Vessel Sinks and Metal Etching 'r Us!

Here are the 2 sinks I'm working on! Today, I drilled the hole and countersink on the silver grey one. It's packed up and ready to go to Jorge in California. It was time consuming to polish that edge, but totally worth it in the end. They'll love it!

This sink is light silver grey and silver grey fracture irid special production glass.

The golds, the blues, the silvers, and the plums...make this an awesome design.

The customer is putting this on a black countertop, but on white you can see how transparent it is!

This is the second sink. It is for my dear friend Luanne's guest bath remodel. The sink is finished, but because we adore her, we're going to do the special flattened, polished edge. It will likely take me a few hours, but I want it to be very special for her.

So tomorrow, you'll catch me hanging out at the flat lap for a while. I'm still kind of sore from the grey sink polishing, but I'll think of this as my abdominal and bicep workout! Sometimes I dance and polish at the same time just to make the time go faster. Since I'm wearing my earphones, I sing at the top of my lungs. I bet I look hysterical to anyone who stumbles in!

This sink is cast. It's a combination of Grass Green, Turquoise, Light Aqua, Clear w/Silver irid, and light sky blue. I hand pulled black sheet glass into stringer for contrasting lines. I know my clients will love it.

Also, on Sunday we had a metal etching class. Here's the project we did...

This is Nicole's bracelet. We etched copper and brass sheet and then cut, punched and connected jump rings and hand made a clasp. I bet she's wearing it right now!

Finished Another Baptismal Font!

Hello World! It's been 17 days since I blogged about anything. Can you believe that I've been feeling guilty?

Here are the pictures of the Baptismal Font for Our Savior's Lutheran Church in College Station, Texas. Their colors in the sanctuary are deep blues with touches of ambers and aquas. They wanted their font to evoke the feeling of water and tie in the colors of the sanctuary. They will be building a new stand for the font.  I can't wait to see it in the space. Pardon the reflections!

Our Savior's Lutheran Church Baptismal Font

View from the top - Our Savior's Lutheran Church

This is what the cast disc looked like...to see the
filled casting, you can check out the previous blog entry.

The last 2 weeks have been a roller coaster ride. I'm finally catching up with my school reading. I was 2 weeks behind on my reading and assignments, but I'm almost there. Spring Break for my son brought it's own time challenges, but that's almost done too. ...and our computer at the studio crapped out once again sending all the administrative stuff and into a tizzy....and me with it. Cathy who had to work with customers in the midst of this stayed calm! Stacey rode in on the white horse, and tried to save the day, (multiple times) mostly she was successful in keeping me calm and not allowing me to melt into a puddle on the floor. Thanks to Ed and Stacey for finally fixing it!

Enough whining!!! All is well in Gail-land and WD-land now! Thank you patron saint of over committed people everywhere!

So...  Mark Ditzler, an artist from Seattle came to teach about 12 days ago. He was wonderful! A very cool guy! He taught a lot of different glass techniques. His techniques were not new to me, but how he executed them was totally new to me. It's funny to discover that just because you know how to do something, doesn't mean you know the best ways, or even other ways to achieve the same thing. I always learn something from every instructor who comes here.

How Mark combines many of the techniques together into cohesive projects was the best lesson of his four day workshop. He demonstrated a few projects that he is well known for, but they are so elementary for him that I had to laugh! This guy has done some very complicated and exciting architectural glass work that isn't even on his website. Here are some of the simple demos he did.

Mark's dragonfly with silk screened wings.
He uses these in sinks, etc. So simple, but totally effective and powerful!

Mark's fish - Pretty realistic, and not cartoon-like!

Mark's Pattern Bars - Bilateral Symmetrical Fruit!
The students made butterfly wings, lemons, kiwis, etc.

Mark's silk screened sea shells!

I'd love to have Mark come back and do an advanced class on architectural design. The stuff he's cast is amazing. But we'd need 2 months just to anneal the suckers!!

Then Rene and I co-taught a combined Soldering 1 & 2 class. She taught part 1 and I did part 2. We had fun! But then we stayed until 7:30 at the studio doing our thing! Kaye, one of our students, had a ball! She's so much fun to hang around with! The other three students had a great time too! Although I think we overloaded them a bit.

He's my mixed metals pendant with bezel cup setting and custom bezel set dichro cabochon.

This week I taught on Thursday night, and Friday and then Lisa Meyer (she's awesome) came by to help me do more printing samples and non-dichro jewelry samples for my classes in Vegas. I'll post when finished so you can see the results!

Heidi was in the studio a lot this week! Love having her around! She'd doing great stuff! She's spinning as many plates as I am! I'm impressed! Go girl!

Another Baptismal Font! City Year Event Pictures!

The City Year Gala event was Tuesday February 28th. Here are a few pictures featuring the vases we made. One of the vases was a gift/award for this years chairman, Gordon Hartman. 

Gordon Hartman accepting his vase as an award at the City Year Gala 2012 

Another Shot!

Here's a shot of one of the tables!

Thanks to all who made this happen! Especially Stacey C, Stacy L, Judy H, Rene J, and Heidi A! These ladies helped smash glass, prime molds, grind discs, vacuum kilns, wrap vases, and keep my spirits high during all the drama. I love the WD girls!!!

I started the newest commission today. It's another Baptismal Font. This one is for Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. I really love doing these bowls! Anyway, the client loved what we did for Zion Lutheran Church and asked that we do a similar design, but with their colors. We were happy to oblige! Their sanctuary has much more amber light, so we added an amber tint to the mix to make the light coming from the bowl more "golden." I think it will be beautiful!

Here's the glass we choose, later we decided to add 1414 also!

This is in the kiln right now!

 I'll post tomorrow from Mark Ditzler's class at Wired Designs Studios!

The Great Vase Project of 2012 is Complete!

Happy to report that 45 gem toned vases are completed! It's been a challenge to pull it off on time, but the City Year Gala event is on Tuesday night and the client is picking them up on Monday! The vases turned out to be beautiful!

A close up shot of the vases!

I know these will look beautiful with candles in them!

We had a visit from our Bullseye Rep, Devon! She did a great presentation on color reactions. Afterward we had a mini-teach where we made sample tiles of color reactions. We had about 30 attendees!  It was really educational and we had a lot of fun making the samples. Now I need to fire a million 3" square tiles....eeek!

I should have them done by Tuesday morning! I'm sure we'll have some great samples.

Just a peek at some of the samples!

I'm starting a new Baptismal Font commission tomorrow for Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in College Station. I really love doing these things. They are very fun and relaxing. It always feels good knowing that something you are creating will be used regularly in celebrations that bring people closer to their hearts and each other.  I'll keep you in the loop with pictures of the progress.

Another Beautiful Vessel Sink!

Just finished today!  You're seeing it before the client. This beautiful vessel sink will reside in the guest bath in a custom home here in San Antonio. The house is being built by Davis Homes. The design was inspired by the clients marble vanity slab, which is silver/gray with lines of cobalt blue and flecks of white and deep green. The interior designer, Debbie Stoli, is working with the clients to make their home a gorgeous place. I love working with designers because they really see lots of design possibilities when I start pulling out the glass. I think this glass vessel sink turned out beautifully!

This glass vessel sink is transparent steel blue-1406
and clear fracture irid 4101.31

Here's a close up of the texture and the drain.

....and another picture just because I love it!

Last night I taught a mini-class on torch fired enamels. We made some fun copper earrings and other little goodies!  Here's a few photos.

Charlotte and Rene torching away! Having a great time!

Charlotte's first enamel project!  Pretty great for a beginner!

The Bowl is in the Sanctuary!

Font. n. 1. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms). a. a large bowl for baptismal water, usually mounted on a pedestal. b. a receptacle for holy water. 

As promised, here are the pictures of the Baptismal Bowl/Font sitting on the stand.

It was wonderful to deliver it and see the happy faces of the Pastor and the church staff. They will be unveiling it on Sunday morning. I'm so glad they are pleased! I'm really liking doing these jobs 'cause they make me feel like I am going to be a part of every happy celebration at the church. I know that's silly, but I'm a sap!

I'm teaching beginning Soldering tomorrow to 7 students.  I'll share what we make!

Tah Dah! Here's the Finished Bowl!

The beautiful Baptismal Bowl for Zion Lutheran Church Font is finally done. The deadline is January 11th, so I'm totally excited that I'll be able to deliver the job early. That doesn't happen often! This bowl is 16" in diameter and about 4.5" deep.

This is the front view. I wish there wasn't so much glare!

This view is just a little further up.

This view is on top, looking into the bowl.

The rim actually came out very nicely. It's always a bit of a gamble, even when you do everything right. I'll take a photo tomorrow of the bowl in the font stand in the sanctuary so you can really see it in it's home!

Also, I cut a boat load of dichroic glass today... Here's a little bite to wet your appetite!

This is rainbow, granite, ripple on back- COE 90...YUMMY!

The Best Last Days in the Studio at Wired Designs!

There are some days that go down in the record book! Today was the most wonderful day! As the year comes to a close, I am thankful for my friends and family, and the best students and clients!

Here's why:

• The folks from Zion Lutheran Church approved the blank for their Baptismal Bowl. They said, "we love it!" and that makes me so happy! We decided to make it thicker and heavier, so I added a 6mm clear layer behind the design. It's in the kiln re-fusing now. Cross your fingers...no pun intended!
• We are doing a new sink commission for a residence in Stone Oak. The client brought in their marble countertop sample, for us to match. They have some technical issues to figure out first though. They want to undercount the sink, but not back light it, so color might be an issue. The marble sample is a combo of grey, cobalt blue, with white and deep green flecks. This isn't going to be easy...YiKES! But I am up for the challenge!

• I got myself a holiday present! I've always wanted one of these super expensive riveting system tools, with all the goodies that come with it! So I decided to spoil myself and get it. Let's be honest, who else is gonna buy this for me, c'mon! So I have over a week of time off to play with it. It's stupid expensive ($100-for the basic unit, although it cost me $199 with accessories and shipping) but it's supposed to be awesome. I'm hoping that this is one of those times when you really do get what you pay for. I'll show you some stuff I do with it.
• My mom is turning 75 in 2012 and I want to do something with her that is on her "bucket list." She's never been to Europe, and she's always wanted to go to Paris, so I found a cruise that I think she'd love. London, Paris, Bordeaux, Lisbon, etc. I showed her and she agreed to go!!! So off we'll go....next year.
• I got to work a half day today and I went home a made a stuffed pork roast with cranberry and apples, sage and white wine, and some other stuff. It's in the oven roasting now and smells delish! Nicole is coming over for dinner and we'll eat, hang, and plot the future of glass as we know it!
• I am grateful for the staff/WD family; Judy (Who thinks she doesn't know what she's doing, but always does just the right thing.), Cathy (Who I miss while she's gone, because NO ONE can dish the dirt like she can.), Stacy (Who isn't arid as much since she's a full time student now-miss her!) Natalie (Who is the portrait of the perfect mom.), Nicole (Who juggles teaching, working, leading, and just being with finesse and style.) Stacey C (Who is smart, funny, and lately...made of steel!) I love them all!

More rambling about happiness and love later!

Everything is Different & More of the Same

Today started with a bang! I emptied the big kiln of 14 various and sundry bottles that someone paid me to slump, just to fill it back up with more of the same.  Then, just one more load tomorrow of the little buggers. It's not the most artistic endeavor I've got going, but it does pay the electric bill. 

'Tis the season for bottle slumping, and the festive jingle of glass cheese boards! This is what they're planning to make out of those recycled wine bottles. They look cute all dressed up like this!

When that was done, I got to start the next commission. I'm now contracted to do the Baptismal Bowl for the font at the Zion Lutheran Church here in San Antonio. It's a very old congregation, with a a beautiful light and airy sanctuary. I'm excited to tackle another one of these projects!

Here's what's firing in the kiln right now as I write. It will take about 24 hours for this firing cycle. It's 15 pounds of glass with gorgeous shards of light sky blue, light aqua tint rainbow irid, steel blue, neo lavender tint, clear, and true blue. I have high hopes. I'll post the pix of the finished flat disc when it comes out. It felt really good to put it together and get the kiln going. Between the hammer and glass tile nippers my hands were very busy this morning. 

Another project that has been fun to tackle is "Peggy's Bowl." This one I created with the client. Peggy picked all of the glass for the job, and then told me what she wanted and we put it together as a team. We both loved how the piece turned out. We slumped it into a specially made mold that made it look like crumpled fabric and it looked beautiful as a focal point on her wall. Then, suddenly a week after hanging it it somehow fell off the wall and broke into 9 pieces. Yikes!

Peggy brought all the pieces back and we set out to see what could be done. I felt terrible for her. She had tears in her eyes as she handed me her beloved creation. Give the state of affairs with the 9 pieces, I told her that I had no idea what could be done, but that I'd give it a try.

I know it's kind of hard to tell from this picture because of the glare, but I was able to put the pieces next to each other, add some frit and stringer and Wallah!  You can't even tell that this disc used to be 9 separate pieces! YEAH!!!!  It does look great if I say so myself. Stacey came in and asked me if I had re-made the piece from scratch!  Not bad... if it could fool someone who knows what to look for!  

Anyway... I'll be slumping this tomorrow into it's final shape. We'll used the same mold so it will have the crinkled paper look again. But, this time we're incorporating a stronger, more secure hanging system right into the slumping of the piece. I'll take a picture of that when it comes out of the kiln so you can see what we did. I think it should work out better this time. Fingers crossed!!

That's all until tomorrow! Ciao!