April brought on another meaningful piece, “Butterfly & Daisy”. This 12” square piece was commissioned as a memorial to my client’s mother who passed away from cancer. Her mom loved daisies and butterflies.
May was “Rose & Daisy Intertwined”. This piece was commissioned by the mother and father of a soon to be married son. Their son loves roses and their soon to be daughter-in-law loves daisies. Because of them getting married, I intertwined the stems to show these two flowers joining together.
Another client, after seeing the picture of "Rose & Daisy Intertwined" ordered it to give to her mother as a 'just because' gift.
June was a piece I wanted to do for some time. “Butterfly with Geode Wings”, came to be because I too love butterflies and I love geode agate slices. So, it just seemed natural to add geode slices to the butterfly's wings.
July was “Baubles”. I had donated a 2-1/4 square foot custom stained glass window to the Chef’s for Kids Annual Dinner and Silent Auction Fundraiser. The very generous donor who won the bid wanted an abstract design that would fit into the décor of her home. She already had a lot of art that involved circles in colors of reds, turquoises, greens, and blues. Hung in front of her sheer curtains also added to the look of the glass and it's textures.
July also brought on my push to finish all of my geode pieces. First was, “Excavation of Geode 7” (pictured at right), followed by “Geode 20 in Medicine Wheel”. Both pieces, using glass in ambers, browns, gray, and golden colors to compliment the geode slices. Next came the “Disk Series”: “Geode in Three Quarter Disk”, “Geode in Half Disk”, and “Geode in Slipped Disk” (have to add a bit of humor from time to time). These were all done with in a clear glass to almost look like it was floating in the center of the circular pieces of dark blue and gray glass. You can see these on my website as well as in my Facebook Fan Geode Series photo album.
August was strictly a designing month. I was commissioned to come up with 5 “Rustic” designs for a lodge in Maine. My client and I discussed ideas and we decided that 4 of the pieces would have the same background, a pine tree edged lake looking towards Mount Katahdin. One window would have a loon floating gracefully along, another would have a moose taking a cool drink (design jpg to the left), another a bear looking for a fish for his dinner, and the last with a deer leisurely walking along the lake. The 5th window would be of two tall pine trees on the edge of the lake in the evening. These pieces are scheduled to be started in January so watch for photos. You can see the design jpegs for them on my Facebook Fan Page.
September was my month to create designs for the 15th Annual Pomegranate Festival that the Moapa Valley Art Guild puts on every November. After the Spring Art Show I knew that I needed more southwestern and mission designs. “Kokopelli” was the first southwestern design. Other designs such as "Dream Catcher", various pieces of pottery done in glass, and quilt patterns were to be displayed in my example book of design jpegs so that if a person wanted it, I could revise colors and sizes to suit them. You can see these design jpegs in my Facebook Fan Page photo album of Upcoming Designs.
October, I was busy with "Compass" and getting more southwestern and mission designs done for my example book. I was also organizing and planning out a stained glass demonstration that I was going to give at the Pomegranate Festival. 
November’s big thing was the Pomegranate Festival at the beginning of the month. I had pieces made, had my example book caught up and ready, had my demonstration planned out, and even had some polo shirts with my logo embroidered on them. But unfortunately I was not able to attend. My husband had neck surgery done and had 3 vertebrae fused. (I promise not to post pictures for those of you that are weak of heart). For the next month, I became his nurse and chauffeur, which unfortunately the Pomegranate Festival happened to fall towards the end of. I'm sorry for any problems that I may have caused at the Festival with canceling my demonstration. But on a good note, I’m ready for next years festival.
The end of November has had me busy. After a very hot, Las Vegas summer working in my “studio” which is located in my garage, my husband and I decided that it was time to convert our daughter’s old bedroom (she’s very happily married to a great guy and they recently celebrated their 4th anniversary) into my real glass studio. The carpet has been removed and a concrete stain done to the floor. This weekend, I will be bringing in my glass racks, my large drafting table, two stainless steel work tables, and all of my equipment. I'm very excited about this move "up". Who would have thought a year ago that I would have a real, inside glass studio??
Well that catches everyone up on the goings on of Those In Glass Houses… I promise to keep up on my blogging though I won’t promise a monthly blog. And there’s always my Facebook Fan Page. I'm better at updating that regularly. So, check it out from time to time for up to date projects and pictures. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can access my Facebook Fan Page through my website’s contact page. Just click on the “Facebook” button.
On that note, I hope that every one has a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season.
B
ReplyDeletehttp://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc#Rise Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (French: Jeanne d'Arc,[1] IPA: [ʒan daʁk]; ca. 1412[2] – 30 May 1431), is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais, and burned at the stake when she was 19 years old.[3]
ReplyDeleteTwenty-five years after the execution, an Inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent and declared her a martyr.[3] Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.[2] She is – along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, and St. Theresa of Lisieux – one of the patron saints of France. Joan said that she had visions from God that instructed her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several more swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims and settled the disputed succession to the throne.
To the present day, Joan of Arc has remained a significant figure in Western culture. From Napoleon onward, French politicians of all leanings have invoked her memory. Famous writers and composers who have created works about her include: Shakespeare (Henry VI, Part 1), Voltaire (The Maid of Orleans poem), Schiller (The Maid of Orleans play), Verdi (Giovanna d'Arco), Tchaikovsky (The Maid of Orleans opera), Mark Twain (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc), Arthur Honegger (Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher), Jean Anouilh (L'Alouette), Bertolt Brecht (Saint Joan of the Stockyards), George Bernard Shaw (Saint Joan) and Maxwell Anderson (Joan of Lorraine). Depictions of her continue in film, theatre, television, video games, music and performances.
Background
France at the outset of Joan of Arc's career. The dot that represents Paris is near the centre of the Anglo-Burgundian-controlled region. Rheims lies to the northeast of this area.
The historian Kelly DeVries describes the period preceding her appearance in the following terms: "If anything could have discouraged her, the state of France in 1429 should have." The Hundred Years' War had begun in 1337 as a succession dispute over the French throne with intermittent periods of relative peace. Nearly all the fighting had taken place in France, and the English army's use of chevauchée tactics (similar to scorched earth strategies) had devastated the economy.[4] The French population had not recovered from the Black Death of the previous century and its merchants were isolated from foreign markets. At the outset of Jeanne d'Arc's appearance, the English had nearly achieved their goal of a dual monarchy under English control and the French army had not achieved any major victories for a generation. In DeVries's words, "The kingdom of France was not even a shadow of its thirteenth-century prototype."[5]
The French king at the time of Joan's birth, Charles VI, suffered bouts of insanity[6] and was often unable to rule. The king's brother Duke Louis of Orléans and the king's cousin John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, quarreled over the regency of France and the guardianship of the royal children. This dispute escalated to accusations of an extramarital affair with Queen Isabeau of Bavaria and the kidnappings of the royal children.[citation needed]. The matter climaxed with the assassination of the Duke of Orléans in 1407, on the orders of the Duke of Burgundy.[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc#Rise
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