Recent Activity

In spite of few postings, I have been doing things - collecting children from school, enjoying weekends, seeing some exhibitions - all the things to keep me a rounded person.  A number of repairs have been completed and I am waiting to start on a large church window repair.

In between, I have completed some bowls depicting flowers.  These require multiple firings to get the look I want, and there are some failures.  This is a sample of the ones I have done recently.

I have also worked on one of the spiral bowls too:

Blue Flower

Another recuring theme over the past months has been the series of flower bowls. This is another in that series. I chose the image to represent the trumpet-like centre of the flower surrounding the stamen. It also held the challenge of representing the delicate blue and white of the petals and the edge of the central trumpet.

Blue Petals

Studio Sale

It has been a busy few weeks, so I haven't met my schedule for writing. I have been on three visits/conferences (more later) , done one sale, completed first part of a large installation and got things ready for the Scottish Glass Society exhibition.

First things first. The Parade Artists show was held on the second weekend of May. About 25 artists participated in this first co-operative show. We have learned a number of lessons about marketing and making the show and event that people enjoy and want to come back to. We are committed to about 4 shows a year and are beginning to do the marketing work for the next one.

As you can guess from this, the show was not really well attended, but we all had a number of interesting conversations with various visitors which may lead on to other things. In my case, I got into a discussion about providing in service training for art teacher in a neighbouring local authority. This could lead to a continuing relationship with the schools that are outfitted for glass work of various kinds. I also talked to a few people about workshops. In one case, there is the possibility of one orgnised specially for a small group of people.

Although the show was not a great financial success for me, I did get good comments on a range of daffodil coasters (100mm square). These were made by using glass powders and firing a number of times to build up the colours and shading. I made them in a variety of shades as you can see from the photos below.

Of course, I spent more money that I took in by being so attracted to a painting by Lin Lee that I bought it.

Flower series

I have been fascinated by a number glass artists who use powders to "paint" on glass, others sift the powder in an even layer and then cut through to the colour below with wheels or sandblasting.

My variation on this has developed into a series of bowls using flowers as the theme. The way in which you can control the powders through a number of firings gives a subtle graduation of colour. Firing at lower temperatures can give a variety of textures over the 5 - 7 firings required to achieve the colour intensity and graduations. Experience has shown that the bowl form suits the flower shapes well, giving a three-dimensional aspect to the image that is in keeping with the subject.

Below are a number of recent bowls I have completed in preparation for a spring show and possible inclusion in the craftscotland limited edition collection.

Briar Rose 300mm dia.

Briar Rose, 200mm dia.

Plumeria, 300mm dia.

Tulip, 300mm dia.

"Australian Bloom", 400mm dia.