I'm always looking for different ways to best display art glass and came across this photo for a collection by Marc Konys Glass Design.  Not only is the display on bent glass shelves so appealing, if you are a glass lover you will note that this collection is exceptional. There are several beautiful works by William Morris, a Chihuly, Toots Zynsky and Lino Tagliapietra and those are just the pieces that I immediately recognize.  

For those of us who love glass, this collection is a perfect example of the range of this fascinating medium. 
#WilliamMorris #Chihuly #glassdisplay #glassart

The spiral of the Nautilus shell is ancient and you'll see it repeated throughout history.  As it did for the ancients, it also holds a great fascination for me.  I find the gentle spiral to be calming and beautiful.  This piece is 19.5 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep.  A kiln carve firing created the texturing and a second firing created the gorgeous shapes, depth and folds.  
When the process is complete it still is a wonder to me that one can take an old  window and transform it.
New Nautilus is priced at $195 and is dishwasher safe.  A sculpture for your table and then you can toss a salad in it! :)

​#nautilus   #recycled glass #sculpture #glass 

I love creating sculpture pieces from fused glass.  The dilemma to this is always the final presentation...The Stand!  For Canadian artists, it really is a huge problem.  The US has a number of reasonable priced makers of metal stands, but the shipping to Canada is horrendous.  While searching endlessly on the internet I came across some that were used in museums, again...frightful shipping, so I went to Silver Fern Stainless in Victoria, BC with the idea.  I have used them before to make stainless casting molds, but they work in aluminum too.  So we talked, they quoted and to keep costs down - I went with 4 of each proto-type, one a T - Stand as shown here,  the other a Spider.  I haven't used the Spider yet, so that's another Blog...
The beauty of the stands is that they are completely customizable to fit your glass.  The rods are easy to move, you choose the length the snip and sand.  The aluminum is easy to polish (use Vim) then seal with a clear varathane spray, or aluminum sealer.   You can then leave the stand silver or spray paint whatever colour you desire.  

The mask, Kale Moja,  is available through the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria gift shop. $600

Many months ago I received a commission for a "red bowl" like the one on my website. The red bowl- Fire Guardians was a frit fuse, sandblast style piece.  First you fuse a layer of black frit over the chosen colour of glass.  Then a layer of resist is applied and the design elements hand cut.  Next comes sandblasting away the black frit on the exposed areas and then a few more firings.  When I completed the first two stages I was headed to GlassSmith to do the sandblasting when I learned they took their booth out! Yikes. They pointed me to Blast It! on Turner St. in Victoria.  The booths were fabulous!  You choose the medium that you want to sandblast with and the settings.  They are very helpful.  This machine was far more powerful than the one I had used before, so lessons learned...use Buttercut resist.  I had used the cheaper stuff (like MacTac) and it blew off. Arggh, so the design had to be cut twice and typical me, I thought might as well do 2 - one in orange and one in red - with 2 designs.  
The photo collage below shows a bit of the process and the end result after a total of 5 firings!  Lessons learned - use Buttercut, low setting on the sandblaster - start at 30 psi.  It's a longer process at the lower psi, but it is very easy to blow through the glass if it's only 3 mm thick! 

As it turns out, my client chose the orange plate - The Chase, so the red bowl - Anasazi Hunters is available. $500

I've always found that there is something elegant about sushi.  It is an artform in it's own right.  Each roll is like a Murrini cane, waiting to be sliced and presented.  The Rice Cube has made making sushi easy for anyone, and with the new square form of sushi, comes a new presentation style called Mosaic. Truly little culinary works of art!  So much of Japanese cuisine is in the art of presentation and call me biased, but I think glass is your best serving base.  And why not make it original glass, made by me...even better. :)
So, here are a few sushi creations on my glass creations.

I'll update with more photos very soon.  I feel an urge for sushi coming on!

I'm very excited to have been chosen as one of the nine artists for the Winter Market at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.  Two of the Spencer Mansion rooms of the gallery will be transformed into a Winter Market. 

On Thursday evening there will be a cash bar serving Hot Apple Cider, Wine, and Beer between 5 - 9 PM, and live music by local musicians Jon Middleton and Sierra Lundy. All artists will be in attendance that evening.

This is a wonderful opportunity to find unique hand-crafted gifts and 50% of all sales goes directly to support AGGV.

I will be in attendance at the Winter Market on Thursday Nov. 24th 5-9 pm, Friday Nov. 25th  11-1 pm and Sunday 3 - 5 pm.  AGGV staff handle all sales, so I don't need to be there for you to buy! :)

This little gem is only about 9 x 9 inches, fused and slumped Bullseye Glass with found egg shaped glass marbles.  With all the bird life around this spring and the Birdhouse Project, this creation came from those inspirations.  
It is available from the Studio for $250 CDN

I recently went looking with my sister for a new dining room light fixture.  We hunted everywhere and just couldn't find something to compliment the room and be a little interesting and unique, without spending thousands. 

So...a little experiment, that turned out very lovely, interesting and completely original... value ...$375 plus a $40 fixture from Home Depot.