back to life

I spent last week making little models for the up-coming open house. I don't expect to sell anything. We haven't, really, for the last two years. People just aren't coming like they used to. Too many other choices of artist studio weekends now. And Dick and Kathy have been so busy with other important parts of their lives, glassblowing is a low priority for them right now. They aren't even going to turn the furnace on this year though we will have demos using the glory hole and the garage and recycling bottles. I think. Something like that. To tell the truth, I don't know why they are even doing this as they won't have even one single new thing, which is not to say they won't have many beautiful things because they will.

I'm planning six new little sculptures, three lizard pieces and three bee pieces. I tried to do one very simple, one with a little more detail and work, and one that was even more work. The lizard on the leaf took me a whole day to make whereas I did both the others in one day. The bee on the flower also one whole day and the other two of the bee pieces, both in one day.

I don't carve the lizards and bees each time. I have reproduction molds for those and I just pour melted wax in them. Same for the acorn and the bark background and the slabs so it's mostly just assembling the pieces though I do work on the bees and carve out under their wings and I usually have to rebuild the little toes of the lizard. The leaf and the flower though I carved out of 1/4” thick slabs of wax.

Marc is working on making the molds now. He cut some styrofoam for the reservoir to hold all the glass for the casting and then he glued them together. Now they are being glued down onto a piece of plate glass on which he will make the mold.

These will be the first things we have cast since this time last year when we were getting ready for this. We've been busy with other things as well...commission work, selling the city property and then moving, summer and the grandkid visits. I expect we will spend the winter casting the 7 new botanicas and, I hope, other things. Like the peach inlay for the peach box. 

I've had this mold for over a year. I'm a little afraid of it which is why I have let it languish. I'm afraid that my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach won't work out. I've been disappointed more than once and I've only got one shot at this.

I could should do some color samples if I'm so worried about it, right? But...nah!

What's the fun in that?