Another Little Terrarium

BOO!

I made this little ghost a few years ago... dug him up to take a picture because my friend Deb was at the glass studio the other day and asked if I'd ever used glow in the dark powder in my glass creations. Indeed - here is an example. I mixed some of the bright green glow powder in with Borosilicate Kryptonite colored glass (cuz this color already looks like it should glow - I think it makes a great combo) and made these little ghosts. The more powder the better, and you have to mix it into the glass, as it will not stick to the surface really - but if you get enough in there it really glows quite powerfully!

here are a couple links for the powders:

http://glowinc.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=3

http://www.sundanceglass.com/glow-glass-powder.htm

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3146795

I Challenged Myself Today

Usually I say no, its easier that way. People come to me with tear jerking stories of their broken glass trinkets (that I did not make) that hold so much sentimental feelings, they are looking for someone to fix it or replace it. I have a strict policy of saying no. It is the best answer for 3 good reasons:

1. because many times these pieces just cannot be fixed

2. incompatible glasses - I never know what type of glass something is made of, so I cannot really get it hot and add anything, as this would inevitably make it fall apart even more

3. I really have no interest in fixing something someone else has made.

If people are really persistent I educate them on what they can do at home with some Epoxy or UV glue. Or at least thats what happens when I am feeling sassy!

With all that said... a few days ago a nice woman named Judy called and asked to have a small glass figurine remade for her. I called her back and we spoke for a bit, seemed like something I could reasonably do. Against my normal policy - I said Yes! Yep, I broke my own business rule and I said Yes and made an appointment for her to come in and today was the day.

Judy brought me this tiny little glass antelope. Its one of a family of these little guys and they are all symbolic for her, a gift from her daughter-in-law and simply a small treasure that she holds close to her heart. The littlest antelope had broken (into a zillion pieces) - so I remade him! In the pictures the one I made is in front on the right.

It was a challenge, I enjoyed that. I made the head first and the body I actually did twice before I really liked it. Lastly I made the antlers and damn that was finicky! I could have done better, but its a pretty good try and Judy was pleased. It was really fun to make. And Judy was a sweetheart. In the end I was really happy I said yes. Not that I'll be doing it again any time soon (honestly people ask me this all the time at the Portland Saturday Market, at least once a weekend) and I know I could make a little money occasionally if I did this, and I know I am capable of this kind of torchworking, but I just don't want to. Refer to the above listed 3 Good Reasons to Say No.

Fusible Decal Paper on Glass

My friend Laura made these little glass pendants using images that were printed onto photo fusing paper. She pointed out that if you use French Vanilla Bullseye glass (the reactive glass 0137) instead of White (0113 or 0013) the decal looks almost black (note: its not really black, but the dark brown reaction with the vanilla looks black!)

The image above shows one decal fired on White Glass under clear (the pumpkin) and another fired on French Vanilla under clear (the witch). I'd bet the new Reactive White (0009 Reactive Cloud) would also make the decal look sorta black.

At the Aquila Glass School you can get Don to print out your images onto "Photo Fusing Paper" (he has the paper and a laser printer) and many people use this product to put images into their fused glass projects. They bring in their image saved onto a memory stick and he prints it out onto the decal paper. You wet the printed paper and slide the decal onto your glass. The results can vary, but its a simple and effective process.

The iron oxides in the laser toner make the image withstand high temperatures of firing the glass, afterwards it leaves a sepia-tone type image (sort of a burnt rusty color).

Here is a link for more information and prices for having Don print your decals:

http://www.thestoreataquila.com/photo_fusing_paper.htm

to check out Laura work:

http://appleglassoriginals.etsy.com

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Earrings Defying Gravity

Pumpkin Patch Time!!

It was a rainy weekend, but I made it out to the Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island with some friends. I love this picture... the corn stalks blowing in the wind, the pumpkins rotting in the mud.

I couldn't bring myself to sit around in the rain for the second day in a row at the PSM, and I had this coupon for the Kruger Farm Pumpkin Festival staring at me... this is how it went: picking pumpkins, riding the tractor pulled thing, wandering the corn maze and eating roasted corn (they dipped it in a crock pot of butter!) and candied apples (good lord this made me drool - literally!)
The pumpkins were kinda funny looking, but we picked some out. Tim found us a great one. I enjoyed taking pictures! I put more up on Flickr - click here to see them

Clear Reactive Glass Fun

I made myself a bowl. Perhaps for ice-cream or cereal... or beans and rice... last night it held Tim's keys and wallet.

Recipe for the bowl: one circle of clear reactive glass, one circle of clear glass (on bottom) and a pile of little colored strings of glass on top.

This is what it looked like before firing. I wanted to be sure the little strings didn't disappear after firing, so I used the clear reactive glass. Some of the colors have a chemical reaction with this glass causing brown lines, some of the blue, purple and green glass strings reacted... turned out really neat!
I made myself this bowl because I was cleaning out some stuff in my studio and I found a container of little colored stringers waiting to be made into something neat. The stringers originated when I made a bunch of dots to make these Christmas tree ornaments (see below) using a torch and when the little gather of glass gets hot and falls off the rod a little string that connects the two falls as well. I kept the strings because there were so many and I thought they had potential. Then I forgot about them! Years later they became my new bowl!

First Kiln Firings

Mustafa (my new kiln) has been workin' hard! I documented my first fire in case anything freaky happened, taking notes of any little changes in the kiln program and pictures of what the glass looked like before and after. As you can see, I didn't really do a "test" as my first kiln load of glass... as in, I could have put just a few choice pieces of glass in to see what they did before loading it up with a bunch of work and hitting start! :) But rest assured Mustafa is treating me well and there have been no kiln snafus so far.
I was somewhat conservative in my program as well as the distance between pieces (just in case the kiln had hot spots or the programmer was not properly calibrated)
And I made these two little piles of glass in an open spot on the shelf... they were tests to see how much the glass was moving at these temperatures... you see, this white glass is really stiff, so is the pink and lime green, so I made these little piles to see how flat they would become. If I raised up the temperature of my "Full Fuse" or kept it at that temperature for longer (currently Mustafa stays at full fuse for only 3minutes) I could get these piles to fuse flatter.
Lastly - for all my readers that are fellow glass artists - here is the kiln schedule that I am using:

Segment ..... Rate ... Temp... Hold

1 350 500 0.10

2 450 1000 0.05

3 200 1250 1.30

4 9999 1488 0.03

5 9999 900 1.30

6 50 800 0.01

7 75 500 0.01

8 100 300 0.01

9 Idle to room temp.

Wonderful Graphite Marble Mold

My friend Elaine was using her new graphite marble mold the other day and I had to take a picture - what an awesome marble mold! I like it.

Little Terrariums

A few days ago I taught a class in miniature glass blowing - I couldn't help but play around a little near the end of class and my mind starting wandering to mini terrariums... this afternoon I put some plants in two of them! First some small glass beads in the bottom, some dirt, a little water and then a few strands of my favorite little succulent plant...

Mustafa is hot!

I have named my kiln "Mustafa" after the sexy Old Spice actor in the ads... and Mustafa is officially hot now! The electrician finished his work on Monday and when I came into the studio I could tell he was done because it was very bright upstairs! (we put in new electrical lines for big bright lights as well).
When I saw this I did a little happy dance with Amy and ran upstairs to say Thank You to the electrician and turn on my kiln. So exciting! First I did a preliminary fire to dry out the bricks and just test it out. Mustafa gave me 1000 degrees Fahrenheit in 40minutes! Not too shaby! I made a little graph of how long he took to get hot and cold. Today I put in a shelf and fired some glass - I'll see tomorrow if there are any hot spots or problems...

Its Apple Festival Time!

I love the Apple Festival at Portland Nursery. Never have I tasted so many apples all at once! You get to compare and contrast and really find out what you like! And there are apples to purchase as well as cider, cobbler and pears too!

Each year when I the trees start to change color and there is a big red apple balloon floating in the sky - I know its time for the Apple Festival!

Portland Nursery at 5050 SE Stark

Friday-Sunday October 8, 9, 10 2010

Friday-Sunday October 15, 16, 17, 2010

10:00am - 5:00pm

This year Tim came with me and we didn't actually taste test (the line was insanely long) but we bought a bunch of tasty apples and pears and I ate some cobbler and drank some freshly pulled apple cider.

Stumpsucked

Here are some results from the fun I have been having with Brandyn - I included links at the bottom of this post for my explanations as to what "Stumpsucking" is and what the tools look like.

Basically what you are looking at is my tiny little sculptures encased in a solid clear glass paperweight.

The little gecko (also could be a salamander) turned out great

the rocket ship was fun, gave us all sorts of other ideas...

Brandyn had made a bunch of octopuses on clear patties - they looked like spiders in the end :)

my beetle looked better before encasement... the antenna fell in the hot glass (they were soo skinny and tiny) and its just not that clear to see what it is...

the bee was pretty funny looking before and after! but it turned out pretty great, the wings didn't move a bit, the pollen on the legs is still there and visible... this one also gave me ideas... for instance making a bee hovering above a flower!

Next I am going to encase some ladies doing yoga...

More blogging about stumpsucking:

• Pictures from Stumpsucking
• Stumpsucking Today

First Thursday Opening Night at ANKA

The exhibit will continue for the month of October - so if you missed the opening you can still visit the show! I wanted to share a few pictures from First Thursday. Opening night was intense and bopping and great!

Sweet Video about the IHeartArt Event

Mixer Match: Round One from I Heart Art: Portland on Vimeo.

This video sums up the event quite well! My little mobile display makes a quick 2second cameo :) If you want to read more about this event, check out my previous posts:

• My Article on IHeartArt Portland Blog
• IHeartArt: Mixer Recap
• I Heart Art
• I Heart Art Party

Art Show Opening

The ANKA GALLERY of contemporary fine art

presents

Kalos Eidos

Color | Beauty | Form
Curated by: Anna Solcaniova King

I was downtown this evening setting up my work for a show - it opens tomorrow for First Thursday. 325 NW 6th (right on the Green Line)

I will be there from 5-10pm or so :)
I am exhausted, its late and this has been a long day of working at the studio, class scheduling snafu, hours of sorting and consuming scrap, and then setting up at the gallery. Playing at the Anka Gallery and hanging my work was really a pleasure! I made this long mobile to fit this spot in the hallway, see the opening that is about 2 feet wide and 10 feet long, I could not resist the urge to fill this spot with a mobile. I love how it turned out. Looks great in the spot.

I like taking pictures of the set-up process! Anna and Grayland and Chad were all so nice and graciously did not mind me clicking away with my obnoxious camera. There is something delicious about a gallery setting up. It feels nostalgic for me, as I have worked in Galleries before.

I like the set up process. Its fun to watch art get installed into a space.

This picture (above) is the reflection I saw as I was setting up the front window display. I now have 3 mobiles hung in the front window display for this show! I will take more pictures in the daylight tomorrow.
This mobile just looked so gentle and lovely in the evening light - although I don't know if the awesome lamps will be in the show (they were part of the previous show) - I liked how the picture looks
Come join me for the opening, or visit the Gallery another time. The show runs for a month. Check out the website for information on the exhibit and all the artists involved.

http://www.ankagallery.com/