Feathers, fur and fusing......

Fire and Ice - not necessarily in that order however

2009-07-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

The first glass bitz that are going up for sale on Etsy are magnets that I have created with a powdered glass technique. The subject in this post is Ozzie - I designed a mold of him for an exchange done in 2008 (Warm Glass - fantastic source of all things fusing)and I have a few left over that I want to share with Etsy shoppers.
BTW - Ozzie is my Eclectus parrot - look for an upcoming post about his very unique story.
So, first step is to make a silicone mold from the model as you can see in the picture at the top of this post. I then mix up powdered glass with water and pack it into the mold. Off to the freezer for a couple of hours until the figure is frozen solid.
Next, I fill up a kiln shelf full of Ozzies.....reminds me of the scene in Toy Story when we see all the little dudes in the claw machine - kinda disconcerting in a way. Then they are locked up in the kiln for a day or so, and they emerge all shiny and fused into a handsome glass shape that, with the help of a strong magnet, will happily watch over your fridge while you are out. Check him out on Etsy tomorrow!

Le Dogs

2009-07-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

Both of these beasties are Cattle Dog x ??? and were adopted from rescue orgs. They are fantastic with the birds and they keep me on my toes - I am usually being herded from one room to the other, but hey, its how they roll.
Krikit is the brown dog, Chayse is decidedly more multi-colored.

The Feathers - well, a couple of them to start with

2009-07-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here are the cockatoos - Majek and Zen. Majek is in white plummage; Zen has a pink tinge. They are about 3 months apart in age but were raised together. They are spoiled rotten and a never-ending source of enjoyment and racket (not necessarily in that order).

Its Etsy Time!

2009-07-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus from blogging, I am ready to start anew. I have some glass magnets ready to put up on Etsy and I promised that I would have some technique notes and pictures up about my fused glass magnets. Its also time to get some pics up of the Fur and the Feathers part of this blog!

A Siren sings of glass

2009-01-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am, blogging. In true old-school fashion, I sat down with a pen and scribbled a few thoughts on a piece of paper. Yeah, that's not the way to start a blog - lesson learned.

As the title suggests, this blog is about animals and hobbies, and I imagine I will find things to say off topic as well.

I was thinking about how I started working in stained glass in the early '80s, moved to fused glass in the '90s and came back to the art form in a big way a couple of years ago. Glass is my "siren song", mystical and alluring, impossible for me to resist for too long. I like this particular representation I found on Wikipedia, especially her feet! Maybe someday, I will learn how to sculpt and cast her in glass :-)

So, just to say I've done it, I am going to sign off for now. More to come.