Last of the Red-Hot Mammas!

You won't want to miss this! Wendy Westerwelle ( a HOT MAMMA in her own right!) will star in this one woman show about Sophie Tucker. This is must see entertainment right here in Portland at the Coho Theater Dec 2-26, 2010 See you there!

Custom Clips

Leaf clips for the tallit belonging to a landscape architect and
blue pomegranates for a Bat Mitzvah tallit .

The leaves are made from aventurine glass. The green sparkles with subtle gold flecks whenever the light hits it!

The pomegranates have dichroic glass "seed pods"

It's always fun to hear what people select and even more fun trying to use the glass to achieve their desires.

The Celebration of Art Show is this Sunday at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Hours are 10am-4 pm- October 24th 2010.

I will have some pre-made clips, bowls, trays, Torah adornments on display...and commissions are welcome.

I am pleased that despite setbacks by my arm, I have sufficient stock to put out a nice display.
I hope you'll come, stop by, say hello and tell me that you saw my blog.

Lots and Lots of squares

It still hurts to cut glass, so I've been rummaging around my studio looking for pre-cut anything....

...and I found a small box of 1x1" squares!

I am dreaming up something a little more creative than a checkerboard plate.....at least a different kind of checkerboard.....
...hmmmmm....?????

I've washed and dried them....now to play and arrange and rearrange! Hope something great emerges!

First Effort

Well, it's a start. Four months of physical therapy and I have some decent range of motion in my elbow. The shoulder is improving at a snail's pace...and I'll admit, it isn't fun to be cutting glass. Elbow and shoulder strength are needed and I just don't have it yet.

A big sale (Celebration of ART 2010 @ MJCC) is only a couple of weeks away so it's time to get busy and hope that my arm will hold out. Come see me at the sale....Oct 24th 10am-4pm~!

New x-rays on the 20th.....hopefully I am continuing to make solid healing progress!
P/T is helping and I am now down to 1x/ week. I can do it!!!!!

New Stuff !

Brooches...the "in" word for pins....
just came out of my kiln .
Here are two of my favorites....pinless thus far.
They aren't typical of the work I usually do.


Tell me what you think!

Optimism

I have nothing new to post! This is a piece (a flat tile) I made last summer. It speaks to me of possibilities.....

....sigh!.....We didn't get around to setting up the saw and cutting glass. The short time my son was home evaporated...but every moment was worth it. When Rosh Hashanah has ended, I will tackle some new projects. I will invite some friends to come help me set up the saw and help me get the needed blanks cut. Asking for help really is ok!

I am determined...and optimistic....even though I still haven't heard a word from my surgeon about when I can begin to handle weight with my right arm (yes, I am sulking!....okay, I'm done!)

So I am pledging optimism for myself! RH is a week away......a time for renewal, asking for forgiveness from others, and a time to forgive myself.

To those of you kind enough to visit this site...and to those who do not......wishes for a peaceful, joyous, and HEALTHY new year!

Torah Adornments / Breast Plates

I'm not sure what my resistance is to calling them breast plates- I just prefer the term adornments!

Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland, Oregon has been kind enough to offer ORA (my art group) display space. The High Holiday show opened today and will close October 5th. Much of our work is Judaica based...and the rest is spiritual in nature and represents the hard work of my artist colleagues.

I don 't have much to display since I haven't been able to create new items, but I am displaying a fused glass seder plate and a Torah Adornment.  Rabbi Brad Greenstein has agreed to display two additional Adornments on Torahs we'll use in the downstairs services he'll be leading with Cantor Ilene Safyan.

I am so honored....and so excited. I have been using the adornments to mark an eastern interior wall of my house...each, a mizrach. I love looking at them there, but seeing them actually on a Torah.....I can't explain the feelings I have! Much gratitude to the shul...and Rabbi Brad!

Celebration of Art 2010! & .......

ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists proudly presents its 5th annual art show.

This will be our third show at the MJCC.  Most exciting is our commitment to support the Kehilla Housing Project by donating 10% of our proceeds to this endeavor.

You can learn about this project which will develop assisted independent living apartments for adults with developmental disabilities....  http://cedarsinaipark.org/explore-our-services/kehillah-housing/

I hope I can get my arm back into production mode soon.....! I hope to make some new designs in fused glass art and judaica. I hope you will come to our sale and buy my work......your purchases will help a fantastic cause as well as boost my self esteem!

Mark your calendars now.....October 24th 2010  10-4pm at the mjcc!

more info to follow!

Son + Saw = some new glass....finally!

 I still can't do any weight - bearing activities....but now that my son is home for a visit.....he can lift, and schlep, and tote water for my Taurus Ring saw!

I was able to use my left hand to push the glass and only used my right arm to "steer."

Ok, I had to take several breaks to relax the shoulder, but it worked and I was able to craft several tallit clips.

A wonderful discovery in my studio...... apparently I cut some round and square blanks before I broke my arm. YAY! If i can find some clear blanks to go with them or get some help cutting the clear....I will actually be able to begin creating work for the Celebration of Art 2010 show in October (October 24th...in case you were wondering!) This will be ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists 5th annual show (our 3rd at the.
I'll be posting more info shortly!

NOT READY TO ARM WRESTLE YET !

Well, I'm not ready for  arm wrestling yet....but the elbow is straightening out  and also bending well.
I'll get fresh x rays at the end of the month and hopefully will then get the go ahead to start weight bearing.

Our art group, ORA will have a show at Neveh Shalom for about 6 weeks. I'm a little sad that I can't create something new for that so I hope to figure out a way to display my Torah adornments.

I'm starting to sketch out some new ideas and hope that I  can get started soon. I did find some pre-cut blanks in my studio, so maybe I can create some embellishments using the saw next week.....I might just pull that off!

wish me luck!

Quackin' Good TIme!

Despite my frustrations with not getting to make glass for a while, I have had a bit of time to reflect on the month I spent in Eugene teaching an education course at the Uof O.

I had an amazing group of grad students on the verge of becoming teachers. My fears about not having useful information were thankfully unfounded. My prior experiences at PSU teaching Literacy in the Content area was good preparation for this course which was sub-titled: Everything They Should have taught You That You Need To Know. I appreciate the trust the Ed. dept. gave me- allowing me to invent this elective course. I especially appreciate the welcome I received from my students.

The world of public education is a tough place to be in these days- lots of meaningless testing and accountability crap (sorry about the soap box!) We need the idealism of these fresh new faces to beat this ridiculous set of BS procedures so we can get down to really teaching our kids!

My first year of retirement was a busy one....teaching writing at the Rose Schnitzer Manor, tutoring bar/bat mitzvah students, orchestrating JAM (Jewish Arts Month), continuing my glass work and having a leadership role in our  art group, ORA. The broken elbow/major surgery does not make the list of highlights, but teaching at the U of O does! 

The old arm is sore but I can feel myself growing stronger each week. I resume physical therapy tomorrow and hope  they can find some ways to help me get the arm a little straighter!..

New glass ideas are emerging so hopefully this fall will be a time of productive glass work! 

Disappointments

The 99W Craft Show enjoyed great weather but a very poor turnout. I was hoping to move some of my older stock but you can't have a good show with a small customer base. Oh well! It was a pretty day and I was in good company.

The other disappointment is i am still a couple months away from working on glass. The surgeon says no weight bearing activity until at least the end of August...and even then I may not be able to work on glass. Darned elbow!




I will try to redirect this sadness into design work so when I do get the thumbs up from the medical world, I will be ready to create new pieces for the 2010 October 24th Celebration of Art at the MJCC. New Judaica ideas are already brewing

But now....I am off to the beach for some inspiration and a little R&R.

Come see my booth at.....

SUMMER CRAFT SHOW- come see me!

My friend and amazing bead artist, Esther Liberman will be sharing a canopy with me at:

"Craft-In" Arts & Crafts Show
Saturday, July 17th
10 am - 4:30 pm
at the historic 99W Drive-In Theatre Parking Lot
in Newberg, Oregon 97132
Admission: Free


come see us!


Esther will have her usual creative and exotic jewelry, I will have a few pendants and a number of plates, bowls and dishes. Little to no Judaica will be featured but we can always discuss a commission.


It's a great opportunity to support local artists while on your way to or from wine country and/or the coast. 


Hope to see you there!

taking a break!

broke my elbow and so.....it's time to take a break. I'll resume blogging when i can figure how to effectively make glass with just my left hand!

More Fused Glass Judaica

This is a more contemporary piece. I call it Aseret HaDibrot...literally ten speakings or sayings...more commonly known as the Ten Commandments.

Text and subtext...it's all there.

A CALL FOR ARTISTS

ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists has put out a call for guest artists to be juried for the fall Celebration of Art Show and Sale.

Information can be found at: http://www.northwestjewishartists.org/callartists2010.html

Latest Commissioned Work

I was commissioned to create a wedding gift- a 15" bowl . Colors: Black, red, blue.
That was the extent of the directions I had.

The groom is the son of my customer's dearest friend. It had to be special.
I thought about what kind of metaphor could influence the design.

I titled this piece On A Path... Together. The path is filled with dichroic gem nuggets tacked to the surface. It's a fairly firm tack so it is smoother than bumpy. i don't want to wish the couple a bumpy journey....! I hope they like it.
The colors are much brighter in real life.

They'll make you cry!

Rose Schnitzer Manor writers are vibrant and young at heart. 
Won't you join us as they present some of their favorite poems and stories.


They will provoke tears of laughter and they will touch your hearts with the more somber tales they will tell.


Music by jazz pianist George Fendel begins at 6:45 and the reading will begin "Jewish Standard Time" @ 7pm-ish!


The Older But Wiser Cafe is jointly sponsored by Cedar Sinai Park and Jewish Arts Month.

ROSE SCHNITZER MANOR Writes!

With amazing assistance from my friends Laurie Fendel and Diane Solomon, I have been privileged to teach a  writing class once a week at Rose Schnitzer Manor (RSM- an independent and assisted living facility here in PDX!)

Book artist Shu-Ju Wang helped us assemble these books!

My love of stories has only grown because of the rich lives members of this group have lived.

We have compiled a book of their stories and poems. Thursday, April 22nd RSM will host the OLDER BUT WISER CAFE at 7pm. Just come through the front door and ask for directions!

There will be a variety of snacks, beer and wine.....and most importantly: great stories!
Come hear the voices of these writers, learn their stories....laugh and cry..... I can hardly wait!