I Heart Nothing

Hearts, hearts, hearts and more hearts. I'm up to 45 of them and am already sick of the things- and I've 55 to go to make goal.The freehand, eccentric hearts are out biggest seller- a small trifle that folk buy as Christmas ornaments, as small sun catchers and as little decorations. They are fun to make when I'm just fooling around. But when I feel I have to make so many for a show, they become like rabbits in the garden: charming in a few but a nuisance as a horde.
Not that I should complain. It's flattering that people like these. The hearts usually cover our booth fees and other show expenses. And they do have a wacky charm all their own.
I suspect I'm stressing over a really big show and need to quilt for the night.

Off the Road and Ready for the Next Show

Spent 2 days on I-95 visiting family, so not too much glass got done. Since I finished the Baltimore Winter panel, I took it to Di to frame. She , good camper that she is, had a number of new, completed designs to show me: a Celtic Knot, a pinwheel in an octagonal frame, a beveled coupe, a beveled ribbon and more. Between us, I'm confident we have enough for the show, but I always worry that there will not be enough to last the entire weekend.
For the rest of the week, I'll be gathering our displays, polishing glass, printing labels and generally going crazy. It's enough to make me hire a pro to man the show booth, but most good shows insist the artist be there to answer questions and to show off the wares.
I understand why this must be so, but it does cut into production time and requires craftsmen to have sales skills.

By Gosh Baltimore WInter Photo

I so wanted to finish the winter Baltimore block tonight. As you can see from the photo, it's shorter than the Glasgow Rose. The bird panel is 12" square and the Rose is about 16" tall.

I will probably add a branch in the next one I make. It will allow me to incorporate the gold color I used in the others. This time out I just forgot!

Winter Baltimore Square almost done!

All cut, ground and now to foiling!

Completed Mackintosh Piece

Ta Ta! Finished and done with, the 1920's inspired Glasgow Rose style panel is finished. It's tall and narrow, like a lot of Rennie Mackintosh's work. I finished this off with with one red square in the dark brown border. It just seemed to fit Mackintosh's sensibility- he often used squares and checkerboards in his designs, The off center square of bright red echos the red of the rose. It creates another diagonal line in the design as the eye travels from the square to the rose and to the upper right corner. The wavy clear glass in the background does the same thing, making a very simple , almost childish design have an internal rhythm . I don't claim Mackintosh's sure design sense, but I can borrow some of the elements he worked out in my tribute to his work.

Procratinating on the BAltimore Album, so making a Rennie Macintosh inspired piece

There is nothing like impending disaster to make you rearrange the sock drawer. I'm at that stage now, since I have to have 2 new pieces finished by tomorrow to mail to Di so she can frame them. So what did I do today?

I visited Eastern Market in DC to see if that might be a venue to sell our wares on weekends when I'm not elsewhere. I made a new piece inspired by Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow Rose.

And the unfinished Baltimore Winter piece that is due in the mail tomorrow? It's pretty much where I left it yesterday.

For more about Eastern Market in DC , go to .http://www.easternmarket.net/

For more Rennie Mackintosh Roses go to wikipedia or to this link

http://www.labellestudios.com/auctionimages/pink_mack_rose_web.jpg