September Harvest

Another batch of wildlife headed to Yellowstone

Lately, it seems the months are blurring into each other. I can't believe we are already looking  into the month of October in a few days. Time sure has a way of getting away from us. I'll take the time to write a quick blog post today, then head back into the Studio for more projects. (We never seem to run out of them these days.) Pictured above is part of the latest blown glass wildlife order from the Yellowstone stores. 

A hand engraved slumped wine bottle created for a customer in Iowa.

The flattened (slumped) bottle and logo above were made for a winery in Iowa. We enjoy creating Business' logos with our engraver. It's a hand engraver, so I take my time with these kind of projects to get it just right. No such luxury of  a laser engraver yet, maybe in the future. 

Orders are already piling up for the coming Holidays.

Pictured above is part of an order we created for an Art Gallery that's located across the country. I have lots of finish work to do, like tying cords onto each individual ornament, and adding tags of course. I take extra time carefully wrapping each one with tissue paper and bubble wrap, to make sure it arrives safely to it's destination. (You wouldn't believe how much of that product we go through every month.) The Devil is in the details.

Meanwhile, our garden harvest is full-bore this month of September. We've already harvested beans, peas, cucumbers, carrots, spinach, peppers, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, herbs, and zucchini. Pictured below are the latest vegetables to be picked. We had no choice, as the garden got hit by frost last week. Looks like I have plenty of winter squash to store this year, along with a good variety of pumpkins. 

So, multi-tasking is a must in the month of September, with the business and home and garden duties. It's a way of life we have grown accustomed to. And you know how the saying goes, "You reap what you sow". Until next time, enjoy the Harvest. 

September is a month filled with canning garden goodies.

Sentimental September

Anyone who knows me knows my love of September, as it ushers in the most glorious time of the year, Fall. It brings out my sentimental side. Fall has a look, smell and feel to it, like no other season. Breathing in the crisp mountain air sends me back to another place in time, where I didn't have a care in the world. Except to rake up a giant pile of old, crunchy leaves and gleefully jump into that earthy Fall bliss with my siblings, back in the 60's. Still to this day, I eagerly anticipate our Fall drives into the mountains, as they remind me how symbolic the season is. It represents everything cozy and comforting, calm and peaceful, with it's glistening golden hues. It does a body good to break away from all the mundane day-to-day dealings of life, and pause to witness Nature in all it's glorious golds, reds, and yellows. The drive has come to be one of the highlights of my year.

Fall colors on our annual drive

Aspen trees were brilliant gold colors 

 Can't stay in the woods too long because as always, we have been busy working on many new ventures in the Studio. Russ worked on some new slumped and fused pieces and created a "Facehugger" wine glass gift for a customer. He liked the outcome so much, he decided to make a whole set for a friend's birthday gift.

Cutting glass for a slumped and fused project

Facehugger wine glass

Set of 4 unique glasses

Another multi-colored bowl was created this month, with a new shape slumped in the kiln.

Multi-colored slumped and fused bowl

The upcycled bottles below were also created for a customer, with a southwest design. We added glass chili peppers to them as an accent.

Artistic slumped and engraved upcycled bottles

I am also in the process of packaging up a large order and getting it shipped up to Alaska next week.

Many ornaments to pack up and ship

Before the holiday season hits us full-bore in the Studio, I'm hoping we find the time for one more drive into the mountains, as nothing gives me greater solace than this golden age of Fall, and all it's brilliant colors. 

A beautiful Fall drive in the mountains nearby

Taking Earth Day to Heart

A beautiful tree blossoms this Spring in one of our local parks.

This past weekend "Earth Day" was celebrated in our community. While the weather wasn't very cooperative for an outdoor celebration, just the act of celebrating the Earth causes one to pause and reflect how each of us as individuals can do our part in being good stewards of the land. I am reminded by events like these how important it is that we each do what we can to conserve and take care of our planet. And since moving out to the country a few years ago... I have seen in our own lives, the gratification that comes from working the soil. Also planting trees, flowers, gardens, and recycling has given us a sense of purpose and responsibility for our own patch of land, minuscule as it may seem for our planet's overall health. 

A double rainbow delights us after a thunderstorm.

Spring has a way of  reminding us everything old and washed out can become new again. Mother Nature displays awe-inspiring rainbows after a sporadic thunderstorm. We are busy planting new seeds in the greenhouse and taking care of our young "ugly" chickens so they can give us fresh organic eggs later in the year.

New chickens in their awkward, "teenage" phase. 

Just beginning to see plants coming up in our greenhouse.

We use the blue barrels below to water the greenhouse and chicken trough. When a fresh rain falls, it is collected in our rain gutter and stored in the containers for future use. 

Our water barrels help us recycle rainwater.

We also try to reuse as much as possible in our Studio to prevent waste. Below are two pictures that show how we take old scrap glass laying around, and cut it and rearrange it in various patterns. Next, it is slowly heated in the kiln. The end result has taken the scrap glass and turned it into a functional glass vase.

Kiln heating up scrap glass

The end result is a pretty decorative vase.

 Probably the best way our Studio helps recycle unwanted waste, is to "upcycle" used bottles. Below are a few samples of the many 100's of wine bottles we have flattened or slumped in our kilns. I hand engrave a design on them, and accessorize with bead work and copper wire to dress them up. Now they have gone from trash to treasure, as they are functional kitchen art that can hang on the wall or be used as trivets. 

Wine bottle art 

We have many designs and sayings to choose from.

Dragonflies are popular.

An affordable gift to give.

A great accessory to the kitchen.

These two are slumped together, and make a great trivet.

We have plenty of options of the bottle art to choose from in our Studio, as an affordable gift to give. We also have many other uses for the bottles, such as drinking glasses, tiki torches, wind chimes, or hummingbird feeders like the one pictured below.

Many functional uses for old bottles are available, including hummingbird feeders.

Finally, to go with a recycled theme, the vase and platter pictured below were created from old float glass, or window glass, that would have been discarded and taken up more space in some land fill. This process gives it a whole new life. We really enjoy taking the time and effort it takes to turn trash into treasure. Hopefully we will continue to think of new ways to be good stewards of the Earth and recycle. 

Turning scrap window glass into functional art work.

"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.

April Creations

Blown, Sculpted Hummingbird and Floral Glass

End of April already, and all the tree blossoms are giving off a subtle scent of fresh floral aromas. Brisk morning walks in the slowly greening high desert hills help us to focus on new ideas we are formulating. Once we're back in the Studio we get to work trying to bring the ideas to fruition. We've had some successes and some near misses working with some new styles of glass in the kilns. All in all, it feels good to push the envelope of what we are capable of  learning about this ever changing art and craft on a daily basis. The pieces below are some of our latest projects.

Slumped and Fused Abstract Plate

A new idea to fuse and swirl colors

The next 3 pieces were done for our son and his wife to complete their memories of a very good year, including their wedding, honeymoon, and reaching the 30 year milestone of  their lives.

Fused cheese tray with an animated theme

Fused art reflecting a special Jamaican beach Honeymoon memory

Slumped and Fused Decorative Vase

Mother's Day is right around the corner, and our blown glass hummingbirds are always a great choice for the many special Moms out there.

A great Mother's Day gift idea

An unusual abstract piece incorporating hard and soft glass

Fun Engraved and Sandblasted Upcycled Drinking Glasses

Another new plate, perfect for home decor

We have plenty of glass gifts in our Studio

  Feel free to give us a call if something catches your eye for a future gift.