Chalcedony again

I tried some Chalcedony combined with Jade Green and black. I like the effect, but it wasn't at all what I expected. The black sort of bled over the other colors. There is a little frit on top.

Chalcedony G109

I just took these out of the kiln and I am thrilled with this glass. It is Gaffer Chalcedony G109 and reacts in a similar way to R108, but is much easier to work and the colors seem to pop with not a lot of effort. These are both all Chalcedony, the flat tab was pressed with a brass tool and the tube was marvered on a graphite torch marver which was fairly hot since it was warm in the garaqe last night. I really like the broken surface pattern on the tab bead.

Gaffer glass is in my neighborhood and they are so helpful and friendly.

Spring at last

I always have the best on intentions and then things go down from there, can't believe that I haven't posted since Novemeber. We started Spanish lessons this month, a delightful young woman who lives in the neighborhood comes to the house once a week. It would have made sense to learn before we went to Spain and Mexico, but it is never too late. I have become obsessed with reading about Spain, right not I am into Frances Mayes' book "A year in the World" and just finished the chapter on Spain. They are now in Portugal which is right up there on my list. Several years ago I found "Spanish Recognitions" in a bookstore in NYC and have been re reading parts of it. My goal is to read Frederico Garcia Lorca's poetry in Spanish... right now I read as well as a slow 6 year old, so I'd better speed up the process to get to high school.

Some new beads just came out of the kiln today, and I am pleased with them. They are a rainbow of colors rolled in Champagne pixie dust and encased in clear. I'll get photos done tomorrow.

Purple Beads on Ebay

A set of purple beads that I have listed on ebay. They are EDP with swirls of DaVinci encased in clear.

New Beads on Ebay

I've just listed a new set of beads on Ebay made with my favorite glass. It is Reichenbach 106 which has a lot of metal in it, and the more times it is heated and touched to brass the more colors come out. Nothing flashy like 108, but beautiful soft greys and blues mixed with carmel. I had a tiny chunk of DaVinci II that I pounded into frit and rolled them in it, which came out great.

Historic Day

I am still floating on a cloud of euphoria after last night's victory. My brother said it well, "I feel like I have been snatched from in front of a moving train." We also re-elected our governor Christine Gregoire, so all around things are great. Bad news about Prop 8 in California tho, that it a huge set back.

Beautiful Fall

Today the leaves started to fall rapidly with wind and rain so I took a few more photos before they were all gone. This is the most beautiful fall since we moved here in 2003. The underside of the Japanese Maple is from the Kubota gardens the rest are from my neighborhood.