February 2023

 February creativity has taken me in a new direction.

My husband has been doing trim work in his shed and had some ends and pieces of boards that were cut offs and too short for his purposes. He asked if I wanted them. 

Well yes. 

I have combined them with some recycled fused glass, with a bit of enamel, using thinset.

I kind of like the results.

This one still needs more work, but it is a start.

~ Julie

New Year - New Work

 I have been working on a bit of new work in this new year of 2023.

I have neglected to take pictures of some of the new work, but I did get these pictures - 

I have been making glass flower wreaths for years and I have sold quite a few, but I had this new idea of putting the flowers into a glass form that can be hung on the wall.

I have a few more in the works.

I have had this idea for months. I wanted to include some flameworked items with my mosaic and last summer I created a bunch of 'smiles' to include with this mirror.

Since this picture this mirror has been grouted. 

I hope folks will understand the tongue in cheek 'smile' reference.

I am also excited to have a picture chosen to be displayed at the Garden Expo in Madison, WI. I have it packaged and ready to send off for the competition during the garden conference.

The growing season was ending fast with a hard frost, but this coneflower was still trying to bloom.

I am excited to see what my competition will be and also because I have never exhibited my photos before.

~ Julie

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