New Work - Grooved Fused Glass Cabochons

New from Willowglass' studio this week are a new line of fused glass cabochons with grooves. Dee has grooved a channel all the way around these cabs which are perfect for wireworkers and jewelry designers to use in their work. Fun times in the studio!

So excited!!!!

Today on the radio show I listen to in the morning (Magic 100.9 in NY's Capital Region), I won a pair of tickets to next week's Gordon Lightfoot concert at Proctors Theatre. It was a "name that tune" question and the song was Lightfoot's "Rainy Day People". I've been a huge fan of Gordon's since the early '70's and his huge hit "Sundown" was actually the only song that my son Chris (who's now 34) would fall asleep too. Odd lullaby, but it worked for him!

Lightfoot's melodic, soulful voice is unmistakable. A modern day troubadour, he has touched the lives of millions of people with his thoughtful, evocative portraits of Canadian life and landscape. He's a musician steeped in the folk tradition, his catalogue of songs, including such classics as Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Sundown and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald have earned him a place in the pantheon of Canadian icons.

I'm so excited!!!

Pantone Challenge for Glass Artists

The Etsy Glass Artists recently had a Creative Challenge to create a piece using the Pantone color forecast for Spring. The Pantone 2008 Spring color palette includes Golden Olive, Spring Crocus, Rococco Red, Pink Mist, Croissant, Freesia, Cantaloupe, Daiquiri Green, Snorkel Blue and Silver Grey. http://www.fashiontrendsetter.com/content/color_trends/2007/Pantone-Fashion-Color-Report-Spring-2008.html

Here are some fused glass cabochons using Pantone's palette of Snorkel Blue and Silver Grey, a pair of earrings using Pink Mist and a pendant using with Cantaloupe and Croissant as part of the color mix. I used Bullseye glass to create these glass piece and am happy with the results which are very close to Pantone's!

All available from Willowglass in my Etsy shop!

Still lots of white stuff in the Northeast

There's still quite a bit of snow here in the Northeast, so I thought I'd use it to my advantage and see if I could get some good pictures with it as a backdrop.

The weather is supposed to be warming up a lot today, so I'll have to snap quickly! Luckily these can be taken right outside my studio door, so I'm not tramping a lot of wet snow and mud through the house (nah, I'm not a huge fan of washing floors!)

Sunrise over the Vermont mountains

January 4, 2008. View from my front door facing the mountains of Vermont. Sometimes there's no words to fully describe a moment, so I'll just let you enjoy it with me.

What's on in the Studio today?

Today's pick is Michael McDonald's Ultimate Collection. Who can keep still while listening to Yah Mo B There or Takin' It To The Streets?

This morning while I was driving there was some outstanding music on. I love women who can really belt out a song, and Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud" and Cass Elliott's "Dream a Little Dream" were on the radio on my way home. Beautiful songs. Beautiful women.

Welcome to the Northeast

Fun times this morning up here in North Country. The actual temperature is minus 6 degrees with a windchill of minus 20. Can you say BRRRRR?

The first picture is part of our side lawn. Lawn? Who am I kidding? The second picture is the steps coming up to our front door so I guess no one will be coming in that way any time soon. The third pic is part of our front lawn. Oh where, oh where, have my little dogs gone, oh where, oh where, can they be?

This is actually such a beautiful part of New York for most of the year when I really love it. The winters are hard, though, on both the humans and old furry ones in our house. Some years ago I had some nerve damage to my right hand due to some dog bites (never ever ever ever EVER try to mediate a dog fight), so my fingers are always like popsicles (orange,pineapple,orange,cherry,orange please) in the cold weather.

I had to drive my son to work this morning (he has some developmental disabilities so doesn't drive ....... yet) and at 6:30 a.m. the ice crystals sparkled like diamonds across the driveway. It was still dark out but I attempted to take a picture. My camera's button froze so I couldn't click it - smart camera! Those ice crystals were really incredibly beautiful though. We were plowed out (AGAIN) last evening, so the trek down our long driveway wasn't too bad. Like I said before, fun times!

There's something to be said about forced hibernation. I have 3 kilns on right now with new glass goodies for my Etsy shop. All's well in Willowglass world!

How is it in your part of the world this morning?