A Bounty of Work!!! Eye Candy !!!!!!!

ART TREASURE!

A Treasure Trove of Fused Dichroic Glass Necklaces from the studio/Eye Candy!

Photographed on bark outside studio, bark is not reflective and adds an interesting backdrop

Photographed on concrete out side studio

WARM GLASS
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Mixed of turquoise bubble, blue fire and melaflori

I love the stripes with the amorphous shapes

This was done in two stages and two firings

        DICHROIC GLASS

I love experimenting with shape

                                                                                                               FUSED GLASS

I am not happy with the concrete background surface, must experiment more

almost reminds one of a pea pod or a vegetation

Another wonderful week at the studio and a bounty of wonderful treasures mounting for the effort! 
 I have fallen in love with dichroic glass and glass fusion.  It is just so beautiful and unpredictable, but I have no want to control it-only to see where it will go and what it will do on its own.  It has its own personality like Raku, and a need to be its own master.  But that is what I love, is the unpredictability and the surprise.  I will never be the craftsmen first, I will always be the artist first...wanting to see what if.  If I do this what happens, if I overlap this what will the glass do, if I allow gaps how will the glass fill them and how will the heat effect the colors at a lower or higher temperature.  Look at what these past few weeks have produced! 

Welcome Switzerland and South Korea!!

Paul Klee

Korean Landscape artist

Hello Switzerland!  Hello South Korea is so nice to have you visit.  We are looking forward to finding our more about Swiss and Korean arts and artists!!

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Scraffito/a new experience

Tools that can be used with sgraffito

SGRAFFITO
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Tools used for sgraffito

The word literally means to scratch through.  An ancient technique used by many civilizations in pottery. Today in pottery class we had a demonstration of sgraffito with each of us doing our own practice piece afterwards.  Pottery is not my medium nor glass, I am a mixed media artist.  But I wanted to expand into new areas this past year and approach each area with fresh eyes, as if there were no rules.  Sgraffito was a good fit for me.  I love drawing and etching was my major area in college, so it seemed natural.  We first painted our greenware with an underglaze.  We used three layers of underglaze.  Often the same color is used in all three layers or perhaps two...so I decided to do a "what if" and try three.  The first layer I used a light green underglaze, the second I used a blue and the last was black.  I ended up putting two coats of black at the end because the blue was showing through more that I wanted.  As you can see in the examples below the plate is well coated in black and it is at the stage of greenware that is leather hard.  The tools picture here were borrowed from my teacher and fellow art student, some are typical and others are inventive, as the dental tool second from the right.  

Greenware plate painted with four layers of underglaze

underglazes of green, blue, and black

Plate that has been etched and carved, black glaze with bits of blue showing 

 I wasn't sure what tools to use or how.  It was all experimentation on my part, but it seemed similar to linoleum or wood block carving.  I first etched in the insect, the started to add lines inside various areas, and lastly carved away the outside area.  I then begin to see a bit of blue peaking through as I used a curved sharp carving tool.  The lighter I carved the more blue came through.  The whole process takes many hours, as you must dry the piece in between each layer of glazing and then the drawing and then the carving.  But it was very a very satisfying process for me, which surprised me as I often am not patient.  But it allowed me to use my drawing and carving skills where I can use clay like a canvas for drawing.  I understand there are many more possibilities to learn..like going back and adding color into etched lines.  I look forward to the experimentation and possibilities.  Part of my interest in nature and insects goes back to childhood and a Mother who was a science teacher.  Now I think as my Mother is approaching 99 and is in a nursing home with the effects of a stroke and dementia I find myself doing work that is a homage to her, something that honors her influence in my life.  So the next series of works I plan to continue with the natural themes, of plants and insects and science. Next week I will photo the piece again for you after it is fired and clear glazed.  It will be interesting to see how the firing effect the underneath colors.

Give sgraffito a try if your haven't done it before and if you have send all the tips you want, we will publish them for others!

 

Science and Art
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The top winners for the melding of microscopic images and digital film allowing for moving images under the microscope.  It is the combination of art and science.  Oh how Leonardo Da Vinci would have loved this being the renaissance man he was! Take a peak and be amazed.

WOW, A NEW BENCH MARK FOR RABBIT'S MOON STUDIO

TODAY WE REACHED 8,000 HITS!!!  THIS IS AN NEW BENCHMARK FOR US.  THANK YOU ALL FOR YOU CONTINUED SUPPORT AND READERSHIP!!

St. Petersburg, Florida/An up and coming city of the Arts

Downtown St. Pete Condo's over looking bay

Dali Museum

Elizabeth Gordon/Liquid Desires Dali Auctions

ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 25 ARTS MID SIZED CITIES IN THE USA

Partying at a Dali museum event

St. Petersburg/The only other Chihuly Museum outside of Washington State

Dale Chihuly Museum 

View of bay and marina from Dali Museum

Palladium Theater





 Museum of Fine Arts/St. Petersburg

Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg

DUNCAN 

MC CLELLEN GLASS STUIDO

FLORIDA CRAFTSMEN GUILD

Duncan McClellen's glass work

museum gift shop

Interior of St. Pete Fine Arts Museum

Shapiro Art Gallery

 Salvador Dali Museum

outdoor sculpture program

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

Interior of the Salvador Dali Museum/St. Petersburg

Mahaffey Theater


Florida Orchestra
Morean Art Center






There are only two Dali Museums in the world, and one is right here in St. Petersburg!

throwing demo supported by Highwater Clay and Morean Art Center

Old St. Pete Train Station, now home of Clay Company

 Clay Company and Highwater Clay

hand built clay arch 

EMERGING WAREHOUSE ARTS STUDIO DISTRICT

out door wood and gas kilns

Duncan Mc Clellen Glass Studio

Beach Drive, St. Petersburg across from fine arts museum and park

A great photo does not have to be photographic excellence!

I just love this photo.  Here I am not being a photographer, but a journalist or a story teller.  It is important not to be inhibited by cameras and photography.  If it is your intent to become an excellent photographer then by all means do.  I have friends who are wonderful photographers and study the craft intensively, but for me the  camera has many uses and one of which is a journal or a diary.  Photo's like this tell a story and make you want to know more.  They are not planned, but caught at the moment and your mind thinks," oh this is so great, let me get this quickly".  You reach for your camera and try to get a shot before the moment disappears. I think the point is that so often in the arts we can look at what others do that are so accomplished and be intimidated before we even start.  It is so important to think of things as tools for your use and creation and not follow others rules.  Learn how you learn...use everything at your resource for your purposes.  Approach things with fresh eyes.  

WAKE UP AMERICA/Photograph by Elizabeth Gordon

The story here is this.  We are in St. Petersburg, Florida, the home of many retirees form the Northern states.  People come from all over to retire here, the weather is warmer, the taxes lower, and living cost reasonable.  So it is common to see seniors in many places in this area. They also bring their beliefs and politics.  I love the pure determination of this couple, going to an a rally against corporate corruption.  The husband's motorized wheel chair decked out with signs and the wife's chair strapped to her back as they hike to the rally. It says so much and yet leaves a lot for us to wonder about....what is his story?  Was he a corporate man let go early, was he denied his pension by early layoffs, were they foreclosed on....did they hike from far away, are they from the wealthy condo's near by or senior homes not far from the area? So to

me,   this is a great photo that makes me want to know more and the mere fact that I was able to get to the bottom of my purse and find my camera, turn it on and focus before the monument had disappeared! 

 Be as persistent as this couple in your art, never be intimidated by the rules, make up your own!