Adventures at Home and Abroad

 Our travels to the south and west hugged the coast mostly, except for the Rock of Cashel. Cork, Cobh, Bantry.  Someday, we’ll see it all in sunshine. But that’s a different trip. The view from Garnish Island. 100 year old rhododendrons, anyone? The cathedral in Cobh, the last stop of the Titanic. Rock of Cashel. So ancient.

Three weeks in Ireland and “The North” and the weather gods weren’t necessarily our friends this time. Mostly chilly and misty, so full of atmospherics but not always the best for photos or our moods. As usual, the people are so friendly, the food fresh and delicious, and the scenery breathtaking. Belfast, so interesting and full of tragic history. Along the Irish Sea. Back in the Republic, Glendalough.

I’ve been working on multiple glass projects, but this joint effort with John turned out really well! He has engineered the frame to withstand high winds, which, as we learned the hard way, is a requirement.

I finally finished my largest project yet, a supersized window valence. I need to figure out how to take a better photograph, one that captures the movement in the clear glass. Master Bathroom Window Valence

I decided to make a house-warming gift for Lauren, who was moving into her new apartment. This piece included several different techniques, including one I'd never tried before. I found a small sturdy stick, covered it in copper foil, and soldered it. Then, I integrated it into the piece. Fun!

I decided that my mostly Irish husband needed a Celtic knot for his window, so I found a fairly simple pattern. I'm very happy with the colors.

Making Christmas ornaments seemed like a great idea at the time. Easy small gifts, not too time-consuming, colorful. And, if recipients hated them, they could re-gift or conveniently lose them. What I learned: making small things drives me crazy. These little things are FUSSY to make, and they take much longer than one would presume. I like how most of them turned out, however...ornaments are no longer on my list of things to do!

Piet Mondrian, re-imagined. The original: In progress... The final product. I used decorative soldering to give the flower's center some texture and color.

Well, I learned something new with this last project: creating an abstract piece is a thousand times harder than following a realistic pattern. I wanted to follow-up my lead came class with an actual project, completed on my own. As ever, I have bins of scrap glass, so I decided to create a piece where I could accomplish two goals: 1) use the lead came method; and 2) use up scrap glass! It sounded rather easy...sort of like putting a puzzle together. The truth is, it was incredibly hard. Balancing colors and pieces of glass into a unified design almost drove me crazy. At first, I thought I could piece things together without a pattern, but that process was a giant failure. So, I forced myself to draw a pattern that I could revise, revise, and revise again. I'm really happy with how it turned out, despite all of my whining...

I took a class at D&L last month and learned how to make leaded stained glass. In other words, use lead came to assemble the pieces instead of copper foil. The lead came method is a thousand years old and is used by artisans worldwide. But, as one might expect, working with lead does present some health hazards, so it is a bit more persnickety than the copper foil method, which is what I learned several years ago. (Most new beginners in stained glass learn the copper foil method.) The only thing I don't like about the lead came method is stretching the lead itself...I still don't have the hang of it. But I did love using the lead to piece everything together. For some reason, the process was more meditative than copper foil. Then, the mudding process (the "glue" that holds the piece together) is messy, but it works. For some reason, the whole process feels more organic. Also, you don't have to solder as much, which makes me happy. I'm not usually a per...

In this case, I'm not sure the vision translated well. The tile captured the flow of the water so well, and its motion. I think, to be somewhat critical, I should not have been so literal in translating the tile's design to stained glass. I should have simplified the design a bit more. There are too many wave lines so the visual is muddied a bit. And that's a valuable lesson to learn.

I found a tile that I liked, and decided to see if I could turn it into a stained glass piece. It's relatively small (8 x 14), but I love how it came out. I was able to use some glass that really brought the design to life.

This piece is one of my very first creations. I found the pattern online and made it on my own, with a little help from the guys at the Vinery in Madison. I love Charles Rennie Macintosh, and this design echoes how he makes hearts and flowers. I may remake it one of these days, just for fun.

I started going over to D&L Glass for open studio for stained glass work and it's been fun! Becky is a fabulous teacher and some of the old Glass Warehouse gang has reappeared. I spend way too much time trolling Pinterest for ideas, and thought I'd see if I liked creating objects that were more free-form. Some of the ones I saw, particular by artists from Japan, were lovely. I thought I'd like the "mobile" aspect of what I made, but it feels to "crafty" for me. I suppose if I ever wanted to sell at craft fairs, objects like these would be nice sellers. But I don't want to sit in a tent all weekend and wonder why people aren't buying my stuff!

It's been a challenging time for my hobby...with Glass Warehouse closed, I just work by myself. Which, 90% of the time, is just fine. But every once in a while, I need help or advice...duh. Becky MacKenzie from GW is organizing an open studio series at D&L Glass, which sounds exciting. I don't love the idea of driving to 52nd and Pecos, but I'll do it anyway. I found this design (the left side of an antique English window) and decided to try it. My challenge was to combine multiple shades of the green glass for the leaves, so that it looked somewhat organic. I think it worked!

I've switched from writing to stained glass lately. Here's one of my early projects. I love the color.

I finished my stained glass piece, my homage to Kauai, I suppose. Until I begin another one...

For the last year, I've taken stained glass classes at Glass Warehouse, on Broadway. When we moved here, I was shocked to discover there weren't many places for true glasswork and instruction. Yes, I could paint my own pottery, but that's not my interest. Apparently, during the last financial crash (2008 or so), almost all of the shops that catered to glasswork enthusiasts closed in the greater Denver metro area. But Glass Warehouse remained, mostly because Connie and her husband live above the shop. I love my class, and the instructor, Becky MacKenzie, is just excellent. She's taught me much more, and more effectively, than anything I learned in Madison. And, the Friday group is pretty cool. The women are interesting and not crazy and several are real artists. We had bad news yesterday. Well, bad for us, not for Connie, the owner. She's retiring and selling the building, and our classes will end, by early December. Sigh.