ho ho ho

I finished this 16 x 20 Senorita almost two weeks ago but was unable to post her photo because she was a Christmas surprise.  This was for a Spanish teacher who loves "dia de los muertos," lilies, and red.  Check, check and check!  Let me tell you, a lot of blood when into this.  While working on background, I cut off the tip of one of my knuckles, blecch!  So worth it because the Spanish teacher is my new daughter, Erin.  Kaleo asked me to make it for her.  Serious fun.  What a beautiful smile!

meet diana prince

Great Hera!  I spent quite a bit of time with Diana Prince the past 6 weeks so I know a few things about her.  For instance, did you know the creator of this Amazon princess ( William Moulton Marstonalso) invented the polygraph?  No WONDER she has a magic lasso that will get the truth out of you.  Oh so many cool things about her- seriously revolutionary in her day.

The whole reason she became a mosaic is that blue hair.  I wanted to do something cartoon so I could do that cool blue hair and BenDay dots.  While I was sitting with a tweezers, I began to question that decision but now that it is done....love it.  I mean, first I had to MAKE all those bitty balls.  Then I need it to be fun so I fired the blue on one side, then fired the red on the other.  So when you see it in person, it shifts when your perspective changes.  And yeah, I wanted a big BLAM!  Stars and stripes forever, baby.  She'll be in the Disney show in a week.  YES!

annual pineapple

My brother and I have this corny inside joke about pineapple upside down cake.  My mom used to make it every year for my brother's birthday because she said it was his favorite.  Every year he would tell her that he really does not like pineapple upside down cake.  But since there was always 364 days until the next birthday, she would forget.  Ironically, Rob's favorite cake is... yes... pineapple upside down.  So I saw this photograph on Facebook of a pineapple upside down cake and it just struck me as a mosaic.  I mean, doesn't everything?  So right now this is my new favorite, at least until Wonder Woman is done, right?  Look ma!  No blue!

cute couple!

Just finished this today -a wedding present.  I was asked for Philadelphia references.  So if it is a wedding present, you gotta be thinking of the Philadelphia LOVE sculpture, right?  They had a liberty bell at everyone's place setting for the reception so the liberty bell part is a no-brainer too.  I LOVE that tile.  In fact, it was the first time I used Bullseye glass to make it.  The city-scape was snatched right from their wedding stationary, the artwork was from one of the bride's students...yes, I stole it.  Oh, and yes, the signature is a little on the large side, BUT it is because Billet is their name too.  This is my nephew and his new bride.  Aren't they a cute couple?

 

these are a few

                                     

"these are a few" (16 x 20) is the last thing I have completed.  I actually did three chocolate and blue pieces, the other two are tiny 10 x 10's.  So when I am showing this piece to Shaundi, I put on my best Julie Andrews voice.  I proceeded to sing to the tune of "My Favourite Things."  White chocolate, dark chocolate, bubbles, stripes, jimmies.  Shaundi rolls her eyes and says, "Oh my God, Mom.  Is that what you do in your shop all day?"  Like I would EVER admit to that.  But seriously, you can't hear that in your head?

jersey boys

WOW!  It has been a lo-O-ong time since I posted anything.  I have not been a slug though.  Just been a bit busy and am now coming up for air.  There were a couple of projects going on including a diaper bag (coolest EVER) and some wedding gifts. Mostly I have been gestating this 30 lb baby.  Sabrina Trips (26" x 26") is a commission with SO many features that I needed to figure out.  I mean Jersey Boys, COME ON!  It was tough and I trashed a few attempts but you know this is what I live for.  I enjoyed every second right down to the last square...which was that hand.  Ironically, the day I got down to just that part and was deciding what would go in there, I spent the day in NYC on a trip that was planned weeks prior.  While in NYC, that hand waved to me at every intersection, "Don't walk, girlfriend!"  You'll notice too that Banksy did some work right beside my tag.  How cool?  So am I lucky?  Hell yeah!  I make my own luck.

what you focus on expands

You know I spill my guts to everyone that will listen.  I'll tell you, sometimes it is overwhelming when I think how far away I am from where I want to be. I only have about half a life left to accomplish some big stuff that I have planned!   But instead of lamenting how far I need to go, it is "more better" to celebrate how far I have come.  These photos were my week.  Top one is my booth from last weekend's show, one of the best in the country, the VABeach Boardwalk show.  The photo was taken from my hotel room, a stone's throw from my booth.  There I am standing in my blue shirt with my work while I have that ocean behind me!  So if that is not cool enough, while I'm at the show, I get a call from the Harrisburg Patriot that they are doing a short article on me from photos taken a while back.  I get home Monday to see that it is a whole PAGE of photos of my work.  No shit!  So I was still crapping myself over that and the UPS man delivers the books I ordered.  I knew I got my work in Mosaic Art Today but then I open the book and find it has ten -that's right, TEN pages of my work!  This is nuts.  I mean, this is a book that features the work of some of my idols, and my work is included in that same book.  How does this happen?

I am an artist.  Yup, I am actually an ARTIST.  Sometimes I think about the person I was a short decade ago and I find it hard to comprehend.  I would have NEVER called myself an artist back then but I dreamed about it.  I often think that people may someday find out that I am just me.  Here is how positive thinking works.  You don't just sit around and daydream things up and have them fall in your lap.  Hell no!  Dreaming AND believing AND DOING!  When I started believing that I was an artist, I was able to behave as an artist.  It takes a pair of stones to go to a gallery knowing there is the potential of rejection.  It will take the same stones for anybody to do what they want to do.  I am telling you that whatever you want to be, you ARE that already even if it does not seem that way.  Just start believing it and moving in the right direction.  Put yourself out there.  You have everything you need.  It's in you.  I'm not saying it is easy.  I'm not saying all your goals will be accomplished tonight.  But I WILL tell you that while I am trying to "get there," I love the journey.  Evidence is pictured above...times three.  I stay focused on THESE accomplishments, instead of the ones I have not yet pocketed.  I'll never accomplish all my goals because for every goal I accomplish, I dream up two more. Start dreaming.  Start believing.  Start moving in the right direction.  Enjoy the ride!  End of sermon!

mojito mojo

So cool.  This weekend is our 27th anniversary and we will be at the VA Beach Boardwalk show.  The cool part is that my son and his wife are coming down to VA to hook up with us for a few nights.  We are right ON the beach in our hotel and for the show.  I really worked my ass off to finish "feelin' mojito?" in time to take along.  Why a mojito, you ask?  Those of you that know me will think it is weird because I don't even drink...  I mean its rare.  I saw a bill board and it just got me thinking.  Anyway, one of my daughter's friends is a bartender and I asked him if I could get away with a drink umbrella in a mojito.  I guess it is safe to say that Ernest Hemingway would not approve but I did the umbrella anyway.  It's art, yo.   

SO much fun in the tub

He's hot. He's steamy. He's SO much fun in the tub.  Love this guy.  I had a Mr. Bubble shirt that was my fave for years.  I guess seeing the can of Mr. Bubble foam soap in my bathroom everyday has kept this at the top of my "to-do" list.  The "foam" letters are sandblasted white glass so they look pretty darn real in person.  Billet work in pastel?  Yup, it happened.  Just plain happiness here, can't stop smiling!

one sexy bath

Somewhere in Maryland there is a guy who is pretty happy taking showers.  Even though I finished my part of his bath back in September, the rest of the project got held up till just recently.  I am so happy to get this photo and can't wait till my site is redone so I can get it up there too.  This is almost everything I love about glass.  Stripes, bubbles, blues, a bit of green.  This blue column was fairly pivotal in my recent decision to make all my work mosaicked.  It was one of those things that just became one of the aha moments.

Midd-West mayhem

Just finished the video for the the Midd-West residency that ended last week. Please forward these links to 800 or so of your friends. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1ur69idglA
Good fun! I used music from One.man.And -the band that Kaleo is drumming for right now. I also finished the video for Juniata. I was waiting for a photo of the mosaic installed but never got it, so....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkQFrDOBklA&feature=relmfu This one just has generic pinnacle program generated music. When I watch these, I have to smile. Ahhh...back in my studio tomorrow.

hey now, you're an all star

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me. I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. This smashmouth song was absolutely lodged in my brain for a while. "Hey Now (you're an all star)" is a roll of everything that has been happening for me. My recent decision to refuse to decide between mosaic and fused glass, plus I had just broken a few favorite works...all jumbled up with thoughts about recycled glass. The fused/mosaic combinations that I made last year are some of my favorite works. So, the converse idea has been with me for a while. I briefly thought about doing a high heel but it is so not me. I had Shaundi in yellow Converse high tops when she was just a tot and I clearly remember a hot pink pair she outgrew, handing them down to me before they got stolen from me by Kaleo. This piece is us for sure. It's my blues and greens, a little spot of graffiti and diamond plate, my stripes, my bubbles. I really love the recycled. There is a ring at the top right from a bottle I found in our neighborhood while walking my four legged kids. It has writing pressed into the glass that reads, "Federal law forbids sale or reuse of this bottle." BAH HA HA HA HA HA HA! Some of the rings are from an antique water bottle that we kept change in till Shaundi broke it. And the sneaker? I'm so happy with that, I'm even going to have my site redone around it. Yup! Just that tile took about 2 1/2 weeks with most of that work going in the trash. Its all good.

coming up for air

So totally swamped. I will have the whole skinny on this shortly. For now, here are two "fast and dirty" photos of our progress in Middleburg. This is a result of THREE DAYS of these kids' work, no kidding! First day I spent just explaining how to cut glass...eight times. Every period we start over and each kid takes the time to try it out so the first day nothing was adhered. I can't freaking wait to see this done. Saturday and Sunday I can work on my sneaker mosaic.

OK, here is how I know I have it good. We played the lottery for this weekend's 500 big ones. If we win, the above paragraph will still acurately state my intentions for the next two weeks. No shit! That's my life. I'll hire help around the house so I can WORK MORE!

everyone can give

Yup! Don't need money. Everybody has something they can give. And in doing so, the one you'll help the most is yourself, for sure. When a friend of mine landed this awesome project, he wasn't given a whole ton of money to accomplish it. He asked me to get involved. What he needed were some table tops and he wanted them to be game boards for kids to play on. These are two of the 4 boards that will end up in a play area that is part of Baltimore's Operation Oliver. If you look, you can see my pink camera in the shadow of the iridescent black glass. The bottom is the same glass as the top but sometimes it will flash color and sometimes it will be black.

In short, Operation Oliver is a war veteran's mission to save Oliver Street and bring it back to what it was...maybe even better. Of late, this section had been so deteriorated that it was what the HBO series, "The Wire," is based on. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/iraq-afghanistan-war-vets-save-us-city-15283191 I definitely had my kismet ON with this work because I wound up meeting an accomplished mosaic artist from Baltimore. Yeah, and she was willing to help! You'll be able to see Jo Alexander's work and mine installed this summer. Take your checkers.

you crazy diamond!

Back in January I had my work in a show in Brooklyn. Exciting enough, right? That's what I'm saying. But wait. We go to the last day of the show, "Glass Threads" at Williamsburg Art and Historical Center. I had shipped three pieces including an old favorite, Sunny Side Up...which SOLD! Then I am thinking that it is pretty cool that I sold work in Brooklyn. BUT WAIT! I find out that Sunny Side Up has become part of the permanent collection of The Yuko Nii Foundation. That's what's what!

Do you know what I am saying? I am saying that if you are thinking about leaving your secure job and following your dreams, I am here to tell you that dreams come true. I don't care how old you are, if you know you're ready, JUMP! I have a link to a video of the Glass Thread exhibit because it shows the armonica, a glass instrument, popular back in Ben Franklin's day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdsNkEEO-e0&list=UU2QGm0o80Jw-nvvfZNEr16A&index=1&feature=plcp

I guess that just floats my boat because I am a glass person and because today I learned that Guy Pratt, featured in Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,”opens the song with an armonica. Pretty cool, huh?