May Musings

 The month of May has given us a chance to get creative with new glass projects around our property, as this time of the year Internet orders tend to slow down, giving us time to hatch new ideas. And of course, when one has time to collect one's thoughts, there is much creative musing that goes on in an Artist's brain. So in May those musings were turned into the latest creations. The first few visuals show the beginning process of fusing glass in the kiln, and then a couple videos of the final projects place around the yard. I like to think Russ might have channeled a bit of the great glass artist "Chihuly" with these florals that now adorn our pondscape. But of course, he is an artist in his own right, just not quite as famous. 

Colorful scraps of glass were fused into flowers and leaves for a new garden sculpture.

Russ plucked a rhubarb leaf out of the garden and fused float glass over the top of it. 

The following videos are short clips of  the finished pieces adorning our pond area, and a small waterfall in our front porch area. (Russ blew and sculpted a whimsical glass frog and added it to the fused leaf project.)

The backyard bar area needed a face lift, so here is a sneek peak of the new "Cheers" insert. It was sandblasted on float glass, which was cut to fit the space. We still have some fine tuning to do on this one, but thought I would share the work in progress.

Sandblasted glass for patio bar area.

 We managed to break away from all the Spring clean-up work and projects in the yard, to enjoy Russ' new kayaks he got for his birthday. We enjoyed a weekend in the mountains with family and got good use out of the fun kayaks. So that about wraps it up for the month of May's activities. Until next time, work hard, play hard. A good motto to live by. 

Russ kayaking with our Grandson.

"Yours truly" enjoying the Kayak at a pond in the nearby mountains.

Christmas in July

Colorful Hand Blown Ornaments

In our line of work, it's never too early to think about the Holidays.  I guess there's a reason someone coined the phrase, "Christmas in July."  We are currently doing lots of kiln work to create hundreds of glass wreaths for a client in Michigan. And so while it's on our minds,  we thought we'd pass on a friendly little reminder and a link to look at our Etsy shop.   https://www.etsy.com/shop/ATouchofGlassIdaho?ref=ss_profile A good reference to keep us in mind for a unique Christmas ornament in the future. The earlier your order is placed, the better. Because once September comes around, our "to-do" list gets longer and longer. Below are some pictures of some sample ornaments.

Colored Icicle Ornaments

Glass Cardinal Ornament

A fun glass Painter's Palette 

Lots of prep. goes into making and packaging our glass ornaments

Meanwhile, here's hoping you still find the time to catch "Big Wanda" out at your favorite fishing hole, with what's left of July. Enjoy it!

Glass Trout making a Splash

The Pumpkin Patch

Black glass cat in our "glassy" pumpkin patch

I come from the generation that first fell in love with Charles Schulz's classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".  This year really dates me, as they are celebrating 50 years of the classic cartoon. Linus, Snoopy and the gang were a much anticipated Holiday treat that we first watched back in the 60's at both of our homes. Still to this day, I eagerly anticipate watching the whole Peanuts gang on Halloween night. Makes me feel like a kid again, and there's nothing wrong with bringing out the inner child now and then. Along those lines, while we didn't have much luck in our own pumpkin patch this year, (Only a few good pumpkins were picked) we enjoyed creating some out of glass, black cat included.

White Glass Frit accents our Snow Owl

We have also had our share of owls visiting the neighborhood this year, probably from the abundance of rabbits. Russ got inspired by the nightly hoots and created a cute glass Snow Owl this month.

Slumped and Fused Glass Vase accented with Fall colors

He also experimented with various scrap glass pieces and created a few new slumped and fused vases, including the one pictured above. 

Glass Display Stands in the Studio

It was time to update our display stands for an upcoming Art Show, so Russ used his welder for the base of the new stands. Then, using the scallop tool on float glass, he created the display stand pictured above. It accents the slumped and fused pieces quite nicely.

New creation of a slumped and fused decorative plate

Another iridescent and colorful plate was created this month. It has a riverbed of glass rocks fused and incorporated into this decorative piece.

Now if you will excuse me, I've got to be short and sweet on this month's blog, as we have lots of prep work before the first show of the holiday season. Here's hoping you found your own "Great Pumpkin" and have a spooktacular Halloween!

So Busy It's Scary

Whooooo's ready for Halloween?

You want to know what's scary this month? Besides the local hauntings, little goblins, and creepy crawlies....blinking an eye and realizing it's already over! It seems like a blur, so much done in the Studio, yet so far to go. 

We started out October like we ended September, blowing and sandblasting hundreds of dove ornaments for a non-profit organization that found us on Etsy. Wouldn't seem like a daunting task, except there's just the two of us, with a short time frame to get the work done. That counts for many, many hours of labor, and boy were we happy to ship them out the door this week. I think if there had been one more day of that noisy compressor blasting away, our dogs would've committed some kind of murder upon us for hurting their ears.

A small portion of a very large ornament order

We did manage to get away once in a while, and happened to come upon a scary looking forest one weekend, while looking for firewood. Scary as it looked, it felt really good to breathe in the forest and Autumn air, instead of dealing with the dust that accompanies our sandblast activities in the Studio.

Spooky forest

Also, everything was put to an abrupt halt earlier this month, when we were notified our 3rd grandchild was on his way.  What a beautiful reprieve from the tedious goings-on in the Studio, as I realized grandson #3 would come into the world on what was my very own day of birth, many years ago. He was welcomed into the world with lots of love, a perfect baby boy, and I couldn't believe we were both to share a special bond with this day. What a grand thing for this grandparent. I was gifted the ultimate present on my birthday. A precious day to be treasured for the rest of my years of life.

Our 3rd grandson is having sweet dreams

Once the happiness of welcoming our grandchild into the world had subsided, we headed back down the road home, and right into the Studio to complete lots of unfinished projects. The pieces below were created this month, along with the large order of doves.

Shark, Stingray, Starfish and Coral Scene

The War Cry

Mama Bear and her cubs

And now that Halloween is just about here, I think we'll take the time to spend with family members, and do some fun spooky hauntings before the next holiday orders come rushing at us full speed ahead. So busy it's scary!

Our carved pumpkins 

Happy Holidays

An old fashioned Christmas Tree

Another year has whizzed by and it's time once again for retrospecting as 2014 comes to a close. And you know, we can't help but realize that this year we've been happy all the way around. We exceeded our goals and expectations for the glass studio, and had some wonderful family moments as well. 2014 was indeed a good (and busy) year, both in professional and personal fields. Doing what one loves, along with a strong work ethic, help to create the perfect balance of "reaping what you sow". We'd like to thank our loyal customers, along with many new clients for supporting our artistic efforts. We couldn't be in this business without the support of so many who appreciate the "Art of Glass". As the year winds down, we reflect on our good tidings and are thankful for the ability to work at something that gives us joy. Below are some of our latest endeavors both with ornaments and larger glass installations. We hope you have the time to view our latest creations. And of course, stay tuned, as the gears are already grinding for future projects in 2015.  

Baby's first Ornament

Rocking Horse Ornament

Hot air Balloon Ornament

Large Firefighter Ornaments

Surfer Ornament

Fused Aspen Scene

Sandblasted Float Glass Tree Ornament

Santa's Down the Chimney Fused Ornament

Blown Glass Reindeer Ornament

Unique Blown and Sculpted Glass Trout Scene

Blown Glass Grizzly Bear

Upcycled Bottle Art

The Four Seasons

Another Baby Ornament

Slumped/Fused Float Glass mixed with Blown Glass-Cattail Scene

Baby's First Ornament

Various Glass Bird Ornaments

Blown Glass Moose Ornament

Blown Glass Under the Sea Scene

Blown Glass Trout Fly Ornament

Blown Glass Cardinal Ornament

Fused Glass Pizza Slice Ornament

Blown Glass Tractor Ornament

Blown Glass Painter's Pallet Ornament

Large Blown Glass Giraffe in Gold Accents

Blown Glass Bugling Elk Scene

 As this year wanes and the new one fast approaches, we want to wish you all the best that life has to offer. Happy New Year from A Touch of Glass Studio.

Hand Sculpted Glass Poinsettia