January Tune Up

 
 Most of this month found us both down for the count. Bronchial crud is not easy to get rid of. We had to go to the Doc. to give us both a tune-up. In between the coughing spells we got to work on various projects, and also managed to give the Studio a tune-up of sorts. We added a wall so I could have my own space for packing up orders. I have really needed this area, especially when the orders start piling up. And of course there is a need to start fresh in the new year, so we organized the room and repainted it too. It feels much better to enter our work space since making some much needed improvements.  Now to work on the front display area before the Valentine lessons start in a few weeks.  (You wouldn't believe how quickly dust settles on the glass.) 

Not many new projects to report, other than the tennis ball snowmen ornaments we worked on. They took up a good chunk of the first part of the month. It was reported they were well received by the tennis club members. Makes all the labor worth it to have happy customers. 

Working on a commission of  tennis ball snowmen.

We worked on a few miscellaneous orders too, like the pouncing fox and cobalt blue dolphin, pictured below. Also a variety of roses and tulips. (Customers seem to buy lots of Spring flowers from us in January, they must want to kick the January blahs with some pops of color.)

Pouncing Fox

Cobalt Blue Dolphin Ornament

Our glass roses and tulips come in a variety of colors.

We haven't had as many deer this year, but it was nice to step outside the Studio and see a couple of bucks in the backyard recently. There have been some poaching incidents reported around our area, so it gives me solace to see two bucks surviving both winter and bad humans. We've also seen many birds of prey, but they are harder to get a snapshot of. And owls hoot away at night, perched in our tree tops in our backyard, waiting to snag one of the many rabbits around the property. Have I mentioned how much I love witnessing the plethora of wildlife and the nature around here? 💓

Two bucks in our backyard.

The first full moon in January was a sight to behold in the early morning hours. It made me long for a zoom lens so I could get a better shot of the man in the moon. 😊 As you can tell by the picture below, we are experiencing a good Idaho winter this year. As I get older and wiser, I realize how important the snow pack is for our summer months. So, while it may be cold and dreary this January day, I accept it as a good thing. A good snow pack means a good storage of water for those hot summer months coming down the road. Well, time to stop daydreaming of Summer and get ready for our "Hot Date Night" Valentine lessons. See you next month.

The first full moon of the year, setting over our sleepy little town.

A Very Brisk October

My Halloween decor is covered in snow this morning.

 Wait, what?!! Sub zero temperatures and it's only October 29th?! Welcome to Idaho, the State where you never know what the weather gods are going to throw your way! This morning is no exception. Bone chilling temperatures probably means not many trick-or-treaters in a couple of days. Sigh....more candy for us I guess! (Not that I need it, oi! Maybe I'll dole it out to the grand kids.) 

Anyway, we are staying warm in the Studio (of course!) Fires are going non-stop. Even though we are a couple of "Old-Schoolers," the age of the Internet has kept us hopping all year, and this month is no exception. Internet orders continue to pile up. At the beginning of the month we created a couple of wildlife sculptures for the store in Jackson Hole. They are added to our other collections  at Wild West Designs, an amazing western-themed storefront. All kinds of hidden treasures can be found there. If you are ever up that way, pay them a visit, you'll be glad you did. 

Blown Glass Bugling Elk

Blown Glass Wolves

Before we got super swamped with ornament orders Russ had time to complete a personal project. He created a unique frame with some willow tree branches found on our property. It will be on display at the Beaux Cadeaux Artisan show next week.

Many hours were spent on the fox, using glass enamels which were fired on in the big kiln.

 The Fall-themed artistic piece below is still in the works, but will really stand out when it is completed. Russ enjoys creating when the time allows. Beats the heck out of making the same ornaments over and over. I keep thinking when he retires, his creativity will know no bounds. 

A Fall scene is in the works, using glass enamels and fused glass.

A new design of sledder ornaments were created this month.

 Speaking of ornaments, some new ideas were created for a customer this month, colorful glass sledders along with a preview in the kiln of what will end up being many hundreds of reindeer. These items are being shipped to Minnesota as soon as they are packaged up. (Haven't quite figured out the packaging process on the deer, as they have fragile antlers. There is a science to packing to avoid breakage of the glass while it is being shipped around the country. This one will be tricky.) 

A kiln full of annealed glass reindeer.

                Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go shovel snow so the little trick-or-treaters that DO                  show up at our door won't be slipping and sliding all over. Sheesh! Gotta love Idaho!  

A Quick Tour

 

What's up with A Touch of Glass these days, you may ask? Well, this month I'm keeping the blog short and sweet, as we are preparing for a great adventure. (I'll explain more in July.)  We continue to stay busy with various custom projects requested by some local customers. Meanwhile, I've posted  a video of the latest works in our Studio. We hope this summer you have time to make some lasting memories. Until next time, enjoy!

Good Tidings

One of our large blown glass Angels created by our Lamp work torch.

Have you ever had the feeling that external forces are helping you along in life, without being able to pinpoint the exact cause for your good tidings? This sums up our 2015 year in the Studio. Call it a guardian angel or whatever phenomenon you'd like, but we felt like the season was full of exciting and memorable creations, to where it felt like something outside ourselves was sometimes helping us along our paths of creativity.

A blown glass scuba diver ornament

The year is winding down and we are finding ourselves reflecting once again, on so many unique, fun creations of glass, from the beginning in January, right down to the very end of December.  

A unique piece of art features a fused glass trout swimming in a riverbed

Of course, we have had our share of mishaps too, like the trout scene above. Countless hours were spent on the fused piece, only to find out it was damaged during shipping. That's the luck of the draw, when it comes to shipping glass. But we try not to spend too much time and energy focused on the failures, and instead, like to focus on the overall success of the glass art we created in the Studio.

Blown glass treble clef ornament

Many ornaments were shipped out the door the last quarter of the year, from doves to candy canes, to Christmas trees, to musical ornaments. 

Lovely Calla Lily Arrangement

We also had time to create commissioned pieces like the elegant luster pink Calla lilies pictured above. They are nestled in one of our recycled and engraved wine bottles for a unique centerpiece for the home of our customer.

Slumped and fused pieces featured at our Annual Open House this year.

The fused pieces above, and the blown glass elk below were featured in our annual December Open House. We look forward to the community coming to our Studio this time every year to watch us blow glass and browse through our large selection of ornaments and glass art.

Blown Glass Elk were also featured at our annual Open House

We did a commissioned Idaho Falls Temple for one customer that came to our Open House. There are glass pine trees surrounding the building, just like the real time landscaping.

A commissioned blown and sculpted glass Idaho Falls Temple

We had time to make a unique tiki ornament for all of Adele's brothers and sister, to remember the fun we had at her family's reunion. It was held in sunny California earlier this year. The reunion had a tiki theme and we gave these whimsical ornaments to help them reflect back to good times with the family.

Whimsical Glass Tiki Ornaments

We also had time to make new ornaments right up to the last minute. One customer requested the cute penguin ornament below.

Commissioned blown glass penguin ornament

These scalloped float glass trees were a bit of a challenge to make, but the end result was what we were after, with an engraved greeting on the front of the ornaments.

Scalloped and engraved float glass Christmas tree ornaments

Another customer asked to have their pets blown out of glass to mimic the real thing. This was also a challenge to get exactly right, as the colored glass is much harder to work with. We hope the recipient was happy with this piece.

A customer's pets were recreated out of colored glass

Once all the orders were complete and picked up, we got to business preparing for family to come. We still pick out an old fashioned pine tree to decorate, just like the old days, when our kids were younger and we would go into the forest to chop down a tree. We eagerly awaited the arrival of all of our children on Christmas Eve. The little grandchildren were all gifted Christmas pajamas and this Grandpa and Grandma were in heaven surrounded by all our children and their families.

Our old fashioned Christmas tree

The most precious gifts, our grandchildren

Cute ornaments we made just for our grandchildren

We enjoyed some much needed time off from the Studio and played in our back yard's winter wonderland with our oldest grandson. It was quite cold, but still fun to enjoy a very white Christmas this year.

Fun in the snow with our grandson

The slumped and fused snowman candle centerpiece felt appropriate to make this year too, with all the snow that's been falling in our neck of the woods.

Slumped and fused winter snowman scene accented with a candle

Jack Frost is also working his magic lately. Everything is shimmering and bright under a full moon Christmas picture that we took out our front window. We would like to thank each and every customer that has purchased from us and helped us continue to thrive as a small business, and look forward to another new year of great tidings. Season's greetings and a very happy new year from 

A Touch of Glass Studio.

Jack Frost is helping us end the year out right with a beautiful winter scene view out our front yard.

Universal Understanding

Earlier this summer I had an "Ah-ha" moment while on a morning stroll with our furry companions. I was hoping we could enter a new piece of art work into our State Fair this year, and put on my creative thinking cap while briskly walking the dogs. My better half and partner has always had a fascination with anything regarding Space, the "final frontier," and an idea started formulating in my mind of how he could combine his love of glass with his love of the Universe. I hurried home and described in detail what my vision was to him. (This happens quite often, when formulating new ideas for pieces of art, with us both bouncing ideas off of each other.) He immediately began the research involved to take on such a project, and decided slumped and fused pieces were the way to go for the Universal effect that we  were collectively tuned into. 

Countless hours and kiln firings later, our solar system was complete and ready to be put into orbit, along with distant galaxies. Below is the final result of the piece that will be on display at the State Fair the first week in September. It is quite a large piece measuring 36" x 48", and has a 3D effect, with the planets set on standoffs at different heights. Many hours were put into getting the planetary detail put together in a way that was originally envisioned .  We are interested to see what the general public thinks of this particular piece of slumped and fused glass art. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by the Eastern Idaho State Fair and take a peak at it, and let us know what you think.

Our solar system is included in this piece titled "Universal Understanding"

Below are some other projects worked on during the months of July and August as well. We have been experimenting with some unique shapes and fun designs of slumped and fused clocks as well. 

Slumped and Fused Wall Clock

Slumped and Fused Standing Clock

There were also a few more western themed and wildlife, nature pieces created. We can't seem to stock our Etsy store with enough hummingbirds, before they "fly" off the shelf! 

Hummingbirds with flowers are a top seller

Pair of wolves on the hunt

Blown glass bucking bronco ornament

And finally, we're currently working on a large order for some float glass Christmas trees. Yes, I'm sorry to say, it's already time to start thinking of the holidays, especially in our line of work. We will be spending a good amount of time in the Studio restocking our shelves with a wide variety of ornaments, so stay tuned for ideas for unique gift giving for the not-too-distant future.

Preparing scalloped and engraved float glass Christmas tree ornaments

Black Friday

The bombardment of commercialism is here once again as Black Friday has arrived. And while we are also in the business of selling our art work to the Public, we choose to go about this "black" day differently. We settle in the Studio and light up the torches and kilns, while avoiding the crowds and madness that ensues with this hyped up event at the big box stores. You know, it just doesn't do it for us, fighting the crowds to save a buck or two. Never understood the hype, and never want to. Instead, we prefer intimate settings for the holidays. Such as the annual tradition we have of opening our Studio to the Public the first weekend in December. Customers can come and browse around, while watching us at work behind the torches, and enjoy some holiday treats and hot cider and cocoa. It just seems to go with the flow and the Spirit of the Season, and we like to keep it that way.

We wanted to give an update of our latest pieces we've created, and continue to create, as sort of a preview of what you'll find in our Studio next weekend. Below are some samples for your viewing pleasure.

This glass floral wall art has a lot of movement to it

We came up with the above piece for our third son's home, as a show of appreciation for helping us with our website and graphic design work. The matching decorative plate below was fused and slumped to match this unique glass wall art.

A matching fused decorative plate to match the wall art

Below are a couple of new colorful slumped and fused plates we've been working on. We're excited about these new colors. 

A colorful gradient slumped and fused creation

A flowing plate has lots of layers to it

And we still have a lot to get done in time for the Open House next weekend, but we enjoy the thought of thinking of our studio as kind of a Santa's workshop. Busy little elves are working hard at this moment, to make sure someone on your Christmas list has a unique gift or piece of art work that will make their holiday all the more special. Come by and see us next weekend if you have the time.

Working on another piece of original wall art

Blown glass preparations or our Open House

Fused, engraved and sandblasted bottles need some finishing touches before our Open House