Catching Up

When I started this blog, I swore that I would post a blog at least once a month. Well, bless me Father, it’s been 7 months since my last blog (little bit of Catholic humor). It's been a busy 7 months for Those In Glass Houses… and myself.

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 15^th 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.

October also brought "Falling Autumn Leaf". It was commissioned as a birthday gift for a daughter born during the fall season.

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.

Pieces That Touch The Heart

When asked to design a stained glass window for someone, it’s usually to fit the décor of their home, but recently I’ve been asked by two people to design pieces that mean something and will touch the heart.

The first request was by a lady who saw my new logo piece, Those In Glass Houses… and wrote to see if it was for sale. When I wrote her to tell her that it was not, she then wrote me again and told me why the piece was so important to her. Shirl has had a lot of struggles in her life, ones that to a weaker person would make them crumble. But not Shirl, she has persevered. She looks at her life like the stained glass window, a glass house that no stone can break. A glass house that still stands and is proof that she can move into the future knowing that she can survive anything.

When designing her version of the window, I asked if she wanted all clear glass instead of the few pieces of color glass that was in mine. She told me that she wanted it just as I had designed the original piece, with the blue, red, and golden yellow glass. She told me that they also gave the piece meaning to her. The red block of glass signifying Fire which is life (as she learned watching, Survivor), the blue block of glass signifying Water that keeps us hydrated, and the golden yellow glass signifying the light along her path. And adding the golden yellow full moon instead of a geode slice also gives that much more light to lead her along her life path.

When I heard her story and her thoughts on the piece, I felt it only right to allow her to name her piece. She was elated. It took her some time and a lot of thought. She wanted a name that would represent the struggles in life that she has had. To accept them, not let her forget them, and instead use them to move on and allow happiness into her life. She decided on Perseverance. The perfect name for her stained glass window.

Her story and how this piece would help her move on, truly touched my heart. How often can an artist's work mean so much to someone? If I could only did this once with my art, I would be satisfied. But I was lucky enough to have this happen twice and within a week of one another.

I received an email from Pat, a friend of mine from high school. Her mother’s 77th birthday is coming up and she wanted to give her a special gift. One that would give here a good feeling each time she saw it. She thought that a sun-catcher that could hang in her mom’s kitchen would be perfect. When I asked her my usual questions to come up with a design (subject, style, color, etc.) she told me her idea of wanting a full moon near mountains and the beach.

You see, Pat’s brother passed away a few years ago. The night he died there was a full moon. Now, every time her mother sees the full moon, she says, “There’s Bobby.” Pat told me that her mother loves the mountains and that her brother loved the beach. She asked if I could come up with a design that incorporated all of that. An 8” diameter, suncatcher with a huge full moon, sand dunes, water, and mountains in the distance was the first design I came up with. Pat said it was perfect and now I can’t wait to hear how her mom likes the piece. I hope it touches her heart as much as doing it did mine.

I hope that in the future I'm given the opportunity again to create a piece of stained glass art that will mean so much to someone. To know that my work has touched someone's heart is the best feeling there is.

DESIGNING ART USING MODERN TECHNOLOGY - IS IT STILL ART?

My stained glass art: using my imagination to come up with an idea for a piece of stained glass, sketching it, and creating it. All by hand. Well, up until now.

I love my art. I love paying attention to some fine detail during my day and then turning it into a piece of stained glass as I did with “Falling Leaf”. I love sketching my ideas into my sketchbook. I love picking the colors and textures of glass for each piece. It is all very rewarding right up until that time when I have to take that sketch and decide on the final size of the piece. This is when I have to go to an office supply store and try and get the person behind the counter to enlarge my sketch to the exact size I’m looking for. This takes time, it takes math skills and it takes patients when getting that person behind the counter to understand why I need this sketch enlarged 168% and why 165% isn’t going to work. There has to be an easier way.

There is and Don, a fellow stained glass artisan introduced me to it. It’s software called, “Glass Eye 2000” by Dragonfly Software and I’m thoroughly hooked.

I still sketch my ideas but instead of doing the final drawing and then having to get it resized at the office supply store, I scan it into a .jpg and import it into the software. Once my sketch is in there, I trace it and color it using all of the glass samples in the program (over 2600 different color and textures from 8 different manufacturers) and make it the exact size I want. When I’m satisfied with it, I send it to my printer, it prints out on multiple sheets with match lines that I piece together and I then have my pattern for my piece of art.

At first I questioned whether this would affect my ‘art’ in some way so that it’s not really art. But after much thought, I decided it does not. I still use my imagination, I still do the initial layout in my sketchbook and I sill use my hands to create the finished product. I’m a believer that modern technology has not taken away from my art but just made it more efficient. Same as the architect that uses CAD to draw the plans or a musician that uses a soundboard to get the just right sound. Is it any less art by using modern technology? I think not.

To see more of my designs created by using "Glass Eye 2000" by Dragonfly Software, click on my link: Those In Glass Houses...designs using "Glass Eye 2000" by Dragonfly Software.

THE NAMING OF MY GLASS - DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU SEE

When I started designing and creating my stained glass pieces, I wanted each to have it’s own name. A name that truly describes the piece. I have found that sometimes that is not so easy to do. Also, I found that some people see it 'different' than I do and they can come up with a name that I just don’t understand.

As you all know, I’ve been creating pieces of stained glass art with a geode slab in it. The first being named, “Moonset Behind Desert Mountains” because the color of that geode slab reminded me of the color of the moon setting behind the western mountains of Las Vegas. It fully described the piece.

Then came the second piece using a geode. I added a geode to a very simple prairie design and couldn’t come up with a fitting name. I showed it to Ed, my husband and he said he had the perfect name. In a confident tone, he told me to call it, “Moon on a Fork”. I just looked at him in disbelief. “Moon on a Fork”?? I laughed and then told him that he was no longer part of the ‘marketing department’ and could no longer name any of the pieces. I decided to name it, “Prairie with Geode 13”, being it was a prairie design with the 13th geode that I purchased from Gary’s Gem Garden. I posted a picture in my photo album on Facebook, listed it and sold it.

Last week I received an email from Craig, a friend of mine on Facebook. He asked if I had time to design a special piece that he wanted to give to his friends as a gift. He asked if I could design a piece similar to the, “Sausage on a Fork” (aka "Moon on a Fork") piece that I had posted but he wanted the sausage being held over an open grill. “Sausage on a Fork”?!? Really?? Someone else also saw something on a fork in my “Prairie with Geode 13”?? I laughed and figured it had to be a “man thing” since my husband also saw the fork. I couldn’t believe that these two men were reducing my ‘art’ to something on a fork.

But then I thought about it. Who says that art can’t be whimsical and fun and ridiculous? Thinking that my friend was kidding, I still decided to see what I could come up with just for fun. I sketched a design with an open grill, with a geode as a sausage on a fork being held over the hot coals of the grill. I scanned it, emailed it and instead of him just laughing, he said, "Sold!".

And yes, I have named it, “Sausage on a Fork”.

Craig is moving to another state soon and he is giving his friends this piece as a gift to remind them of all the great times they had grilling together. I hope that every time that they look at it, they smile and think of Craig, their friendship and the good times they had.

This piece may not be considered glass 'art' and may be considered just ridiculous but I'm okay with that as long as it brings a smile to someone's face and good thoughts to their mind. Isn't that what art really is about?

Oh and by the way, “Sausage on a Fork” will be the first of my “Man’s Line” of Stained Glass which all pieces will all be named by Ed, my husband and 'marketing' co-director.

ADDIE'S FLAMINGO

This is a special piece of stained glass that I've been working on for the last few days. It's for my mom's 80th birthday present. Why is this pink flamingo special? Well, there is a story behind it.....

About 25 years ago my mom mentioned that she hated when people would put the plastic pink flamingoes in their front yards. She thought that they were gaudy.

Not long after that, I came across 4 plastic pink flamingoes at a yard sale. I bought them and held them until the time was right. That time came a few months later when she and my dad went on vacation. Imagine her expression when they pulled up to the house in the transfer van from the airport and found that they now had 4 plastic pink flamingoes in their front lawn for all to see. My dad told me that her expression was priceless. And the fun torment began.

Since that time I have bought numerous pink flamingo items for my mom...a coffee mug, a pencil with a flamingo on top, a pen in the shape of a flamingo, bubble bath in a big pink flamingo bottle, Christmas ornaments, sugar & creamer set, etc.

After 25 years of this, she has come to expect the funny flamingo gift. And has apparently kept almost all of them (the flamingo bubble bath bottle was thrown away after the bubble bath ate through the plastic), though most of them are kept 'safe' in a box in her guest room closet.

So, of course to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday and the silver anniversary of this flamingo fun (for me, anyway), I HAD to combine this fun with my art. I searched 'Flamingo' on the internet and looked at many photographs, paintings, and stained glass pieces. With all of these images I came up with my idea. I sketched it, printed it out and went to work.

First stop, to see Lee or Danny at the Glass Art Studio in Las Vegas where I buy all of my glass supplies. I needed to get the perfect piece of pink glass, something that would capture the look of the bird’s feathers. After going through most of their pink glass, with the help of Danny, I found it and hurried home. I tacked down the pattern, traced the pieces onto the glass and began cutting the pieces out. I found, to make the curves of the neck without breaking the glass, I would have to grind out the glass rather than cut it, in order to shape each piece just right. Once that was done, I wrapped the edge of each piece of glass with copper tape, then placed it on top of the tacked down pattern and put it together like a puzzle. I then soldered the copper tape with a flat bead of solder until all the pieces were now one. It went together beautifully. The next step was framing the piece. My husband, Ed is my ‘Master Framer’. He has the strength to cut the lead and to form it around the glass so there are no bumps. He had it done in no time and did a great job as usual. I then added the rings and the chain, washed it, put on the pewter patina and polished it to a nice shine.

Voila, Mom's 80th birthday gift, "ADDIE'S FLAMINGO".

Hopefully, this one hangs in a window and is not added to the 'safe' box in the closet.

** Note: I received an email today from my mom, “Addie’s Flamingo” is now hanging in the guest room. Though, now that I've read the email again, it doesn't specify where it is hanging in the guest room.

WORKING WITH GEODE SLICES

Each day that I try to come up with a new design for my next piece of stained glass, I try to do something a little different.

Recently, I've done that by adding a bit of nature into a few of my designs by adding a geode slice. These beautiful specimens of rock are cross cut to expose the crystal formations within, then polished to bring out its 'inner' beauty. Each geode slice has its own distinct personality with its crystal formation and the banding of color. What a beautiful addition to my stained glass they would make.

The first step was finding the 'perfect' slices. I called my favorite gem and rock store, Gary's Gem Garden in Cherry Hill, NJ. We have been customers of theirs for years and have bought everything from polished rocks to fine jewelry. Denise, his wife was a huge help in making sure I got the perfect geode slices for my work. I described what I wanted and how I was going to use each piece. She began her search through their inventory, looking for what I described, scanned each one and emailed the pictures to me within a day. Through this process, I bought ten geode slices in shades of blue and amber. I received them within a few days and they were even more beautiful in person. I couldn't wait to get started.

The next step was to start designing stained glass pieces that had the glass and each geode slice in mind. I wanted each to compliment the other. This takes some time.

My first design was using the amber piece shown above. It reminded me of the color of the moon, as it sets behind the western mountains of Las Vegas, in the early morning hours as the desert awakens to a new day. I quickly put my idea on paper. Next, I picked out the glass with shades and textures that best fit the sky, mountains and desert. What better way to use a piece of nature than to put it in a picture of nature?

Within a couple of days, I completed my first piece that incorporated the geode slice and glass.

"Moonset Behind Desert Mountains" - 8-1/2" x 11" - SOLD

The sky is a beautiful dark blue glass with small bubbles, it looks like a night sky with all of its stars. The mountains are black opaque glass to be in the shadows of the 'moon'. The desert is a piece of textured amber glass that looks like the sand dunes created by the desert breeze along with a piece of amber and green glass being the desert flora.

Currently, I'm working on two more pieces using geode slices. Another nature scene and a Prairie/Mission style pattern piece. I hope to have them finished and photos posted soon. And, of course, the designing of future pieces is never ending.

Stained Glass and Fused Glass

Here are some photographs of pieces that my husband and I have done. Some are for sale (check out www.ThoseInGlassHouses.etsy.com) some hang in our home, some were done as gifts for others, some have been sold and some are proto-types of upcoming custom work. I hope you enjoy them.

This is the project that started it all. Simple little windows done in the style and colors of our livingroom, hung from each other with short pieces of chain.

This is the window my husband made, that once hung in our guest room. It's the one my classmate and his wife bought for her mother for her 90th birthday.

I designed and created this 24" x 24" piece for a local firm. The "P" in the center is their company logo. The blocks of glass and their colors were based on the decor of their new office. They are having it mounted on a light box and hung in their receptionist area.

These smaller 5" x 7" pieces were done for our daughter's wedding. She carried mango calla liles, we matched the color of her flowers using a beautiful piece of reddish-orange glass. We also added a base so they could sit on a table and with a votive candle on the base they lit up beautifully.

I love symmetrical graphic art (after years of being a drafter for engineering firms) and wanted to mix it with the free flow of the fused glass. This piece is for sale.

This is a glass bowl that my husband created. He decided to do a simple design of stripes and speckles to make this beautiful piece. This piece is for sale.

Now for my proto-types. I envision recreating a child's art in glass. Children's art is simple in line and color but we all hold it so close to our hearts when its done by our own child.

I started with two pieces that my daughter did when she was younger. The original pieces are in the frames and the glass is positioned next to it so you can see that I've come very close to recreating it in fused glass.

The cut out of paper reindeer was done when she was 4 and in pre-school. I'm going to have the glass slumped into a rectangular dish that I can serve Christmas goodies on.

I recreated our daughter's painting of "Our Garden" that she did when she was 6, using glass frit (course glass sand). I used frit to make the picture brighter and translucent. I haven't decided yet if I want to have this piece slumped into a bowl or into a small vase.

If you wish to have a piece of stained glass or fused glass for your home or to have a piece of your child's art recreated in glass, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss that 'unique' piece just for you.

Prices: Email for more information

Welcome to Those In Glass Houses....

My husband and I have been creating stained glass and mosaic in glass for over 4 years and fused glass for 2 years. It started with only wanting to make one window to decorate the side view next to our front door. But as soon as I cut that first piece of glass, I knew this was the art form I wanted to put my energy and imagination into.

So, it became our hobby.....A gift for a friend, a piece for all the guests at our daughter's wedding, a larger piece for in our guest room and another for our master bathroom (that is my calla lily window at the upper right of this blog) so it went. Then people wanted to buy our work. A friend asked me to make a special piece for her home. An old classmate & his wife bought the guest room piece for a birthday gift for her mother. A friend of a friend wanted a piece done for her home. We were so excited that our glass pieces were actually selling. But it was so hard to keep up while we worked full time.

Then I became a victim of the economy. I was laid off from my job like so many others. A friend of mine, trying to cheer me up, said, "When one door closes, another opens". My husband laughed and said, "There you go, honey. You love doing the stained and fused glass, why not work on selling some of it and starting a business."

And here I am with the support of my husband, my daughter and son-in-law, my family and so many friends, I'm going for it. But to do that I need a catchy name. So, begins, Those in Glass Houses...

I currently have a few of my pieces listed on Etsy, a website that specializes in the buying and selling of anything home made. Check out my shop:

www.ThoseInGlassHouses.etsy.com

I'll also post some pictures of the pieces I've done that are not on Etsy. These are not for sale, they either hang in our home or were given as gifts or previously sold. But if you have an idea for that 'special' piece for your home or for a gift, there's always custom work. Contact me, we'll discuss what you are looking for and I'll do my best to accomplish it.

I'm especially excited about perfecting my technic to recreate a child's art in glass. What a wonderful gift it would be for a mom, dad or grandparent.

I took a class on how to set up your retail business online and that will be my next step.....a web page. I'll keep you posted as to when it will be up and running.

Now.........out to my studio to make another piece of 'art' in glass.