Have You Ever Blown Glass?

A Gift To Each Other

After watching a segment on WDRB, a Louisville TV station about Flame Run Glass Works in Louisville,

Jim and I decided we would like to go and do that as a gift to each other.

 

 

Brook was our "main man" at Flame Run.

He did ALL the heavy lifting,

we just did the heavy breathing.

Brook is retrieving the hot glass out of the 2000 degree furnace.

 

 You can see it on the end of the pole.

It is crazy hot but one of the most interesting things I've ever seen.

 

Brook is rolling the hot glass in little pieces of glass to give it the color we selected. 

He'll roll it on that stainless table in front of the trays of glass to shape it and cool it.

 

Next he put it in a "much" cooler furnace.

It's only about 1200 degrees.

This melts the little glass pieces onto the glass on the pole.

 

Told you it was HOT!

Brook rolls and shapes the hot glass with the ease of a master.

He adds every color we selected separately,

re-heats it in between each addition and continues rolling and shaping.

Here Brook takes a cherry wood cup that has been soaked in water for a decade or two, and put it around the hot glass while he rolls it to really give it a nearly flawless round shape.

(Told you Brook has skills)

 

And then after all that super perfect work,

Brook gets real brave and turns it over to me.

Are you Kidding ME!

 

 

Brook is still rolling and shaping and I'm blowing.

He guided me every step of the way. 

"Blow softly, blow harder, harder, more, more, STOP"

 

Brook is scoring my ornament so it can come off the pole easily.

 

 

Brook took the hot round Kentucky Blue and White ornament

off the pole and took it to another station where he put the loop on.

Wow!

 

Here Brook is, with a much better view,

putting the hook on Jim's red, green and white ornament.

 

In a matter of minutes, each of us had our very own ornament.

 

It was impressive.

 

 Now aren't this just beautiful!

We are SOOO proud!

 

If you'd like to give this a try,

and I hope you do,

click HERE to go to the Flame Run website. 

 

They also have a great gallery of all sorts of blown glass items.

It is beautiful and incredible to think of how it was all made.

 

Hey guys,

I didn't give away my November painting yet and now it's time to give away my December painting.

You really should hop on this right now and get signed up,

because I give away a small painting every single month.

Here's how to sign up.

Scroll up to the top and on the right hand side is a box that says,

Subscribe to my blog

(I know, I'm so original).

Put your email in there.

Then you'll receive an email from me asking you to confirm that you really did sign up.  Click on the link in that confirmation email and you'll be all set. 

 

You also should move my email into your primary box,

because I will notify you by email if you're a winner,

and you don't wanna miss it.

 

Want to learn how to paint using acrylic paint in 2017.

Click HERE to go to my website to see the beginning classes I offer.  More will be coming in 2017.

 

Happy 2017

 

 

Don't let those moments slip by.

 Enjoying the Moment.

What is "Living In The Moment"

or

"Be Present in the Moment"

Recently I've been listening to "visualizations"

and one of the things almost always said in them is

 "Be Present In The Moment".

I'm not sure what that means, but

I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

 Ya gotta admit,

This must have been a "Moment"

This is a young friend of mine, Larissa,

and she was serving at a recent Rotary Pancake Breakfast.

I had my halo headband on, and she had her antler headband on,

so of course we needed a pic of the moment.

The pancake breakfast is held twice a year in Carrollton,

and it is a fund raiser for scholarships given away in May.

Larissa is a young mother with 3 children and a full time job,

but here she was on a Saturday morning, serving the community as she helped raise funds for someone elses children.

She was smiling and laughing with all those she waited on.

She was in the moment.

How can you or I be in the moment?

To me, being in the moment means being aware of what is currently going on.

Not being in one place but thinking about another.

Have you ever read something and realized you had no idea what you read?  

I have done that a lot.

I always realize my eyes were actually reading the  words,

but my brain was thinking about something else.

I was not in the moment.

At that point I have to go back and force my brain to think about what I'm reading and concentrate on it and only it.

Then I am in the moment.

Learning to be in the moment takes practice I think.

Be aware of my surroundings.

What do I hear?

What do I see?

What do I feel?

Sometimes we aren't in the moment when we are having a conversation.  Someone says something to us and instead of thinking about what the person is saying, we start thinking about what we are going to say in return.

We are not in the moment. 

Sometimes we aren't even aware we aren't in the moment.

How much of life do we allow to go by

not being in the moment?

I want to be more in the moment so I can enjoy and sometimes savor the moment, which you can't do if your brain is somewhere else.

Be in the moment and get signed up to win my monthly painting.  Then be in the moment and email me back within 24 hours if I notify you that you won.

Look for an email that says "No Joke.  YOU Won" in the subject line. 

 

WOW! A Gift That Is Enjoyed For YEARS!

Art Is THAT Gift!

Scouting

6" x 6" acrylic on a panel.

$50 FREE Shipping

One thing about owning original art is

The viewer looks at it differently than a print.

Original art is created with human hands and they can be seen in the art in brush strokes, in color selection and in style. The artist can be felt through the piece and the owner appreciates that a real person created it for years to come.

You might forget what you received last year,

but when you give the gift of original art,

THAT gift is cherished, enjoyed and remembered forever. 

Having said that,

let me show a few pieces of my original art in various price ranges.  I'll also give you some links to other places to buy my art.

Acrylic on Oval Stretched Canvas
$95 + $10 shipping. 

This is one of my all time favorite paintings for several reasons.

It was a struggle.  It is of my favorite antique vase and flowers picked from my yard, but I just couldn't seem to get it right.

One day I was having a magical painting day in the studio.  After I finished several other paintings, I thought maybe I could do something to this one to achieve the look I going for.  In less than five minutes I made the changes it needed.  I love it.

 Party of One

Painting 14" x 11" 

In its distressed frame it is 18" x 14" 

$150 + $20 shipping

Iris Garden
12" x 12" acrylic on a panel
$100 FREE Shipping 

Lavan Roses

20" x 16" Acrylic on a panel

$100 + shipping

Click HERE to see this in my Etsy shop.  

As a former florist, ( are we ever really former florists)

I loved working withing Lavan roses.  

 They had an intoxicating smell.

I say had because they don't have much of a smell any more.

But I still love them.

Click HERE to visit my Etsy shop where I have more original paintings, hand painted jewelry and home decor. 

Click HERE to see other available art.  

Click HERE to see small paintings under 8" x 8".

Click HERE to buy prints, pillows or phone cases of my art.

If the person you're shopping for wants to learn how to paint, I'm your girl for that too.  Click HERE to see my online art courses. 
There's a FREE class there also.

Don't forget, I give away a small painting every single month.

Enter to win by clicking the photo below.  Enter an email you check often, because I will notify you by email if you win, and you will have 24 hours to contact me.  After you enter you will receive an email asking you to confirm you did sign up.  If you don't confirm that email you won't really be entered.