Glass Trailerwhere stained glass art is made

My next and final Donation for this years Alzheimer’s auction is finally done and turned in.

What do you think?

I am horrible and I know it.  It’s been 20-some-odd days since I posted.  It’s just been hella busy.  I’m still slowly, but surely, creating the next piece for the Alzheimer’s auction… which might I add is next week?  I really need to kick ass on this if I’m going to finish.

As you can see, it’s almost complete already. I just have to finish foiling and solder it all up.  A couple of hours left on this project and I’ll be ready to move on to the next.

Please don’t think I’ve been THAT lazy though.  Believe me, there have been plenty of things that have gone out in the last month.  And last weekend, I even took a bead making class… which was really hot.

HOT seems to be the theme of my work lately.  When I left the bead class after sitting over an open flame all day, I was drenched in sweat and so were my classmates.  It has been boiling here (at least compared to what we’re used too) and it’s not helping me get much done.

Last night I was out there for several hours grinding and foiling but I had to keep taking breaks to cool down.  I’d walk back into the house, flop down in my lazy boy, turn on the fan and give my roommate that “Ughhh!” look. Too bad the trailer doesn’t have an air conditioner… wouldn’t that be nice!   It won’t get A/C though… it may have internet, phone and everything else, but I think A/C is one step too far even for me.  Besides with the kiln, lights, tools and everything else running I’m pretty sure I’m already maxing out the amount of power I’m siphoning off from the house.

Hopefully, I can get this foiled tonight and a lot of soldering done as well.  It’ll probably be another day or two and it’ll be out the door.

I’ll try to find time to post my uber crappy beads that I made and some picks of other items that have gone out since the last post.

I turned in the first glass piece donation for the Alzheimer’s Auction.  But you know what?  I didn’t have a name for it and they need one.

Can you think of a good one?

I will try and come up with a surprise gift for the best name I receive.

When I got my patterns printed up at the local Staples, I pulled a random one out to work on… I forgot I had already said I’d work on the Celtic knot first.   Oops!

Well the knot will still be done, just as my next project.  For now I’m doing my “Classic Round” pattern.  I did it once before in similar glass, but this time it’s much larger… about 20 or so inches!

Saturday I spent checking out some new stained glass shops.  My first stop was amazing and pretty much turned out to be a warehouse of glass, I found most everything there I could want.  Several hundred dollars later I had the glass I needed for the next several projects!  Not to mention the solder, findings, a new kiln shelf… well everything else I didn’t intend to buy that day!

Today I spent scoring pieces for the Classic Round.  I made pretty good progress in the few hours I was out there watching spongebob on my iPad, lol.  Tomorrow the last row of pieces will be placed and I can begin putting it together.  This, along with the knot and a few others, will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Auction I mentioned in the last post.

Every year Emeritus Senior Living puts on a live (and silent) auction to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.  Last year it was held at their corporate headquarters in Seattle, which was really quite nice since it was held on a balcolny overlooking the puget sound and it was a gorgeous night.  This year however it’s being held at REI of Seattle in the beginning of August, which promises to be even larger than last year.

This year I’ve decided to donate a few pieces, yet to be made.  I was printing up my patterns last night.  So next on the trailer’s to-do list is going to be a celtic knot design, which will probably be pretty large… maybe 20″?..

Are there any artists out there willing to make some donations to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association as well?  If so, please post a comment and I’ll make sure to get back to you immediately with information!

Did you know?

• As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.
• Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death.

The wizard can stop staring now… well at me anyways.  I guess he will always be staring at his crystal ball.  I spent a good bit of time watching episodes of spongebob and grinding and foiling him.  It was hard taking a photo of it, he seems very washed out and the crystal ball is really quite irridized.   I probably need to get some actual studio lights for this stuff.  At some point I’ll have to round up some money and set up something a bit more professional.  Anyways, here he is.  I just created him on a whim, so if someone is interested in purchasing they can just leave a comment.

Also, I got my rainbow dish done.  I’m not completely thrilled with it.  The way the glass slumped into the mold didn’t leave for a very even edge.  This may end up becoming a give away, but I haven’t decided yet.  And for some reason the purple comes out brown in photos. hmmm.

What would you like to see?  Speak up while I’m deciding on my next projects

Several projects are occuring in the trailer at the moment, hopefully i’ll have final photos to share soon.  One project was a series of necklaces that I made for friends.  I was dumb enough to let them go without taking pictures first, so hopefully some of them will get back with images of them.

I also started a series of sushi dishes, that are purposefully awkward and mis-shaped.  I’m calling them the “Let the Glass Guide You Series.”  Basically, I’m taking a really great piece of glass with interesting swirls and letting the swirls dictate the final design..

By cutting out certain pieces and leaving gaps in the design, the final piece won’t be a square.  These are finishing up right now, so I’ll show more later, I think they’re pretty cool!

Lastly, I dug out an old piece I drew a long time ago and decided to start working on it.  I found a small treasure trove of designs that never came to fuition…   The one I am currently working on is the Wizard…

It’s a bit bigger than the homosote board I usually use, so I need to order more to tack it down to while I work on it or find an alternative around the house.