no, I haven't been a slug!

This is ONE of the two projects I am working on. That rainbow of glass I showed you in last post? Here is where it went. There are a few changes that have been made on this already and it is a fast dirty photo but you get the idea. The tasty parts are done. Now for the mind-numbing part......the white background. The fun is over but what will keep me going is to see this DONE and grouted. Ten feet of sparkling glass- aaahhhhhh. Love, love LOVE it. There is no way to tell you how exciting that is. Oh yeah, to help you envision this finished.....Picture water in front of it, palm trees behind it. Squeal!

The other project is smaller but JUST as exciting. Fused glass tiles in the colors that I MOST want to work in. Hope to have photos soon after I get back from Baltimore. There's a great show at the aquarium Sat 17th and Sun 18th. Come see me if you can!

what a ride!

While it is true that this IS a tough economy with a lot of uncertainty, I have tons to be grateful for. The reason I have not blogged lately is because I have been WAY busy. I call that a good thing. While most people just had a three day holiday weekend, I put in six long days last week. This is not a complaint since almost everyday is a holiday in my "job." Look at this photo. Tell me that doesn't look like FUN! I spent Labor Day weekend working with pink glass, Youghiogheny's "bubble gum" and Spectrum's "cotton candy" among many others. What's not to love? I have two mosaic projects I am working on that are so much fun that I will actually be changing up my future work to incorporate mosaic into most everything I do. I often say that I cannot decide which I like more, fusing or mosaic. So why choose? I've done a few mosaics with some fused components and I love them. Why not do both in the same piece ALL the time?.

So I am trying to get all that done and have not blogged but what prompted me to get on my keyboard is some crazy good news that I had to share. Last night I found out that I got into Disney's Festival of the Masters. I have to tell you that Rob and I are HUGE Disney fans. This is SO exciting. Without thinking about logistics, I just wrote my check for my space and will MAKE it all happen. For now, I gotta get busy. As soon as I can, I'll show you what happens to that rainbow of glass.

see what I mean?

In my April 29th post, I wrote about a piece that got into an auction held by Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. I ended the post saying that this COULD lead to my best news ever. Well, it did. When I opened their catalog link, I saw on page 35, my work is featured with Dale Chihuly and a lot of other artists that I respect....the big guys. Now you may wonder why I think this is such a big deal but think about this. A little over 5 years ago, I could not have imagined this. Sometimes I grumble that things aren't working out because I know I will go to bed tonight and I will not have all of my dreams sewn up YET. But if I really look, I see that things are happening quite fast for an artist who is brandy new. I am def not where I want to be, but the journey to that place is pretty sweet. Keep believing in YOU.

If you friended me on FaceBook, you've already gotten this news. I've been a little behind with K's wedding and then we were on vacation. This mantis is what I finished right before I left for Florida. He's 16 x 23. Museum of Glass has a link to their catalog on their site.

Kaleo and Erin

Wow, this is so hard to imagine. My little boy got married! I mean, it shouldn't come as a shock. They have lived together for a year and a half. They announced their intent to marry a year ago but it still is hard for me to wrap my brain around this. Look at that photo. Kaleo is a man. How did that happen so fast? How did it happen at all? Here are a few things I know. While raising Kaleo, Rob and I def made mistakes as we all do. In the case of this particular boy (who has been a man for quite a while) we can honestly say we gave it 100%. We did the best we could with the experience we had and the situations we were in. Looking back we have a different knowledge. For all the mistakes we made, I wouldn't change a thing because it brought this man to where he is right now......a real good place. Everything unfolds as it should.

Now, that we have done the best we could we can just sit back to watch the rest unfold. My son and his wife will not be doing things our way. They will be making a life that works with how THEY see the world-and believe me, it's a lot different than how we see it. Neither way is better, they are just different. Rob and I grumbled about the wedding being so late. People traveling would be inconvenienced, blah, blah, blah. Kaleo argued that they love sunsets. They were smart enough to listen and start a bit earlier. More importantly, they were smart enough to stick to their guns and have the evening wedding which you can see was the perfect choice- FOR THEM! I will never stop GIVING this man advice as long as he wants it. I will also never stop TAKING advice from him as well. He is one of the people who are helping me along on my journey. Maktub. With their advice I will make decisions that work well for me and respect that they will do the same for themselves. Congratulations, Erin and Kaleo. I love you both.

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.