Or just reliving my Studio Sale in cobalt colors!  Seriously, this is a post for an old friend, who wanted to see COBALT. (You know who you are, Gil!) Looks like I’m way low on cobalt at the moment, but here is what I have on hand….  The detail shot above is current work done with powdered glass on sheet substrate.  Most have 22k gold designs drawn & fired into the glass.  Gorgeous pieces for home decor, don’t you think?!

I love these festive candleholders and make them in many color combinations.  I usually adorn them with botanical designs, my favorites being lavender & lilacs.  Most of my custom orders have been themes based on the client’s home decor.

I’m very low on handkerchief vases at the moment.  Those I have in cobalt are the two on the right and the very dark blue (back, left) with red accents.

This shot makes the blue vase appear almost black, but it’s a gorgeous cobalt iridescent glass

Here it is in front of a window with bright light.

And here’s the cobalt vase with white accents as viewed in front of the same window.

A set of cobalt wall pockets.  Please forgive the white price stickers, I shot these on the fly just before my studio sale opened!  The left pocket is a botanical design and the others are all from my ‘I’d give you the stars and moon’ series.  The moon is hand cut silver dichroic glass and the stars are all the scraps I made while trying to cut perfect moons.  By the way, if you’d rather learn to make you own wall pockets, come take my class (Build a Better Pocket) at the Las Vegas Glass Craft & Bead Expo in April!!

Not so cobalt but I love these pieces so included them for your viewing pleasure!

Lastly the same shot from the beginning of this post uncropped.  Cobalt is included in a couple of the pieces here because I like a contrast of lights and darks.  My current favorite for home decor is the turquoise and purple combination with gold, but it’s a bit tricky to work with.

Merry Christmas to all!  Hope your holidays are filled with light, love and laughter!!

My studio sale was the last show of the season for me and I thought I’d share some of the details with you.  Jean & Angela have helped me set up and run the sale for many years.  A couple of times I’ve been close to not having it due to time constraints but they’ve insisted and I’m always grateful afterwards.

My very first studio sale was small with everyone I knew invited, including my doctors, dentists, and those I did business with.  I invited another artist to bring and sell work which gave our customers a wider selection of artwork to purchase.

Eventually as I realized I had more work to display and less room for co-exhibitors I began having solo events.  There is only so much room in my little cabin in the woods, turned gallery for a day; and as you can see in the before & after shots, I have a lot of work to display.

Thankfully my friends are always willing and ready to help because I couldn’t pull it off without them.  They’ve helped me clean, clear out my personal collections and have moved books and furniture.  They’ve baked cookies and made hors d’ oeuvres for me.  They’ve washed windows, swept off my deck and even dusted off houseplants.  They’ve kept me sane when we were out of time and almost ready.

Angela and Jean have helped me for the last five years.  They insist.  They love unpacking my stored glass and arranging it throughout my house.  Before them I asked different friends for different types of help each year because I didn’t want to take advantage of them and I wanted each person to enjoy the task at hand.  Yes I DO have friends who enjoy cleaning, although I try to set aside time to do that part myself.

Angela and Jean are both fabulous with displays.  I try to not be so controlling as they are creative women who open my eyes to new possibilities.  Each year we start out together surveying the space and our available display tables, then after an overall plan is developed we each take a section to set up.  Over the years it’s become easier to simply let them set up their way.  I end up with a fresh new look for each sale.

Angela always does the flowers for me because she happens to be a great floral artist.

Jean is a fabulous administrator and keeps us on task.  Also an artist she is usually the one with vision for the overall set up.

When we have the main area almost complete, we shift our attention to my studio where experiments and seconds (not up to my perfectionist standards) get displayed.

I’ve stashed all my work equipment outdoors, or in cabinets and under my workbench.  I put up barriers so you won’t see the mess.

Usually the guest room, aka shipping/receiving and storage room gets our attention last.  It’s a small room with a lot of work to display.

This is the room with the closet that you don’t want to open.  I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about.

We put all the discontinued work in this room.  Some of my older series I’d love to get back to one day, but I have to admit to myself it might not happen.

When that room is ready we call it a day, get a good night’s sleep and come back to finish the following morning with fresh eyes.  We prepare the food and flowers, then throw open the doors to welcome our guests!

This beautiful bowl with 22k gold is up for auction at my annual studio sale.  I’m opening the auction for those of you who can’t make the studio sale but would like an opportunity to bid.  All proceeds will benefit the artists whose work was lost in the summer fire downtown White Salmon.  I will personally deliver or pay shipping for the winning bidder.  Participation is easy, all you have to do is state the bid you’d like to make in the comment section below.

Details:  12.5″ diameter, the bowl stands 2.5″ tall.  An iridescent sparkle shimmers atop the unusual combination of cinnamon representing fire and pink shades representing hope and new life.  Composed of powdered glass atop a sheet glass substrate, the continuous line drawn through the powders, creating the design represents the spiral of life, our connections and relationships with one another.  Retail price is $350 for this multi-layered hand-made kilnformed glass bowl.

Notes:  Thirty six artists lost their work in the fire that completely destroyed a 100-year-old building and 2 businesses in White Salmon, Roz Gallery and Blue Ackerman Photography Studio.  Two neighboring businesses also affected with smoke damage, Artisan’s Jewelery and Gallery and Everybody’s Brewing on either side of the fire were able to quickly clean up and reopen.  Everyone in White Salmon hopes that Blue and Roz will be able to reopen.  Someone will correct me if inaccurate, both Roz and Blue were uninsured or had minimal insurance that didn’t cover the majority of fire damage.  The artists won’t fully recover the loss of their work, but some of us would like to help make up some of their loss.  Most artists are uninsured.

The bowl will be placed prominently at my sale on December 6th from noon until 5pm for studio guests to bid on.  I’ll post updates in the comment section here along with your bids.  The bidding will close and winning bidder announced, here on the blog and at the sale at 4:30 p.m., Sunday December 6th, PST.  Good luck to all, may the bidding begin!

Last week was spent producing new work and ornaments, then packing up and delivering in time for the holiday season.  New work is now available at Fireborne Glass, Pittock Mansion and Hood River Jewelers.  Next week watch for new work at The Dalles Art Center, Columbia Art Gallery, and a new venue for me that I’m excited about, Mystique in Pioneer Place on the lower floor.  It’s a beautiful setting and I can’t get my work there soon enough!

Shown in this display are (from top to bottom) works from my Celestial and Big Bird series and a couple botanical candleholders; SunDrops series, more candleholders and Puzzle vases; Celestial and WindDancing series with candleholders; Coasters, Boxes, and Earth series; and ColorPlay series on the lowest shelf.

…If your name is Diana and you’re my sister’s Best Friend!

Diana has been patiently waiting for her butterfly since August.  She happens to be my sister’s best friend and asked me casually while I was visiting my sister if I’d make her a butterfly.  Not one to turn down any opportunity to add original art glass to someone’s home, of course I said yes, knowing full well that I had a hectic schedule awaiting my return home.  Butterflies are small and I knew I could easily fit them into my work schedule.  Couldn’t I?  I love these colorful butterflies and my stock of them was almost extinct, so it was time to make some new ones anyway.

Notice how I say them and these, not it?  If you’ve followed my blog, you know that I can’t just make ‘one’ of anything, so finding a day to make up a kiln load of butterfly bodies, just couldn’t be done!  I wanted Di to have a good selection to choose from so I needed to make not just one, but a kiln-load of butterflies.  Diana saw three prototypes from which to choose the style and color she wanted; then waited again until I could finally find a day to get the bodies made.

Fitting them in between projects became problematic because they require a different firing schedule than the rest of the work that generally ships out of my studio.  Oh, I got their little bodies made up & fired; it was the final firing with the color and wing patterns that took some time to work into my schedule.  Here they are after the first firing joining the wings to their bodies.  My canvas ready to ‘paint with glass powders’.

Working with glass powder is a fragile way of working with glass.  The slightest puff of wind or bump in the studio can ruin your design, so I had to fit them into a day where nothing else was happening and I had an available kiln ready to accept them immediately after building each one.  I didn’t want them lying around my studio waiting for disaster to happen.  When working with powders I like to have a color reference and all my tools within reach.

The glass powder is sifted on.  Lines are drawn in.  Diana wanted yellow, orange and lime green.  I used Bullseye glass 1120, translucent Canary yellow as my base color with 0025 Tangerine and 0126 Spring Green opal (not translucent) accents.

I also wanted to duplicate the model in my Butterfly Encyclopedia, so used translucent 1122 Red with Tangerine opal.  Then I began wondering how it would look with 0334 Gold Purple and 0147 Cobalt Blue opal accents.

Not to mention how would it look as a pink using 1332 Fuchsia with 0334 Gold Purple accents; or a blue using 1464 True Blue with Spring Green accents; and 1442 Neo Lavender with Gold Purple accents!  Alas, after that I was out of bodies again since I’d only made nine blanks, so my explorations had to end.  For now anyway.

And here’s how they look after firing.  All they need now is a signature and they’re out the door.  My original versions pretty much stuck to depictions straight out of the encyclopedia, mimicking true-to-life butterflies.  My approach this time exploring color and line was less tedious and much more fun!!!

Diana plans to hang hers in the dining room for wall decor.  I like to place my butterflies in my garden strategically where I need spots of color, wrapping the copper spirals around small branches of trees and shrubs.  I also keep one in my ‘Pretty Powder Room’.  Other glass butterfly owners have hung them in windows, set them in planters, and rested them on counters.  Where would you keep yours?

Sunrise...

Another day begins…

After taking a skip down my road I had to settle in and finish up some commitments I’d made in the studio.  Earrings, bracelets, butterflies, and beautiful glass boxes are finished and delivered or underway and nearing completion.

Earrings coming to 1000 Markets ~ Steider Studios

I also had some upcoming teaching commitments that include my basic six-week kilnforming class.   I’m hoping we have ten new converts to the wonderful world of kilnformed glass via The Dalles Art Center!  My students are having fun with their projects so far!  Tomorrow I’ll be hosted by Georgia at Glasshopper Patterns, the Queen of DICRO SLIDE for a glass clay class in Portland.   I’m packed up and ready to have a full day of fun with a great group of students that Georgia has invited into her studio.  Next weekend I’ll travel to Cascade Glass Art Center near Seattle for my ‘Powderology’ course. There might still be a spot open if you’re interested!  Join us!!

For order inquiries, linda@steiderstudios.com

More commitments coming up include participation in another Pittock Mansion Artist Spotlight, and working with local elementary age students in an after school program.  My local art galleries are already preparing for their holiday sales, so the next round of glass work will no doubt be geared for them.  And somewhere in between I’ll have my annual studio sale.  Would you like an invitation?  Send me a note so I can add you to my invitation list.  I turn my entire house into a gallery setting filled with sparkling beautiful glass for your shopping pleasure!

Sunset along the Columbia River Gorge

Between commitments I try to keep breathing & every once in a while remember to look up and enjoy the incredible vistas that surround me every day.  I take great inspiration from the landscapes of the Columbia River Gorge. The majesty of it gives me energy and spirit to move on to the next round of projects and the next set of classes.  Sometimes I have to stop everything and just breathe it in.

Hollyhock

Skip work and chores?  Skip meals?  Skip the meeting, or blow off practice?  No, I mean take a friend’s hand or your dog on a leash and skip down the street.  Like you did when you were a kid.  That joyful giggly way of getting down the road a little quicker yet slow enough to take in the sights around you.  Caution:  This activity may cause anyone seeing you to smile or…even laugh.

Autumn Leaves

This week begins a new 6 week entry-level kilnforming class and I looked forward to leading a new group of students into the world of kilnformed glass.  As I sat at the computer printing up handouts, mentally preparing the steps I like to take new students through, I looked out the window and just had to get outside.

Elderberry

Outside into one of the most gorgeous, windless, warm fall days ever.  Outside, into quite possibly the last beautiful day before autumn rains and (shudder) the snows of winter hit.

Treasure

My heart begged me to leave the work at hand for a little while, take my beautiful dog who’s not had enough attention for too many days in a row and go for a walk.  A long walk.   It felt so peaceful, not a car passing, no loud lawn machinery, no one else around, just me with my dog, the birds and blue sky.

Elderberries lush & full

Ready for harvest

My heart singing, I notice my surroundings with acuity.  It’s so beautiful I have to breathe in with all my senses.  I see the glory of fall surrounding us as we make our way down the road.  Really see it, the sharp lines of each leaf turned red, the achingly bright blue sky.  It’s so still I can hear the silence and the fresh crisp air is intoxicating.  The allure of an elderberry draws me in to touch it.  I feel the texture of the bark and the smooth round berries.

Goldfinch

As we continued down the road, joy overtook me and I began to skip.  Yes, as in “skip, skip, skip to my Lou, skip to my Lou, my darlin’. I laughed, my dog looked at me as if to say ‘what’s up with that woman now’, but went with the flow and joyfully danced alongside me.

Catching some Rays

An hour later I was back to my class preparations, renewed with fresh excitement and tingling energy .

Bumble bee drinking Cosmos nectar

For some, the electric energy of a city, people and cars moving at a fast pace at the feet of skyscrapers are inspiration and gets their blood flowing.

Chickadee

For me, it’s the song of nature in her many forms.  What inspires you?  what makes your heart sing?

Overlooking the Columbia River

Will you skip down the road with me?

Insert for Japanese garden sculpture. Project for Tom Hererra.

Fellow artist and sculptor Tom Herrera had me make some glass inserts for his metal work recently.  I’ve made dragonfly wings, a couple sea turtles, a deco style guitar replica, and the latest was an insert for a sculpture he’s making for the Master Gardeners’ new Japanese Garden.

He brought me a drawing of his sculpture and we discussed his vision which included the use of triangles and warm rich color.  He wanted a half inch thick  7″ square that would be finished with a half inch metal frame.  Translucency was of utmost importance.

After researching Japanese Garden Design, I chose to concentrate on water and stone as my elements and sketched out a few possibilities.  My color choices representing stone are in keeping with Tom’s vision.

Building the layers

In the photo above, I’m building the layers of ‘water’ using Bullseye’s 1116 Turquoise on top of  clear irid with the irid up so it will sparkle without the glare of the coating being so obvious.  I use this approach often as I love the sparkle of irid but it’s a more subtle effect.

Capping the triangles with more irid.

Next I clear capped with more iridescent clear glass, but this time the irid is facing down.  Again, this is for subtlety and so the face of the project matches the back.  I frequently check my notes and sketches making sure the design in my head translated to paper is corresponding with the glass (turning out the way I want it to).

Filling in the stone path.

Now ready to fill in the ‘path’, I’ve mixed 3 to 5 colors each of gray & brown -02 frit (medium) in translucent and opaque; purple and pink -02 frit in translucent and opaque; and a couple off white opaques.  I mix them ahead of time for a more even application of color, alternating between the mixes as I fill the path.

Ready to fire.

The final step is topping the path off with clear frit (I used -03, course) so it matches the front and back with a layer of clear glass to look through before the eye sees color.  You can see the set up inside my kiln, just prior to firing, surrounded with fiber paper and held in place with cut up kiln shelf.

Finished.

Forgive the quality of the final image, I was at the end of my deadline so this was taken atop a neutral canvas bag as I delivered it to Tom at Starbucks where we meet for deliveries.  The top image shows how the piece glows in the sunlight which is how it will be viewed.  In this photo I wanted to capture the iridescence.  Tom promises to get a photo to me when it’s installed and I’ll post it here.  When Tom gets his blog going, I promise to link to it so you can see his work!

I’ve been playing with pastels since high school.  I love using them and was always on the lookout for a way to get the feel of pastels into fiber or glass.  With fiber, you can saturate cloth with thinned acrylic paint, then draw into it with pastels and the pigment becomes embedded into the cloth.  With glass, it was close to impossible until a few years ago to get this effect.

If you’ve taken my ‘Exploring Glass Powders’ class, you know I try to fit a lot into one day.  There’s precious little time to really explore any of the avenues possible, other than trying everything we can and then playing further with each application after you’re back in your own studio.

Glassline atop BE French Vanilla, White, Black & Clear with clear powder tacked onto substrate. Lower right, white & black sandblasted.

I want to share my tests from one of my favorite products from two companies, Underglaze Crayons and Glassline Chalks.  A shameless plug as I sell the Underglaze Crayons on my website and Glassline has given their chalks to my students at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo!

Underglaze Crayons on BE Clear, White, Black with clear powder tacked onto substrate. Additional test of clear capping (thus the distortion)

Both products work like pastels on a toothy, or rough surface.  The usual surface treatment for glass is sandblasting it to get a rough surface, but what if you don’t have a sandblaster?  Powdered glass!  Sift a thin layer of clear powder over the entire surface of your sheet glass substrate, then tack fuse.  In my kiln I fire to 1325º and hold for 10 minutes to achieve a toothy surface.  When the glass is cool I can start drawing on the now roughened surface.

Before & after firing: White base, fired atop 2 layers.

You can use clear, white, or any colored sheet glass as your canvas.  To get the toothy surface without a blaster, you can use clear, white, or any color of powder fired on for texture.  Once you have your ‘canvas’ readied it’s time to play with these fun chalks.

Test on clear substrate then placed drawing side down atop clear base.

As you know before I begin a project I do a series of tests.  I use the smallest size glass possible that will let me put as much information as possible on each test.  For me, this is a two inch surface.  I’ve pre-fired a dozen small clear ‘canvases’ with clear powder and am now ready to play.  These photos show my tests of the colors as well as differences (none noted other than color choices) between Glassline Chalks and Underglaze Crayons.  I also wanted to explore how they look clear-capped compared to fired on the top surface of glass.

Clear substrate, drawing side down on top of white base.

I applied water with a paintbrush to see if I could get the same watercolor effects that you can with pastels.  I also wanted to know if there’d be any chemical reactions between the pigments & glass like there is with certain colors of glass.  Also, how does it look clear capped; clear capped with irid; or left alone & fired on top of the glass.  I always test with clear, white, and black bases to learn how any given experiment will look against a light and dark background.  The clear is to audition the surface treatment against any other color of sheet glass.

Clear substrate, water brushed onto drawing, fired uncapped on top of white base

My results after firing:

No chemical reaction atop French Vanilla.

The sandblasted substrate has a smoother line than the tack fused powder substrate.

Colors are difficult to see on a black background.

If the pigment is on the surface of the glass, the excess will wipe off like mica does.

I like clear capping with iridescent glass, irid side down.

You can tack fuse (not shown).

I like the watercolor effects.

Water brushed on surface, white sandblasted substrate, clear capped with irid.

Both products fired the same for me in my kilns; each set of products has different colors; and not enough colors available in either product!

Test: landscape, sunflower ~ not enough color selection for either! Yellow too pale, can't see detail.

Have you played with these chalks?  What do you think of them?  If not, give them a try!  Make a play date with yourself to try something new.  I’d love to see your results!