Sunday, February 3, 2019

feathers, flowers, leaves, and pie


I think I've decided how I got so much poison ivy on my face. The day I was over at the shop pulling out the dead cosmos, Minnie was doing her dog thing poking around among the heavy growth along the back fence of the shop property where poison ivy grows vigorously. She's a very sweet and affectionate little dog and will put her paws on my shoulders and rub her face against mine and my neck. I'm thinking she had a face full of urushiol (the oil in the sap that causes the allergic reaction) and she generously shared it with me (even though she pokes in there a lot and has never in the past transferred any to me). While I'm still getting small outbreaks on my hands, the places on my face are beginning to dry up and heal. And I discovered the the NP cardiologist that I wanted to go to is not in my network boo hiss and so I am giving the guy they referred me to a try. Still have to make the appointment.

We're going over to a neighbor's house for a get together and dinner tonight with our little social group on the street and I'm making a key lime pie to take as soon as Marc gets through juicing the limes for me. He volunteered to do that part because he knows the arthritis in my thumb joints would be screaming at me if I did it.

So the last bunch is out of the kiln. The third heron feather came out great and I'm really happy with it and will use it with the heron box. 


The hibiscus flower and leaf fired well also and that red is in-your-face red (in hindsight I should have used a 50/50 blend of red and white) though it shrank more than I expected. 


The three experiments with the transparent glass got weird. Well, two of them did. The star which was all transparent powder fired just like opaque glass (see above) which means that I can expand my color palette without having to buy more colors in the opaque powder. The two with transparent glass that had fine frit, the leaf all fine frit and the flower shape half fine frit and half powder got weird. The all frit leaf is heavily textured not having melted completely together at the low temperature and the color changed to more of a teal than the green it is supposed to be and the yellow flower shape turned a ghastly sort of murky green for which I have no explanation.


I still don't know where I'm going with this stuff. The next things I try will be a little more complex, more than one color, maybe pansies.

OK, pie is made...with blueberries!






15 comments:

  1. It's a relief to know that some of the poison ivy reaction is beginning to heal for you. In Northern California, we had poison oak to avoid. The last time I had a poison oak reaction was from hugging a black Lab who had been running in the poison oak that was everywhere! I was astounded to learn that there is no poison oak or poison ivy where I live now and that I could walk freely in the woods and meadows without worrying.

    Your new glass work is beautiful. Interesting to learn that the colors can change with firing.

    The pie looks delicious! Those look like fresh blueberries. Blueberries grow well here. Whatcom County has acres and acres of blueberry farms. Can you grow blueberries where you live?

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    1. yes, there are several blueberry farms a little NE of Houston, pick your own. I've gone a few times but they come ripe in June and if you don't get there very early it is just too hot to be out there. I have 3 small blueberry bushes that I put in 2 years ago. we got plenty but they weren't the big like they were supposed to be. maybe when the bushes get older.

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  2. Yep. I do believe you figured it out. You got a plant reaction transmitted by an animal. And now you know.
    Okay. I can't do glass work but I can make a pie. You have inspired me.
    And I bet that although your conscious self doesn't quite know where you're going with this new material, your unconscious mind is working it all out on its own. Stephen King calls that "the men in the basement" in his book, "On Writing" which is very good.

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    1. I figure I'll play with the stuff until I either run out of powder or the stuff to mix it with and then evaluate.

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  3. Not sure what I like more here, the feather or the pie!

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  4. I keep scrolling up and looking at the heron feather; it is pleasing. I haven't had poison ivy since I was about four, and was so sick from it I was in bed for what seemed an entire weekend. My dad showed up frequently to be sure I was there. "You have poison ivy," he said, over and over. I was taught to stay away from it. My granddaughter, Emily, had as severe an infestation. It required a trip to the hospital. And so, I will go look at the heron feather again, then get back to weaving.

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    1. I used to get it so bad when I was a kid, missing school, because I didn't want to wear long pants in the summer when I was playing in the woods that surrounded our little neighborhood. I did eventually learn. haven't had it this bad since I was a kid.

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  5. It's very weird how the colors of the glass changed. Could it have something to do with temperature? I don't really know anything about the chemistry involved here!

    Wow -- poison ivy by dog! That surely is a rare occurrence.

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    1. yeah, heat is a factor and there are some glasses that don't mature until they reach a certain high temp. didn't think this yellow was one of them though and the opal yellow in the stamen of the flower had no problem. two different yellows and one is opal and the other transparent. never had a problem with the one that turned green in my castings though but then we cast at high temp.

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  6. I was always covered in poison ivy at the farm. Some of it is a climber, some remains on the ground -- I finally could spot it a mile away. I got it from the dogs and even from being nearby while my husband mowed over leaves in the woods. Also got it from smoke while it was burning. My husband can pull it up with his hands and has no reaction. Donna@gather

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  7. Glad you resolved you rash issue and I hope the doc makes it all better. I love the glass objects but do not find they are very transparent. I was thinking of something else. Looking forward to getting the parts all together.

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  8. never gotten into poison ivy, lucky I guess, Glad you did not explode. PIE, blueberries, now I am dissatisfied with left over christmas cookies, I want PIE!

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  9. I love that hibiscus - red red red!! So weird about the yellow flower.

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  10. OMG, that pie. Blueberries on key lime? It's like gilding the lily! I dread even the mention of poison ivy, as I am very allergic and even a small area will take off like wildfire! This will make me more aware of the antics of my two love muffins. Of course, right now, everything is covered in ice and snow. I really love the feather - beautiful detail and color. And I also love that hibiscus flower - I think the red it perfect!

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  11. That pie looks amazing. So do your shapes. I look forward to whatever you do with them.

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