Red Glass - my favorite

I love red.

(This is the glass that started as yellow, 

but striked red in the kiln.)

~ Julz

New work -

Some good and some not so good & some work in progress . . .

I love this dish, but I don't like the bubbles. I tried a bubble squeeze on the full fuse of this glass and the bubbles persisted. I need to re-think this design. Perhaps putting the frit for the stars on the top rather then sandwiched between 2 layers of glass.

??

I need a better pic of this dish. It's a new mold that I'm excited about - kind of pie plate like - but I messed up on the color choice. It looked better pre-fuse.    darn darn darn

This is in the kiln tonight for a full fuse.

The yellow square - soon to be a dish - is a striker glass. A striker glass turns a different color when it is heated. This one should strike to a wonderful red color, but the dots should stay amber.

I make my dots by putting the small squares of scrap glass into the kiln and fuse it when I have extra room on a kiln shelf. This is scrap glass from my red striker. I love this red color once heat is applied.

More pics tomorrow.

~ Julz

Amber dish w/ stars and bubbles

~just out of the kiln~

I'm pleased w/ the colors and bubbles are fun, but not wanted in this piece.

darn

It's still too warm to remove from the slump mold, but I wanted to get the next piece into the kiln tonight.

Full fuse tonight and then tomorrow slump into new mold - a dish similar to a pie plate.

~ Julz

Yellow Bowl

I am really into happy colors. . .

and very tired of cloudy days.

~Julz

Happy Colors

My Green dish.

Blue Bowl. Green Dish. Yellow Dish (slumping in the kiln tonight).

Yea!

~ Julz

Green dish

I popped the yummy green dish into the kiln this morning for its slump right after breakfast and before rushing out the door to the day job. I can't wait to get home and take a peek to see if it is done.

Contemplating finding an outlet for selling other than just the random kind friend. My short term goal was to exhibit at the local art show this spring and then look at marketing. Perhaps I will flip that around and market first and then art show will be a way to get the word out.  - contemplating - 

~ Julz

PS - Pics to follow as soon as the glass is cool enough to extract it from the kiln w/out burning myself or more importantly wrecking the glass.

Blue Bowl :-)

My Blue Bowl.

A successful bowl.

I didn't invest much of in the decoration of this bowl. I think I was chicken. I didn't want to expend too much creative energy - just in case it failed. I have had a few of those fa......s lately.

Now I am excited.

I have a bowl on deck to fuse . . . and yes it will be adorned.  :-)

I do like it when the kiln is good to me.

My amaryllis is blooming. Another nice bright spot on a January day.

~ Julz

Blue Bowl

I have a small blue bowl that is annealing in the kiln as I type this - I can't for it to cool and let me fondle it. Pics will follow. I hope it is a beauty.

~Julz

More Ideas than Time - a good thing

Today I was up early to catch the sunrise. Last night there was a clear sky and the stars and the sliver of the moon were wonderous when I walked the dog.

Thought I would get out early this morning and catch the sun as it came over the trees, but the clouds had moved in. darn

 

I wasn't able to catch the sun rise, but I did find some interesting grass and leaves in the snow.

I really want to show nature in my work. To emulate a feeling or capture a moment from nature.

I am not always successful - sure is fun trying though.

I was shopping sales w/ my mom yesterday and picked up some hand made knifes to use for spreaders that were unadorned and I want to try my hand at adding some beads. I'm still unsure how I will accomplish this . . .

I also have made a number of glass jewels with scrap glass that I want to put together into a stained glass sun catcher - I do have some ideas here and have laid out a few different designs that I haven't been quite happy with yet. I will keep trying here until something sticks.

and

         last week I got a shipment of new slumping molds for my fusing work.

I can't wait to get some glass in these. I started cutting out my first dish today, but then got interrupted by lunch, cleaning, driving kid into town, making pies for supper with friends. My goal is to get the circle into the kiln for the night - so that I can slump tomorrow.

Finally - this is what came out of the kiln this morning -

 

I love these dishes. They catch light and reflect it so nicely. This is the first one that I have made in a while and the first green one (may save it for next Christmas season).

It's sunny now and a degree above freezing - off to load the kiln and get out during the daylight to walk the woods. Have a glorious day.

~ Julz

New Molds

Ordered some new molds. Should be in tomorrow. Too busy tomorrow, so I'll pick them up on Wednesday. My kiln has cooled down . . . . saving the small stash of glass that I own for the new molds.
Can't  wait.

~ Julz

Cold January

Just walked down the drive and placed the latest NetFlix into the mail for return. It is a beautiful, blue sky, sunny day.

Santa needs to come in from the cold.

But - - - I'm glad I left my plant stake out for the winter.

It's a nice bright spot in a snowy landscape.

~ Julz

New Ring

Last week on boxer day I was lucky enough to participate in a contest for a free spinner ring from CarolynArtist's blog. I won the contest! I never win. I have been eyeing her spinner rings for a very long time; they are beautiful as well as all her other work - check out her Etsy shop.

The ring arrived today and I am even more smitten.

My fat fingers don't really show it off the way it should be.

:-)

I love the fact that it is interactive. My only fear is that the spinning will feed my ADD tendencies.

(I don't think it would be too distracting to spin it when sitting in a meeting. do you?)

Selling a new piece of glass to a friend tomorrow. Very exciting!

Gearing up for the "some day" . . .

A new biz card holder -

- it needs a bit of work, but it is a step in the right direction.

~ Julz

Morning glass -

This morning dawned w/ below zero temps and wind chills at double digits below zero. Yuck!

My kiln is staying warm.

I finished my small black, round box w/ the red frit. While the top of the box was fusing the red glass frit embellishment onto it - I put in a few small experiments into the kiln around the edges.

.

I really love how the box turned out.

. . . and the experiments also turned out nicely;-)

 . . .  thinking of putting bails on these and making them into cabs. I experimented with the blue dot one.

 

I like to wear my glass as way to keep it close to me as a reminder throughout the day.

Meanwhile the kiln is staying warm. I have a dish slumping as I post this:-) Today brings a trip to my mother's to spend some time with her in the new year.

Stay warm.

~ Julz