Last week I was a day late, this week I am a day early because Mr. How2 and I are going camping up at the lake for a night. We have been working pretty hard and steady, and wanted to get out over Memorial Day weekend. But the parks and lakes were jam packed with people that had the same idea, so we skipped it. So here is an early treat...
A while ago I took a class in the art of stained glass. Mostly I was interested in learning the proper way to solder so I could make small pendants using my collage art. But There was so much more to learn! The glass was wonderful and came in so many incredible colors...Here is the project I made in that class;
A simple starter panel, but I am happy with the way it turned out. I loved my experience and was very fired up about making stained glass art a part of my life, but found the supply costs prohibitive. I am sure they are not so bad if that is the only art you do, but you may have noticed by now, I am an art junkie. I love everything having to do with art and craft, the paints the textiles the colors, Oh My! It was once speculated aloud by an exasperated Mr. How2 that I should just open an art supply store, I would need to purchase stock for years...(Ha, the jokes on him, I would love to have my own art supply store, and offer classes and rent out studio space...)
Long story short, I decided I just could not justify starting an entire new art genre, complete with a separate studio. (It really isn't a good idea to have to much else going on in a glass shop, due to the fine glass dust created during the cutting and grinding process. Especially nothing textile based!) So I let my interest slide, and pursued my other loves...
Until last week end, when a chance comment at our local library book sale led me to the home of a lady that had decided to give up her stained glass studio to follow her new passion for quilting! ( See, I told you the two just don't jive.) She was willing and ready to sell me everything, lock, stock and grinder for a very reasonable price. I hemmed, I hawed, and I did! I jumped in!
A very few things are duplicates of the basic hand tools I purchased for the class...
But many are things I didn't even know about...
and glass...lots of glass!
Not one, but TWO grinders...
but only a handful of books.
So now I am in search of a safe spot to set up yet another studio, someplace I can close up, since my stained glass artist friend pointed out that the cats should not be allowed anywhere near it. (They walk on the glass dust and lick it off their paws...) and , of course, nothing with carpet. She feels it should really be in a separate building, for safety's sake and for the health of my pets. An issue to be resolved...
But here is the other fun part...as I was rummaging through all my new pretties, Mr. How2 said he was interested in learning stained glass! This took me completely by surprise, but I am delighted! My wonderful husband of 21 years is a very hardworking and serious kind of guy, and he has always been very supportive of my need to make art. But he thinks he isn't creative...the guy who has rebuilt and redesigned too many houses to even remember! I try to explain that creativity comes in many, many forms, not just the traditional fine arts, but he has never truly believed me. But he feels that with stained glass, because there is a pattern to follow and he doesn't have to "make it up in his head" that he just might be able to handle it. Also, he loves precision and is often frustrated with the poorly built/measured/designed buildings he fixes, and he thinks that fitting the glass pieces together may be just the thing for him.
So now we need a two space glass studio, where we can both explore this amazing craft. Don't worry, I am still a mixed media artist, I am having way too much fun with all the possibilities. But it's nice to stray a little off the path now and again, and this time I may just have a companion in my adventures...Until next time...enjoy!
This week, the theme for Every Inchie Monday is "street". Seriously, this is only 1"x1"! Go check out the other lovely entries...
A while ago I took a class in the art of stained glass. Mostly I was interested in learning the proper way to solder so I could make small pendants using my collage art. But There was so much more to learn! The glass was wonderful and came in so many incredible colors...Here is the project I made in that class;
Long story short, I decided I just could not justify starting an entire new art genre, complete with a separate studio. (It really isn't a good idea to have to much else going on in a glass shop, due to the fine glass dust created during the cutting and grinding process. Especially nothing textile based!) So I let my interest slide, and pursued my other loves...
Until last week end, when a chance comment at our local library book sale led me to the home of a lady that had decided to give up her stained glass studio to follow her new passion for quilting! ( See, I told you the two just don't jive.) She was willing and ready to sell me everything, lock, stock and grinder for a very reasonable price. I hemmed, I hawed, and I did! I jumped in!
But here is the other fun part...as I was rummaging through all my new pretties, Mr. How2 said he was interested in learning stained glass! This took me completely by surprise, but I am delighted! My wonderful husband of 21 years is a very hardworking and serious kind of guy, and he has always been very supportive of my need to make art. But he thinks he isn't creative...the guy who has rebuilt and redesigned too many houses to even remember! I try to explain that creativity comes in many, many forms, not just the traditional fine arts, but he has never truly believed me. But he feels that with stained glass, because there is a pattern to follow and he doesn't have to "make it up in his head" that he just might be able to handle it. Also, he loves precision and is often frustrated with the poorly built/measured/designed buildings he fixes, and he thinks that fitting the glass pieces together may be just the thing for him.
So now we need a two space glass studio, where we can both explore this amazing craft. Don't worry, I am still a mixed media artist, I am having way too much fun with all the possibilities. But it's nice to stray a little off the path now and again, and this time I may just have a companion in my adventures...Until next time...enjoy!
This week, the theme for Every Inchie Monday is "street". Seriously, this is only 1"x1"! Go check out the other lovely entries...
Oh good luck with finding a studio. I'd love to have a space I could call my own to keep my art materials in and where I could just leave everything out when I stop/pause in my current project. At the moment it would have to be somewhere rented and I just can't afford it.
ReplyDeleteI love the inchie. I think it looks almost Mediterranean.
You know, MorningAJ, I have a big enough house to have my own studio, and I still have my sewing room, but it difficult to justify yet ANOTHER space set aside for being creative...shouldn't I feel guilty?
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