October 2022

 A few new listings on Etsy.

Gardens are done for the year except for a few hold out flowers. 

Holiday items have been taken to Riverfront Art Center in Stevens Point for their holiday sale starting in November.

New ideas are working their way to the surface. I'm hoping they are good ideas.

~ Julie

Early September 2022

 September 2022. Here we are

My Zinnias are still going strong. I always know that summer is coming to an end when the daylilies stop blooming for the year. Here is one of the last blooms along the side of the garage.

I have been taking an online class on glass flowers and components recently and have enjoyed learning a few new ways to create flowers and components.
I think new flower wreaths going forward will look a better.

I also took a local class on creating with mosaics. We created an obelisk.
Very fun.

Here is my obelisk pre-grout.
I need to get better pictures since it has a place of honor on my kitchen counter.

Today I'm heading back to the garden. 

I harvested spaghetti squash this morning. I need to get the rest of the ripe tomatoes and start pulling the corn stalks that are done producing for the year.

Keeping the kilns warm. Enjoying each day.

~Julie

Glass, new and old work

 I am always keeping the kilns warm, but not always sharing about my adventures.

It's the height of gardening season in Wisconsin. My dog Sam finds a new place to dig a hole when it gets too warm or the bugs are bothering him. He then sinks down into the hole and patiently waits for me to be done with whatever chore has my attention.

My new work from behind the flame is different and yet the same. I have created a few new and smaller wreaths for sale at a local gallery's shop. I hope they sell; they are the perfect size to brighten a small portion of a wall.

This is an orange flowered wreath created for the gallery shop.

While in England last spring I saw a piece of metal work that I loved. The metal work used an open space for the stem of the flower. I have tried creating this work 5 times now and I have not been successful. I told myself that if the last attempt fails that I would give up the idea and move on.
It failed. I am moving on.

Both of these Coneflowers pictures are taken pre-fire and therefore pre-breakage.

My kiln is currently warm with some failed flamed hollow beads that I am fusing into a small round. I will then turn it into a dish or sun-catcher depending on how it turns out. I figure it is a great way to rework my failures into something functional and it's better than just allowing the failures to sit and mock me from the shelf;-)

 

Hollows ready to fuse.

I am also working on an idea for some flameworked balls on the end of a long mandrel. Title will be 'Balls in the Air'. A bit tongue in cheek, but I hope it turns out. I have been looking for an item that could be used to place the flameworked balls on that would have enough mass to support the balls on the end of a long rod and also be eye and garden friendly. I may have landed on an idea, but I need to create one to see if it will work. Stay tuned.

Here are three of the balls on long mandrels (steel rods).

Zinnias from my garden, I love these colors together and I want to replicate in some glass beads -

Another fused project that I have played with in the last few months is a fused glass obelisk. I'm still working on this idea. I believe that the obelisk will really stand out in the garden if I can find a small solar light to place inside. I did have a problem with the size I wanted and the actual size of my kiln. The size difference forced me to create 'stitched' seams on the sides that I 'stitched' together with wire.

Keeping the kilns warm. Enjoying each day.

~Julie

Rainbow

 

August 21, 2021

Our front yard.

Nearing the end of August. 

Many birds have already headed south and I no longer hear them during my morning walk.

Daylilies are done.

Our new building project, the shed, almost has a roof over it.

Honey needs to be harvested.

It's warm and humid, but we had some cool nights last week.

Days are shorter, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with glass as the garden winds down for the summer.

~ Julie

Winter Solstice is next week -

Next week we will experience the Winter Solstice. December 21st is the shortest day of the year and soon we will see our days getting longer. I look forward to that.

I recently completed this star made from recycled window glass. The window was an old house window from my childhood home. It was a great way to use this old glass. This was modified from a Jim Mathews project,  Glasshoppa.com.

This is a closeup of the star. I love how the glass catches the light.

I also completed a new electroformed flower stem/sepal that I inserted a small, red & yellow, blown glass bulb into. I created the glass to fit and it does perfectly. I am very excited about this project. The glass reflects the light in interesting ways. All three of the following pictures are the same piece.

Keeping the kilns warm,

~ Julie

Keeping on . . .

 I find it difficult to work in my basement glass studio when the weather is nice, but I miss working creatively with glass if I don't do any work for a few days. Such a problem. November here in Wisconsin was a very mild month with many sunny, warm days. This last week in December also had some beautiful days. I have been working with glass, but in fits and starts rather than prolonged times. No excuses. It's just the way it is.

A few projects - 

My latest is a red and white lace bowl. This process can challenge my glass cutting abilities especially with white glass, but I love the results.

     

It can be found here in my Etsy shop.

I sold this Poppy Wreath from my Etsy shop this week. So excited.
It can be affirming to randomly sell some of my work.

 

I have been making coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. drink stir sticks lately.
I love to use them in the morning to stir honey/oat milk into my coffee or tea and they also work great to stir an evening cocktail. I have been using them for a couple for months to make sure they wouldn't break and were functional. 

No breakage and YES, they are very functional.

I have been continuing to play with electroforming. So fun.

Christmas ornaments - 

I have blown a few small bulbs for our tree this year. Small is one inch in diameter, but we only have a small tree that we cut from our property, so it fits in well. No large ornaments on the tree, the branches will not support them. I have also been practicing icicles. I'm not consistent or happy with my icicles, but I keep practicing. Someday I may figure it out;-)

I have made some gnomes and viking gnomes. They are part of a Facebook challenge, but I like them and will be putting them on my tree this year.

Keeping the kilns warm,

~Julie

New Processes, New Work

I purchased a new tutorial by Komal C. Prassad for a fusing process - Controlled Gaps that I have wanted to learn for the last few years. Honestly, there are a bunch of processes/techniques that I want to try. My love of learning new things keeps me learning new things. It keeps my life interesting in these pandemic times.

This dish is the result of the new tutorial - 

I really like the result and have another (same process, different design) dish slumping in the kiln today.

I have also been playing around with a electroforming. I have always loved the look of electroforming when combined with beads and glass and I recently took an electroforming class from Terry Henry via Facebook. She makes the best electroformed bugs/animals with glass parts.

I'm just getting started. I have some objects that didn't work, a few that have worked, and some still in the bath. This was a leaf that I picked up on a walk this week. The small bit of glass is a headpin that I made a while ago. The headpin is now electroformed onto the leaf. I still need to figure out finishing my objects with a patina to better show the texture, but that will come.

I took a class last month at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, WI where I worked with Deanna Clayton to make a pate de verre, also known as paste glass, bowl. Deanna Clayton fused the bowls and finished them after they were created in the class. The finished bowl has an electroformed rim. Very cool.

Another project I finished recently was some knobs for my bathroom. The bathroom was done being remodeled years ago and the cabinets needed knobs. I finally created knobs that I am happy with and got them installed.

Keeping the kilns warm,

~ Julie

Here we are. September.

 The weather is turning cooler. The days are shortening at an alarming pace.

Damn.

I have worked on many different glass projects this summer.

This is a glass on glass mosaic that has been planted in my front garden.

I have finished another circle and started a new mosaic of a flower.

My goal is to replicate this picture of one of my flowers - 

My bees are doing well. I did a successful walk away split that created its own queen.

The new queen is in the middle of this picture. I was so excited. Since this happened in the middle of July the new hive has been doing really well.

I now have three hives.

I love seeing my bees pollinating flowers in my garden and in the fields on my walks. It was a great year for sunflowers in my garden and the bees loved them.

I walk daily with my Sam. 

He has been a great addition to our household and gets me outside at least twice everyday for good walks.

I routinely find feathers on our adventures.

As well as many other critters. On this day we found six baby snapping turtles that had just hatched.

SO COOL!

I am really going to miss the flowers of summer.

Other end of summer thoughts - 

Our garden did very well this summer and is now winding down. 

I continue to create beads and try to improve my lampworking skills. I've got over 100 beads ready to ship to Beads of Courage this month.

I learned how to make glass chain this summer.

I continue to enjoy keeping track of area wildlife via my trail camera. I check weekly and have found many interesting animals including deer, mink, skunk, squirrels, coyote, and this fox.

Keeping the kiln warm,

~ Julie