"Mom to the Rescue" has been deemed prizeworthy!

This past weekend I attended the International Flameworking Conference in Salem, New Jersey and entered MOM in an exhibition held at the conference. And...I won a prize! All very exciting since she is clearly made of media in addition to glass. The flameworking world community is pushing the limits and off we go...

All is Glass

So here is the latest baby.
In case you have NO idea what you are looking at, I'll explain:
Take an antique toaster and spread its wings,
attach it to a roller skate with glass wheels,
and add a glass bandaid for a propeller;
place the queen (with a glass eye on the back of her head) on top of a vintage hand drill
so she can rotate 360 degrees in space and see all,
and fill her wings with all kinds of tools fabricated from glass:
a needle and thread, drinking straw, pencil, thermometer, umbrella, toothbrush, an extra hand, paintbrush, fork, toothbrush and some extra eyes just in case.

In fact, add a fused glass eye on top and a beautiful necklace cause it's a girl...

Now she is prepared for anything...she is: Mom to The Rescue!

My creations are travelling...

I am very excited to announce that 3 of my glass/found object sculptures have been accepted into a highly acclaimed gallery in Pittsburgh, PA called the Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery. I am privileged to be exhibiting with many of my favorite celebrated artists such as Mark Abildgaard, Tina Betz, Carmen Lozar, Beth Lipman, Christopher Reis and Kari Russell-Pool. What a kick! Why don't you go to the gallery website and discover a whole new world. If you have a chance to get to this outstanding gallery, please tell Amy Morgan that I sent you. You won't be disappointed with the quality and variety of work there. I was so captivated by work at the gallery that it was difficult to leave.

The 3 pieces she represents are in this photo, but if you want to see them in much more detail, go to my website and click on glass and mixed media. Of course I'd love for you to browse and take a peek at my work, but these three works are entitled from left to right in the photo:

Incubator (there is a secret world inside this house of protection which is without windows and doors), Day Churns Into Night (made from an antique butter churner which can be turned one way or the other), and Time For Change (inspired by our brand new President and his ideas about all of us participating in healing the world).

Can you tell I am pleased with this new development?

Green is a happenin' color

One of my sculptures has been chosen for another exhibit entitled

"The Green Exhibit" at Philadelphia's City Hall.

The theme of this show which is for professional artists working in and around Philadelphia and it features artwork which is based on the environment.

The show runs from October 13- January 23, 2009 (as in "NINE"!)

The opening is Thursday, October 23, from 5-7.

In case you aren't able to get there, here is the piece I am showing:

"Growth Where You Least Expect It"

11.5”h x 18”w x 4”d
Flameworked glass tubing, aluminum “t”, silicon,
grass (fescue) seed

...and my artist's statement:

Wikipedia lists 16 pages of extinct plants. As we continue to poison our environment and contribute to global warming, everyday symbols of nature may become a distant collective memory. This work pays homage to the common fescue seed that is the beginning of the life cycle of a blade of grass. Entitled “Growth Where you Least Expect It” serves as a tribute to the stamina of nature under dire circumstances. Let’s hope that is does not become symbolic of the grass we used to know.

Yikes!!! I've been tagged!!!!!!!!

Well, I've been tagged by Shibori Girl, so I'd better step up to the plate. Let's see if I can meet up to the standards! I need to follow these rules:
1) Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird
3) Tag 7 more people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4) Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs

1. I have always been involved in making art

...since a teeny tot. I must have been OK as a child, because one of my vivid traumatic memories pertained to a teacher who used my work as an example for other classes and then never returned my work to me! I am still scarred...

Here are 2 of the only remaining early works. These are from High School (and I won't tell you just how many decades ago that was, but here's a hint: if you are old enough to know what PSFS was, you are no spring chicken! HINT: Philadelphia Savings Fund Society).

This next piece is a self-portrait from High School. It is also dated, as the process is "linoleum block print". Anyone out there remember what linoleum was? The interesting thing about this piece is that my current hair length matches the one in the print for the first time in many decades (thought you had me!).

2. For about 6 years I have been in a cover rock band called "The Hip Replacements"

I have always sung with friends for a hoot, but when my good buddy told me she was in a band, the brain cells were jogged. We now have a band of 8: 4 married couples!! We get together to jam as much as possible, sometimes every week. I play harmonica and sing. This beats (yes, a pun) poker in my book.

That's me with shore hair in the middle

3. I am a grandmother!

Suka is a stray adopted by my daughter this year. We think he is around 2 and part German Shephard, part Besenji...that's Egyptian for "dog". What a good boy!!!!

4. I LOVE junk: particularly metal.

This is my workstation. No one would dare to call me neat when I work! Believe me, I know where everything is...

5. I love gnocchi.

I love to make them and I love to eat them. YUM!

6. I love Italy.

I just got back from a course in Italy with Michael DeMeng http://www.michaeldemeng.com/ along with Arcangelo Productions http://www.arcangeloproductions.com/. Here is a picture of Michael doing a demo. Check out the countryside behind him. That's the view from the window of our studio: Bella Tuscany. Ahhhhh... Not too shabby.

7. I am obsessed with making things using glass and mixed media.

This is the lastest work I completed. I began with a volume of an Italian encyclopedia, deconstructed it and created "MaMA" using all kinds of parts from household appliances. This piece was inspired by a cast-off doll I retrieved from the side of the road. "Mama" is the first word that children from all countries, backgrounds and eras can pronounce (ok, maybe "Dada" is the first...) and its universality struck me.

Here are the bloggers that I am tagging:

http://karencole.blogspot.com/

http://www.arcangeloproductions.com/

http://www.brackettfalion.blogspot.com/

http://janerosemont.com/

http://www.ipaintpictures.com/
http://www.snipsandsnailsandpuppydogtails-leslie.blogspot.com/
http://www.milliande.com/

Fashion-eee-stas BEWARE!

I am a woman with no shame when on a mission. I needed to don my turquoise-to-match-the-sea socks because I was in the British Virgin Islands with my dear buddies Karen and Bob, and I was going SCUBA diving with as few blisters as possible marking up my dainty (not!) tootsies. So I invented the biking/scuba sock and am presenting it to you today as featured in my original mixed media rendering drawn on our chartered 43 foot Beneteau (the four of us did all the navigating and grunt work...ok, Bob and Rich did the navigating...). I shall be taking orders...

My biking blogger (my blogging biker?)

My son works in a windowless computer lab. It's dark and the walls glow with the monitors' eerie light. This cannot be good for one's soul and I being a mother of some creative abilities decided to end this depressing maddness. What would a good momma do? Pick the trash! There was a stunning window being tossed to the landfill gods. I tossed it into my car and transformed it in my studio.

I wasn't sure what I was going to paint (and to be honest, it took me several years to get it all together) but a lovely outdoor scene in oils on the glass evolved complete with mountains, big sky, lake and hillsides. I even added a biker, standing poised as he was about to begin his adventure and ride as far away from computerland as the imagination would allow. The fact that my son is a biker (that's one of his 3 triathelete skills...sure doesn't take after his momma!) must have influenced my choice of image. As I began to paint the biker, I noticed that he looked suspiciously like my son...

The coup de grace was a window shade which I added to complete the illusion. The best part of this is that HE posted a photo of the painting on HIS blog. http://blog.mr-pc.org/2008/02/05/new-window-in-labrosa. We now have familial multi-generational blogging.