Friday, December 16, 2011

guessing game



Some of you may remember that I have, over the months, been working on several cast glass boxes, one of which I have referred to as the Memory Box. This piece has been in my head for years and this particular effort is the second one. The first try had some problems in the way it cast but, more importantly, the colors, the design just didn't work for me and I never finished it. So now I finally have the container, the box which I like very much, and I have been struggling with the images that were to go inside.

I took a workshop a couple of months ago at Hot Glass Houston with Carrie Iverson who teaches a lithography method for printing on glass using ink and glass powders and I left with the means to try it on my own but never did actually dive in.

I did, however, spend a quite a few hours on some images and got them printed with the proper ink, and cut and pre-fired the glass blanks for the images.

You may also remember that I took a one day refresher with Carrie at HGH two weeks ago expecting to print out all my pre-fired pieces and then some and then had the most frustrating day while all my expectations were trashed. I did finally, by the time I had to leave (early), get the 10 pre-fired pieces printed and dusted with powder and ready to be fired.

Well, one of the things I did whilst in the city this week was to go pick up those pictures. I'm delightfully surprised. They came out much better than I thought they would, though some of the images might be a little hard to discern if you don't already know what they are.

So I have prepared a little quiz for you all. Below I have posted all ten images and sized them, hopefully, so that they appear on your screen close to their actual size which is 3 1/2” x 3 1/8”.

Here you can see how small and thin they are.


They actually have some texture and a little sparkle that does not show up in the pictures here (and they aren't actually quite as dark as in the images here) except for this one that I took with the flash.


So here are the images, numbered 1 – 10. Let me know if you know what they are but please don't look at anyone else's answers first. I want uninfluenced first impressions.


# 1 

# 2

# 3

# 4

# 5

# 6

# 7

# 8

# 9

# 10


And one last pic of the box displaying one of the memories.





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19 comments:

  1. Linda SueDecember 16, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    What a cool box!
    1- river rock
    2-a kiss
    3-asparagus
    4-a teddy bear
    5-eggs
    6-caterpillar curled up in a blossom
    7-leaf
    8-moth
    9- dead teddy bear
    10- baby sneaker

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jennifer TetlowDecember 16, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Love these memories - so smokey and dreamy and open to interpretation. Beautiful Ellen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TexWisGirlDecember 16, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    some are a bit tough to guess whereas others are clear cut. i really love that memory box, though!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JoanneDecember 16, 2011 at 3:02 PM

    Okay, I'm not looking at the other answer in my peripheral vision ...

    1. Hm, some type of stones in water?
    2. Don't know, I'm at a loss :/
    3. Rowboats in water.
    4. Haven't a clue. Some animal?
    5. 5 Eggs in a nest :)
    6. Pretty flowers :)
    7. A leaf?
    8. A moth.
    9. Some scenic view.
    10. A baby shoe.

    Did I win?

    ReplyDelete
  5. OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirtsDecember 16, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    super box
    rocks
    sweater
    boats
    ????
    nest with eggs
    flowers
    leaf
    moth
    dog
    shoe
    I of course am totally guessing on some, others are very clear.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The BugDecember 16, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    This was hard for me :(

    #1: Sheep? Cotton? Stones in the river?;
    #2: No idea;
    #3: canoes;
    #4: no idea;
    #5: tree;
    #6: flower;
    #7: leaf;
    #8: butterfly;
    #9: mountain?;
    #10: shoe!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rubye JackDecember 16, 2011 at 6:15 PM

    1 - animals at pasture
    2 - face of cow
    3 - stems
    4 - cow looking up
    5 - eggs in a nest
    6 - flowers
    7 - leaf
    8 - moth
    9 - ocean breaking below cliffs
    10 - tennis shoe

    That was fun!

    The box is great of course! The entire concept is great.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousDecember 16, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    1. stepping stones in water
    2. hops or somekind of grass seed heads
    3. canoes or kayaks
    4. frog head atop fluff
    5 nest with eggs
    6. flowers
    7. patchy leaf
    8. moth
    9. plateau and river
    10.child's shoe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. HilaryDecember 16, 2011 at 7:33 PM

    Oh fun.. I'm writing down my thoughts while reading in Google Images.. so I won't be influenced by others.

    1. Snow patches or rocks
    2. No idea
    3. Row boats on the water
    4. A very tall frog
    5. Eggs in a nest
    6. Five petal flower(s)
    7. Decaying leaf
    8. Butterfly or moth
    9. A black lab
    10. A child's running shoe

    And I recognize that face on the memory box. :)

    Now to read the others...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Out on the prairieDecember 16, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    1.brook
    2.asparagus
    3.Tapei
    4.Ski slope
    5.Birds nest with eggs
    6.Passion flower
    7.leaf
    8.moth
    9.seascape
    10.baby shoe

    ReplyDelete
  11. VM Sehy PhotographyDecember 17, 2011 at 12:58 AM

    #1 Snow on sidewalk
    #2 Masks
    #3 Icy river
    #4 Clouds
    #5 Eggs in a nest
    #6 Flowers
    #7 Leaf
    #8 Butterfly
    #9 Cliffs near a valley
    #10 Baby Shoe

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousDecember 17, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    OK I just wrote down the first thought (without looking at the other comments)

    A tray of iced muffins
    Sunflower head
    Hair folicle
    Lilies
    Eggs in a nest
    Flower
    Lilypad
    Butterfly
    Mountain and valley
    Baby shoe

    Some I know must be right ...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Joanne NoragonDecember 17, 2011 at 8:35 AM

    1 Rocks
    2 Dogs
    3 Sticks
    4 Whatever I want
    5 Eggs
    6 Flowers
    7 Same as 4
    8 Moth
    9 Same as 4 and 7
    10 Child's sneaker

    Great box and so are the memories.

    ReplyDelete
  14. SueannDecember 17, 2011 at 8:49 AM

    I love love love the box!!
    And the images are beautiful. Definitely ethereal.
    5 is a nest with eggs
    10 is baby sneaker
    8 is moth or butterfly

    That is the ones I could make out. Ha!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    ReplyDelete
  15. NancyDecember 17, 2011 at 9:13 AM

    1. baby shoe
    2. boats
    3. unknown
    4. cow
    5. eggs
    6. flower
    7. leaf
    8. butterfly
    9. cove
    10. shoe

    How did I do?? Love the box.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Butternut SquashDecember 17, 2011 at 6:45 PM

    Man are these cool!
    1-Stepping stones
    2-Crowd of people from above
    3-canoe on a river
    4-clouds in the sky
    5-robin eggs
    6-flowers
    7-leaf
    8-moth
    9-coast line
    10-child's shoe

    ReplyDelete
  17. stevenDecember 18, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    ellen i love their smokey vagueness and don't want to pin the less obvious ones to an object. wow!!! really wow!!! steven

    ReplyDelete
  18. Reya MellickerDecember 18, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    These are so cool!

    They're perfect as memories, a little fuzzy but definitely present. You're an incredible artist Ellen.

    ReplyDelete
  19. shoreacresDecember 18, 2011 at 9:08 AM

    It's a Rorschach test! I do love the concept of the box and the way the images are displayed. Here's my list:

    1. stepping stones
    2. chickens
    3. ocean tide
    4. ?????
    5. bird's nest with eggs
    6. flowers
    7. leaf
    8. butterfly
    9. ocean cliffs
    10. shoe

    ReplyDelete

I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.

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