love my "job"

One of the best things about my job is that I have these guys with me all day. I had always been envious of store owners etc who had their dogs in their work space. Now I have these two crack me up all day. I keep a water dish fresh for them and in weather like we have right now, I keep the door open so they can come and go as they please. Currently, I am working on the mosaic that will hang in the new Hummelstown Library when it opens. I have been putting the substrate together which is a dirty and time consuming job but my dogs and I are happy. What's not to love?

a little tired of snow

Well we got about three feet of snow dumped on us in February SO FAR. One of my dogs has arthritis and the other has three inch legs. So in addition to shoveling our drive way, we had to shovel off a huge section of the yard so that the dogs could go out. Not to mention, we had to shovel three feet of snow off the top of my studio's flat roof because I worried about the weight!

So during this horrendous weather, of course, I'm thinking I'd rather be in calm blue waters. This piece is a picture of me but the person who buys it can say its anybody they want. Angelina Jolie? Sure! I do see the resemblance in the lips.

does it get any better?

OK, I just got the BEST news! Back in May I was asked to submit photos of my work for a possible inclusion in a book about contemporary glass. I just found out that, YES, they will be including my photos! One of the photos I gave them was Kiwi Blast. It is an all time favorite of mine.

If that is not enough....I am starting work on a mosaic that will hang in the lobby of the brand new Hummelstown Library. The library should be complete in June and so should the mosaic. The room it is in will have huge windows so you should be able to see it driving by. I should pinch myself.

blessings in disguise

photo- Andy Dierk- http://www.dierksphoto.com/c/andrewdierks/gallery-list

On Nov 4th I posted about how lucky I was with this van of mine. Now, I have more story. I couldn't plan things this well if I tried. I am telling you-SOMEBODY is looking out for me. My mom and I were driving three hours away to purchase some display panels from a photographer, Andy Dierks. You guessed it. My van died. Sure I could complain that a 6 hour trip turned into 12 hours of driving and 6 hours of waiting. Instead I will tell you how lucky I was AGAIN. First of all, on the day I broke down, I was fortunate enough to have my husband at a meeting about 25 minutes away so I had a ride home. In addition to that, the van decided to quit the second I pulled up in front of Andy's house. My mom and I were warm and dry and served the best tuna melts ever by Andy's wife, Trish! Check out his site (linked above) because not only is he a saint, he's also a great photographer.

2009 wrapped

2009 was definitely a whirlwind. I think the biggest change for me in 2009 was the recent surge of mosaic and a TEMPORARY lull in fusing. The last big thing I kilnformed was this sink for my powder room. I have two mosaics that I am just starting and if I had the space, I would have three going on simultaneously. I have also started working with recycled glass and am anxious to see where that leads. I think what makes mosaic so appealing to me is that I can combine fused, recycled and purchased glass. More options! More colors! I can't wait to see what 2010 brings.

2009 was good to me!

My son has a WONDERFUL girlfriend. This is her dog, Tinkerbell....at least how I see Tink. She comes over to you and looks at you with eyes that tell you exactly what she wants. When you go to pet her, she flops over on her back so you will scratch her belly. She looks like a little kid in pajamas. There's a ton of personality packed into this eight year old, ten pound pup!

I hope everyone reading this had a Christmas as good as mine. How did it work out that all the nicest people in the world just happened to be MY friends or family? I am truly blessed, and expecting that 2010 will be even better.

Twinkle

I have been working on this 8x10 for quite some time. And it has been stored in my brain for even longer. Of course it is another excuse to work in blue. Most of the iris is done in transparent glass so it really moves and sparkles when you see it in person. The lashes were crazy hard to cut but then even harder to work around! I think the next work on the "drawing board" is also mosaic. Before that, I have to reassemble my bathroom that I tore apart, and Christmas needs to fit it somewhere.