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.