A WOMAN'S HAND

Ready for delivery!

The Chamsah is a wonderful symbol for any young woman. It is a symbol commonly found on amulets in the middle east. "Chamsah" literally means "five". It is known as "the hand of Fatima", "the hand of Mary", and "the hand of Miriam"- three remarkable women representing three remarkable faiths.

I hope the young woman who recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah will draw inspiration for strength, courage, and learning from each of these matriarchs.

As always, photographing glass is a real challenge. The glare and reflections are tough to control. The background glass is a beautiful transparent turquoise but In order to minimize glare, I had to shoot it on a black background. 

Now on to my next project....a new design for a Torah pointer- Yad.  These will be made in the kiln rather that worked with a torch. Stay tuned!

Chamsah Added

Ready to Slump!

I made an on the spot decision not to flip and fire. I like the lines and when I slump the flat plate into the origami mold, I hope the seams will add visual interest to it.

I have fused a clear dichroic rippled glass chamsah on the opaque dichro as a tack-fuse.

Tomorrow it should come out of the kiln and be ready for a final polish and cleaning. Delivery is Tuesday if all goes well!

Back to the Drawing Board

Sorry, no pictures to share today!

While the commissioned plate is in the kiln, I can use the "down time" to design the next commission....a wedding gift. It will be a 15" bowl with a mountain and a tree. Creating a mountain that isn't a childish triangle and looks good in glass is proving to be a challenge. I also need to include a line from a poem used during the wedding ceremony. 

I'll be using iridized soft green glass....
-toying with the idea of using silver foil for the mountains.
If I do use silver foil, I'll need to clear cap the piece. If I use glass for the mountain and trees , then I am tempted to place the irid glass on top and go with the matte finish....hmmmmmm.....

This is an incredibly thoughtful gift and I want to honor the newlyweds, but also the folks who have commissioned the piece.

It's back to the drawing board....tomorrow!
Stay tuned!

A plate....My process

This is a new commissioned piece for a young woman who just celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. The colors were inspired by her beautiful custom silk tallit.

The background glass is actually a transparent iridized turquoise base, 11.5"x 11.5". The center is a 7.5"x 7.5" piece of dichroic glass. Strips of clear have been cut to frame the dichroic center. It's in the kiln for it's first firing. I'm assuming that the seams will show when I check it in the morning. If so, I will do a "flip and fire" so the glass has a chance to flow and spread a bit. That should hide the seams. 

Friday, I'll add decorative elements. New photos will follow.

Waiting for the Glue to Dry!

• These are my newest contemporary-styled tallit clips. When the glue dries I will attach chains and then the bar mitzvah family will select the clips they want!

Support Community Warehouse!- CHAIR AFFAIR!!!!

You've heard me say it many times..... COMMUNITY WAREHOUSE is one of the finest non profit agencies anywhere!

FIRST THURSDAY , March 7th is the traditional night out for art lovers. Head on over to Pioneer Place.....check out the retail space next to Eddy Bauers. You'll find lots of awesome art available for sale......AND/OR......

COME to the Chair Affair auction on March 21st and bid on the remaining art!

When you donate money, furniture, household goods, and/or buy art.....you help CW help others. Kids will have beds to sleep in, families will have  tables to gather around and share a meal, and pots and pans with which to cook their meals.

You'll be glad you did!

check them out at:  www.communitywarehouse.org/

If The Screw Fits.....!

When you have a sign, you know it's official!

As you know, I had to do a few repairs to the mirror. Then we discovered that all the mounting screws were misplaced! (You need to realize that at least 50 pieces of furniture and auction items were moved all at once!)
A quick trip to the hardware store for 2 screws and another trip to Pioneer Place was all it took to put the dresser into shape for the auction. 

Here's a close up of the bird and below and.....a less than perfect (dark) shot of the whole dresser. You can scroll down to see a better full piece shot.

Go to the Community Warehouse website to learn how you can buy cool stuff ...either Thursday night or at the auction. 

Curious about other items? Shots of art on the website are growing daily...... here's your link: 
http://www.communitywarehouse.org/2013-tables-chairs-artists

The Dresser Needs a New Name!

I'm flirting with names like "The Perils of Pauline", "Calamity Jane" or........"Frustration Masterpiece."

As I mentioned in an earlier post, some damage to one of the mirrors occurred. I showed up at Pioneer Place to re-do the stained glass pieces, only to discover that the beautiful store front (awesome donated space!) had overhead lights but none of the outlets worked!

What's a frustrated artist to do?   

OK, I was desperate!  I took the mirror and my tools to the Women's Room... I balanced everything across one of the sinks, plugged in my soldering iron and half an hour later, the mirror was finished!

It was actually a bit of a sociological study. What do people do when they discover someone doing something strange in a public restroom?.....they pretend they don't see you! 

Back in the store, ready to assemble the dresser again and........ the mounting screws have gone missing!  REALLY????

I'll be back tomorrow with new screws....... maybe the dresser will be finished...FOR REAL!

walkin' on, walkin on', broken glass

...With apologies to Annie Lennox.... (I love that song!!!!) I'm not exactly walking on broken glass....but unfortunately some glass broke on the third panel during transport to Pioneer Place (one branch and two leaves.) I picked up the mirror today and will repair it over the weekend.

It should be a quick fix....... and I'll have a chance to reinforce one of the old hinges with a little wood glue.

I'll be singing a new song soon!

Tamir the Apprentice

"AFTER"

"BEFORE"

TAMIR MAY BE THE YOUNGEST ARTIST IN THIS YEAR'S CHAIR AFFAIR. AT AGE 13 AND WITH ONLY A BRIEF SET OF LESSONS, HE STEPPED UP AND CRAFTED A BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART. 

I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD!

IT'S DONE !!!!!!!

"PUT A BIRD ON IT"

PHOTOGRAPHING ANYTHING WITH A MIRROR IS A CHALLENGE! 

My mirrors reflect only a few of the many fabulous artistic donations that have filled the containment area of Community Warehouse!

So what's next? There will be a preview night on the First Thursday of March: the 7th at Pioneer Place!  Come on downtown and peruse all the furniture, dishware, and art. 

I am pleased my efforts and hope that this dresser will find a new home. What was once destined for the trash heap has regained new life. All the drawers are clean and lined, the glass sparkles, and you know you're in Portland....because it has a BIRD on it!

Come to the auction March 21st and be a top bidder....take home a piece of furniture or a set of dishes and know that your donation will help families throughout the metro area. Your money couldn't be better spent!

It's Almost Done!

Top Panels Installed

I'm pleased with the glass choice and the patterning.

SO WHAT'S LEFT? 

        Mirrors!!!!!!!! and drawer liners!

Bird & Mirror

 Making Progress! 

                                          

This is the third mirror panel  and it is nearly finished. Panels 1 & 2 should be done soon and then installed! It feels good to see the vision becoming a reality!

Painting with Nail Polish

I was spotted this afternoon at a local Target store, perusing the cosmetic isles! Yes....that was me!

I was looking for cheap nail polish. For those who know me...this is funny! 

Although my nails would probably benefit from more care and attention than I give them, the nail polish is for the chair affair project- not my nails!

I am sealing the silvering on the mirrors. The silver nail polish was on clearance so....I bought it! It sparkles!

No one will ever see the nail polish, but if it does it's job there shouldn't be any more de-silvering beyond the damage that age and abuse brought to these mirrors.  

A few more pieces of glass need to be cut, wrapped and soldered...just another 2 hours of work and the mirrors should done.

Mirror, Mirror on the Rug....

The mirrors have been removed from the backings and each mirror has been wrapped in copper foil.  The bird is assembled from about 20 pieces of hand-cut glass. Decorative soldering and copper foil holds it together and when the rest of the stained glass elements are completed, I will attach them all to the three mirrors.

Tomorrow I'll paint the wood frames for the mirrors and finish the stained glass work. It's been awhile since I've done stained glass and I find I'm really enjoying the different rhythm of this work.

Finished projects by other artists are starting to come in to the warehouse. It's exciting to see what has been crafted for this wonderful event. The end of my project is just a couple of days away...I'm looking forward to calling it done!

Glass tops!

I just love this glass! 

I successfully cut all the counter tops for this dresser and now they are in the kiln to get a fire polished edge.

The tops will be permanently placed on the dresser Tuesday!

The mirrors will be completed and attached to their frames on Wednesday.....!

I could paint a house faster!

There have been many reincarnations of this project. The burgundy paint didn't adhere well in spots so I have had to lay down many coats. The stripes I painted looked nice while wet, but not so much dry.

I believe today I successfully applied the last coat of burgundy and the last coat of blue (although I may need to touch up the blue later?)

The picture doesn't do this piece much justice...but believe me....it's an improvement! 

Frankly, I probably could have painted a house by hand in the time it took to paint this!.....But I like it and hopefully so will someone else!

It's All in the Rustic Details

The stripes are almost done!

The paint job is a little more rustic than I would like....and not quite done. The look is supposed to be rustic...just not this much!

Sunday morning I'll solder the glass to the mirror frames, go to to the warehouse for more painting and attaching, then...hopefully attach the mirrors!  The last stage should be complete on Monday when I attach the glass counter tops.

PUT A BIRD ON IT!

Stained Glass Mirror Adornment

CHAIR AFFAIR 2013 Project Update

Here's a little preview of the stained glass I will be mounting on the mirror. It's been quite some time since I've worked with Stained glass but I am giddy about the new glass and ecstatic that I can now work to complete the dresser. 

I shopped the Bullseye sale and waited for the right glass to call my name. The first piece of glass to call me was a solitary piece....and I need 2 full sheets! (You'll see why next week!) 

This beautiful blue with burgundy was screaming at me just across the isle....and I listened!

 Just in case you don't remember what the dresser looks like (yes, it's been awhile).... here it is!

"BEFORE"

I couldn't be more proud!

Piecing it all together

This is my young apprentice, Tamir!

He's completing his first complex project involving about 100 pieces of hand cut glass in the construction of a table top for an end table. This is his donation to Portland's Community Warehouse fund Raiser "Chair Affair+."

I can't begin to count the number of hours he has put into this....but he has done it all with a smile!

I'll post a picture of the actual "before" piece of furniture soon. I will continue to document his progress over the next couple of weeks.

My project resumes Wednesday!