kari's sunflowers

isn't this great?  Kari finished this beautiful panel in a personalized workshop here at Zekiah Glass, coming for half-day sessions for the past several weeks.  she had completed the basic two-day class a couple of years ago, and now wants to learn more, and do more complicated pieces.  She brought in the painting you see on the left as a guide.  I drew it up, simplifying it some, but not too much, and we managed to retain the feel of the original with 66+ pieces.  Kari selected some gorgeous glass - and some of it came from the "difficult and expensive" section!  but it was well worth it for the final product.  we even added another dimension by applying the three inward turning petals at the center on top of the framed glass.  tricky!

Anne and Mike's magnificent osprey

 what a great Memorial Day weekend I have had!  Anne and Mike came to celebrate Anne's birthday, and decided to create a panel together featuring an osprey.  Luckily, Mike had a great photo he had taken that we used as a starting point on their design.  Look closely at that bird - this is the absolute perfect piece of glass that we used for most of his body and one wing.  Anne and Mike searched for the exact right section of this glass and found it - we didn't even realize how perfect it was until we had completed the panel and held it up to the light!

as always, my photography skills (unlike Mike's excellent ones) leave a lot to be desired, but I think you can get an idea of how beautiful this panel turned out.

Thanks Mike for bringing Anne.  Bob and I had a great time with you and we hope to see you back here sometime.

still alive in Farnham

I had such good intentions when I started this blog, and as I look over it now I see that I must be more attentive.  So far, 2011 is shaping up to be a much better year than 2010, thank goodness for that.

I have had several great groups of guests, but no good photos to post.  I am in the process of asking them all for jpgs of their masterpieces so I can get some current pics on the blogsite.

I did another mermaid, with some absolutely gorgeous glass, and that photo is forthcoming.  many more projects stacking up in my brain.  I brought Starry Night home and hung it in one of the guest rooms, where it looks fantastic. This one is too near and dear to my heart to sell.

Back to the grind for me, but look for more SOON!

Fish Lips surfaces again!

Bub chose one of my favorite whimsical designs as his first glass panel.    He is a natural!  what a pleasure to explain a technique and see that he instantly "gets it".  I am hoping that Bub will find time to do more glass and become another permanently smitten glass aficionado.  Great work!!

May class

What a great weekend I just had!  Three wild and crazy guests for class, and a fourth equally w&c along for the ride.

Monique had been here last summer, and was returning for more glass cutting tips.  She began a really really cool design that she will complete at her home studio.  It's hard to describe, but photo will follow, when I get one from her husband David who took some class photos that I know will surpass any of my feeble attempts.  Can't wait to see this one in the light!  Mo used some of the most beautiful greens, and we found a perfect clear for the bottom part of the panel.  It is a bunch of radishes with a lot of clear glass in the bottom half of the panel.  Now I am inspired to do a series of fruit and vegetable panels.

Ben surprised Robyn with the class, and she came up with a beautiful and unique design that we all loved - even Bob is still raving about it.  Can you believe she found a piece of glass that looks so much like our big blue marble?

Ben loves lighthouses, so he brought lots of photos of one at the easternmost point of the continental U.S. - it's in Maine but Ben you will have to identify it properly for me.  anyway, I think he captured the essence of the red and white striped brick structure.  with only a two day class, we had to reduce the number of actual stripes.  but look at that sky and the water - aren't they gorgeous?   

We got all this accomplished, and still managed to laugh ourselves silly for most of the time.  The two couples were sharing a boatload of inside jokes by the end of the weekend.  We all totally understand what a piece of kissmeass glass is now.  btw, Robyn, Casino Royale was on TV last night and you are so right about Daniel Craig!   

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Here's the crab - before framing in wood.  I couldn't wait, so it's already at Connie's Wide River Gallery in Colonial Beach VA.  I will replace this photo with the framed finished one soon.  Meantime, here he is - I am calling it "En Garde".  He looks ready to pinch, doesn't he?  This Uroboros glass is so beautiful!  Look for new photos soon of my garden stones!

back to mermaids

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as always, the photo doesn't do the glass justice, but this mermaid was so much fun to build.  she will go to Wide River Gallery in Colonial Beach, along with my Starry Night panel.  Next project is a crab - with a twist... stay tuned!