Recent Paper by 53 Drawings

 

I continue my quest to post a drawing each day. It began shortly after I discovered the Paper app in May of 2012. It is such an amazing app. I love the immediacy of working with it. I don't have to drag out boxes of paints, stacks of paper - just pop open my iPad, day or night, and begin to draw. It has been such a journey...experimenting with the tools, watching as Paper updated and expanded the app, having fun with color and composition! Oh, the joy of working! The spontaneous nature of the medium! The brilliant color vibrant with backlighting from the amazing ipad display...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Little Rusty

It seems forever since I was able to work on anything new. May is always so hectic because of my job with the school district. I try to keep my schedule clear of festivals and other events that require me to work on glass. So, when I pulled out my glass this past weekend, I didn't really know where to start. I felt out of sorts and rusty, so, I just willed myself to begin simply.

Almost all of my cut floral pendants are gone, so I decided to work on a simple group of those. I enjoy wearing and get lots of compliments on my daisy with the lime green center, so I created three of those. I did a few other color variations and used some scraps to created a red and black piece. It was good to get back up and running!

 

 

 

 

Show Us What You Make or Sell

Today, I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner Show Us What You Make or Sell day. I love it when she does this kind of blog. You get to see so many really interesting things that people all over the place are creating.

I create pendants and artwork using glass that I melt or fuse in a kiln. I'm posting a few of my newer pieces here. You can also look through some of my other posts and even click over to my LeisaWorks Facebook page or Etsy page.

 

Patchwork

Last week on Spring Break, I had a chance to visit my favorite glass store. I picked up a huge sheet of black glass. It's like a staple for me...the base that anchors the colors I enjoy playing with. I also came away with a few vibrant sheets as well.

 

 

 

All that glitters...

I don't work too much with dichroic glass. It's not because I don't like it, I think it's stunning. I just get involved more in experimentation with other glasses and techniques. But every once in a while, the shiny, sparkly glass will catch my eye, and I will sit for hours playing with it.

Sunday, I got caught up layering transparent dichroic with different shades of transparent glass. I tend to like things simple and clean when it comes to dichroic glass, kind of a "less is more" philosophy. I got some interesting results...some good, and some okay, but all glittery.

A kiln full ready to fire.

Blazing hot and fully fused

Shimmery dichroic capping transparent aqua glass

Silver dichroic under clear glass

Golden dichroic capped with brown transparent glass

Iridescent circles over transparent blue

Sunrise stripes over light blue glass

 

 

 

To tack or not to tack...

Saturday, I was straightening up my work area and ran across some transparent glass that I had purchased a while ago. I sat down and started experimenting with the colors - layering blues and greens, yellows and browns. I pieced together a few small pendants and prepared to fire them.

I had to decide if I would fully fuse them or tack fuse them. I went the tack route, although, I put a few aside because I really want to see what happens to the transparent glass when the pieces fully fuse together.

Tack fusing occurs at a lower temperature than full fuse. For me, it's between 1300 and 1400 degrees. Basically, it's fusing the separate pieces together, but stopping before the pieces lose their actual shapes. It gives you a kind of layered look. I keep a close eye on the pieces in the kiln and stop the process when the desired look is achieved.

Here are the pieces from the weekend.