New Work - Fresh from the Kiln!

Moonrise (detail)

The development work I did for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts art piece got me intrigued with creating evocative sky effects with glass frit.  Frit is crushed or ground glass available in a variety of grit sizes, and created from the tested compatible glass I use in my work.  I’ve used frit for decades, but never explored its potential in this way before.

Here are some of the pieces I’ve made in the past few months.  I love being able to shade and blend my colours in a painterly way, and the “misty moon” effect is especially rewarding.  I enjoy the challenge of working in layers of frit; I sift it, spoon it, pat it and move it around with my fingers.  I bury colours that will only be revealed again when the piece is fired.  Memory, experience, skill and a sense of discovery are all engaged to create this work.  To see more photos, check out my gallery on one of my studio tour web pages, Artists of the Limberlost or Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour.

  I hope you’ll be able to see my work in person at one of these upcoming events:

 Artists of the Limberlost, August 16 & 17 (my studio near Huntsville Muskoka) 

Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, September 20 & 21 (guest artist studio N, north of Peterborough) 

Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour, September 27 & 28 and October 4 & 5 (my studio near HuntsvilleMade in Muskoka Christmas, December 12-14 (Sutherland Hall in the Town of Huntsville.

I also see clients by appointment at my studio, and ship mail orders.  Email me if you have a request!

Planet Earth - 5" bowl

Happy Summer, Everyone!

Northern Light

Huntsville Festival Artisan!

finished art, 2014

I am thrilled to be selected as the 2014 artisan for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts!  Each year the Festival board invites a different artist to produce artwork for use on the brochure and promotional materials.  I was excited to create an image that expressed the spirit of the festival; just the challenge I needed to kick start the year.

Almost instantly an impression of the image I wanted to make emerged in my mind’s eye; a joyful celebration bursting out of the Algonquin Theatre, into the Muskoka sky.  I began experimenting with different ways to achieve my vision in glass. 

I shot the theatre for reference

For colour, I used mostly crushed glass, called “frit”, in different grit sizes. This allowed me to blend colours rather than having distinct edges.  The heart is cut glass.  I experimented with glass paint to represent the theatre itself, but settled on cutting it from copper foil to achieve a more distinct, stylized silhouette.  Similarly the trees, representing the landscape surrounding Huntsville, are cut from copper foil.  I used mica powder for the white lines of the music staff floating up into the night air, and also in the water.  Mica was once mined in Huntsville, and my use of this material was a deliberate nod to the past.

first layer of the design

ready to fire!

Now that you know a little about what went into this year’s Festival image, I hope you have a chance to catch some of the fantastic performances planned for this summer!

Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour

Yes, autumn... hard to believe I'm doing a post about autumn when it's March and looks (and feels) like early January!  But there you have it.  This is what my place looked like yesterday, March 2, 2014. 

Events like the Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour (MAST) take planning!  Our wonderful graphic designer, Jennifer Pimentel, has completed the layout for the 2014 MAST brochures and sent it off to be printed.  Soon you'll be seeing them in stores, restaurants and tourist info centres throughout the District and beyond, as we begin promoting this year's Tour.  We have welcomed some new artists to the group, so be sure to pick up a brochure to see everything we have to offer this year.  And remember, most studios are open at other times as well, so keep a brochure handy for when you need a special gift, or for when you have visitors that would enjoy seeing some of the best art and fine craft Muskoka has to offer!