A Secret Country Mill

Tucked away in a remote corner of Monmouth Co. NJ is Walnford, a park with a fully functional restored mill and house. Its location is very close to busy Rt. 539, where hordes of ocean loving tourists head towards the Pine Barrens, in route to the world famous NJ beaches, but have no idea of its existence. It is lovely, functional, and museum like in its presentation of facts both historic and mechanical, thanks to the wonderful Monmouth County Park System.



I had seen it in the 1970’s, in the early years of Off the Wall Craft Gallery, my business then located at the newly restored and repurposed old mill in Allentown, NJ. The Walnford Mill was run down and the the house on the property was still being used as a residence. I visited it again in the early 1990’s with my young daughter. The house was empty, the mill was locked, but it was teeming with domestic geese. Then in 2008, after I closed that business, I had the time to go back again. Wow. All the buildings were open with guides, restored to pristine condition, inviting, and full of life. The large secluded property offered lots of privacy to enjoy some peace amongst nature.



This piece, “Life at Walnford”, depicts an accurate rendering of the building with a lot of artistic license in depicting the trees and plant life. The muddy shoreline and the geese everywhere is based on the memory of pleasant and playful times there with little Shasta.

This Friday my stained glass piece, “Life at Walnford”, will be featured in Bordentown, NJ, at the Artful Deposit Gallery’s new show, “Along the Delaware River and Crosswicks Creek”, July 13th to Aug. 19th. The opening is July 13th, 5 – 9 pm.



Here in Vermont I have tried to create a life that feels as good as those visits to Walnford.

Vermont Summer Life

So...glass or gardening? Kayaking or copper foiling? The temperatures are perfect and the outdoors seduces me.  New wild flowers appear and my vegetable garden needs constant nurturing. The chickens are loyal companions as we try to agree on where they can and cannot go. Chicken wire fences are appearing everywhere - prettier than dirt bath pits! Glass crafting often becomes a night time activity as I get into my zone, without any disturbances.

This recently completed custom piece depicts early fall on Lake Bomoseen, our local water playground, with a big view of some of the Taconic Mountains, particularly Bird Mountain. I used glass painting in the water, some of the tree and the sailboat bottom. The tree is fused.  

My experience is that when riding on a boat of any kind, with or without a motor, you are swept away to a place in the mind that feels like vacation.  That is why we came here!

Stained Glass Design from Children's Art

It was my pleasure to create a panel for the Mettawee Community School, West Pawlet, Vermont  and to honor the founding principal, Nancy Marks.

The entire project was done from start to finish through e-mail communication. Design proposals were edited and sent for approval without the customer coming to my studio until it was finished.







This is 5th grader Lexa's full size watercolor painting:

For further reference I was given a photograph of Haystack Mountain as seen from the school:

This is the design I proposal I sent by e-mail. :

The writing and some details were painted with vitreous glass and permanently kiln fired before assembly.

Above is the finished stained glass window.

 

Chicken Art in Brandon

It is a tradition in Brandon, VT to get attention as an art community by the visual impact created by generous volunteers and members of the juried cooperative group of artists exhibiting at the Brandon Artists Guild. I am very proud to be a part of this group. It is a lot of fun to interact with these talented people as we gather together for painting projects. This year we are asking the question,

 "What's Hatching in Brandon?".

 It will be a big visual impact in the town and a lot of colorful FUN!!

In addition to decorating the town, the Brandon Artists Guild will be showing and selling themed art work by the members in a variety of media. The following pictures show the progression of my piece. It started last year, when I purchased 16 baby chicks. They are my models and inspiration.

A Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red.

I named all of them, but eventually it became difficult to tell them apart.

We ordered 3 Silver Laced Wyandotte hens. I named them Barbie, Joanie, and Patty, after my sisters. When I finally figured out why they had fancy tails and crowed, I renamed them Buddy, Joey, and Patrick, and then called them the "brothers". We kept Joey, the gentlest, and found homes for the others.

I desided to use the composition of the first photo but switch the Red for Joey, keeping the chickens black and white with a contrast of "kaleido-flowers" in random spontaneous patterns.

I used all Bullseye glass that I recently purchased.

Dichroic glass has the unique characteristic of totally different color based on transmitted or reflected light.

For example a single piece of glass may be turquoise when light passes through it, and then a shimmering red when light bounces off it. Another is bright purple with light going through it, then becomes metallic gold in reflected light.


The opening for this show is May 25th at the Brandon Artists Guild

7 Center Street Brandon, VT 05733
802-247-4956

"Art Makes Brandon Tick" and other Auction Promotions

The big question is this:
"Why should an artist spend so much time and talent just to give away work?"

This winter I volunteered at Pico Mtn. assisting disabled individuals with skiing and the enjoyment of winter with the http://www.vermontadaptive.org/ program. I made many new friends and had a fabulous first winter in Vermont.

The Vermont Adaptive Ski Challenge event included a dinner and auction for which I made this piece, based on the logo found on the jackets. This piece reinforces that I am a glass artist to a new audience.


The town of Brandon is a charming historic town and art center in central Vermont. I am thrilled to be a juried member of the Brandon Artists Guild, http://www.brandonartistsguild.org/. They have a great reputaion in the state and a tradition of doing an annual auction in which a theme is chosen, and the members make extraordinary work which is exhibited all summer long and then auctioned in the fall. This year the theme is clocks.

Of course my personal goal was to create an outstanding piece to launch myself as a Vermont artist. What I didn't expect was the numerous "firsts" this work was for me in expanding my skills and techniques. I postponed completing custom work (earning money) but learned so much! I fused, painted, fired, etched, drilled, glued and grouted. The final challenges were installing the clock works and electrical illumination. The outcome was knowledge and skill for ME. It was far more effective than anything I could have gotten out of taking a class. There is a lot to be said for being self taught.

My peers were impressed. Warren Kimble gave it a triple "wow"!


The next auction request was for mirror frames for the Lion's Club auction, "Reflections of Brandon". I surprised myself by making 2 pieces. I knew I wanted to do the waterfall in a rectangular shape, but I also had a vision of a square piece featuring architectural details. My assistant from NJ, Tom McMenamin, took over 100 pictures throughout the town, giving me many great possibilities. The corners were done with Vermont slate from my own property. I used fired vitreous glass paint to create some interesting details. Wood strips outline the frame inside and out. Mosaic techniques complete the frame.
(The mirrors were added later where you see bark. I took the pictures in front of a tree.)


Nothing in Brandon is more spectacular then then the Neshobe River running through the center of town, cascading next to a tiny park, where I cherish moments with coffee and treats from Gourmet Provence, sister to Cafe Provence, http://www.cafeprovencevt.com/, an outstanding place!

Rather than fired painted details, I used conventional drawing and painting techniques with transparent glass on top. I was able to do a colorful sky, windows, ferns, and more. The flowers are textural details of fused glass. Real slate rock is included. It is finished as a mosaic.

Well, the answer is that it is for you. It is an opportunity to promote and expand yourself in ways you would have never done otherwise. Some of my best work over the years has been gifts for family and close friends. Motivation can simply be generosity.

Mums in the Garden

I have an idea:
If bulldozers continue to carve up the rural countryside and plant housing developments everywhere, why not bulldoze rotting buildings in the cities and farm it!
When I observed several years ago in Trenton an entire block in rubbles, I thought to myself, why not add some top soil and farm this area? But to my surprise, in a short time, the Sovereign Bank Arena appeared.

Recently I became aware of an opportunity to help see a little bit of this idea become a reality. Artworks of Trenton, http://www.artworkstrenton.com/ , is sponsoring a fund raiser for STARS, South Trenton Area Residents Society, http://www.trentonstars.org/ , to start a community urban garden project. There are several locations in Trenton where you can pick up a blank 9" heart to finish anyway you like. They have to be turned in by Feb. 20th, and then on Feb. 27th they will be displayed at Artworks and auctioned off, with bids starting at $5.



My heart is called "Mums in the Garden". There is a young mother standing outside, an old mother in the right window, and a mother cat in the left window, in addition to the obvious chrysanthemums. It is composed of glass pieces with a mosaic technique. Some of the pieces are fuse fired and some are fired again with painted details. Acrylic paint is applied with a palette knife in the sky area.

Hot Stuff in the Kitchen

The top image shows the installed scenes of Allentown, NJ, focusing on the old mill on Main St. where I spent nearly 32 years operating Off the Wall Craft Gallery. To the left is the lake, and to the right is Doctor's Creek in Heritage Park, my new favorite woodland playground.

Each tile was created from Spectrum System 96 glass, and fired to 1450 degrees. Then each piece was painted with vitreous glass paint and fired to 1250 degrees.

The installation is in my own home on S. Main St. This was my first time making and installing tiles and I was quite happy with the results!