Glass and painting ongoing projects

Two current projects:

glass monograms and a pet portrait...
These are small 2.5" -ish high oval vases. I've several boxes of these and have been commissioned to monogram them. This is an ornate "MS" initial and an "MR". They are actually name initials...not titles:) Just finished them today. Lots more of them to do, some in double initials, single and triple.
While I have the camera out and the studio is nice and sunny, I took a quick pic of another current project, oil portrait of "Emma". This is the underpainting. Sometimes the quick brushstrokes are my favorite...but this will still go through some more layers and stages. oil on gallery wrap canvas 9x12".

Framing pastels

I should title this "oof" because this is one frustrating thing to do....but I had the frames and was determined to make it happen.

Pastels are unavoidably dusty and fixing them with spray just ruins the luminous characteristics of the medium. Pastels must be protected by glass or plexi (glass is best) but this does not prevent the pastel from continuing to shed dust over time and onto the matt board (if using one). Therefore space is needed between the pastel and the matt board so that the dust can fall down in between and out of sight. I use strips of foam core or matt board and hide them under the mattboard, so the pastel looks like it is floating a bit. But my dilemma today was how to do all of this with pastel bord....Ideally pastel can be on paper and a hinge constructed with archival tape can be created to attach it to a backing board. But the horse pasture pastel here was created on pastel bord, which is new for me. I loved working with it, but wondered how on earth to attach it to a backing board for support. Can I glue it? What is considered archival and professional? I guess the actual pastel bord could be the backing board, but the frame I wanted to use is larger and I wanted a matt--ugh.

I probably made this more difficult than needed, but it is finally done!

I ended up creating the space between the pastel and matt just like I always do, with spacers(foam core). Then I created shims out of foam core to snuggle up to the edges of the pastel board, creating a tight fit (and all hidden behind the matt board). I backed it with a thin matt board and taped it up!

I have sketches to create a mate for the horse pasture pastel. I will use this same process so they are truly a pair. I was tempted to switch to paper, but I want them to truly go together.

Hope to get that one finished up in the next day or two as well as a portrait of Bea, in progress and Emma, the airdale dog. Today was going to be a glass etching day... but I'm glad to have a few things framed for the upcoming oft tour.

Now onto some commissions for etched monograms on small vases. will post those pics soon!

Butterfly motif • hand etched glass

Another tumbler!

These are not only wonderful with monograms, but motifs and designs work very well, too. I've had a butterfly in mind for awhile and drew one out on this glass this morning. Perhaps a variety of different moths and butterflies will emerge for a new series of mix and match tumblers.....

Monograms on glass

I do love ornate lettering and monograms! Here is a tumbler recently etched and inspired by elegant pairings of letters, especially the way they can interlink and attach to each other to make one motif. These tumblers are always fun to create. I think they are especially nice as an elegant bathroom glass.

I'll be featuring more of these in the upcoming months...they make wonderful holiday gifts and hostess presents for the upcoming season! Please contact me by email if you are interested.

My website is starting to come together, too. I'll post a note when it is live. I have always wanted to learn how to build my own site, so I am finally playing around with my dreamweaver software.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Stacks Loft Tour

I'll be participating in the Stacks tour again this year, showing recent work in my loft space.

Please come to this fun event....all of the lofts are a blast to explore and all are so different from each other, and the artwork exhibited is always fabulous! The Stacks is in the old Fulton County Cotton Mill, which is a fascinating complex rich with history. If you come, check to see if Bambi, a knowledgable historian, is giving a tour. I've been on it several times and always learn something new!

Hope to see you there!

Friday December 3rd and Saturday December 4th.

http://www.thestackslofttour.com

The Adventures of Birdie and Bogey

The Adventures of Birdie and Bogey: Learning The Game of Golf

written by Randy Guyton and illustrated by Marlis Cornett

I am beyond excited to see the finished book! it should be coming off the presses any day now....

Randy Guyton wrote a wonderful story about two brothers learning how to play golf. The brothers, Birdie and Bogey, have very different personalities and expectations on what golf is all about. In the end, they learn that even though golf has rules to follow, it ultimately leads to immeasurable fun.

Here is the front cover art. I will begin to show bits and pieces to the interior pages soon.

As well as where you can go to purchase the book.