Work in Progress - The Good Things in Life?

I've decided I should expand my conservation efforts to my artwork. It isn't exactly going green, but the idea is to use/finish what I have rather than starting new projects.

This painting is one I started in a weekly painting class taught by Nancy Tilles a year or more ago and pushed aside. I hated the foreground, which was a black cloth masquerading as a tablecloth!!!! I started up on it after a year or more. It suddenly popped into my head out of nowhere to use a mix pthalo blue and indian yellow with radiant white (Gamblin oils) to fix the foreground. What a difference - this immediately improved my attitude towards the painting.

The subject matter isn't all that great, but since I care more about the process with this one than the outcome, I can work on it with abandon. I'll post the finished product when done.

This using what I have applies to my fused glass as well. I have to use the colors I have in stock rather than ordering new glass. (Except for clear and black which I use a lot and can order to replace my stock.)

Recent Fused Glass Jewelry

I started working with fused glass earlier this year and fell in love with it. While larger pieces give me more flexibility to create unique designs, jewelry gives me more immediate gratification.

It's difficult to photograph fused glass well, particularly the pieces that have dichroic glass in them. All of the pieces shown use dichroic glass as major elements in the design. Dichroic glass both reflects and transmits light resulting in shimmering multi-color surfaces.

The rightmost piece has bubbles in the glass, caused by air trapped in between the wavy dichroic segments and the straight dichroic "noodles" on either side. I didn't plan this - it just happened. The most fun and exciting surprises come out of the kiln! Often, I learn an new technique this way.

Most of my fused glass jewelry pieces consist of 3 or more layers of glass, 1) a black or dark opaque layer, 2) 1 or 2 dichroic glass layers and 3) 1 or 2 clear glass layers. Many of them are fired in the kiln more than once, with the top layers added in a 2nd or 3rd firing. I use only sterling silver and fine silver pendant bails and ear wires because the quality is so much better than that of the silver-plated findings many of the glass vendors sell.

"White Orchids" oil painting

"White Orchids" is my most-recently completed painting. The photograph it's based on was one I had taken quite a few years ago at the American Orchid Society gardens and didn't know what to do with. One day, thinking I might create a website for myself, I got to looking at other artists' websites. A painting of calla lilies with an orange-coral background Laurie Snow Hein had on her website inspired me to paint the orchids in my photograph using a similar background. It's always amazing to me how looking at other artists' work can get my creative juices flowing - even when the results are totally different!

Jewelry - Sterling Spiral Earrings

These spiral earrings require several jewelry-making techniques: forging-annealing, hammering, shaping; soldering; wiring beads into place; and finishing-pickling, filing and polishing. I learned the forging techniques at the John C. Campbell Folk School (http://www.folkschool.org/) in Murphy, NC and the jewelry-soldering techniques at a local beading and jewelry-making supplier.

These are simple pieces of jewelry compared to those a serious jewelry crafter or artisan might make. I feel I have just barely touched the surface of what can be done. What I can say is, if you take up this hobby, plan to spend a fair amount of money on tools and equipment. The silver is cheap by comparison! Also, be prepared to be frustrated. What you can do initially with the basic tools and instruction is fairly limited. Find some good workshops!

My first attempt at blogging!

I never considered blogging until I saw another artist's blog and how she uses it to connect with people interested in her work and to share tips with other artists on painting. I'm hoping this first attempt at blogging will be a positive experience.

About me... I paint both watercolors and oils and I make simple silver jewelry. I retired from working as a software developer this January and now focus my efforts on creating a new career/avocation as an artist. With mentoring from another artist, Nancy Tilles, I have improved considerably, but still have a long way to go. I feel that creating art, whatever the medium, is a lifelong, evolutionary process and a huge opportunity for personal growth whether you make a "real" living at it or not.

I hope to have a website soon and to begin internet sales of my creations. In the meantime, I'll post pix of my recently completed work and works-in-progress.