SOLD-Rainbow Bowl #1

I love rainbows and working in rainbow colors. I know some people consider it to be "gay" but I have no ulterior motive. I just adore rainbow colors together. When you look at these photos, you see why it works so well and why it is a color scheme I keep coming back to. So far I have made quite a few peices in all different shapes and sizes in rainbow hues. If you are like me and you can't live without color in your life, you will enjoy these particular pieces. These are just two examples from my rainbow collection. One is a small bowl that would be perfect for small candles or little things you might lose, like keys. The other could be used as a candle holder or a small bowl. The crackling on the outside is caused by slumping iridized glass, and it looks amazing. They are certainly a far stretch from the classic take on the rainbow (there are no unicorns or leprichauns, sorry), with some very interesting and modern design and composition. ENJOY!

SOLD-Rainbow #2-Bowl-$70

First Retro Soapdish

This is the first soapdish I created in my studio and I wanted to share it. It is the first in a long line of many cool soapdish designs to come. This one in particular is "old school" soapdish style. The smaller size (2.5" x 3.75") brings on a nostalgic feeling-like it would be right at home on the bathroom vanity holding a bar of pristine white Ivory soap. The glass colors and design are anything but antiquated, however. The dichroic glass on top of black is sharp and shimmers in the light. The turquois blue and dark blue frit detail on the sides lends it a more modern feel. I love the blending of old and new and this soapdish really comes through.

Copper and the Blues

Isn't it interesting that copper turns blue in the kiln? I would have never guessed the first time I plastered copper leaf onto a piece of clear glass. You can imagine my surprise at the results. I am always trying new techniques and of course being the adventursome firebug I am I decided to throw some metal in the kiln just to see what happened. I got some very mixed results. Copper foil does NOT turn blue much to my chagrin. It turns a dark reddish brown color. Not to say that it wasn't an exciting discovery, but my mind was churning over much more impressive reults for the duration of the 8 hour firing. The silver foil was so thin it just disappeared. Now I know that silver turns yellow in the kiln because I tested some silver wire links I made and they came out amazing, but the silver foil vanished like a vampire at dawn. My favorite of all the metals is the copper leaf and I can't seem to get enough of it. I branched out and experimented with it, the product of that experimentation is seen here. I started using iridized frits in conjunction with the foil and I was rewarded with bubbles and 3-D effects in my pieces.

My Etsy

If you don't know it already, I have an etsy account where I have my work listed for purchase. Sometimes I get behind on the listings so if you see something here you like and it isn't there, please e-mail me.

My etsy account can be found at www.adriaoglass.etsy.com.

Dear Fleisher

Mark your calendars for the Dear Fleisher event taking place on October 5th, 2008. It is an event designed to help fund the school by helping working class folks to afford artwork they would not normally be able to purchase. Artists of all genres submit a 4 x 6 (postcard sized) piece of original artwork, which will be sold anonymously at the event for $50. This way, everyone buys WHAT they like, not necessarily WHO they like. I have donated a very nice glass piece for the event (sorry no pictures, it is anonymous, remember?) and my husband Chris donated an exceptional drawing too. We would love to see you there!

Go to www.fleisher.org for more information about the event, directions to the art memorial (it is in South Philly), and also classes that are available for the fall semester. I highly recommend Fleisher as a teaching facility. The instructors are wonderful, and the school itself enables everyone, regardless of their tax bracket, to take very cheap, or even free classes. Please come support Fleisher, and local artists!

Musical Note Bowl

This bowl was made from an iridized clear glass base with blue swirled glass that I cut on my bandsaw. Cutting the blue glass was my first time using the bandsaw and I was a bit intimidated. It is loud, and there is water flying at you from a pump that throws out what seems to be a zillion gallons of water per minute. As my shoes were filling up with cold water, I was hoping the final product would be worth the soggy effort. I'm just kidding, really the process was very enjoyable! I don't mind loud, and if I minded getting wet I wouldn't be working with glass, a medium that requires you to use water to do ANYTHING with it. You should see my hands. They are cut up and my fingernails are like a wood saw, my skin is so dry from all the water if you look at them wrong they crack. But I digress, this piece was one of experiments. I also used what is called lava cloth to fire on, so there is a cloth-like texture on the back of the glass that gives it some dimension and visual interest. And true to form, I used frit to complete the design.

Violet Votive

One mold I bought I took for a shot glass mold at first glance. But the first time I slumped on it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a votive mold. That isn't to say that we wouldn't have found plenty of uses for shot glasses around here. I have become somewhat addicted to the product this mold creates and for good reason. Every piece of glass I put on this thing comes out looking like a million bucks (remember, everything I make is for sale, and some of it for a little less than a million. Please e-mail for pricing if you see something you like). Take this purple and blue votive holder for instance. It was beautiful as a flat piece of glass but once it was slumped, it took on a whole dimension of cool.

Come In and Play

A former friend of mine, someone who was "into" art but was, shall we say, a "fair weather" artist, or dabbler, (meaning he liked to take figure drawing classes in the hopes of meeting the girl of his dreams in her natural state), said that he viewed art and creating artwork as "playing" (in a somewhat scathing and supercilious tone of voice). My husband Chris and I were slightly offended by his comment (his intention of course). "Playing" as opposed to what we wondered? Is working toward an artistic goal not ACTUAL work? Then after thinking long and hard, I decided to turn his calculated comment upside down. I work in my studio every day. It is my job to create. Since I now consider my career to be "play time," I feel even more proud of myself and my finished product. While others slave away in corporate America, working to make a faceless entity's "dreams" come true, working to make someone else rich, I can play at what I love to do.

That said, I love playing with glass. Welcome to my blog.