Thursday, April 16, 2009

Well - How do you think this will look in its new home?

This is the finished design. I had so much fun....this piece is uplifting and full of good warm energy. It is three feet long and twelve inches wide. Enjoy !
It will hang right into this long window by the front door of this room. Follow the pictures below to see how this beautiful and orginal, edgy design was created.

Stages and phases in the Sunflower Commission

This is after I had cut all the glass pieces and laid out the design loosely so that Seabrook could see the direction I was heading. He said - KEEP GOING - and I did! I always work with my commission customers including them in the process by submitting original sketches or "laid out" designs of what I have in mind. Including the stages of the process adds more meaning as it takes quite a bit of time creating glass art.
Just laying out the vines or stems of the design.

These were all of the sunflower petals that were cut foiled, smoothed out, fluxed and then soldered into the design.


Adding a few of the flowers in the process.



Close up photos last night...


I liked taking photos of the sunflower design. I use some as my desktop background on my computer. These photos were taken late last night. The pale yellow antique tablecloth adds an unusual accent to the design.

I had not intended to put the red glass gems in the design until I noticed the tiny little red dots in the even smaller squared flowered beads that I had attached earlier. They added such a spark of color within the yellows and greens I couldn't resist.


Lying flat on the table.



Sunflower Commission Finished!

Beautiful huh!!!
Design photographed without flask.

This Sunflower Design was created for a friend of mine - Seabrook. He wanted something special for his mother for her birthday this May. The design is three feet long from top to bottom and 12 inches across. It is perky, bright, rich, and cheery. I beleive she will enjoy looking at this everyday - especially in the morning light.


Sunday, April 5, 2009

WELCOME to the Spirit of the West Glass Art Show!

Welcome - here I am standing in front of one of my glass pieces. You will see more art and the people that attended my show below. I could not have done this show without the help of soooooooo many people. I am so grateful to them and you know who you are. I was really pleased with the entire event. It took me six months to complete all of the pieces. I managed to survive a few overwhelming moments and a minor whiplash where I could not turn my head for a week...but I made it. I did some things I had not done before which were: creating human faces, adding rustic pieces of iron, and creating designs with long smooth curving pieces of glass minimizing the number of pieces I build into a design. Enjoy and thanks for following my blog.

Spirit of the West continued....

"Leader of His Herd" $3200.00 If you can find his eye right underneath his horn - it will give you a prospective of his entire shape. I have always been drawn to the buffalo. They are considered a “power or totem animal” which represent sacredness, life, and abundance. Buffalo signals a moment to reconnect with the meaning of life and the value of peace, to praise the gifts you already have, and to recognize and honor the sacredness in all paths, though they may be different than yours. This represents my own values from which my life is building upon.

More displays up front. In the window were individual feathers I created for the show. They only sold for $30-$40 dollars each. Several sold the night of the show. They are still for sale and can be shipped easily.

I tied each one with leather - put a special message about the meaning of the symbol of a feather and then hung them from a pair of horse harnesses.
Eagle feathers are gifts from the Creator. The Eagle soars the highest and has the greatest vision. Eagle feathers are used in ceremonies to connect people to their own visions and their higher protective spirits. Traditional dancers use Eagle feathers to show their connection to the spirits. The feather is light but strong. It reminds us to carry only what we need.





Spirit of the West continued....

Gloria Trotter who is the editor for the Tecumseh County Wide newspaper ran this ad to promote the show. Thank you Gloria!!!

Spirit of the West continued......

This is the Bed & Breakfast I stayed in while my show was occuring. Johnita Turner owns and manages the Willow Way Bed and Breakfast in Oklahoma City. She admires glass art herself and has been a wonderful supportor of my glass work. I took this picture from inside a gazebo near her front lawn. I sat there and relaxed while the wind blew through the trees and I could hear the birds chirp. It is a beautiful peaceful place located at 27 Oakwood in Oklahoma City. Even though it is located near the the hustle and bustle of the city - you would not know it when you stayed there.

Spirit of the West continued....

These are more family relatives that came to say hello and support the arts. Kelly's daughter Lesley, Brian, myself, Jesi, and their baby girl Isabelle. Thank you for coming!!!! It was so good to see them there.

Spirit of the West continued....

I just recently reconnected with Terry. He and I danced and sang together in the follies years ago. It was a community wide event that raised money to help rennovate the historic Sooner Theatre in Norman, Oklahoma. He is still as crazy and fun loving as ever.

Spirit of the West continued....

What a motley crew!!! We got together after the show. I think we were all tired...but we had fun! Left to right: Debbie, Cynthia, Gayle, myself, and Jim. All of us participated in the artwalk this month by giving art shows ourselves. It felt good to sit down as we all had been standing for hours, accepting guests into the show and having conversations with people all night long about the great art that we had on display.
Smiling - smiling - smiling...Linda and David!!!
This is my cousin Kelly and her husband Herb. They drove all the way up from Maud, Oklahoma to see the glass art. It meant a whole lot to me that they were there. Kelly's entire family came together - WOW!!!


This is my friend Donna - she has supported my art for about as along as I have known her. She and I have had lots of fun together. She calls me Felix and I call her Oscar...yeah - we DO have fun together!!!! She really can get me to cracking up about things...and it feels so good to laugh.


Spirit of the West continued.....

Another collection of feathers hanging from a cow muzzle. Feathers symbolize truth, speed, lightness, flight and ascension. "Feathers" $350.00
"Pawnee Belle" $550.00
The fringe came from a lampshade, the Indian Nickel Heads are actual button covers, and her scarf is ground glass with a copper chain. I like the beige glass as it resembled bones to me. Her eyes are Aztec suns. She, the other Native American faces and the Abstract Blue Feather are all hung by antique ice tongs.

Spirit of the West continued.......

"Medicine Man" $525.00 The medicine man is entrusted with ceremonies connected with birth and death, magical ceremonies, and the perpetuation of tribal lore. He is not only the primitive doctor, but he is the diviner, the rainmaker, the soothsayer, the prophet, the priest, and in some instances the chief. Some of the better-known American Indian chiefs were in fact medicine men: Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Cochise.
"Osage Warrior" $525.00 The Osage Tribe came from western Missouri and southeast Kansas, with a present-day population in north-central Oklahoma. I wanted this to be gold in color, he is wise, and his face is strong and proud.

Abstract: Oklahoma Sunset $1200.00 Oklahoma sunsets are majestic. As I jog along the dirt road near my house I can look to the west and be warmed by its colors and intrigued by the black silhouettes of the trees at dusk.


All of the main pieces of my glass art on display in the back gallery. Jim helped with the hanging system. He drilled holes in the poles and then hung them from the pillars in the ceiling. The glass art looked great suspended in the air like this. I could not have hung my art this well without his help.

Spirit of the West continued.....

This is another close friend of mine and her boyfriend. They came by to see me during the show.
I have known Lynn (nickname Queen C) for over twenty years. This was my first time to meet Reggie and he seems as if he has a very warm heart...and a twinkle in his eye for my friend!!!! (wink - wink)

Spirit of the West continued.....

I picked out these cool colors of purple, mauve, pink, marbled black glass and turquoise. They are hanging from a small calf muzzle. In this show I combined my glass art with pieces of rustic iron, horse harnesses, cow muzzles, and brands. This piece is called "Feathers" and costs $250.00
This piece was displayed near the front of the gallery. It has already been sold. The picture is called "Oklahoma in February". As I drove around here where I live during that month, those were the only colors I saw. Now its April, and the spring colors are everywhere.

The close up of an abstract Indian Feather was fun to create. It sold during the night of the show. The silver pieces were antique bottle caps. It will look even more bright with the some light set behind the glass.


This piece is called: "Nektosha"...(pronounced neck-doe-shah) which means "horse" in Pottawatomi. It sells for $250.00. It is covered with crystal lavender and blue beads.


Spirit of the West (continued)

This is my close friend Linda with her husband David and myself. It was so neat to see them out and having fun. I wanted to get some fresh cut flowers for my show but ran out of time. Later that night during the show Linda walks in with a vase a fresh cut tulips. They were beautiful. Sometimes if you just wait...what you need will come your way. Thank you Linda!
This is me acting goofy with my "other daughter". Her name is Mary...yes she has a real mom - but she and my only "real" daughter are very special creative girls...so I "play" adopted her. She seemed to enjoy the show and all of the art there in Paseo that night.

One small table in my show. You can see the art cards there and material about the pieces of glass art. You can also see the two lamps I made. The lamp on the left is called "Western Sparkler" and the one on the right is called "Golden Wheat Lamp". The inspiration for this piece came from the golden wheat fields in Oklahoma. It has three geodes in it, broken pieces of an antique cup, gold stars, and amber glass gems. The top handle comes from the cup I broke to create it.


This is me with my two daughter!!! My "real" one - Ryan and my "play" one - Mary.
Ryan took pictures throughout the evening for me. She did a great job.



Helping programs in local communities....

These three ladies standing next to me work very hard everyday to help make sure the little children in their community grow up strong and healthy. I did some work for them in their Head Start program and it felt so good to help in this way. In the picture is myself, Melissa, LaQuita and Mary.