Steph Mader
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Looking Forward to Summer Art Festivals...?

2/26/2015

 
I'm in the midst of applying to art festivals and waiting to hear which shows will invite me to attend. All the top festivals have juries who decide which artists will be accepted and you never know which shows you'll get into from year to year. It's kind of exciting, really, waiting to venture off into the unknown. After a winter of studio work I start to dream about setting up my booth, wondering which of my show buddies and collector friends I'll get to see. I'm happy to realize that I still love meeting new people and talking about art. What a joy.

Naturally, that also sets my mind to wandering back over the experiences of last year...
Here's a photo of my lovely corner booth, first day of the Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival. The sun was shining, smiling people were strolling by in sandals, shorts & sleeveless tops. Another day in a mountain paradise.


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Then, about two o'clock, something new started slipping over the hills... do I hear rumbling?
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Here we are about halfway through the weather event. Marble-sized hail is falling (heavy) at a 45-degree angle. It kept up for about an hour - all this accompanied by bone-rattling thunder & lightning (you can see ceramic artist Gail Pendergrass across the way, taking it all in stride). By the time it was done the ground was solid white. The ground was still nice and warm from the morning sun, so the hail melted into ice water. We finally had to close up early (wading around in an inch of ice water) and run for cover, considering the lightning & those lovely metal-framed tents sticking up all over the open field.

So, remind me again why I like doing this? I'm thinking the good old American Pioneer Spirit might be overrated.
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An Artist's Work is Never Done...

2/19/2015

 
Ah, spring... we're in high gear here at the studio. Jerry has the assembly line thing down, as you can see by the huge stack of display panels - ready for me to give them a coat of primer.  I can't believe it's been warm enough for him to work in the carport. Here he is cutting moldings with his nifty little Japanese saw.
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The last of the 6x9" pieces are done, ready to mount on panels. That makes 17 pieces since December, which is pretty fast, believe it or not. All those layers take time to build and fire.

As the pieces get thicker, they need to be heated and cooled slower to prevent thermal shock. The last firing (shown here) was over 23 hours. You can see how each piece is dammed with strips of old kiln shelf. That lets me build the thickness of the piece & keeps it from spreading out over the shelf.
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I'm very happy with the pieces from this winter's work. When you show up in the studio every day and work, you keep getting better - that's encouraging!

I'm looking forward to showing all the new pieces at the first show this spring, Best of the Northwest in Seattle on March 28-29.  More on that later...

Getting Ready for Show Season

2/12/2015

 
Last year house hunting and moving took a lot of time away from studio work. This year I'm trying to get a head start and get plenty of work done for upcoming shows. It feels so good to spend long days surrounded by piles of glass and tools. Since the holidays 17 pieces have come out of my hardworking old kiln, which has barely had time to cool off between loads.

This week I'm just finishing up the last layer of some 6x9 landscapes and my very helpful hubby is cutting birch plywood in the carport (all bundled up) for making panels. It's always non-stop production this time of year. By June I'll be doing shows and there will only be a couple studio days between them, so it's important to get the bulk of the glass work done while I've got the time.
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I'll post some more images as soon as I get panels painted & pieces mounted. I love getting that first look at them when they're finally mounted on the panels, with the perfect amount of light seeping in behind them...

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    Steph Mader is a full-time glass artist living on Whidbey Island in Washington State.

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