It Would Take a Miracle

It has been awhile since I posted as it's been awhile since I had time to post. Arguably my time right now could be better spent on something else--like getting ready for the Buyer's Market of American Craft in Philadelphia this week. but I am taking a minute (or 20) to post anyway.

Since I last wrote on the horrificness of January, life, as it will do, has settled back down to normal. Dave did his monthly stint in Austin. Jessie is on winter break. It was briefly spring, now it's winter again. The sun rises and sets. The birds quarrel over seed and prime bathing spots at the pond. The magnolias, early prunus, quince, camellias, daffodils, hyacinth, and forsythia determinedly bloom in spite of the vagaries of the weather. As for me, well I spend a lot of time in the studio.

In hindsight, it was probably not the right timing to add a completely separate 10X10 booth with all new work to the 10X20 booth I already need to fill with current work for the Buyer's Market. But Bill and Elaine (Black Cat ArtWorks) and I came up with some great ideas for new directions in our work together, and we committed to them before life came along with its big teeth-kicking boots. It took until last Thursday before I finally had a complete list of all the pieces I need for the show. I began firing everything Friday. Now it's Sunday, and I have so far managed not to have to drive up to Lori's studio in Dunwoody to borrow her kilns. Fingers crossed my luck holds today.

As I review what's come out of the kilns so far, I realize that the new work has two different styles/feels, and I'm wondering how it's going to blend in one booth. I am also not thrilled with the display we have determined for that booth which is based on the materials we have--white walls, white pedestals and purple carpet. It matches the black steel and bright glass of half of the new work (similar in feel to our current pieces) just fine. But we also have a french vanilla and french vanilla and dense white series of fused and sandblast-carved pieces that I just don't think is going to work there. Maybe I need to think about setting up a niche with soft grey walls and black carpet for those pieces... Oh I need at least another week to do this right, and I don't have it!

The other new work--the pieces similar in flavor to what we already do) is large (six-foot tall), three-dimensional, kinetic, and sculptural. The glass is thick (1/2 inch) and cast around copper rods so that it moves freely in the black steel frames. I am still playing with the colors and technique I want to use for the castings even though the final firing of all the pieces must happen today. This work is an interesting contrast to my other morceaux de verre pieces created from sheet, chunk and frit. When I create those pieces, I turn up the music and let the  glass fly. Tadashi watched me make a couple of pieces last night, and he said it looked like I was painting with frit. It's a very free and fluid style. I think the major difficulty I am having with the new pieces is that I am trying to be as free and fluid when I create them, but I have to carefully weigh the glass I use and balance them to make sure they'll float in the steel, moving freely.

Okay, time for posting is up, and I need to head to the studio to wrangle two new employees in their first solo flights (Linda is in for Judy who has the day off, and Fawn is teaching her first kiln-forming date). Pics and more tomorrow--time permitting.