Heading out of Omak, Washington to Troy, Alabama

What a week in Omak.

Sure miss my artwork, although we all need to work and pay the bills.
I leave here and head to Troy, Alabama, and THEN I COME HOME!

Country is beautiful here, small town surrounded by mountains covered with snow.

Have to drive through some to get to the Spokane Airport.

Be well, and eventually I will be creating more glass art.

Omak, Washington

Visiting in Omak, Washinton.

Hope everyone is doing well.

I am out here in north Washington, working in a town about forty five minutes from the Canadian border.
Miss creating art, but I need to pay bills.

Will be gearing up soon for the Montage Festival, in Oklahoma City on April 19th and 20th.

Finished product!

The final design is complete... "Garden Windows". Follow along down the blog to view more pictures and see how I put this all together.
A total of 224 pieces were individually cut, foiled, fluxed and soldered to make this design.

Maria of Marias Garden in Ardmore, Oklahoma, worked back and forth with me to share the colors she wanted, the overall design, and accents. I strive to work with each individual customer and learn from them what they envision. I process all the information, share samples of glass, talk more about ideas...and then I become the tool from which the inspiriation flows. Stained glass work is very labor intensive...but I enjoyed the process and love to create something beautiful.

If you are interested in hiring me to create a private project in glass with me...please contact me. I would be delighted to have the opportunity.

She has a beautiful store herself. You can view her store at: www.mariasgarden.net

Two earrings....yes...it looked great....

I added two of Marias earrings to the design. They are dangling within the piece. I liked the idea...and wanted to get them in the design.

A small crystal.

Maria had one small crystal that she wanted to add to just one side. Her suggestion was interesting. I went with it and when I soldered it in, it gave the design an even more unique touch.

Jewlery within stained glass...why sure!

Maria gave me a few small items to incorporate into her windows. Although I did not use all the items she gave me, some pieces did fit, and did not take away from the garden theme.

Additional accents the customer wanted in the piece.

Maria had a few small items she had given me to incorporate into the piece. Although I did not use all of them, I was able to solder some small pieces in to add detail.

Design is filling up....dark red pods were added...

Maria wanted dark red pods to accent the piece. These pods were individually cut and foiled.

Still there were more pieces to layer into this design.

Another picture in the light....

Just had to put it in the window to check lighting....

I put my artwork up in the light...so I can study it, see how the colors are balanced, and how they reflect the light.

Full image....six feet tall, ten inches wide.

This shows the entire piece from top to bottom. Beautiful in it's simplistic design.

Full image....six feet tall, ten inches wide.

This shows the entire piece from top to bottom. Beautiful in it's simplistic design.

Starting to come together..

As you can see, the design is starting to come through within each panel.
There is still much to be done. My technique is a layering technique in that I gradually thicken the design, but adding more and more detail.

Laying it out within the frame.

This shows one panel as I began to put the pieces where I felt led too. While doing this I had to also work within the second panel, creating each piece side by side together, so that as a whole, the two pieces would be balanced as one image.

Cutting the glass and foiling each individual piece.

This picture shows all of the vines and leaves that have been cut and foiled. To the right are some stones I bought in Sedona, AZ. There are some gold glass gems I incorporated into the piece.

Maria's Garden Windows

These beautiful windows were created for Maria of Marias Garden, located in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Would you like to see how I created these two six foot long, ten inch wide windows???

Check out the pictures in the blog!

My FIRST Head Start Review Team....and yes, they survived to tell about it.

My West Virginia Head Start Review Team.
I think that Pam was the only one who didn't get the memo on dress code!!
A great group of people from all over the country.
From left to right:
Carol Wirth from Fairfield, TN
Pam Jenkins, Culpeper, VA
(me) A proud Review Team Leader
Tall guy in back: John Pride, Silver Springs, MD
Francis Castano, Atlanta, GA
Chris Williamson, Butte, MT
Nancy Shannon, Accokeek, MD
James Lyday, Denver, CO

Thank you for all the things you taught me this week.

Until then...Happy Trails....until we meet again!