GARDEN OBJECTS: JANUARY - FINALLY!

Finally! Here are photos of only some of the Garden Objects of the Month that were made in January! A few people took theirs home before I got photos of them, but I think you'll enjoy seeing these, at least. You can click on the photos to view them larger.



Kristi's Dragonfly















Patty's Heart












Linda's Fish










Kristi's Butterfly










Patty's Butterfly

Here is the February 2010 calendar! Just click on it to enlarge it for printing. Many of this month's activities are suitable for beginners, too!

All the descriptions and costs were sent directly to those on the email list.

Please contact us for more information and to register for a workshop.

Watch for photos from the January Garden Object of the Month workshop!



Please stop by Martin's Glass House on Friday, February 5th any time from 9 AM - 6:30 PM to create your heart sun catcher or jewelry to celebrate heart health awareness month!

Each heart purchase that you create in fused glass ($15.00 cost) will result in a $2.00 donation to the American Heart Association! Also, 15% of all other studio sales that day will be included in the donation!

Remember to wear red that day! Hope to see you!

c@

FUSING INTRO - JANUARY 2010

What great projects everyone made at the Intro to Fusing workshop that we held this past Saturday! I've put photos together for you to see... Click on a photo to enlarge it for closer viewing... Enjoy! c@

Project I

Everyone began by making a square design... with individual pieces put under a clear cover. Options were given to fuse the piece flat to use as display art, or to slump the piece in a mold to use it as a plate.

Precision cutting techniques with strip cutter and hand scoring tools, together with color planning (not to mention mechanical coordination to flip the piece over to add accent pieces to the top) were skills in high demand. Everyone was encouraged to try using a repeating pattern and/or vitrigraph for motion in their design.

The project was challenging - but everyone did quite well, as you can see from the photos above! I think everyone learned many techniques that will help them on future projects.

And a huge round of applause, please, for Laura - who is color blind and put together a lovely piece of display art!

Project II

While all the square projects were being designed, each person had an opportunity to cut a circle to use for their second project. All the circles came out perfect - on the first try! Excellent work, ladies! And, congratulations to Kristi who even cut a second circle for her project!

Circle cutting accomplished, each person was to design a piece that could be draped over a mold. Some chose to make their bowls textured by including some coarse frit and having the pieces fired using a contour fuse, Kristi chose frit and dots to create a design, and Carrie and Suzanne experimented with frit to fill in spaces between their designs.

Such cheery, colorful pieces that were created!

Project III

Then everyone learned a few techniques to hang glass by creating some pendants. We used fibers to create channels and fine silver wire to make pendant bails.

Everyone had a chance to experiment with dichroic glass and learn about dichroic glass.

All in all, I think everyone will enjoy their creations for a long time, and should feel proud to use and display them!

JANUARY - CALENDAR & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Here is the January 2010 calendar of events! Just click on it to enlarge and print it.

I've been working diligently to come up with some new ideas and fun projects for this year, so hope to see you all at one or more of these class offerings!

Coming this year... New Project Ideas, AND New classes for Intermediate and Advanced Fusers! Watch the calendars for these new classes!

I have the workshop descriptions, together with a few reminders and some other updates - especially the new "????" of the Month Workshop - below.

Here are suggestions we received for the next "????" of the Month:

"Flower" of the Month *

"Snowflake" of the Month *

"Fungus" of the Month *

"Garden Item" of the Month (which could include flowers and fungi) *

Since I already have some fun projects in mind for “Garden Object of the Month,” I’m going to go with that, and as usual we always come up with other good ideas when we get together! Regardless of the project, it will be great to get together to just enjoy glass fusing with other enthusiasts! And, by the end of the year you will have learned quite a bit if you stick with it! So, let’s see what happens!

(*If you want to make a specific "Flower," "Snowflake," or "Fungus" of the Month, we suggest that you attend the Fusers at Work times scheduled.)

JANUARY WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

Reminders:

> If you see a class that you like, but you are unable to attend, we can schedule an additional time and date for the same class that works for you as long as you have a minimum of four people who plan to attend and pre-pay for the class.

> If you have an idea for a class, please contact us to create it for you. We also arrange parties with special projects for groups. Just give us a call!

1/13 Dabblers' Delight - Beginner Projects, 6 PM - 9 PM

Come make new friends and meet other new glass fusers! This class is designed to give you a sampling of fused glass projects and techniques. You will be introduced to very basic glass fusing techniques to produce a small selection of projects, and to learn some basics about creating and hanging fused glass pieces. Projects: two - or all three, if time permits... sun catcher, night light, and cabochons.

A minimum of four students is required, so bring a friend! Fee: $50.00, includes all materials, firing and instruction; findings are extra depending on student's choice and design for using cabochons as bookmarks, jewelry or magnets. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

1/16 Intro to Glass Fusing, 9 AM - 1 PM

Note: This class is designed for beginners with little to no glass fusing experience.

Now that you have a taste for glass fusing, you'll want to know more about how to design and predict results for your fused glass projects. This class will give you some in-depth information about glass fusing, including: terminology, techniques, types of glass, methods of constructing projects, basic design, layering and texture options, cutting and shaping glass. You will create a plate, a bowl and two hanging objects.

Minimum of four students is required. Fee: $75, includes all materials, firing, instruction - and snacks! Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

1/20 Fun with Garden Objects, 6 PM - 9 PM

Note: This class is recommended for students who already have some basic glass fusing experience, but is open to all regardless of prior experience if you are willing to learn as you go.

This is it - Garden Object of the Month! You'll have a great time creating and, by the end of the year will have learned multiple techniques and methods for glass fusing, made a lot of new friends, and have a lot to show for your efforts!

This first class will include construction of a fused glass ornament to display on a copper wire hanger . The hanger is designed so that you can rotate the ornaments seasonally and for holidays. Once you have your copper wire hanger, you can continue to make more hanging objects each month - such as seasonal designs, during Fusers at Work! We will have patterns available for you to use to design your ornament, or you can come with your own ideas!

Minimum of four students is required, so bring a friend! Fee: $45, includes all materials, firing and instruction. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

1/30 Photo Frames & Dichro Jewels, 9 AM - NOON

Note: This workshop is designed for advanced beginners and intermediate glass fusers.

Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it! Seems like we just did a lot of gift exchanging, and you might be a little shy on new ideas. This class is just time for you to learn new techniques, and then have some fun gifts for yourself or to give away!

You will make a minimum of two photo frames - or a photo frame and a mirror. If time permits, you can make a pendant/earrings set for yourself or a gift! You will be learning to use not only art glass designed for glass fusing, but you will have the opportunity to create using recycled glass, too.

Minimum of four students required! Fee: $50, includes all materials, firing and instruction. Pre-registration and pre-payment is required.

Fusers at Work!

“Fusers at Work” was originally called "Open Studio" time. Though the name has changed, you still must call at least one day in advance to schedule your use of the studio and equipment. During Fusers at Work you can make any project you like – as few or many projects as you would like.

When you schedule time to use the studio, we expect you to have a general understanding of glass fusing, as well as a fairly good handle on being able to cut glass and design your own projects. There will always be someone here to answer unavoidable questions and to offer suggestions if needed. You also have access to reference materials and project ideas offered in books and other publications.

There is a $10.00 fee for every session of Fusers at Work that you attend which covers use of the studio, tools and equipment. Glass and other fusing materials will cost extra, depending on what types of projects you make and materials you choose. There will be an average price guideline available for you to determine what your project would cost, also depending on the types of materials you select.

DECEMBER CALENDAR

Here is the December calendar!

Please note that the time correction has been made on this calendar for the December 5th holiday bazaar. The time was incorrect in the email sent on December 1st!

Hope to see you on the 16th!

c@

FRUIT OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER: PASSION-FIG-PERSIMMON

NOVEMBER - FRUIT OF THE MONTH

PASSION-FIG-PERSIMMON

Welp, here it is... the last of the Fruit of the Month workshop series photos... for now. It's hard to believe that we've inspected, tasted, constructed at least twelve different fruits in glass this year.

As I look back over the past twelve months, I can only say how impressed I am with the progress that each person has made as they've learned new glass fusing techniques. We've learned to use all sorts of scrap glass, made frit - and used "store bought" frit, mixed colors... cut circles... put a lot of thought into our creations, trying to imitate fruit in glass. It has been quite an experience for all of us, and as if that wasn't enough - we've made a lot of new friends, too!

I don't know which was more fun - making the plates, learning about fruits, how they look inside - and which way to cut them to make them the most interesting in appearance, and how good they taste, or making new friends. And I can't think of one fruit that we tasted that we didn't like!

And there are still so many fruits left to try! In November we pulled a pummelo into the studio, too ... just to taste it.

When you're in the store, you'll see this giant green thing that looks like a grapefruit. The label says it's sort of a cross between an orange and grapefruit, but it didn't actually taste like either.

Maybe you'd like to check it out yourself.

As far as I'm concerned - it's pink inside... and we already did pink with the grapefruit!


Dorothy demonstrated one way to eat a pummelo (see photo at left).

If I were to do it again, I think I'd slice it across the middle and section it the customary way for eating a grapefruit. Not knowing what we were in for, we just divvied it up among us to get to the pulp.

Unfortunately, there weren't any passion fruit at the grocery store for us to use for research in our construction of glass fruit this November. Really a disappointment, but we did the best we could using the photo from October.

When I realized that we wouldn't have a passion fruit for November's workshop, I picked up a Fuju persimmon for us to examine and taste.

The photo at left is a thin section of a persimmon. We were surprised to find that, unlike most of the other fruits we'd inspected, the persimmon had eight seed spaces instead of five... more like a daisy design inside than a star like the apple, pear and papaya.

I found this picture of a pomegranate - cut in half horizontal to the stem. Even the seeds of the pomegranate are arranged in a 5-pointed star pattern! I had to run downstairs to cut the pomegranates in my fruit bowl in half just to double check to see it in real life!

I hope you find this as exciting as I do... at least if you're reading this far, maybe you do! Now I want to keep looking for new fruits, to see what they look like inside, and to see how they taste. Maybe even try to duplicate them in glass.

But, in the meantime, for our November Fruit of the Month workshop... without any passion fruit, we had figs, persimmon and pummelo to use for research.

Before and after photos are below - and Sara's will be forthcoming, as she was unable to attend the workshop in November.



NEW YEAR SPECIAL! And, just a reminder to those of you who participated in the Fruit of the Month workshops: If you have made twelve dishes by January 31, 2010, you can make one larger piece (serving bowl size) for 20% off the normal price! If you haven't finished all twelve, you can still catch up just by coming to open studio times in January!

And watch for the December calendar coming out next! There will be a Fruit of the Month workshop reunion at the Studio Open House on Wednesday, December 16th. Everyone is invited - and those with fruit dishes are invited to bring them in for one massive group photo with everyone's dishes and artists in it! Hope to see you there!

Enjoy the before & after photos!

FRUIT OF MONTH - OCTOBER: CITRUS

Wow - the pages of the calendar are flipping by so quickly and I still haven't posted photos of the Fruit of the Month workshops for October and November yet! So, here is the first...

OCTOBER: CITRUS FRUIT

Even though the early October snow storm a week kept us from meeting on our originally scheduled date, we finally did get together (still in October!) to sample nearly every citrus fruit we could find that month (except for one, which you'll see in November's photos). We even included a few other seasonal fruits that we found at the grocery store. In photo at left, clockwise from 12 o'clock high: orange, lemon, lime, key lime, passion fruit and fig.

Fortunately, we did get the passion fruit in the very short window of time it was available, as Dorothy has been waiting ALL YEAR to get to look at the inside of the passion fruit and to eat it, as well as to introduce the rest of us to it!

The photo at left is a little out of sequence, but I just wanted you to see right away the passion that drove Dorothy to lick the passion fruit juice from the sample plate when we were done with the workshop!

I have to admit, although the inside of the passion fruit does not seem very attractive (see photo below), it was quite tasty. And really, it is not all that slimy to eat as it looks in person ... the photo does not do justice to the real fruit. Especially the slimy-ness!


However... IF you ever happen to see the passion fruit at the grocery store - unless you are fortunate to live where it grows and you have greater access to it, I highly recommend that you try it.

It is somewhat pricey for its size ... a little larger than a golf ball, and very wrinkly on the outside (when it's ripe), but worth the experience. And, hey. The cost of one passion fruit from the grocery store is certainly a whole lot less than a trip to Hawaii! So, splurge a little if you get the chance!

We also sampled figs. Now we just need to find the right glass colors that will work well with some of these pink-ish fruits.

Here I thought it was difficult to get pink grapefruit color way back in the beginning of the year... try matching glass colors to passion fruit and figs!

Actually, I think we're getting pretty close... See the photos for November Fruit of the Month!


But... back at the ranch... it was still October...

Kathy brought her orange place mat for inspiration and reference, and she also brought a plate of lemon bars that were superb.

Sorry... I neglected to get a photo of the lemon bars, and I still need to get the recipe for them! Trust me... they were beautiful and tasty, and I'm hoping to add them to my Christmas cookie trays this year if she'll share her recipe with us.

I'll post the recipe here when I get it!




Now... take a look at the dishes that were made...

The photo at the left shows the finished pieces. "Before" photos are below.

In photo, clockwise from 12 o'clock high: Patty's lemon, Sara's lime, Kathy's orange, Dorothy's orange.






Dorothy's orange - before.











Kathy's orange - before.

Stringers used to divide orange into sections.









Patty's lemon - before. Note the use of stringers for the pulp in the flesh of the lemon. Frit used to divide lemon into sections.