Bethany

I am a scuba diver, not a surfer and I don't really think about being one. So why do I subscribe to a surf mag (it used to be two surf mags!)?? Well, I just love the photos of waves! I mean I just LOVE the ocean. I love making waves out of glass. I love water period!

I'm not sure where I first heard about the Bethany Hamilton story, but I remember driving past a billboard with a motivational message and photo of her standing by her board. When I was up late one night watching Tavis Smiley, he interviewed her for the movie "Soul Surfer." Of course, after seeing the interview and the movie I was so inspired. Even before I saw the movie I figured I would make a wave with Bethany. When I want to complain about something, I stop and think that I really don't have anything to complain ABOUT!

Warrior Run

OMG this is so epic. Yeah, I know I say this all the time but things just get "gooder and gooder!" Don't you get tired of hearing all bad news about bullying??!! There is plenty of great news in that department too and I'm here to tell you about it. OK, so I had mentioned that I would be doing an artist-in-residence project about anti-bullying. I just finished Friday and sat right down with my photos to compile a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf4DZJDAq6g That is why I have not surfaced on FaceBook or anywhere else. I've been SO swamped. Please crank it up when you see it because the music is fab. Ovuca ( Dilnau ) .....a HUGE thank you to Aleksi Perala for permission to use this. http://www.ovuca.com/ to purchase that song.

Here's the deal. This was mostly middle schoolers but it was everyone from 5th grade to 12th grade. That's right, 5th graders working side by side with seniors. This project was kids who have excellent grades working beside kids who felt they might not be passing in the next few weeks. Everyone was able to help so it was also athletes working with us art kids. None of that "stuff" made a difference. Kids who never even cut glass before turned sheets of glass into tiles the size of your pinky nail and smaller. When I see community mosaic projects, even made by adults, I never see the amount of detail that these kids have pulled out.....and in 17 days! I am SO proud of them. For real, look how young some of these kids are!! It certainly reaffirms my belief that you can do anything you want to do. Oh, and let me also say that this was all voluntary. Yup, these kids could come help when they wanted and a lot of them came in at lunch and after school too!

Seriously, what a stellar month. I got paid to play with kids all week. Can you beat that? I think not. We got on the local news and in the local paper. Cool. I know the word awesome is so over used but these kids are awesomely awesome. Fanfreakintastic! A HUGE thanks to Perry County Council of the Arts and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for the best hook up ever.

art is subjective

I am SO over the fear of rejection. If you are not failing sometimes, you are not trying big enough things! I tried to get one of my favorite pieces, "Quantum Physics," into Pennsylvania's "Art of the State" exhibit but she was not accepted. That worked out perfectly because that left Quantum free for me to enter her into the "Red Hot Summer" at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. They DID accept and I just shipped her out this week. See how things work? You just gotta relax. Be patient! Who knows what can happen in Tacoma??!! This could lead to my next "best news ever!" That's what I'm talking about.

Bungle.....in da Jungle 16 x 23

The other day I posted a FB status. I said I was waiting on my kiln to open cause I thought I'd be pretty happy. So this is the guy that was waiting for me in the morning. Why a monkey? Well, a friend of mine was working on a monkey. He mentioned mandrills and I said, "You know.....I think I have a photo of one in my to-do list but it is a year or two off." When I went home, I looked up the photo which set the wheels in motion. I had just made a sheet of green stripes about a month ago so everything was good to go. Bungle jumped ahead of about 20 other ideas. Savin' the raisins for Sunday.

back to skoool

I had said I was going back to Boiling Springs to play with glass in one of their art classes. We made pendants and from what I heard, they got pretty cool. Also, I DID end up getting the artist-in-residence program and it already kicked off. I will be at Warrior Run School District for 4 weeks in May but to get the ball rolling, I talked to students in an assembly last week. That's right, I talked to like six or eight hundred kids at a time.......TWICE.

So basically, I am working with a core group of kids on a HUGE mosaic with a theme of anti-bullying. In order to have more kids feel connected to the mosaic, everyone in the high school and middle school will have the opportunity to help out after school and in free periods during school. In addition, all kids will be able to vote on options within the mosaic. Besides that, the coolest thing is that all students will be able to contribute things that can be included in the fabrication of the mosaic. The plan is to do a video too. The people at this school are fantastic. They set up a site that has everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. http://www.wrsd.org/district.cfm?subpage=1279031 I CAN'T WAIT!

Grandma's Besty

Cleaning out someone's house really sucks...... especially if it is someone you love. You'll find stuff that is really junk but it is something they valued. When we cleaned out my mother-in-law's home, there was a sock monkey. Perfect example. This sock monkey was so ugly I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. But Corrine kept it in her neat tidy living room where everyone could see. It sat on her couch since my son gave it to her over 10 years ago.

Now I couldn't make myself fabricate a monstrousity like HER monkey. But this whole piece was around that "monkey." Corrine used to have a list of people she would call EVERY day. I was on her list. One of our standard conversations was about what I was working on. Generally I would say, "If this works out it will be my best piece ever." Each time I said that she would laugh her ass off. Or when I show her a new piece she would always make fun, "Is this your best piece ever?" Sometimes she would bring a chair in my shop and just hang. Now she is in a home and most visits does not know us. I sure do miss her. Anyway, Grandma's Besty is 16 x 23.

how do you make Oprah Cola?

You know how it is when something gets stuck in your head?

It is no secret around here that I am a HUGE Oprah fan. Anyway, I was thinking about making something Coke for my brother (coasters?) and I don't know...it just morphed into Oprah Cola 16 x 23. I just wish you could see this in person. A photo of it just doesn't cut it. But the coolest thing is that I made a Youtube video to go with it so please take 3 min to watch. It is my son's music again. I love the song. It's a little sleepy but then around 20 seconds in is the "drop." Oh and please send the video link to 800 friends!