Loving and Loss, Learning and Leaping

We had a busy Valentine season, selling many different roses.

 The month of February was one of loving, learning, loss, and last but not least, "Leap day". We started out the first part of the month by creating many glass roses of different styles and varieties for our Etsy customers. Then we worked throughout Valentine's weekend on our "Hot Date Night" glassblowing lessons. This has been a tradition holding steady for quite a few years now. It is a unique Valentine that couples really seem to enjoy. Some are a bit nervous to start out, but Russ is a great teacher and seems to be able to calm most people's fear of the hot torch flames. Others are eager to work in the Lamp Work flames and seem quite natural for beginners.
I also wanted to share the picture below, made in the past, regarding a unique memorial created for a beloved family pet. 

An idea to incorporate a beloved pet's ashes into glass.

This month projects were also completed that represented some great loss of beloved pets. My sister and her family lost their canine companion last summer. Her name was Rozy and she was part of their family for close to 16 years. Russ finally had the time to create some unique pieces for her. He cut and slumped the white glass first to create a puzzle effect. (She is the missing puzzle piece to their family.) Then he painted on and fired in the kiln, layer after layer after layer of glass enamel paints, until he got the replica of Rozy as accurate as possible. It took about a month to complete. 

Glass Enamels were used to paint these portraits onto glass puzzle pieces.

And finally, we are dealing with heartbreak at the end of the month, as our first grand puppy Bear, has passed away from cancer. It has been really hard to process. We have been through the loss of  our own pets before, but this is the first "grand"dog to pass on. He belongs to our second born son and his family. He was a Shelter dog and had a heart of gold. It never gets any easier, and the grief is still in the raw stage. My heart hurts when I think of all the good times we shared with this great dog. It has been very hard on my son and his wife and kids too. But I take solace in the fact that he has passed on to "Rainbow Bridge" without any more pain from cancer. He was yet another dog that loved unconditionally, like so many that passed before him. And this being a rare leap year, I like to envision him leaping into his new life with joy and memories of the good times with his human family. Until next time, make sure to tell the ones you love, how much they mean to you.....both human and furry companions. 💕💗💕

Grieving the passing of our first grand puppy this past month.

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.

February Forging Ahead

Even though winter is far from over in our high desert climate, we have managed to keep the home fires burning and are still plenty warm in the Studio, thankfully. February tends to keep us focused on Valentines. The first half of the month was plenty busy, between rose orders and giving glass rosebud lessons.

Creating blown glass roses and rosebuds are a common practice in our Studio for the month of February. 

 Heart shaped glass pendants were also created for some customers this month.

Sculpted glass heart pendants

 We have quite a bit of inventory building up in the Studio, which is a good thing. Some of our pieces have been selected to head out the door for upcoming Art Shows.

Completed Art Works in the Studio

 It's nice when things slow down just a bit after Valentine's Day. It gives us time to think ahead about various projects and also do a little creating, like the slumped and fused piece below.

One of our latest creations, a slumped and fused glass vase.

Now we can take some time and enjoy a little respite before we delve into new projects. We are hoping to hear good news from some stores in Yellowstone. The buyers may be interested in carrying our blown glass wildlife in their gift shops. We are waiting to hear back from them. If we get the green light, I'm sure the torch fires will be burning night and day. Until then, we will enjoy the calm before the next "storm". 

Glass Wildlife figurines akin to the real ones you would see in Yellowstone Park.

New Year Goals

Universal Understanding Fused Glass Art Work


January brings with it a sense of renewal and new beginnings. This held true for us in the Studio as we wrote down goals to apply to our artistic glass and creations which we plan to work on in 2016.
Before we got back to the grind though, we actually took time to enjoy winter fun in the mountains with our adult children. It always feels good to rejuvenate out in the crisp, cold Idaho outdoors. Plus our dogs almost demand it, and of course, their needs are fulfilled first.

Some of our dog pack enjoying the snow

Family fun in the snow

Playtime in the mountains

Fused Trout Art work

We plan on creating more slumped and fused art this year, experimenting as we go. Pictured above are samples of some of our latest trout scenes.

Our cure for the January blahs, build a snowman

Now that we have had some fun with the snow outside, it's time to light up the torches and create a variety of roses for the Valentine holiday coming up. We try to include small amounts of playtime with work time, as it helps us to come back with a renewed commitment to our craft. Remember, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Which reminds me, it's time to take the dogs out for some playtime in the snow again. We'll check in again next month to give an update on our Valentine gifts.

Roses cooling down in our kiln

"May" Be a Disaster, "May" Be Not

As with most professions, there are good days and bad days. And no matter how much preparation and thought are put into our glass works, things cannot possibly run smoothly all of the time. We have experienced highs and lows in the Studio, it's just the nature of the beast when working with glass. Well, this week has had it's share of low spots for us. It's pretty frustrating, but all we can do is pick up the pieces "literally", and chalk it up as another learning curve. Nothing like getting woke up at 4:30 am (on a Monday morning, no less) to the sound of one of your favorite pieces (a glass wall clock) crashing down to the floor with a deafening noise. Not only did the clock meet it's demise, but it took out a large amount of our inventory with it. Glass shards were everywhere, and it took quite a bit of effort to clean up every last piece.

We also had our share of breakage when it came to shipping glass roses this month. Beautiful hand crafted and blown flowers were flawless before the shipment. Beforehand, we meticulously and carefully wrapped and double boxed the flowers as we always do, only to hear they arrived across country broken due to rough shipping and handling. It's not often this happens, but when it does, it's disappointing to both us and the customers. And we have no choice but to start from scratch all over again.

Mother's Day glass floral gifts

Rose broken during shipping

That's one of the reasons for this artistic statement below, it's currently hanging on one of the walls in the Studio. It's a hard glass (borosilicate) hammer smashing a soft glass (Float) window. We titled it "Stressed". For us, it portrays how many times we have been frustrated when projects don't end up the way we'd like, or beautiful pieces end up in shatters. It's devastating, especially after meticulously working for hours to create them.

"Stressed"

However, for every disaster, there are many more successes to counter-balance the losses. I suppose that's why we don't stay stressed too long, as the rewards are outweighing the benefits. We have to take the losses with the profits and realize every day will not "come up roses". Learning from and dealing with mistakes and accidents never ends when one is a glass artist. Of course, learning from successes is what we would much rather focus on in the Studio. Below are some of the successes created this month of May.

Glass Dragonfly with Lilies

Glass Fairy on Glass Lilypad

Blown Glass Lizard on Manzanita Wood

A beautiful slumped and fused glass collection

If we can focus on the overall results of our labor, the disappointments won't be so hard to deal with. And this week, we are focusing extra hard. Patience is indeed a virtue, that much we have learned for sure.

Valentine and Floral Offerings

For those who need a friendly reminder, you don't need to stay inside the typical "fresh flower" box for Valentine's Day. Our Studio is full of "fresh" ideas for the season of love. This month's Blog features a few of the items available for purchase at our glass blowing Studio. We'd be happy to wrap up a blown glass rose or other blown glass gift for your sweetheart this year. Call our Studio to set up an appointment to see what we have to offer.

Valentine Gift Ideas

 Not only do we offer our blown glass roses and rosebuds, but we also offer heart shaped glass pendants that are quite affordable.

Red Swirled Heart Pendant

Pink Luster Heart Pendant

Our blown glass roses come in a variety of colors

Red and Pink Heart Pendant

Pink Swirled Heart Pendant

And our rosebuds are an affordable gift that will speak to their heart for years to come. We can wrap them up individually, or put them in a nice arrangement. Keep us in mind if you want to think outside the box with roses that will last longer than a week, and are a hand blown gift.

We're also looking forward to our promotion of "Hot Date Night", February 13th and 14th. The flier below gives more detail on this fun date idea for Valentine's Day. 

 We're hoping to do our part in promoting the day of love,  and hoping it lasts much longer than one holiday. After all, who couldn't use a fresh dose of love? Happy Valentine's Day from A Touch of Glass Studio.