Beautiful Glass in my Home

These are a couple of the glass pieces I have in my home. These photos do not do them justice. Both pictures were taken on winter-in-Portland less-than-sunshiny days.
The top photo is a lovely housewarming-gift mobile from Leah Pellegrini (her Etsy shop is here). I have it hanging from the archway between the living and dining rooms where is catches light from both sets of windows (and no one is in danger of bumping into it).
The lower picture is a fun stained glass banner made by Megan Klepp of Ta-Dah (her Etsy shop is here). While in a perfect world I'd have the perfect in-a-window spot for it, I don't. It currently resides on a wall in my sunroom (I got it specifically for the sunroom). Because it is fairly opaque glass, the wonderful colors aren't lost without the light coming through.
I'm so happy that I know both these delightful ladies and can see these beautiful works of art everyday!

Maybe if you hum a few bars...

Years ago I took yoga regularly. Generally once or twice a week for several years. I wasn't great at it, but I knew what I was supposed to do whether I could actually do the pose or not. The style of yoga I did is called Iyengar, named after B. K. S. Iyengar (read more about him here).

For several reasons, I stopped taking yoga classes in 2002. I never had much of an at-home practice and anything I did do soon fell away. I was, however, still in touch with my yoga teacher, Sabine Kühner over the years. When she learned I was moving to Portland, she told me that if I was ever interested in taking yoga again that I should look up her friend and fellow Iyengar teacher, Anne. After more than a year in Portland and spending most of my time sitting on my butt either at the computer or at my workbench, I decided it would be a good thing for my body to look into starting yoga again. Turns out Anne teaches at a studio (Yoga Shala) very close to my home. What luck! My first class, I introduced myself to Anne and told her I used to study with Sabine. She asked if I moved up about a year ago; Sabine had told her about me!

Taking yoga after all this time is like hearing a song I used to know. I still know the melody, but I don't remember all the words. Last night Anne said, "Do you know yaddayaddasana?" I said "maybe if you hum a few bars". Fortunately the other students though this was funny and not out of line. I really don't remember the names of most of the asanas, but my body seems to remember doing them. I still can't do them very well, but me and my body are happy to be getting back in touch with each other. I'm hoping we will be friends again soon.

Little glass Yoga Ladies by artist Leah Pellegrini and available in her Etsy shop.

Leah Curly Glass

Sometimes in the search for ways to broaden our art, we run up against the barrier of not having the skill or tools to see our vision out. This is where collaborating with another artist comes in. They can bring their own ideas and methods to the table, expanding your original ideas.

When I moved to Portland, I started attending the PDX Etsy Street Team weekly teatimes where I first met Leah Pellegrini. Leah makes beautiful fused glass mobiles, and some of them had lampwork on them. I had started selling little glass puddle earrings that were created with the stained glass foil method. Leah and I began talking about her creating smaller fused glass circles with lampwork on them and I would make them into wearable pieces. Our collaboration was born. I sort of jokingly call it Leah Curly Glass.

Of course, for collaborations to succeed, they need to mesh working styles, time schedules, and such, and require a bit of communication to make sure what works for one is working for the other. While we are still working out some of the "this works, this doesn't", we are both pretty excited about how it's going. Leah has posted more about it on her blog, The Garden of Leah, too. I think I'm lucky as my partner in my first artistic collaboration is pretty laid back and is letting me explore my idea while creating these necklaces. A couple of the finished items are for sale in Leah's Etsy shop. I'll write more about the process of creating these wearable works of art in the future.

Calla Earrings

Sweet little lilies with a deep red garnet, I call them Calla Earrings. The lily leaf is raw brass which enhances the garnets and contasts well with the heat oxidized sterling. They are something sort of different for me: little, cute, more delicate than I usually make. Did I say they were little? I guess because I'm a big person, I tend to make bigger jewelry. I make things I like and feel that little things get lost on me and particularly in my hair. Needless to say, I'm not a delicate person. A little exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone a bit? They are now for sale in my Etsy shop.

In other news, I have begun an artistic collaboration with Leah Pellegrini (a fellow PDX Etsy street team member and Etsy seller) making jewelry of some of her glass pieces. I'm pretty excited about it. I'll be posting pictures as soon as there is something to share. She's written more about it in her blog and has posted a picture of the glass puddles we'll be using.