WIndows and Pictures

Did I mention that we are having windows replaced? This week? Yes. It is true. And tomorrow they will want to venture into my studio to replace the windows in there. I have been promised they will only need about a foot in front of each window for about 30 minutes. Of course it will take me about a day to create that space for them....a day which I do not really have available right now. But somehow we will juggle it all. They are doing a great job, and have done everything I have asked to accomodate my crazy workload so far. So I guess I will need to figure out how to accomodate their work schedule.

With the new wholesale order, I am making cranes, jewelry AND the vessels for the show. All at once. At least it seems that way right now. :-) But I am excited about how some of the vessels have been coming out so I will share a few pictures of those with you.


Both of these pieces were definitely pieces that evolved a lot in the process of creation. The one on the far left has images of insects that I have drawn in the little squares. I have done similar pieces before with floral or leaf patterns, and I figured I would do one with insects. I ran out of steam part way through doing the drawings, and then put it to the side.

After about a week I knew I needed to get back to it and finish it up. So I dug out a great big nature book I have that is full of wonderful pictures of animals, fish, insects, birds, etc. There are more pictures than text. It is a great source of information and inspiration for some of my designs. I found a beetle and a grasshopper to finish up the drawings, and started layering the piece. I was happy with the color blend of copper to purple. I like using color combinations that are not always obvious, but still work. I had planned to just carve out around the squares to backfill, in order to better define those edges. But, as I sat in my comfortable chair that night, doing the drawings on some other pieces I had the idea to do all the scrollwork on the surface, and have the backfilled areas flip the colors of the Skinner blend. So where there is copper on the pear, the scroll pattern is backfilled with violet, and where there is violet, the scrollwork is filled with copper. The pattern seems to fade away in the center and re-emerge on each end. And you've gotta love that violet stem!

The other piece has such a simple concept, circles, but I love the way it came out. The layering really works here to almost create a sense of floating circles. And the colors are perfect for being on the verge of spring in New England.

Back to work.....