If I make it glass art intended for a garden, then it has to last in my garden.  Glass always brings me joy in the garden and adds some much needed colour and surprise on bleak days.  

​#gardenart #glassart #glasssculpture #paulineolesen #yyj

This information probably comes as no surprise to many of you, but in these gray days, there comes some inspiration and wonder in Netflix and film.   Whether you appreciate or create in glass through the torch, flame, hot shop, kiln, fusing, stained...I am very sure you will love the Netflix competition series Blown Away, now showing Season 2 and repeating Season 1.  Words my glass loving friends use are "addictive and binge worthy" !  

An equally interesting nugget is "Holy Frit" currently streaming until Feb 25th, 2021 at the Slamdance Film Festival.  www.slamdance.com  It takes you on an amazing journey involving the mastery of frit, stained glass, fusing and the installation of the largest stained glass window in the US.  It was 2 hours of edge of your seat for a glass artist. :)  

So on this particularly rainy, snowy, slushy day - curl up and indulge in a massive glass fix! 

#blownaway #slamdance #holyfrit #bullseyeglass

I've been working away on the sculpture garden and have the Third and Fourth Sentinels completed and available for purchase.  One of the first clients to inspect was a local deer who frequents the yard.  He never misses an opening! :)  The Sentinels are made from kiln-cast recycled window glass.  Window glass often ends up in the landfill, so I love that I'm able to re-purpose it this way.  The floats used have been washed up on Piers Island beaches, the wire is recycled aluminum wiring for the most part, some flame worked beads and also recycled glass beads made in Ghana and Botswana.  The rebar centre supports are found in various yards and Piers and again recycled and re-purposed to become sculpture.
The Third Sentinel (shown above)  is about 67 inches tall.  $800
The Fourth Sentinel (shown below) is about 61 inches tall. $800

I've come to realize (the hard way) that there is a big difference between a direct client contact and selling retail when dealing with garden sculpture installations.  Speaking directly, I can advise the best way to install, and the do's, don't and what to watch for.  Normally, through retail, I won't have that direct access, so coming soon will be a little video for installation and if you have purchased a garden sculpture, please feel free to contact me via email and be sure to include your phone number.  I will call you. :) 

In the meantime...
Most of the sculptures are centered around a rebar shaft and the glass top (spear/paddle/fish) is easily lifted for transport and installation after the rebar has been secured.  There is always a little rubber protector that sits on the very top of the rebar.  Remove the rubber, then place the rebar in the center of the cement block support.  Hammer the rebar down (make sure there's not a sprinkler line running underneath :) You can adjust the height by the depth you sink the rebar.  When you have it to the height you want, check for any sharp edges on the top of the rebar that you might have created by hammering - give it a little file down if required and then place the rubber pad on top of the rebar.
You are now ready to slide on the glass.  

On sculptures where the glass is attached to the glass, "pre-drill" a hole the rebar size using something of similar size to hammer/predrill.  Then slide the sculpture in.  I try to keep the large glass top removable for ease of transport, but just in case.

​And again...please contact me if you have any questions at all. 

A winter storm of 30 knots from the north knocked The Sentinels over.  The entire huge cement block over!  The top head pieces smashed on the patio.  :(  So...lessons learned...dig in for security and a flat surface mounted high with heavy wind provides amazing leverage.   

Continuing with the recycling theme, I incorporated  found glass mosaic to top the sculpture and it's withstood everything since then. :)  I still love it - even its morphed state.

I'm perfecting ways to do the disks angled and will be putting together a few more smaller versions to have available for sale,   
#recycledglass  #gardensculpture

While I had already started working with old glass and recycling it into new fused glass creations, my whole recycling mission kind of exploded on January 1st, 2020.  My New Year's resolution of Ditch the Plastic was in full swing and quite frankly I was on a mission!  Luckily, my husband was equally inspired...because you can't do this unless the family is IN!  So January was dedicated to doing what it takes to Ditch the Plastic...which included building a website ditchtheplastic.ca and a new Twitter account twitter@plasticditch  

I would be delighted if you had a look at them.  I'm trying my best to share the journey and pass along tips and now that I'm feeling really good about those results - back to glass, which remains focused on creating pieces using old glass.    This newest piece above - The Sentinels is currently gracing our front yard and undergoing stress testing with winds.  Highest wind to date - 12 knots!  I'll keep you posted,   I'll be working on some unwieldy versions for sale soon.  This piece stands 99 inches tall.