Elegant Glass Bath Accents

Going beyond your comfort level in trying new techniques and applications is always exciting.  It started with the creation of a practical craft show item, fused coasters, which I introduced at the holiday craft shows and NJ galleries in November and December.

Bill and I had been wanting a major master bath makeover. I had a vision of coming home from a day of skiing and soaking in a warm bubbly bath. We bought an Ultra Bain air bubble tub with computerized controls and started gutting the room.

 Then I thought why not add glass tiles to combine with ceramic tiles and Danby, Vermont quarried Eureka Marble?! There were a lot of trials and experiments before getting it right. That's how you learn.
Below are the tiles fired and ready for installation in both the shower area and the bath.

Thanks to careful planning and the fine craftsmanship of our talented installer, it all came together.

The next details were the cabinet hardware. This was done with molds into which I piled smashed glass called "frit". A space was created to insert the hardware. It was kiln fired to 1465 degrees F and slowly cooled. Then a Dremel tool was used to fine tune the opening before cementing the hardware into the glass. I held my breath hoping the installation into the cabinet would go as planned. It did.

                                      

And then, finally, I couldn't stand seeing a cardboard tissue box on top of the lovely granite countertop, so a few extra test pieces became the inspiration for this box cover.

A Noisy Empty Nest

There comes a time in most families when the children grow up and begin an independent life.

Having been a first time mom at age 36, I was able to postpone everything about parenting, including the empty nest. But it has happened. No longer do I have my art critic, fashion and technology consultant conveniently living in my household. My husband is great in many ways, but his computer knowledge, although comprehensive, is getting dated. Windows he knows, but Macs leave him in the dust.

So the part about the noise....
I had imagined that things would be quiet at this stage of our lives, but what you may not know is the phenomenon known as live animals left behind!!!

This is the story:
Many of our children finish college and can't land that career job immediately like we did "back in the day". I finished college in 3 1/2 years in the 70's and immediately had several offers for art teaching jobs. I also got married the day I finished college. I could not imagine living home with my parents. Back then we had secret lives and had to protect our parents from knowing too much about our  lifestyles.

My daughter, Shasta, along with many talented young people, with or without teaching certificates, get jobs in the food industry. Not that there's anything wrong with that, except for the low pay. Hence, they live home. And in a perfect world, you enjoy them as a new live in best friend. And that's how it was for us.

You also feel a little pity for the child's sad financial situation and displaced social connections, so you agree to let them have a pet, so they don't get depressed, with the agreement that the pet goes with them when they move out. That sounds good, except the reality is that it doesn't always happen. For instance my friend's daughter moved to the wilds of Costa Rica with her surfing boyfriend and could not take her Beagle, "Cooper". Shasta now has 2 house rabbits. "Rocky", a big French Angora baby, was feeling a little depressed and needed a companion, thus "Rosy" arrived. For now they are here. She is waiting for the new roomies to get to know her first  before she attempts to introduce them. Most people have never even heard of a house rabbit.

The bonded pair live together in a penned area in the upstairs art and sewing studio and use a litter box. They are allowed to run around the room with supervision. Electrical cords MUST be covered for this activity. Just ask Rocky about that. Our bedroom is beneath the studio. Now you would assume a rabbit, being naturally silent, is quiet. This is true. But its movement that creates sound such as smashing, biting and shaking their metal pen, and thumping.

Tuesday night at 3am, after an exhausting day of interior painting, moving furniture, and a long drive, Rosy decided she was pissed about something and kept up a rhythmical THUMP for quite a while. Fortunately Joey the rooster was asleep. So Bill went up and found nothing wrong.

In the morning, because she and Rocky now share everything, the litter box was full.
That was all!

Note:
The stained glass rabbit, at the top of the post, was a custom piece made this spring. The violets are fused, and the details are painted and kiln fired. It is 6 inches high.

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.

 

"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.

Forest Family Portrait

In the style of my favorite creation, I have been commissioned to do a family portait in the spirit of "Dancing in the Forest". Above is the Glass Eye design. Glass Eye is a CAD (computer assisted design) program that enables me to draw with my mouse and e-mail the progression of the design to the customer. I started this design Sunday at the Cafe Provence in Brandon, VT after having a yummy quiche brunch. http://www.cafeprovencevt.com/. I was drinking coffee and waiting to start my training at the http://www.brandonartistsguild.org/ Brandon Artists Guild, where I am now a Juried Member. Read more about Brandon on my web site blog, www.karendeets.com/pages/Blog.htm .

The young NJ family is a handsome group with varied skin tones, thus making the tree trunks interesting in the diversity. Details will be painted and fired. I will post the progression.

Through the Camera Lense

This commission offered me the opportunity to further develop technique in painting, especially shading with crosshatching, foliage, and reflections. The tiny monarch butterfly below is a smaller than my thumb nail.

The concept of the piece is to show the perspective of a photographer in seeing detail in a large landscape, further emphasized with the contrast of black and white versus vibrant color.

Forest Fantasy

This fall I had the opportunity to continue my theme based on my previous piece, "Dancing in the Forest". The finished piece, "Forest Fantasy", measured 21" X 43". I did a lot of painting and experimented with new leaf patterns and bark textures. Water and rocks offered some new effects.

The Great Botanical Commission

My client has patiently waited. In 2007 we started talking about this work, to be installed along the end wall along the roof line of his cathedral ceiling salt box addition. It is 87" high, above eye level, with actual vines that grow on the outside of the clear stationary windows. We agreed on a design with vivid colors to depict a garden feeling. The challenge for me was the fact that my customer, Dan, has degrees in Botany so details had to be artistic and accurate as well. I learned, for instance, that a morning glory and most of nature grows in a clock wise direction. So I actually re-fired fused buds on the flip side that were already done, just to correct that detail.

Significant delays were caused by the activities of my former business, Off the Wall Craft Gallery, at the old mill in Allentown, NJ, which closed about a year ago. But all the while a vision was starting in my head. Last December I started using a stained glass CAD program called Glass Eye 2000 http://www.dfly.com/ with which I can create designs and email them to customers. I also purchased a kiln and started learning fired glass painting, mentored by Stephen Byrne http://www.williamsandbyrne.com/ of the UK. In the spring I embarked on learning glass fusing with very specific results in mind for this work.

This winter the carpentry work was completed and the design was approved. Although Dan approved a very nice design, Shasta, my daughter and design mentor, sort of ripped it apart, so I made time consuming but very good changes to the approved draft. Dan was delighted with the improvements, but missed the irises that got cut, so I promised to include them in future sidelight panels. You can see the computer design in color on my blog on http://www.karendeets.com/.

I started cutting glass in late June, and it is getting closer to completion. Interruptions included a major cleaning out of my attic and Carriage House, with a big "Barn Sale". Last week we visited Vermont, and tomorrow we head south to the lovely beaches of Emerald Isle, NC.

Note:
A reminder to all who are mesmerized by stained glass and want to learn - classes begin on Aug. 19th. See details at http://www.karendeets.com/. I have room for a few more students.