Rainbows

 

Rainbow in the Gorge

While waiting for my flight to the Glass Craft & Bead Expo in Las Vegas, I thought I’d catch up with blogging.  Amidst all the packing, preparing, ordering tools & supplies as well as getting my house in order prior to my departure I’ve not produced any new work.  So let me share this with you:  I looked up from the computer a couple days ago to see a rainbow!  Not just any rainbow, but the kind where you can see both ends!  Not in one photo with my camera, or should I say my camera skills, so here are a couple showing the west end and the east end of the rainbow…..

 

 

 

 

 

The storm was coming in, and as I shot these the rainbow became less and less.  Then the sun disappeared, the rains came & all was back to a normal NW spring storm.  

 

 

 

Sky at Dusk

 

Summer Sky

The dark blue sky at dusk with red undertones was the inspiration for this piece.  It sold right away and I meant to get back to this series to make more variations on the theme.

Using powdered glass in cobalt blues with a ring of red just inside the lip, I drew large spirals into the powder blending the colors.  By now, you know the spiral appears in a lot of my work.  The golden trees are hand drawn, representing my surroundings.  Living in the Columbia River Gorge, there is much to be inspired by.   I think I’ll get back to this series right after the Glass Craft & Bead Expo.  

For now, I’m still acquiring and packing up supplies for my students at the Expo, so please forgive the lack of daily posts.  I’m excited, as always to be going back to Las Vegas & meeting new students each day.  I hope I can inspire them to work with powdered glass in new ways.

Shades of Purple

 

Shades of Purple

Shades of Purple is another bowl in my celestial series that speaks to my personal observations.  It’s the sunrise and the sunset.  The beginning and the end.  Swirled together into a large spiral with little gold stars denoting my attachment to glitteratzi.  And the golden paths that we all follow.

This bowl is made with six shades of Bullseye purple powder atop a clear iridescent substrate.  I  form most of my bowls with a drop ring, because I like having control of the shape.  If you’re unfamiliar with kilnforming, a drop ring is a flat ceramic ‘donut’, often used to form vases.  The ring is positioned inside the kiln, on stilts with the glass disc centered atop.  The glass drops through the ring, or ‘donut hole’ as I slowly apply just enough heat to soften the glass and form the shape.

Colorful, Painterly Vessels and Mini Bowls.

 

Vessels and Mini Bowls

I use glass powders for most of my work.  I’ve done an exhaustive series of samples, testing color mixes, combinations, and textures with this expressive medium.  Accent lines are drawn & fired in using 22k gold.  

This particular series began with the thought of how we’re all connected in our universe.  We all see the same stars under a night sky as the earth spins us into the next segment of time.  Time that spins faster and faster as we get older and lose touch with those we began with.  Looking up at the stars, I still feel connected to those I used to know, and to those I have lost along the way.

Good Morning Moon

 

Setting Moon over Cascades

I’ve hired help to meet rapidly approaching deadlines and have spent all my time in the studio rather than here.  To keep your interest, thought I’d post this morning’s ‘Moonset’ before my day of cutting glass starts.  Today I’m preparing for my class, ‘Exploring Glass Powders’ at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo in Las Vegas.  I’m cutting a zillion 2″ squares of glass for the students to explore upon.  Bullseye Glass has donated all the glass & I’m very grateful!

The photo doesn’t show exactly how pink the sky looked, but it was a breathtaking moonset viewed from my deck.  If you’re not familiar with this part of the Pacific Northwest, the moon is setting over the Cascade Mountain Range above the Columbia River.   To me, it announced I’ll have a wonderful day.  Hope you do, too!

Trendhunter Magazine

I’m so excited to be included in this publication!  Check it out:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/handmade-adornment-linda-steiders-kilnformed-art-glass-jewelry-and-buttons

This set is made from Bullseye Glass, my favorite color, neo lavender; with dichroic glass accents.  Fun to wear a matching bracelet, earrings, & ponytail holder!

Thanks Katie!

(Katie Cordrey of Sticks & Stones, Katie’s Art Cards & so much more)

http://www.sticksandstones.us

Making the Cut: ~ SunDrops Series

 

"SunDrop Series: The Path"

SunDrops Series

SunDrops Series

 

These are 3 of the 4 bowls chosen from the series I’ve been working on the last couple months.  Chosen as the work that will be delivered to Columbia Art Gallery tomorrow for the ‘Art Heals’ show.  It was difficult to narrow my selections down to 4 pieces.  The first Sun Bowl I posted has also ‘made the cut’.  

 

“The Path” is 16″ diameter by 2″ deep.  The smaller bowls are both 12.5″ by 2″ deep.

Made with powdered glass atop a sheet glass substrate, they are capped with an iridescent glass, giving extra luster, which is difficult to see in these photos.  The 22k gold lines are drawn by hand & fired in during the final firing.  Most of the bowls in this series were fired 4 to 5 times to achieve my desired results.

It’s March?

 

'Running Horse'

The year is already racing by too fast.  I have signed on to too many projects.  Many of them due this month, MARCH!  Not one to say ‘no’ to opportunity, of course I said ‘yes’.  If I should fall behind with my blog will you keep following?

This pastel painting was based on my photographs taken at a photographer’s horse drive near Sisters, Oregon.  Wilma invited me to go along, knowing I wasn’t a photographer, but a painter at the time.  The cowboys would herd the horses toward us so we could capture the imagery of running horses with clouds of dust.  I can still hear the thundering sound of hooves pounding towards me.