Sunday: Showing Off

No lizard yet, but he's a coming!  In the meantime, here's a new seahorse from my studio featuring a red, teal, and purple blend.

Red, Teal, & Purple Seahorse Pendant

I know, the colors are pretty hip on that fella :)  

Next in line: my somewhat-scary (it's the eyes, I think that's what makes him scary) Black Dotted-Back Spider Pendant:

The bail is white like a little bit of webbing :)

Hope your weekend is as relaxing as mine: I finally have a day off, woohoo!

A Visitor in the Studio: Fresh Inspiration!

Our studio is a delightful place for Paul and I, and now for lizards!  Just kidding, though we did just have a visitor briefly adorn the wall behind Paul's torch. 

It was a fun surprise that delighted and distracted me for several minutes, causing me to somewhat inconvenience Mr. Paul as he was working on a project.  He was a great sport about it though, and I got some nice photos to share with you :)

He crawled down the wall and surprised us at first, then climbed back down, then up again!  He had a hard time deciding what to do, but we were really just glad that he avoided crossing the wall in front of the flame.  Maybe his cute little feet felt the heat on the wall... He does have a really long tail, which I can only assume is his original tail.  I like this pose, and he may serve as good inspiration for my next lizard pendant...

You know you want more!  Here are some good shots of his cuteness on the wall behind the glass rods and with his tail wrapped around a glass tube on the bench...

See he's checking out our glass rods... I think he was eyeing the Momka's Lustrous Blue :)


 
One with the tube-wrap for good measure before the full studio shot:

I really like his tail, and hope that he keeps it safe from the neighborhood cats.  Here's a final shot of my messy bench's many jars of glass rods around Mr. Lizard.  Hope we'll have more visitors, because this was fun and refreshing!

Fire Divas June Challenge: Summer

Each month, the Fire Divas host two challenges: One for glass artists/artisans, and one for jewelry designers that use artist/artisan beads.  June's challenge is Summer, and our beach pendant in the previous post is my entry for this month.  It's actually my first month in the challenge, but they've had them for a while, and each time you get the pleasure of seeing delightfully different artists' work.  Be sure to check back for the challenge and the voting here :http://firedivas.blogspot.com

Make sure you vote!  You don't have to vote for mine, just vote for your favorite embodiment of the theme :)

Happy Wednesday!

Beach Weather Ahoy!

It's that time of year again folks: Beach weather, picnic time, blue skies and nice days that you can spend outside enjoying the quiet beauty of nature.  It's a great time of year, and the mornings especially lend themselves well to outdoor exploration and tourism. Make sure you soak up some sun, but don't forget the sunblock.  Here's a final goodbye to my beach scene pendant I've had on display for a while that was purchased this past weekend, and went to a good home as a gift.

Beach Scene Pendant

Well, now that means I have to make another one, and I have just the idea...

Sunday Show-off: Custom Red Pinscher

It's not every day you get a good challenge for glass art, though lately it does seem as though my customers are connoisseurs and appreciate the skill involved for their goodies.  I do have great customers, and want to do my best when they ask for something special.  This is along those lines, as the custom mermaid was specifically designed to meet stringent specifications, so was this lovely red mini pinscher.  He wanted a red one, and I asked, "Copper?" "No," he replied, "he's pretty red."  After a bit of research and study, this is what we created as our first mini pinscher:

Red Mini Pinscher Custom Pendant

They have long legs for their size, and the eyes are not recessed or blended in with the skull like some other breeds.  His little ears must stand up and his tail is docked, though personally I would be a softie if given the choice for my poochie and let him keep his natural traits, though I don't think you often have a choice, especially if you rescue one.

It's really amazing how many breeds of dogs there are, and this led us on a journey to discover a bit about pinschers, mini ones, dobermans (named after a tax collected that began the breed!), great danes (though sometimes these get mistaken for ponies), and shepherds, of course.  It did make me inspired to adopt a dog, but the cats put that thought back out of my mind, as this is their home and that would be an intrusion of their freedom.  Dogs are hard to resist though, as such sweet animals you just want to adopt them all...  Well, at least I can donate more pieces to the animal fundraisers, with mine successfully sold at the silent auction last month.  Now that I know I can make dogs, I guess these would be the best pieces to donate to the shelters, right?

Happy Sunday all, I hope it's very restful :)

As Promised -- Black Octopus and Mermaid Pendants!

First, our newest black octopus:

He's full of tentacled-fury, with blue and black eyes.  Adorable, yet not overly-cutesy like some of our sweeter-looking tentacled friends.  Feast your eyes upon him now; our last black octopus was snatched up in a flash!

Now on to our custom request mermaid pendant -- This is the one that was chosen by the customer, and she gave it as a gift 3 days ago for a birthday.  I'm sure the recipient enjoyed it, so now here's your chance to sneak a peek at one of our newest custom requests:

I know, the picture isn't the best, but it was taken outdoors at the show before I handed her over :)  Some pieces you just have to get a shot of before parting with them forever...

More to come soon, as I'll try to post some awesome glass on here to keep it interesting.  Have a great weekend!

New Mermaid and Octopus Coming!

I made two and gave the customer her choice ~ I'll be back on later today with a photo of the second-best mermaid I've made :).

Yes it occurs to me that in a Glass Art (and other nature-related stuff) Blog, it is appropriate to occasionally put glass in here.  I'm sorry, it's just hard for me to put it out here without feeling like I'm advertising to you.  This blog should be interesting first and foremost, and I don't want to just force feed a bunch of shameless glass promos at you.  In this wish, I have sort-of avoided putting glass on here for the better part of a year, so I guess it's high-time to pony up the glass goods, eh?  Later today.  Patience...  Once it's too hot in the studio I'll come in and do my photo'ing and posting and whatnot.   Always the whatnot.  Cheers!