Viva la strong women!

Started a new project that I'm hoping proves to be both thought provoking and challenging. I visited my grandmother and took plaster casts of her hands, hoping to then take casts of three other generations of women (mom, me and the Bean) to make some sort of three dimensional hand thingies. What, I'm not sure. Casting my grandmother's hands was pretty inspirational. My grandmother is the most successful entrepreneur I know. She claims that her mother Lucille was even better, but since I don't remember Lucille, I'm going to ignore that claim. My grandmother built an empire with the MLM Shaklee. That is seriously hard work. Right at this moment, she is winding down after a couple of strokes and various health problems. Despite that, she is one supremely stylish, beautiful and amazing lady. I take the Bean (my daughter) to visit, but not nearly enough. Unfortunately, the Bean is only 3.5 and probably will have as little memory of her great grandmother as I do of mine. That makes me sad and determined at the same time. The legacy will be preserved! More about the strong women of my family later.

Outside eyes -- design trends

As I'm trying to figure out a logical way to organize my website, I realize that I focus intensely on each piece that I make as I make it, where it fits into the schedule, what it can or can't be fired with. The upshot is, until now I haven't looked at my entire body of work with "outside eyes" As I do so, I realize that there are trends. Even though I make each piece as a seperate entity, there are common denominators. There is always a story, but the stories focus on different aspects.

Form: These are pieces where the story is all about the final shape. Usually these are experimental pieces where I am pushing the envelope and trying something new.

Material: The story here is all about the glass. The glass itself is the most important element, the final piece must somehow preserve or continue the story of the glass.

Glass Plus: The story in these pieces is about the interaction between the glass and something else. Usually it will be something added to the glass piece (copper, sand, color) to make the final piece a whole.

Texture: I often use texture in the design of a piece, the story in these pieces is about changing the glass during the process from one state to another while retaining some characteristics, but changing others to get an entirely new combination.

It may be hard to visualize these differences, but stay tuned, the website will shortly show pieces divided out into these groups, with the individual story for each piece.

Website - What is up with that??

Well, let me first say that I find website design to be a wriggly, slippery kind of thing. Just when I think I have it all nailed down, I find I'm trying to nail down water, or an eel, or something. So, expect the website to change and then change again. I'm finding that the website is sucking up too much of my studio time, so I am trying to simplify the electronic side of things. Please be patient and do let me know what kinds of things you would like (or do like) to see.

Inaugural post

A few days ago I participated in the opening of my first group show. Three other artists who also use recycled materials and I are exhibiting at Red Butte Gardens in SLC. The artwork is terrific and the Gardens are so beautiful. Dash up today while the weather is good and check it out.