Being and Becoming: Glass Art

Life has other plans

2009-11-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

Twice, lately, I've had either disasters in the kiln or pulled out something entirely unexpected. Both times the unexpected was pretty wonderful. I think that's what keeps me addicted to glass - that element of not quite knowing what will happen. Okay, sometimes (like last weekend) it's that I've forgotten to put the thermocouple in the right place and the kiln is now glowing red-hot (and goodness only knows how long it's been glowing like that!) and the elements are now melted into the ruined mold. (Note to self: order new element and be more careful.) But other times, like today, I pull out an entirely unexpected effect and fall in love all over again.

Last year I made Christmas ornaments (hey, they're red & green, they're Christmas) that didn't...quite...succeed. In theory they were great, but in reality...well, reality bites, as the 90s movie goes. So this year, I re-melted those ornaments (another thing I love about kiln work - endless reuse/recycle opportunities) and made another piece of green, red, and white glass. And off to one side, as if it were from a separate batch of glass, was this wonderful piece of clear with narrow ribbons of red, green and white running through it, some combination of reticello and ribbon candy. Wow. Now there's another batch of glass in that kiln, trying to create something to resemble this happy accident.

What's not to love about glass?

Being trained by a puppy

2009-10-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

I've told my husband I wanted a dog for...years. When we lived in Maryland, his excuse was that I wouldn't want to walk the dog in the snow. True enough. But 3 years ago we moved back to Florida, and his excuse was...we travel too much. Well, it turns out that "we" is really "he." All of which wouldn't have mattered except that I was in Taylor County School District the other day and there was this puppy. Mabel. Mabel is a black and tan miniature dashund. I grew up with dashund neighbors. My aunt Patti had a dashund (Heidi, natch). And there she was, 3.5 months old, all head. Where other puppies tend to be all feet, for some reason dashunds are all nose!! She charmed me. I'm easy, but she is definitely charming!

So now she lives with us...that's me, hubby, and 3 cats. One of the cats, Pino (our baby) thinks Mabel is WAY FUN. I just caught them sorting through the trash together - with impunity. She chases him, he chases her, it's all fun. When I lie on the bed to watch TV, Mabel curls up on my stomach and falls asleep, or snuggles down under the covers and curls up next to me and sleeps. She makes little snuffling noises when she's asleep, or when she's very happy. It is adorable.

And so we are in puppy training classes so *I* can learn how to raise a puppy. I think I last had a dog when I was...13? That would be Butch, the one who peed on all my friends during my sleepover. Try living that down!!

Mabel is teaching me patience - more patience? I am reading books on how dogs think, and it makes me re-think my voice, my posture, my body language. The only thing it DOESN'T make me re-think is glass. Thank goodness, Mabel loves the studio. And it's okay if she has an accident in there - I do, too. And face it: hers are easier to clean up.

It's just glass...

2009-08-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

Working with glass has made me more pragmatic than anything else, I think. It's like cooking - only with a really cranky oven. And you don't have to eat the bad stuff.

Tonite I opened the kiln - there was some fabulous glass inside. It bore NO resemblance to the glass piece that I was trying to create. N-O-N-E. I knew the kiln was acting up; I didn't realize that 2 of the elements were full on, for hours. It's just glass....

Fixed the kiln (again) - maybe.

Late Night in the Studio

2009-08-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

There is something so enchanting about the studio at night. Me, the BBC, and the crickets. It's cool (relatively speaking) and so very quiet. I can hear myself think. I walk across the grass, wet from the day's rain, and check out the moon. Lately it's been very bright - although John says he wasn't able to see the Pleides meteor shower the other night. Each night when I walk out, it's a little bit further to the left. It makes me think of creating a huge black tree out of glass against the night sky with a nice shiny mica-enhanced moon. But it wouldn't be the same.

My husband is sleeping inside. The cats, too - except for Pino, who will be waiting anxiously on the porch for me to come back in. The studio is just me, the popping of the relays on the kiln (on/off...on/off...on/off) it's the heartbeat I listen for. It soothes me. (Although I love my kiln with solid-state relays the best, I do miss the heartbeat when it's the only one running!) At night, I can readily hear the cascade of the vitrigraph stringer as it begins to hit the floor. I have been doing some incredible things with vitrigraph stringer lately! Can't wait for the Niceville show - opens September 11. Come see!

Wednesday in Washington, DC

2009-07-22T18:24:00.001-07:00

I love this city. I love the energy, the fact that I can walk places, the sheer grandeur of the buildings - as if they had no limits. Soaring ceilings? Why not. Banks of marble steps? What the heck. It's a great place to watch people - young women in the latest styles and impossibly high heels (how many times have I fallen over my own feet in this city, only to see my briefcase contents spread over the sidewalk?) Young men in ties, even at 9:00 at night. And the many, many colors of people - brown, black, white, Asian, soldiers, government workers, pierced, with strollers, with bicycles. The 40+ papers you can get out of the banks of machines at every Metro stop. The sight of the Capitol at night - it's beautiful. Even on a Wednesday, sidewalk tables are full of laughing people. Some places I recognize - the Dubliner will be here forever - and others are new. It's the kind of place that makes you want to go places, if only to be a participant in the flow of motion, endless motion, that is this city.

This was a difficult place to live, but it's a wonderful place to visit.

A Delicate Balance

2009-07-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I was getting up early so I could lead BOTH of my lives today. I got out to the studio by 8:00 a.m. - already hot, but tolerable. Reloaded the big kiln, unloaded the baby kiln, and listened to the comforting on/off click of the mechanical relays in the kiln that was still firing. All good. Worked on one of the bowls and daydreamed to NPR.

Back in the house by 10:00 - drip, drip, drip - to turn on my computer for a webcast of the House Appropriations hearing (labor-hhs-education markup). It's not webcast?? So I call the Committee. Not only is it not webcast (something I depend on now that I'm here in Florida instead of the BIG CITY of DC) but it's OVER. I MISSED IT. Committee says it started at 8:30, other sources say 9:00. It couldn't have been a very intense hearing, if it was only an hour, but I still feel like I let myself down. What's posted on the web is just the headlines, and I'm always looking for the subheads. I turn on CSPAN and there's Chairman David Obey, arguing on the House floor. I guess the hearing really IS over...

Most days, I really like combining my lives. I get a lot of thinking done with my hands in the glass (and that thinking isn't all about glass, either!) Occasionally my typing is impeded by the bandaids on my hands (pinkies are especially annoying). But on days like today, I really wonder about how best to combine these two very different worlds.

Meanwhile, I'm hard at work on a window for the LeMoyne. It's due on the 20th. Heck, I might even be early.

Heat + Humidity = Efficiency

2009-06-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Man, it's hot. It's been 101 and humid - now we're having daily storms so it's 99 and humid. I figure I can work in the a.m. until about 9:30 or 10:00, and after about 8:00 p.m. I am learning to be SOOO efficient! Lots of out-of-studio planning - what steps are necessary, what is the best way to maximize firing time. The time-and-motion folks haven't gotten to me yet, though; I'm sure I still move 3x as much as is truly necessary. I just pretend it's exercise...

Trapped and Escaping

2009-06-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched October Sky. Have been working with Dr. Ruby Payne, a big poverty guru (and very nice) and have been thinking a lot about poverty, and the way that it traps some kids. But the thing about October Sky was that the kids were NOT poor, but they were just as trapped - a West Virginia coal town where you work for the mine. It's the only future that makes any sense -and it isn't much of a future. So when these 4 kids decide to try to win the national science fair, nobody respects them. Lots and lots of ways to be trapped. Family obligations, family expectations. Lack of vision. Poverty. Violence.

That's one of the things that I value most about my art - there are no rules, or at least there are no rules that I choose to obey. My mentor Steve Klein once gave me a picture (taken from an IBM ad?) that has a mouse in a maze. The mouse just chewed through the maze to get to the cheese. The caption: No rules for this mouse!

That's how I try to create: no rules for this mouse. And I try not to get trapped in my own or others' expectations.

Magazine Madness

2008-06-19T17:58:00.001-07:00

I love magazines. I'm the one who rips out pages (sorry, the ones with the ending of that story...) from the ones in the doctor's office. Design is everywhere!! My current favorite is Ready Made, but also on the nightstand:

The New Yorker (not for the pictures, but occasionally...!)
Glass
American Style
Oprah (you'd be surprises)
Modern Home
The Crafts Report
Southern Living
Ornament
Tallahassee Magazine
Baltimore
Quilting Arts
The Washingtonian
Coastal Living

Even the ads have great images. When I am open to inspiration, I find it everywhere. It's a good thing I have a lot of file space!

Does Art Pay?

2008-06-16T17:51:00.001-07:00

This weekend, John and I worked the booth at the Tallahassee Pride Festival. Nice: running into old friends (15 years ago...) that now have kids!! and remembering that Tallahassee has a liberal side. Not-so-nice: Clearing $107 for a day's work, in the blazing sun and then pouring rain.

So...does art pay? It wasn't an "art" festival - so maybe folks weren't prepared to buy. (I have to say, it's the first time I've ever shared space with church groups!) Lots of positive comments, lots of interest, not so many sales.

Then it takes me the rest of the weekend to recover. Hours of standing on pavement, hours of preparation, pinch-hitting for the products that didn't arrive (where IS that velcro shipment??), etc.

Next: E-bay store?

a little distraction...

2008-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, actually ever since I quit my day job, I've been feeding a stray. Hubby named "him" "George" ("why George?" "he just looks like a George...") and so it went. George doesn't get too close, and he doesn't like it if I get too close, either.

And then there was the incident.

I looked out the window one morning, sans glasses, to see George struggling with some dark shape. Was he fighting? Having sex? Great, stray cat sex on my deck. So I got my glasses. It was a kitten! A little black kitten, in George's mouth. When I stepped onto the deck, George dropped the baby and pushed him towards me. This, from a cat that won't give me the time of day! So I scooped up baby cat and made a nest for him inside. He was hurt - big wounds all over his neck plus missing patches of fur, an ulcer on his lip, and he was running a fever. So, unnamed kitten and I went to the vet the next day & got antibiotics, which he took like a trooper.

It doesn't take long for a kitten like this - a gift of grace - to find a place in my heart. Here he is by my keyboard, playing with a flea comb and "helping" me type. He weighs 3 pounds and 4 ounces - my other cats are 20# and 15#. His name is Pino (short for Pinot Noir) - solid black, gold eyes. Against dark furniture, he disappears when he closes his eyes.

Making Jewelry to Make a Living...

2008-05-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

The first studio I ever apprenticed at made jewelry, and not much else. I learned what those time&motion experts were on about - how to produce a lot, very quickly. But I longed to make art instead...

Now I am back to jewelry, but with a different attitude. Rather than making the same design endlessly I have decided to make "small batch" jewelry - like limited editions. That way, I can play with the concepts I'm currently exploring in larger pieces (these days, the magic of vitrograph stringer and texture), without feeling like I'm making the choice of "either/or."

It feels great. I feel great. Working at home is probably the best decision I have ever made.

And now I get to go with hubby on trips. Last week, we were in Orlando and stayed at the most amazing hotel - the Bohemian - downtown. It is a Kessler property, and it was like staying in a museum in the best possible way. There is a gallery, and the halls are filled with art. It made me want to hop on & off the elevator on every floor just to look. They have a piano bar with original Gustav Klimt drawings (not to mention a Wusthof grand piano). It is truly sensational, and not outrageous. Plus, it's the kind of place where *everyone* who works there is a gem. I was wandering the restaurant in mid-afternoon looking at the art, when the manager led me to a special event room just to show me the art collection there. Oh, and the table! Made of alabaster, I think, and lit from the bottom so that parts of it glowed. The gal who worked in the gallery was as good as any docent. Now, if I could only come up with the $9,000 for the Jean Claude Roy painting of a field of poppies that mesmerized me, life would be perfect.

Small town girl?

2008-04-18T13:20:00.001-07:00

We left the greater Washington, D.C. area two years ago (Sept. 06) and moved to the tiny town of Quincy, Florida. The biggest town nearby is Tallahassee, and it barely counts as a city. I think of myself as the same (don't we all?) but when I visited D.C. this week for a conference, I felt like a veritable Beverly Hillbilly. I had dinner with a friend of mine at a panAsian restaurant - I thought I was going to burst into tears over the availability of beef rendang (Indonesian) and chicken satay (Thai). Reading the Washington Post made me delirious. Riding the metro...well, I could go on & on. One thing I MUST mention is KramerBooks, in Dupont Circle. I have been shopping there for 20 years, and it never changes. It is a tiny, hole-in-the-wall kind of place where my faux-leather briefcase/bag inevitably bumps into someone's tattoos, and where my liberal heart feels ever so slightly conservative - in comparison, anyway.

They have a table there, just inside the door (for maximum traffic interruption?) and stacked on the table are, inevitably, books I have loved - and books that I will love. I almost always buy from that table. I will admit that I felt relieved after my 2-year absence to still have read about half the volumes on the table. Quincy might be tiny, but we do still get Amazon books by mail :)
On the plane I mentioned KramerBooks to a 50ish man, who told me with some pride that he had read his VERY FIRST fiction outside of high school while posted to Iraq. He told me that he keeps himself too busy to read.

To me, too busy to read is too busy to dream. To inhabit another world. I cannot imagine not reading.

The oddest thing about the trip was that I didn't bring a camera. I am relentless about my camera, but of course I didn't feel like I was "visiting" anything "new." Leave it to Washington to bring out all the cherry blossoms, and the tulips, and the beautiful coming of spring in Rock Creek Park to make my shutter finger itch. So I can't share any photos. But - I have changed, and not just my clothing. Maybe it's because I quit my "day job" and so am less stressed. But I was calmer, letting the craziness that is DC (traffic, noise, lines, horns honking, Pope-related road closings...) wash over me. I love the energy there (and the blossoms). I love the fact that in Dupont, people with teeny-tiny yards - no bigger than a regular-sized mattress - plant oodles of tulips. I love the fact that I can shop for shoes after 9:00 at night.

But I love being home. My head is full of glass ideas (as is my notebook). Back to the studio~!

Today: first show in Tallahassee

2008-04-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Heck, first show in ... 2 years? 3? The great irony when we moved here in 2006 was that I finally had the studio of my dreams - and no time to use it. I am so happy that's not true any more!

Here are some pix of the work in the show.

Florida's Mangroves

2008-04-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about mangroves. I grew up on Tampa Bay, and we had mangroves growing right around our dock. They are amazing trees - apparently they're also called "walking" trees because of the way they grow - their roots extend and then basically a new "trunk" grows. The ones I know are only about as big around as my forearm, but that's still pretty impressive. I think my next piece will incorporate my friends the mangroves. (see pic)

A Good Day in the Studio

2008-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Some days, it works. Unloaded the kiln this a.m. - a new piece, sunflower quilt, came out fabulous. A re-fired piece, the raven, will become a component in another quilt, and he looks magestic. And a very sad-looking manatee now is swimming (added water in this firing). I managed to get the kiln company on the phone, so am now trying (again!) to re-wire the oval kiln. Re-fired the coffin with a 3 piece triptych - lovely.

And it's a historic day - all 3 big kilns clicking along. I finally fixed the oval - I hate it when I have to slow down to fix something. The next thing is the blaster - what is it about piping, that you have to deal with every single pipe every single time?

All in all, a fine day. 4 days until the show, and counting...!

Freezing?? In Florida??

2008-03-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I admit, when I moved back here from Maryland it wasn't all about sun & fun. Or fun in the sun. You get the picture. But I'm a lot happier sitting in shorts on my back porch on a sunny February afternoon than I am even *thinking* about using my tile saw when it's 32 degrees. Which would be fine, if it weren't for those talented Canadians (yes, Melanie and Les, this is you) who have actual evidence that they use their tile saw in the snow. Not a dusting, either.

I don't know how they do it. I want to curl up *inside* the kiln today and take a long nap. Maybe if I set the controller at 78....?

I hope this isn't just procrastination. There's some cool pieces - um, cooling - in the kiln now. Trying to re-wire the bathtub kiln. Have you ever seen a wiring diagram? They're - um - very diagrammy. And not the least bit useful. Guess who's calling tech support in the morning!

Finally, a glass blog

2008-03-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a great month - resigned from job, told to stay home. Well, for me, that's the studio. And the kilns are humming! The best thing, to me, about being able to be in the studio every day is that it makes my brain work differently - I have an idea, refine it, and produce it. Now, those notebooks full of sketches are pieces of glass.

I have wanted to make glass mobiles for a long time - years really - and am finally allowing myself to do just that. I have 2 versions out of the kiln, waiting for me to figure out the hanging and wiring. As soon as I figure out how to post a picture, I will. They're not what I'm aiming for, but I am trying very hard not to let the "perfect be the enemy of the good." That's always been a tough one for me - I want everything to be perfect, but there is always a process. I need to honor that process in myself.