A Valentine for My Mother

I always post a few new glass hearts for Valentine's Day and this year I have been running behind due to the complications of life.   I started writing my blog a few years ago so my mother could see a little of what I was doing since she could no longer travel to visit me.  She died somewhat unexpectedly over the Christmas holidays, and I have been trying to come to terms with this loss.  

 I think my mother really would have liked the new direction my glass is taking. She loved the gemstone flowers of Faberge at the Virginia Museum of Art and the glass botanicals of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and this passion has definitely influenced the evolution of my style.

Thank you, Mother, for exposing me to such beautiful things.  These Valentine hearts are for you.

Passion Flowers!

I took a wonderful class at Arrowmont this August with Sara Sally LaGrand, and it added yet another dimension to my MGPD- multiple glass personality disorder.  I have 10 more shows to go this fall season, but I cannot tear myself away from working on these whimsical pins and pendants.  I have such a passion for them I have dubbed them my Passion Flower series.

Bunny Time

I am getting my rabbits in a row for the Spring Festival in Southport next weekend, April 5-6.

Valentine's Day may be over, but the hearts keep coming.

The hearts are so much fun that I just keep making them. Here are a few of the batch I cooked up the past week. I don't mind having extra inventory since they were popular last year at the Cherry Blossom Festival- now just a month away.

The weather has for the most part been fueling my floral obsession with daffodils blooming in January for the first time in my memory. Mother Nature threw us a curve ball on Monday with a dusting of snow. The yard pictures were both taken last week. The first on Saturday, the second on Monday.

I have also been obsessed with making kumihimo necklaces and bracelets and have started using a bit of borosilicate glass because it makes nice organic focals for the kumi.

AND, as if I didn't have enough to do, I took an earring class Saturday with beading wizard Kathy King and learned to make her special style of "beaded bead" earrings. I think they will be a spectacular accessory for my kumi necklaces. Kathy may have created a monster.

If it's hearts all the time, it must be near Valentines!

It seems so predictable, but I am always surprised when I become obsessed with making floral hearts this time of year. Here are a few of my new offerings.

Sculptural Fun

It is amazing how much other people influence my work. I never was that interested in sculptural beads, but after classes with Leah Fairbanks and Loren Stump in the past six months I can hardly make anything smooth. Here is some of the fun I have been having at the torch this week. It is hard to tear myself away to take pictures.

Valentine's Day is Coming

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday to make beads. Here are some of my first offerings. I cannot wait to make a few more during this "heat wave" (60 dgrees!) and then start turning them into jewelry.