Whew. Somehow, miraculously all thirty shapes have been constructed, fired, covered with glass powders (sometimes twice), fired again to melt in the color. All that's left is the bending/slumping of each one in the kiln and figuring out some simple way to hang everything. Ha! Is that all?

This shape reminds me of waves, sails, splashes. They have really nice puddle and hole patterns, so much like water. So - off I go, to figure out how to bend all these pieces into some kind of fluid form.

I'm so curious to know how the other artists are coming along. I wonder what unexpected inspiration is sneaking up on them?

I'm just about done with the color layer for the second group of pieces for my Art-A-Day show.  They will go through another firing to adjust the colors a bit and develop the patterns, then they will be bent in the kiln into more interesting shapes. This project is proving to be pretty interesting.

I have had a few surprises as I've plowed my way through what will be thirty pieces of glass sculpture. I feel like I'm learning things I didn't expect. For one thing, inspiration doesn't necessarily come first. I guess it's natural to think of the creative process in a linear, predictable way: first, be inspired by something, second, decide what form your inspiration will take, etc. But what I'm finding is that somewhere in the middle of the process, associations to other things is giving me sort of a creative "second wind".

Here's an example. Part way into these "shield" shapes, I liked the way there was a kind of vein pattern developing. It started me thinking about minerals, veins of ore and crystal formations. The examples below are all natural colors - perfect inspiration that drove the designs in a better direction.  Now that my inspiration is clearer, I'll adjust the colors and patterns to make the work better. It's exciting!

In January I spent some time thinking about what my artistic year might look like. I knew I would do fewer festivals this year and concentrate on more gallery work. I knew I wanted to explore more abstract sculpture. I know the only way to strike out and make something new happen is to pay attention to opportunities as they appear. I have decided this will be the year of "YES." And see where it had led already? So glad I said yes.

Just a quick post today - the eroded wheel shapes for the Art-A-Day challenge are done. They are flat but I hung them on the wall to get a feel for how they look hung in a group. I might fire a couple of them again later to adjust the colors a bit, but for the most part they are ready to go into the kiln to bend into more fluid, 3-D shapes. When they are bent they will cast shadows on the wall and  project light patterns through the holes. So exciting.

The last two days I've been doing the color firings on a set of ten oval shapes - I like to think of them as eroded shields. I'll post some images in the next couple days.

This challenge is turning out to be a lot of fun. Working in a more abstract way is really getting the creative juices flowing. I love every stage - the puddle-y blanks with their unpredictable hole patterns, the fluffy matte powder surfaces and the glossy fired finish.

I’ve been invited to take part in an invitational exhibit at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon during the month of May. Curated by Oregon artist Rachel Harvey and titled “Art a Day”, the exhibition challenges six artists to create thirty pieces of art in thirty days.

I’ve been experimenting with some new techniques that will lead to larger glass sculptures in the future. I think this challenge will be a good opportunity to explore color and shape in an intensive way and also develop ideas for larger work.

I’ve decided to make three groups of glass wall sculpture – ten pieces in each group, three different shapes & color concepts.  I probably will approach this challenge a little differently than a painter might, since the work will have to be fired at least three times before it’s done. But I’ll do the best I can and will see how close I can get to finishing in thirty days. Those 30 days might have a few spaces between them, here and there.

I'm a little afraid that my propensity for overdoing things is going to come around to bite me at some point. As much as I try to keep the sizes down, pieces just seem to grow - they want to be flamboyant and sprawl across the wall. Oh well, we deal with our character flaws the best we can. Hopefully there aren't villagers with torches in my future.

Here's a peek into the process. The photos are, from left to right, sifting broken glass (a by-product of stained glass manufacturing); laying the glass into a shape with lots of open spaces; and that glass shape after firing.

I have been working very hard to understand how glass behaves under heat and how that effects glass volume. I am absolutely crazy about the natural patterns that happen when the glass "puddles up" during firing. It reminds me of water puddles, lakes from the air, the coastline of Greece.

The initial puddle-y glass shapes for thirty pieces are done and I’ve started adding color to the eroded wheel-like shapes. I sift powdered glass over the initial form and then fire it to 1475 degrees in the kiln to melt the glass powder. The surface comes out looking like enamel on copper, an effect I confess I love. The base color of the glass shows around each hole. Here's an example, shown on the kiln shelf. As soon as all the wheel forms are finished, it will be time to bend and slump them, to give them shape.

I see that my painter friend, Lisa Foster, is blogging away about her participation. Pop over there and see how completing thirty paintings compares! I won’t be posting every day like her, but I’ll take photos of every step and will post the high points.

Back to the studio - more about this project very soon!

Steph