Just try it, already!

Bwaaahaha! That's what I told myself, "Just try it, already!", and look what happened!  I really can't believe that this worked out as well as it did.  

Because I save broken glass stuff  (I can hear you, Eric!), I had two broken wine glasses from the set that belonged to my parents, one glass with a broken base, and one with a broken top.  It occurred to me that maybe, just possibly, I could use the torch to combine the good parts to make a new glass.  I figured I really didn't have anything to lose.  

I couldn't believe that the glass didn't fracture while heating up or cooling down.  And I can't believe how well the junction turned out.  I hoped to do something besides a lump where I melted them together, but I didn't expect to be so happy with the connection.  This "crystal" glass seems to have a fairly low melting point, but not the sensitivity to thermal shock that the "soft glass" rods that I have for bead making have.  Score!

Before you start bringing me broken wine glasses to fix, keep in mind that I think this was beginner's luck!  A martini glass that I tried to re-attach to its base did not work.  So it goes back in the garden.

Uh, those weren't the only glasses to break.  This is one that I slumped in the kiln until it was flat.  I did this a while ago.

Latest Work in Recycled Plastic Bag "Yarn"

I made this bag for my mother-in-law out of New York Times delivery bags that she collected for me.  My plastic yarn bags are usually striped, being knit with "yarn" made from a variety of plastic bags.  But I found that these soft newspaper bags are definitely a nice type of plastic to stick with for an entire bag.  I loved this blue, and I was happy to discover that I was using NYT bags in two slightly different shades of blue.  The black print gives the finished product an almost heathered look, if you use your imagination.

Rain Wind Chime

The rain has obviously returned.  Maybe I brought it back by finally finishing this idea that was stuck in my head. I was thinking of slow-motion raindrops.  

glass, a chunk of corkscrew willow, copper wire and fishing line

approximately 12" x 5"

residing at Carol's house

Resolution

Ok, ok, I am brushing away the cobwebs on this ol' blog and I'm determined to post more frequently this year than last year, which  *ahem*  won't be too hard to do.  So I guess that's my New Year's resolution, if I'm pushed to state one.  

Two above-and-beyond-amazing events occurred in my studio in 2010.  First, I have incredible new workbenches/organized storage space. I guess I lost the "before" pictures of the studio that I had taken, but here are a couple shots taken today.  Some other time I'll post pictures of the lengths of bowling alley that Eric's co-worker turned into these incredible, bullet-proof counter tops...

The second monumental thing to happen in the studio was that I finally got a bench-mounted torch for working with glass.  I'm so excited to be able to work with glass in 3-D.  I took a Flameworking class at Pratt Art Center this fall that gave me the final nudge to get set up in my own studio.  Pictures from that class later.  

Meanwhile, here are more pictures of my little vessel creature.  It just makes me smile.  I can't wait to do more.

Happy New Year!