Auctioning Bowl to Benefit Fire Victims

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!

New Display at Hood River Jewelers

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.

Butterflies are Free…

…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?

Pittock Mansion ‘Artists After Hours’

Saturday, November 7th you’ll find me at Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon as a featured artist in their second ‘Artists After Hours’ special event! The hours are 6 pm to 8:30 pm ~ Fabulous refreshments, wonderful music, lots of fun, and you can enter to win artwork donated by participating artists!  $Free for Pittock Mansion members; $10 for non members. Bring a friend! Tell your friends!!

The other participating artists are: Nora Daniel, principal designer at Color Muse, Laura O. Foster, author of Portland Hill Walks and Portland City Walks, Deborah Polonoff of Polonova (hand screen-printed trouser socks), multi-media artist Aaron Wilson, historical photograph expert Alex Blendl, ceramic artist Dale Pope, Cari Quistberg of Crystal Quest Jewelry, and Jude Cornwall of Judee Moonbeam Fibre Art.  You can see I’ll be in fine company!  Please join us!!

Portland, OR ~ City of Roses

Pittock Mansion is a fascinating historical home overlooking the City of Roses, filled with furnishings and decor of the era.  Please enjoy these photos I took of the mansion in preparation to create specific work for the museum gift shop.

I am inspired by so many details in the architecture and furnishings.  You know I love gold, so adding it to my designs is a given!  You’ll find a variety of my work at the museum gift shop from wall pocket vases to wooden boxes with glass tile inserts.  The designs I created depict some of my favorite features of the mansion.

 

Pittock Pockets all hold water for fresh flowers. 22k gold design drawn on & fired into the glass. Available in many colors, sizes, and shapes from 2" to 10" long; ranging in price from $24 to $60. Available at Pittock Mansion Museum Store or via Steider Studios.

22k Gold Rose on Iridescent Red Glass Tile insert in Alderwood Box. Many glass color choices available; alternate wood choice Rosewood. $48.00 Available at Pittock Mansion Museum Store or via Steider Studios. Smaller size also available: 2.75" square by 1.75" tall, $32.00