How much money where? SOLD! to the highest bidder!

I've always enjoyed watching shows involving auctions on TV. I'm absolutely ADDICTED to Storage Wars. So by chance I came across an auction site unlike others I've used such as Ebay. This site is called TopHatter. It's different from other sites in that they run live auctions where an item is put up on the block and bid on in real time. If you miss your bid, you miss out.

Faith - Breast Cancer Awareness Stained Glass

The fantastic thing about this site is that it's mostly handmade artisans auctioning off their works. Jewelry, paintings, other crafts, supplies, its' all there. I immediately felt at home in this setting and quickly posted a couple of items. I'm very pleased to announce that Easter Cross has found a new home through TopHatter.

I'm also pleased to announce that this Sunday at the Sunday Night Bazaar, 12am eastern time, Faith my breast cancer awareness piece will be auctioned off. As my followers know this piece normally sells for $10. At TopHatter the bidding will start at $5 and as an added bonus shipping is FREE!

If you're interested in the auction atmosphere, want to bid on my piece and will be up at midnight check out the Sunday Night Bazaar and place a bid.

New month, new work, new shop

I've continued working at a fast pace with my art. I keep experimenting and making new things with new materials. As my body of work builds up I realized I needed to better organize my for sale works than setting up PayPal buttons. So just in time for Mother's Day I've set up a Zibbet Shop: http://www.zibbet.com/StainedGlassByCyn. All pieces that were for sale via PayPal are now listed there for the same price.

$70.00 at Zibbet Shop.

I've also added a new piece. As I described in my last blog I'd started incorporating other elements to my stained glass such as old jars, bowls, etc. Well, as I shopped for supplies at my local antiques store I came across this marble elephant figurine. I immediately had an image of the elephant atop a glass box.

I think this piece is another representation of how I've found my artistic voice through stained glass. In other media I could make an image close to what I'd had in my head, or representing a message I wanted to get across. But this box is exactly what I had pictured when I looked at the figurine.

There's nothing like having something in your head and being able to produce it in the real world for others to see and touch.

Lover's Nest

One of the elements I love most in stained glass panels is when there's a stunning focal point in the piece. I'd look at other artist's work and wonder how they'd come up with those elements.

It wasn't until recently that it occurred to me that I could incorporate any glass element into my pieces. With this in mind I went out to the local antiques and collectibles store. There's always interesting glassware there. I almost never buy them though just because I don't display those kinda things. This time whenever glass caught my eye I'd pick it up and look at it with light shining through it.

I got a few pretty serving bowls and some interesting platters. But on my way to check out something caught my eye. It was a dirty jar stuffed away on a shelf. The frosted glass drew me to it and I realized there was a pretty image on the lid of the jar. Two birds cuddled together on a branch. I held the lid up to the light and realized what a beautiful image it was, even in its dingy state. Immediately ideas sprung to mind on the piece I'd create with it.

What a great find. From dingy jar shoved in the back of a shelf to proudly displayed stained glass panel.

Creative spark captured

Spring is my favorite season. I always feel my creativity spike when I see trees budding and flowers blooming. Sometimes I wish I could capture that creative spark.

I've always been fascinated with the idea of encasing something for safe keeping. People often lock away keepsakes in a case or trunk never to be removed again (or very rarely). Then the idea came to me to put something in stained glass. I can't think of a better way to display something beautiful than to have it hanging in stained glass, letting the light filter through it.

I decided the best way to capture the moment of early spring is to encase a rose bud. The color of the purple flower is striking against the swirled glass. The brown swirls representing the soil the rose grows from. An elegant way to bring the outdoors in.

Sometimes simple is the way to go

$40.00 at Zibbet Shop.

I like to work on stained glass everyday but with work at the restaurant and a garage sale coming up I haven't had enough time. I finally had to fit in some work between things.

Lately, I've been enjoying simple designs. As my skills improve and I get more practice I find simple designs are in a sense more difficult because there is no place to hide mistakes. This pushes me to execute each element perfectly.

This 12"x12" piece with the mix of striking colors and chocolate swirled glass would make an elegant focal point to a room, either on a stand as pictured or installed as a window.

Bare Trees

Like most people my age I grew up listening to the Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks iteration of Fleetwood Mac. I had always liked their music but then my parents purchased some CDs of the band's earlier work. Bare Trees quickly became one of my absolute favorite albums of all time.

There's a fantastic vibe to the whole album that gets me every time I listen to it. A certain moodiness to the sound and lyrics.

This was my first attempt at making a picture out of stained glass and I think I was able to capture the vibe of the album with this piece.

To really understand what I'm talking about you have to listen to the first song in this post as well as this one...

Of all the stained glass pieces I've made thus far I feel a special connection with this one. I'm very pleased with how it came out.

Faith, breast cancer awareness

$10.00 at Zibbet Shop.

Many of us have been affected by breast cancer, either personally or through someone we know. A big part of overcoming such a difficult challenge is faith.

The glass resembles the pink ribbon representative of breast cancer awareness. Freehand etching details complete this wall hanging. 

Easter Approaches

SOLD

Easter has always been a special time of year at my house. We've never taken part in Easter egg hunts or paid any attention to the "Easter Bunny." It was always about spending time together, enjoying good food and celebrating what we have.

It's funny but I've been so busy lately I actually forgot that Easter is quickly approaching and even forgot to put a request for time off for the celebration. I still decided to produce some art inspired by the holiday and came up with this Easter Cross suncatcher.

Eclipse

There's something fascinating about an eclipse. I remember being in second grade and learning about how an eclipse works. Making little paper contraptions to be able to look at it when it happened.

That experience is something that's stuck with me as I've gotten older. Of course looking through little hand made paper contraptions didn't really show much definition or drama of the eclipse. But it does get the imagination going.

This suncatcher really embodies my natural ability to work with glass. I've work in many different medias, but this is an image I'd never be able to express in another media.

Bristol Shore

Music plays a big part in my creative process. Often when I listen to music I get a visual image, either very detailed or abstract colors. I've listened to Eric Johnson's music almost all my life and have often been inspired by his work.

$35.00 at Zibbet Shop.

Recently I purchased a remastered version of his album Eric Johnson: Tones on Amazon.com. One of the songs on there is called Bristol Shore. A really beautiful song that paints a picture next to the sea. It makes me think of a beach near by lush greenery. There's a sense of loneliness and longing. Constantly looking out to sea and waiting.

This suncatcher is an abstract interpretation of Bristol Shore.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

A couple of friends stopped by the house a while ago. I was at work but I heard through the grape vine that they were admiring my work.

I also had a coworker interested in purchasing a piece from me. So I decided I'd work on a couple of mirrors them.

For my friends I wanted to do something geometric and modern to fit in with their style. This was the piece where I veered away from using a pattern and instead broke out my ruler. I'd always loved geometry while in school and it's exciting now that I'm putting these skills to use.

While making this piece I really felt a connection with the glass. The shapes fell into place perfectly. My cuts were straight, therefore my soldering turned out much more even. I really wanted to make something I'd be proud to have displayed in someone else' house and I achieved that.

Then it was on to piece number two. I felt a bit of pressure as I'm still a beginner having only made a handful of pieces, and here someone wanted to purchase one.

With this one I knew the color scheme as they really liked the glass I had used in my first piece. I was really inspired by a couple of scrap pieces that were about the right size and had an interesting curve to them. As I plotted things out I wanted to give it a bit of a mosaic look with small glass squares framing the mirror. As I worked I kept in mind how the odd shapes may make the mirror hang crooked and was very careful to determine where to place each piece of glass so that the mirror would hang evenly without throwing off the overall look of the design.

These two pieces were big steps both creatively and professionally. I never expected that after such a short time I would already have people collecting my work.

Answering the call

My first attempt at working with stained glass.

I've always had an attraction to stained glass. I'd see a stained glass window or sun catcher and it'd instantly peak my interest. I'd even been interested in taking classes but they were often out of the area and it'd be too difficult to get supplies. Recently a Hobby Lobby set up shop in town and they had a section dedicated to stained glass. I would walk by the section and look at some of the glass. Again my eyes would light up and I'd feel the spark of inspiration but I'd never act on it.

Finally, after watching a couple youtube videos on how to work with stained glass I decided to give the craft a shot. I went and bought everything I'd need to get started including a book with a few patterns to work from. I spent the rest of the day working on my first piece.

I was pleased with how it turned out for a first effort. I could see where I needed some improvement but at least I had finally worked in a media I've always wanted to try.

My latest work.

Immediately I started work on another piece, and another. With each piece my skills improving and my artistic vision coming through more. I've done away with patterns and gravitated towards a more organic design method.

I've never been as prolific in any other artistic media as I am with stained glass. It's truly a passion and joy no matter if I'm tired from a long shift at work or have other things going on in my life.

It's hard to believe that I went from my first piece to my last one in a span of 10 days. In that time I've made several different pieces which have been shared with others who now own some of my very first (of what I'm sure will be many) stained glass creations.

It's so incredibly exciting to see others so interested in my work. The true joy of art is sharing it with others.

That is what this blog is for.