Art from Ashes

Our dog Wilson lives on, with a piece created on glass using his ashes.

March 31st already, and I realized I have been getting behind on my monthly blogging duties. My mind has been a bit distracted the last couple of months, dealing with loss. Losing our very best companion and furry friend due to lung cancer this last January, has taken it's toll on my partner and I. Grief is a very hard and real emotion to deal with. Maybe because the love and loyalty of a dog is so pure. Actually, between our son's dogs and ours we've lost 4 furry friends within 12 months time. It's been especially hard for us with our dear Wilson, a Lab/Retriever. We have always been "Dog People", but when Wilson came into our lives, we knew there was something extra special about this good and noble soul. Now after just under 11 short years, we are adjusting to the new reality of life without him. Those who don't care for animals probably wouldn't understand. But for me, the grief is still raw and real. So I decided to blog about it to show what has come from the healing process so far, when dealing with a loss of this sort. The loss of the unconditional love of our furry friend, has turned into an art form of sorts. 
I thought I'd share what has been created in the Studio, as  memorial keepsakes for all the dogs. The picture above was created by screen printing some of Wilson's ashes onto a sheet of white glass. It was then fused in the kiln. And the picture below is a painting Russ created of our dog, using glass enamels. It was also fired in the kiln and will be added to the keepsakes we have, to remind us of the great dog he was. He will forever leave a lasting imprint on our hearts. And now with the glass art created, we can see daily reminders of his goodness and love he exuded. 

The essence of Wilson: Painted with glass enamels and fired on glass. 

The next picture below was also screen printed onto glass using a black enamel fine frit. It was created as a memorial to "The three". After carefully sifting the fine frit, it was then annealed in the kiln. Our son and his family's now-departed dogs, and our "grand puppies" -the late Bear and Tank, are pictured alongside Wilson. Back in the day they were the best of friends and frolicked in water and on land. Their memories are chock full of the happy adventures enjoyed in years gone by with all of us.

Wilson, Bear and Tank Memorial made of glass.

And we had to have a piece to remember dear Copper, the oldest of them all. He was also a good and furry friend that deserved the best we could give him. We adopted him from family members and he lived with us since 2011. He passed last July, at close to 15 years of age. I created some string art in his likeness. Russ fired some of Copper's ashes onto a red glass heart, pictured below. We spread the rest of his ashes behind our property, where he used to teach Wilson and Maggie how to hunt mice.

A memorial to our sweet dog Copper.

I suppose the hardest part of the last two months has been watching our last remaining dog Maggie, become so confused and lonely without her BFF. She is filled with a sadness I can feel. It has truly been gut wrenching to deal with. But with time, we move onward as best we can. It has really taught me to savor the little moments in time. Before you know it, they are forever a memory. Life has a way of teaching us all lessons if we are willing to learn. I am forever grateful for the time I have got to spend with all our furry friends through the years. It has taught me the great lessons of compassion and empathy.  Russ and I are so thankful they were in our lives and filled our homes with love and happy times. So fortunate to have had them, even though just a short blip on the time-clock that is our associated with our own lives. 

Wilson and Maggie's last walk at the Park before he passed. 

Maggie missing Wilson, sleeps on his old bed. 

So dear reader, if you have gotten this far in my blog, thank you for allowing me to share my grief. It is somewhat therapeutic to write about. Meanwhile life keeps moving on, waiting for no-one. We are trying to get back into the rhythm of working in our Studio. The art piece pictured below was selected to display in a National Juried Art Exhibit this month at one of our local galleries. Russ received an honorable mention for it. The name speaks to the viewer to contemplate what is important in each of our lives. Not everything in life is black and white. When we look deeper, life can take on new and colorful meaning, if we think outside the box. We can be held back by small thinking, or move forward to progress to a deeper and more fulfilling life on this planet, working in harmony with all the planet already provides. "The future is in your hands" is a powerful testament to that. 

"The Future is in Your Hands"

 

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!  

Happy Halloween!

We wanted to take a minute and wish you a happy Halloween.....

Blown Glass Black Cat and Pumpkins

 This month in the Studio we've been creating some fun Fall projects. We took real leaves from our trees and fired them onto Float glass. Then colored in the imprints with enamels, and placed  them on Kao Wool for a unique glass enamel piece.

Enamels before firing in the kiln

 We also created a fused Fall scene piece (pictured right) for a gift given this month, to one of our sons and his family. We love the Fall colors on both pieces.

Enamel and fused Fall Leaves

 Now to wait for the little goblins and monsters to come knocking on our door. (Then back to work we go, to get ready for our first Fall Artisan Show.) Have a spook-tacular Day!

We recently visited our local "Boo at the Zoo." Enjoy the night of Halloween! 

March....Full Steam Ahead!

A float glass train created in the Studio for a relative, who works for the Union Pacific Railroad.

And just like that, the March winds are blowing right through us, (literally) right up to the end of the month. You have to be tough to deal with the high desert winds that blow through Idaho this time of year. We have a relative who fits that description. He's about as tough as they come, and fits right in with his job at the Union Pacific Railroad. Our nephew asked Russ if he could come up with a glass design to fit the railroad spike/knife. It was to be gifted to our brother-in-law. Since our nephew has been a great supplier of the float glass, sending us old used window glass, we were happy to help out on this project. Another great example of "up-cycling".  Russ used topographical contouring to create the train's shape, and the wheels and front were scored with our glass saw. We think it will be an heirloom for generations to come. 

Screen printed glass Owl accented with glass enamels.

We managed to fit in a trip to Boise this month to visit our son and his family, and celebrate his birthday a little early. The owl pictured above was a house-warming gift that we thought could go alongside a computer-generated piece of artwork he had already created, using his graphic design skills. This project is one of the first attempts at screen-printing on glass. We will be showcasing more screen printing on our blog in the future. There is still a lot to learn, but we have the basics down, and it looks like a promising medium to add to the repertoire.

Spring is blowing into our Studio, new life everywhere!

 We have been involved in many different glass projects this month, that will spill over into April. Special requests are a constant now, and keep us on our toes. But there is always time to stare out into the backyard at the sure signs of Spring around here. (Besides the wind!) And when the Mallard ducks arrive, we know warm weather is just around the corner. Happy Spring and Easter weekend to you and yours!

The ducks always come back to our little pond every Spring.

All the Feels in February

Our luster pink glass roses are on display in many forms this time of the year.
(This one was created in the past for a family member, for her wedding.)

This February turned out to be quite different than year's past in the Studio. Normally we promote our "Hot Date Night" for Valentine's Day. Couples sign up for an hour long session and learn how to make glass rosebuds. But thanks to our latest bundle of joy and 5th grandchild arriving a few days before, the lessons were put on hold this year. (Which suited us just fine! We loved welcoming him into the world. He's just perfect, and our little Valentine!)

💘💘💘💘💘

Our fifth grandchild born in February

 When we came back from our visit with our kids and grandchild there was actually time to create some new pieces just for kicks. The decorative slumped and fused glass plate below is my new favorite. The light captures a new color every time I look at it, thanks to the iridescence. 

Multiple fused layers of Iridescence 

This upcycled bottle was slumped onto one of my favorite molds. A nice trivet or piece of kitchen art.

Slumped "Bon Appetit" Glass Bottle

Russ worked over the microphone from last month's blog, for a client's wedding cake top. It was sandblasted for the finished touch.

Sandblasted Glass Microphone

He also experimented with another scene, but is not quite happy with it. A few more trees painted with glass enamels should add the finishing touch to the first picture. Another customer requested a special winter scene plate that could hold a picture of her beloved pet. I added a picture of two of our furry friends for display purposes. Russ used glass enamel paint for the snowflakes.

Winter scene accented with Enamels and an added picture frame.

Winter scene, not quite finished.

Believe it or not, it is time to look ahead to the next holiday season, as we already have clients across the country asking for new ornaments. We are happy to oblige, as it's always fun to come up with a new pattern, like pictured below. Enamel paints are used as highlights to the glass.

New Slumped and Fused Ornament Creations 

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the quiet solitude of winter up here, along with the many varieties of  birds like the chickadees pictured below, that like to frequent our back yard feeders. I can't complain about being snowed in, as the winter has been fairly mild for an Idaho winter. There are already vegetables sprouting up in the greenhouse. Hopefully, we can fit in a cross country ski trek in the mountains before the snow melts. Until next time, enjoy the little things in your life, they really add up!

Chickadees like to hang out in our bushes when they aren't at our bird feeders.

Once in a Blue Moon

The month of January started out with a full moon and is ending with another "super blue blood moon".

January is going out with a bang, with it's "Blue Moon, Super Moon, and Moon's Eclipse occurring on the last day of this month. Otherwise known as the "Super Blue Blood Moon".  I don't know if that phenomenon is the cause of our re-energized attitudes, but it helps that we have been able to take a collective breath earlier this month, from the holiday rush of last year. We have been able to accomplish quite a bit in the last few weeks, and have re-prioritized what needs to get done in the Studio. We've cleaned up the holiday clutter, and are setting goals to create new projects with silk screening endeavors, later this year. We are still waiting on some key components before we can get started with this new technique that we look forward to working with, on glass. 

Right from the get-go, we started out the new year with a large order that kept us busy for a while, a commission from a Tennis Club in Texas. They requested tennis ornaments with a snowflake theme. We experimented and came up with this design, using soft glass and glass enamels. We filled the kiln up a few times to get them all done in time. 

Snowflake-themed glass tennis racquet ornaments fresh out of the kiln

Another customer requested an unusual wedding cake top to go along with her passion for entertaining - the glass microphone pictured below, highlighted in silver luster.

Blown glass microphone requested for  a wedding cake top

Russ enjoyed creating the blown glass multi-colored road runner, now we're thinking it needs a float glass cactus added on to complete it. 

Multi-colored glass road runner

And of course, many times in the world of slumping and fusing, what we think has turned into a complete fail, ends up turning into a "beautiful disaster". The layered piece below was meant to be a beautiful vase, but the colors just weren't coming together, so Russ totally changed his thought process and went a whole new direction on the scene below. He used standoffs to mount it in our Studio, and I have to say it looks spectacular standing out from the wall like it does...gives it a 3D look, and a much better outcome than the vase would have been. A happy fail. 

Slumped and fused glass art with enamel accents

We also like to take time to leave the Studio now and then and enjoy the Nature around our property in these winter months. And living where we do, we still get all kinds of wildlife coming into the yard this time of year, looking for anything that isn't covered up and ready to munch on. We've had to move our bird feeder 3 different times, as the deer can't seem to get enough, and we don't want them to get in the habit of expecting a free meal. I think Russ has placed it high enough now, that old Mister Buck can't reach it anymore, like he does in the video below. We love the deer, but have also realized it's important for them to eat what they are used to in the mountains, lots of fibrous twigs and branches, and as much as I hate to admit, not our bird food.

This herd is so fun to watch from a distance. We have to be careful going around the neighborhood at night, as you never know when they will dart out in the street. They seem pretty healthy from the mild winter we've been having this year. Unlike last year, when many of our deer and elk populations didn't have enough food to eat because of the devastating Henry's Creek Fire that was human caused a few years ago. I'm glad they seem to be rebounding this year.

Mule Deer Herd in our Neighborhood

So we come to a close of the first new month, in our new year, with the new blue moon, along with new ideas brewing for the coming months. Happy New Year!