Into the Blue

"Into the Blue"
January 2009
16" x 14"

Baubles

New Pendants

Whimsy

"Whimsy"
January 2009
10"x6"

Surfacing

"Surfacing"

January 2009

10"x16"

Fall Riot

"Fall Riot"

14" x 14"

Tree

"Hello Tree"

January 2009

I love trees - love drawing them, painting them, talking to them so it's no big surprise that I'd want to create a few in glass. It was an interesting piece to work on because I layered so many small pieces of glass I thought I'd made a really solid base but when it fired and contracted, it was much more lacy than I'd anticipated. I really like it and would use the technique again and know now just how thick I can pile up the glass and it won't be too thick.

Pic 1- before it's fired - you can see the layers of small pieces of glass

Pic 2 - fired and hanging in the window

Small Stuff

A great way for me to get my know my kiln has been to make some pendants... it helps me learn about hot spots in the kiln and how to know when I'm using too much glass (too thick) or not enough and at what temperature things change, etc.

Here are a few... these ones all have channels to pass a necklace or cord through...

Trial and Error

"Into the Light"
January 2009


This piece is the result of three firings.. not because of technique - it just wasn't what I wanted the first time and the beauty of glass is that you can refire...(most of the time). The "yellow" glass that I'd bought ended up being deep orange once I'd fired (called "striker" glass because it changes colour as it is fired). I'd envisioned a piece about the return of the light...all whites and then yellow and light orange... when it first came out there was already much more contrast that I'd anticipated and so instead of holding tight to my idea, I let it go and played with more colour.

In the end, it's very different than I'd first envisioned but it is bright and bold and has a lot of energy and I like it a lot.

Inspired

Inspired by the workshop out west and some more instruction in Toronto, and by my love of glass and light and working with colour, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a kiln. Here's my new baby... a Coneart 2309 - 23" shelf.

Let's Begin

"Autumn Treeline"
9" x 14"
2008

During a trip to B.C. in the fall I had the opportunity to work with an amazing glass artist, Allison Garrett-Hanneson. She shared with me the technique of building a piece directly on the kiln shelf thereby using open space as a feature of a piece. This is what I created (and she fired) during our time together.