a router was to create a light box.  I was given a 12"x12" quarter inch thick piece of window glass (I love free glass!) and thought that I could create a piece of art that I could enjoy in my new studio space (when the studio is finished:). Of course I had to create a flower (I love flowers!) and I thought it be nice for it to give off some light, thus the light box.

Light off

Light on

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and I can't wait to hang it up on the wall!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all!
I'll celebrate Easter today with a Ham, and I will celebrate the Greek Orthodox Easter next Sunday with Lamb.  The best of both worlds :)

I have continued to work on my stained glass window, the progress is slow going, but I'm happy that I am working on it.

I had the opportunity to take a basic wire class with Liza Connell last week.  I took the class to learn how to wrap my pendants, although I didn't come away with that technique form her (yet), I did learn a lot from her!  Liza is an encyclopedia of information when comes to creating and I recommend her class to anyone interested in making jewelry! Here's a few things I created in class:

On another note, since we did get spring showers, my rose garden bloomed like mad!!! Here's a few pics:

I have about a dozen different rose bushes in my rose garden, which is in the front yard. It's always a beautiful sight (and smell) when I come home from work and there all in bloom.

Back to the beginning......

Today I went back to the beginning, to my first love.

I had designed a window for my vanity area a couple of years ago and rolled it up and stuck it in the closet.  A few months ago I pulled it out, cut my patterns and felt a sense of accomplishment. Then I stuck everything back in the closet.

Today, the sun was out, it was warm, I felt good, and I had no obligations to do anything or be anywhere. I pulled out my design, pattern pieces, picked out some glass and started cutting away.  I finished cutting all the flowers out this afternoon.  While I worked, I had the same feeling today as I did  over a decade ago when I worked on my first stained glass window, blissfully in my own world, without any sense of time, just lost in the beauty of the art. The only reminder I had that the day had passed by, was my stomach reminding me it was close to dinner time.

Now that I have laid out the pattern with the small portion of cut glass, I can pick out beautiful colors of glass and continue cutting since I will not be sticking everything back into the closet.

                                                    (I did not grind the flowers to shape yet)

The leaves are next......................

Looking for a job?

As summer approaches, my daughter and I discussed the possibilities of her getting a summer job before going off to college.  As I was thinking about all the possibilities, and all of them being entry level with minimum wage and set  hours, I thought I would send her an e-mail with a job opportunity that most creative people would love to apply for (and she is very creative):

Entry level position for creative assembly, with unlimited income potential, make your own hours, work from home:
Requirements:
Creativity, finger dexterity, basic photography, computer skills, math skills, must love social networking, self motivated with good time management.

All supplies will be provided for initial set of assembly. Income based on production, sales, minus costs of supplies to re-stock; On the job training will be provided, including safety rules and working a drill press:)

Once she read the & loved the way this position sounded, she asked where she could apply? I said no applications necessary as I turned around and handed her a bag of sea glass. We will begin training over the next weekend on how to drill holes in glass and creatively combine sea glass with findings and other objects to make necklaces.  Let's see what she comes up with over the summer!

"We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors."
Lyndon B. Johnson

Starfish & Seahorse

I had a beautiful time in Port Aransas with family over spring break and enjoyed my birthday on St. Patrick's Day!

                                                               Pelicans by the jetty

Meanwhile back in San Antonio, I came home to a message that my starfish and seahorse pendants were ready for pick up!  This was the first time I used a water jet cutting service to cut any of my pendants and I was nervous that my new designs weren't going to come out the way I imagined.   This was also the first time this company cut small scale glass pieces and they did a beautiful job!  My pieces came out exactly as I designed them:) Their prices were reasonable and the location is 10 minutes away from my house.   I will be using their services in the future!

23 pieces total from an 8"x8" sheet

                                                          Now it's time to fire polish!

My package arrived!

I came home from work today to find my package waiting for me!
I opened the box and there were my glass pieces from the class on Saturday (including my sweater that I forgot :).  Thank you Morgan!

My new paperweight reminds me of the rain forest.  I used lime green powder frit and purple powder frit.
The color reaction is beautiful!

  
Purple powder frit was used to create the ornament, and with the help of Sinnae and her artistic talent, she put a "hook" on the ornament so I can proudly hang in it the window!

The last item that we created was a cup, I used course turquoise frit. The cup stands about 3" high and 2" in diameter.  This one was the most challenging and reminded me of the "torchwork for fusers" class on a much larger scale.

Working with glass is a passion of mine that is also addictive therefore, I want to go back to Glass Blowing Austin to create more!  But for now I need to concentrate on my fused flower series and get my pendants going.  If all goes well I will have a couple of new designs of pendants on my blog in the next couple weeks:).

I had an amazing time at Glass Blowing Austin! Morgan Graff allowed me to take the entire class over!  I was out there back in July 2011 taking a class with Morgan when I became ill and had to leave after the first project. This time Sinnae was teaching the class while Morgan worked on her art. Sinnae is a  young, easy going, talented glass blowing artist. There were a total of three students in class  which went very smoothly and each of our projects turned out great!   I am seriously thinking about taking more classes from them in the future.  

This was my 1st paper weight project from July 2011. It's a little lopsided but it reflects pretty much how I felt that day 0_o.    I'll post pictures of the new projects when I pick them up next week.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one"- Mark Twain