Little Mug

Little Mug
Originally uploaded by hojpoj.

I've dubbed my bro's pottery "Brotherware" ... he's got his computer! Next is internet connection - although he could have gotten that taken care of first. *grumble*

Oh well, he's moving right along. Next? Kiln needs to be built at his house (so he doesn't have to go anywhere to fire his pottery).

tick tock tick tock

Iridescent Circle Pendant

Next up, my 2nd daughter's personal favorite so far:

Deep Blue Glass Pendant

Here's the next pendant! I'm definitely having a lot of fun with the pictures. Luckily, so many of my flowers seem to be in bloom right now which makes for fun photos. My girls even helped out with the picture taking. They love doing it too - as a matter of fact, my eldest is now interested in maybe taking a photography class. :D

We've taken so many pictures, we don't even know whose is whose any more.

1st Pendant! (well, 2nd really)

I did it.

I wasn't going to do it, but I did it.

Yes... I made a pendant and listed it for sale in my shop.

I did not want to get into jewelry, but I had this little square of glass that I made into a pendant for myself. It was such a cool little pattern of color that I couldn't throw it in the scrap box, or add it to innumerable other squares in a whirligig - so I made it into jewelry.

It was kind of interesting to try ... bit of a pain to get the solder looking right, but rewarding to finish - and super fun to photograph. But the most addicting part was looking for pieces of glass that were right for a pendant. It was like a treasure hunt! Sorting through my glass, holding it up to my hand to see what it would look like against skin, checking it against different light strengths, finding the perfect little wisp or wave or color combo ... yep, I like that part. I made a small handful of varying pendants and will be listing them throughout the week. Wonder how they will fare? They were fun to do, but I will just be adding it to my list of things that are nice to attempt now and again. I wouldn't want to do them ALL the time.

UFC & Chuck Liddell

Okay, this isn't about glass or art, just one of my interests.

I've been watching UFC since the late 1990's and have had a lot of favorite fighters. But Chuck Liddell has been my all-time favorite, hands down. He is so unorthodox and exciting to watch when fighting, and so laid back when not fighting, that I can't help but like him ... Even when he loses - which isn't often. Chuck even soothed my insane need to see Tito Ortiz get the piss beat out of him - not once, but twice.

But, he lost the belt last night after a nice long run of keeping it all for himself. I'm not worried about Chuck's loss of the belt last night though, he's a scrapper and will be back. I hope he bounces back with ease, and truth be told - I'm excited to see him brawl his way back up to the top. It's more fun watching them go for a belt than it is waiting for them to lose it (which they always will, sooner or later).

Alright. I feel better now. :D

Love ya, Mr. Liddell!

EGA Showcase

Here are all the items I made for the EGA showcase* that ran today (and will again - though I'm not in it - on the 31st of May, I believe). Boy, nothing like whirligigs and boxes to get those hard won hours eaten up. They take a lot of time, but are small enough I can't charge too much for them or no one would buy them! That's alright, it's not intricate work, just time consuming. The whirligigs are both sold (one to a happy repeat customer), but none of the boxes have yet. They will eventually, I'm sure. It'll be a nice surprise some other day.

Of course, I finished the whirligigs today and it rained all day until about 6pm. So much for good pictures I thought. But, I think the pictures I got of them turned out better than other ones before. The grass and trees were pretty against the copper ... made for very eye-catching photos and all done from my front porch. Yay!

I am happy I made a few sales and participated in another EGA event. I don't know how everyone else did yet. There's talk of a sale coming up too. I might opt out of that one, not sure though. We shall see!

My new tools arrived today - ironic they didn't get here in time for my massive production push, but all's well - I need to figure out a few things with them first. I also experimented with some jewelry (something I didn't want to get into, for various reasons, but it's fun to try something new after boxes and mobiles). Perhaps I'll list it, but I haven't decided if I want to go down that road yet. Time will tell, so will patience and talent. :D

*I'd link to it, but it's always changing. The showcase is only for May 24th and is linked to on the home page of Etsy.

Gearing up

Heh, my mother stopped by to pick up her Mother's Day present and ended up with two presents! Turns out the little whirligig I made her was a bit too small for the stand, so she got the funky abstract piece shown in the last post (May 17th). It fit her stand perfectly - like it was meant to go on there. There was a little strangeness going on with the solder, so it's probably best I pulled it from my shop. Now my mom can keep her eye on it after I fixed it up a bit.

I have a few things in production now, but nothing I haven't done a similar item of before. Knowing there's this EGA showcase coming up, I figure I better have some pieces that seem to sell better than my large abstracts or designed panels. Trinket boxes and whirligigs will be my stock "seller" it seems, until I come up with something new that's popular.

Today has mostly been spent outside cleaning the back patio and outdoor rugs, corralling the kid and fixing some windchimes (although I may have picked too windy of a day for that little project). Next? Foiling the above mentioned items. *sigh* Where's a bon-bon when I need one? Or a margarita?

a little bit o' fun

Okay - now, THIS one is special. It's a total whim piece that just happened. I let my fingers do the work and shut my brain off. Wheeeeeeeeeee! Is it a seahorse? A plant frond? Funky DNA? Who knows! All I know is I love it, my kids love it, and I had a total blast making it and can't quit looking at it.

Oh yes - it's fun with glass!

My brother's next item ...

Here is the next piece from my brother - a small bowl with a poured glaze pattern. It's gorgeous and I love the size (smallish).

Along with that - he got his computer and a digital camera ordered, YAY! One step closer to getting my big brother into the 21st century. He's pretty excited, too.

Star of David

Star of David
Originally uploaded by hojpoj.

Here is the first, of I hope many, Judaica pieces. While I'm not Jewish, I have studied many religions and love aspects of all of them. Hopefully, this piece will bring pleasure to someone - offered with all due respect.

Ol' Friend gets New Home

One of the first few pieces I put up for sale on Etsy has finally found a new home. I sure hope the buyer likes it as much in person as I do. Of course, I will miss this one - it's a lovely free form panel. I will probably be making more along these lines in the future. There's just something about it that is very pleasing to me.

Love this glass!

Oooooh - I really like this piece more than I thought I would. The new blue glass is beeeyoootiful. I cannot believe how lovely it turned out. No one will buy it for awhile, so it will definitely be hanging in my home gallery so I can enjoy it! WOOO!

late night

Today, Maggie and I planted flowers along the fence that faces the people across the street. We seem to be spending a lot of money on beautifying a section of the yard that we rarely see ourselves. Of course, one of my neighbors (whose house faces that stretch of fence) laughingly thanked me. Apparently, she has a bunch of flowers that faces one of her neighbors, which she herself can't see from her windows. I told her it was like a domino effect. Which made me think of the neighbors I can see, and except for the state trooper that lives across the street who insists on mowing his yard in tiny nylon running shorts and nothing else (luckily he's very fit, but still), there's really not much except my own yard to gaze upon. And boy, does it need some work.

Beds ranging from a couple of feet to 5-6 feet surround the house, every tree has it's own little bed, both sides of the fence that encloses our back yard, even the fence that hides the trash cans has little beds surrounding it. I thought I'd be smart this year and buy perennials - but holy cow - are they pricey. Oh, and not to mention, the man that lives behind us is a retired professor of botany from the local university. (No pressure!) *sigh*

I'd MUCH rather be thinking about stained glass.

So tonight, I did a piece that I'll take pictures of and post tomorrow (or today rather - when it's light). It's an abstract, using gorgeous colors, but I'm really itching to do something more design intensive. Some of my ACEO cards strike me as possibly being good jumping points, but I'm still mentally working out the logistics.

I just don't feel as though I have any time lately. Or rather, any time to be working on my glass anyhow. I have all kinds of time to do anything involving a toddler, cleaning, running the older kids places, and being generally available to everyone else. Ever feel like that? I know it could be worse. I could have all that AND a job outside the home. Which is probably next on the list of things people want me to do. (Did I say probably? That could be omitted, I'm sure.)

To sum up? I better enjoy what time I get to work with glass while I can. Even if it's after dark.

supplies

Today was supply day. My favorite day! I got more foil, solder, chain - and, of course - GLASS! Woo! I picked out some standard colors like red and green. Another couple of new blues in varying shades and textures ( I can't help it, the blue glass just screams at me for attention!), and some nifty other stuff that doesn't really fit a category other than ... something I didn't have before.

My supplier, Jean, is a great lady - I think we really click on tastes and style. She's very into free form and "art" type glass over traditional works. I try very hard not to go into her look, but if there was a person I'd be inclined to copy - it'd be her. Luckily, we're both open to sharing new ideas, but also very respectful of each other's art and try hard not to overstep stylistic boundaries. (Would that the whole world was like that.) She pointed out that she really loves my tea panel and how I did it, which made me feel great, considering how much I value her talent and time involved in stained glass.

We had a lot of fun today (2 hrs worth) just shooting the breeze, talking about techniques, selling, art fairs, business cards (she loves my new MOO cards), mosaics, and lots of other things. We even tried an experiment with some glass cutting. It failed, but I guarantee we'll be trying it on our own time - hoping to come up with a solution for each other. It's really always a treat to not only get supplies, but to also have someone I respect and enjoy being there. Well, of course she's there - she owns the joint. But, y'know what I mean.

Abstract Squares Freeform Panel

Abstract Squares Freeform Panel
Originally uploaded by hojpoj.

This is an older piece - but it's one of my favorites. I realized that the photos I had of it were really crappy, so I took some new ones today. There's something about this panel that just makes me feel good, and I can't really put my finger on it.

Regardless, it's still for sale and maybe the nicer photos will convince someone to nab it. I will be sad to see it go, but happy for the new owner. I truly love this one.

Park People Original ACEO

Park People Original ACEO
Originally uploaded by hojpoj.

Okay, I've got 6 ACEO cards sitting on Etsy. While I'll be kosher with the ACETSY group's listing requirements, I suddenly find myself wondering if perhaps my art card selling spree has come to an end.

Careful what you wish for, eh?

*posted a bit later*

Okay. That one sold! I feel redeemed. :D

Seafoam Glass Trinket Box

Seafoam Glass Trinket Box
Originally uploaded by hojpoj.

Here's the latest box. This one is really beautiful. (Gave me all kinds of trouble though, but I think working late at night - at some point, you should expect trouble and just be smart enough to go to bed.)

The glass on this is kind of a seafoam, blue, light green and the lightest green all kind of smoky together. It reminds me of a Monet painting (especially the inside).