Well, after staring for many hours I think this is the design for the website I am going to go with.  I can’t stare any more….LOL!   If it does not work then it is can always be changed.       I really need to get working on some new mosaics.   ACK!   I keep buying new supplies and they are sitting on the table screaming at me to get busy!     Off to get to work – note to self – STAY OFF FACEBOOK!  

I have been playing around with Zentangles  (Zentangle.com) lately and I am totally hooked.  LOL!  works with my mosaic mind I guess.  Love figuring out patterns and just sitting down sketching and drawing.

FINALLY!  finished this piece and have it hanging outside.  THANK YOU Jimmy Powers for the windows!!! Woohoo! I have another one waiting to go!  I don’t like how sunlight is blocked from passing through it by the fence so I am debating about making something to have it stick out more from the fence so light can filter through it.   I thought that may be a problem when I first hung it up but was just so happy I finished it that I wanted to see it in place.  LOL!    I have the glass picked for another one just gotta come up with a design.

I completed three different pieces with the fused glass wine carafes and grapes.   The original plan was to make them identical with mosaic backgrounds just with different colors.  I was soooo indecisive about what colors to use and then fused a background piece (used in 1st one pictured) and decided to go a different route and create 1 stained glass mosaic background, 1 mixed media background and the fused glass background for the other one.   I had issues with gluing the clear wine carafes down and not having the glue show.  I did use MAC glue (macglue.com which normally works good however this was such a large piece of glass that it seemed to have issues with bubbles.  I was not happy with how it turned out so poured nail polish remover on the board and was able to remove the fused glass piece intact with out any issues.  I did have to toss the work I all ready did on that board but the fused part did come right up after letting the polish remover sit for a bit.  Plan B – I tacked fused a white piece of glass to the back of the carafe and even this had bubbles so I need to rethink this part of the process for future pieces.     I did mosaic around the fused pieces and my next ones I think I will glue the pieces directly on top of the mosaic.  Partly so I don’t have to cut pieces to fit around them (which is time consuming) and also getting the grout out of the grapes was HORRIBLE!! LOL!   All in all it was a good study – I need to push this idea a bit more to develop a better process.

Finally!   After 2 back to back failures at the kiln finally a good day when I opened it up . LOL!  I am not sure where I am going with these but working on some wine themed pieces.    I guess I need to stare at them for a bit more before the rest of the idea takes shape.  Now back to making more grapes! 

Out of the kiln this AM….GRAPE CLUSTERS!  Woohooo!    Have not been too creative lately.  <BIG SIGH>  So forcing myself to work on some new projects and learning to work with the kiln and fusing glass more then I have in the past.   I am attempting to make some smaller pieces with a wine theme.   The *new* part will be casting and making my own molds.  That is still in the works.  I have to run out to get a few more supplies later today.

Here is the start of casting a mold….a small wine glass.  (pics are horrible…please tell the sun to come out so I can take better pics       )

I still need to build a box around the glass and then mix up the mold mix and let that set.

Per SOFA Chicago’s FB Page

Rumor is that Andrea Salvador’s stone and glass mosaic rendering of a Chicago street scene is possibly headed to the White House! As per The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet (see link below). Salvador was represented at SOFA by Berengo Fine Arts, Italy and also spoke in the lecture series

It was a really good year at SOFA Chicago this year and let’s hope that is a sign of things to come.  Not sure in the art world but for the entire economy. 

Also Check out Glass Quarterly’s blog updates on the sales at SOFA Chicago 2009.

Conversation with Habatat Gallery

and other updates on sales here and here

Tim Tate "Summer of Love"

Michael Janis - Bullseye Rollup

Wow!  I wish I was there!!

Opening this weekend is SOFA Chicago!!  Ohh….To be there now….
- Celebrating its 16th year, SOFA CHICAGO 2009, the critically acclaimed Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair, returns to Navy Pier’s Festival Hall (600 E. Grand Avenue) Nov. 6 – 8 to present masterworks from 68 top international galleries and dealers from 10 countries.

Tim Tate and Michael Janis of Washington Glass Studio will have worked with Maurine Littleton Gallery – Space 720.

VIRGINIA BEACH

When thieves stole Michael Combs’ artwork from a local Shell station, he took it as a challenge to make art more visible, rather than less.

As a result, a new mosaic adorns the service station at 2900 Shore Drive, and Combs is considering plans to bring similar art work to area businesses with temporary installations. The station’s original artwork was a large shell, made with concrete and glass pieces. It was created at the urging of Carole Anderton, who manages the service station with her husband Ross Anderton.

“I’d seen the lizard mosaic someone else did further down Shore Drive and thought it would be awesome to have something like it here,” she said. “We’ve known Mike for years, so I asked him to make a mosaic to brighten up the front.” Combs, who runs a detailing business out of the service station, agreed. The mosaic was installed in 2005 and sat in front of the service station for almost four years before it disappeared in February.

Following the sea shell theft, Combs decided to rebuild, this time permanently installing the piece. He chose to create it on site, in order to educate passersby about the complexity of mosaic art. The blue and green sea shell required an estimated 200 hours of work.

Gotta love this guy!! LOL!  You can read the entire article here

This is a horrible case and I can’t believe it is being allowed to continue.  I am curious how the law works on getting an artist to have their copyright overturned.   This is something I am going to have to investigate.   John T. Unger is also a mosaic artist but the copyright he is currently fighting over is with his Artisanal Firebowls.  Read about it here and pass it on to all your artists friends.

From his blog:

I need your help. My original art has been copied by a manufacturer who is now suing me in federal court to overturn my existing copyrights and continue making knockoffs. I have a strong case, a great lawyer and believe that if I can continue to defend myself, the case will be resolved in my favor. If I run out of funds before we reach trial, a default judgment would be issued against me and could put me out of business. I don’t believe my opponent can win this case in court and I don’t believe he really intends to try. I believe his goal is to use strong-arm litigation tactics to force me to keep spending money or risk losing my copyrights — not by true adjudication, but by default if he is able to outspend me.