Hello Spring, I Love You

I’m breathing a sigh of relief after our cold, long and dreary Northwest winter.

Spring has finally arrived in my top of the world, higher elevation garden.

Work still has me scrambling, which is a good thing for an artist.  More people are realizing that owning original art is more fulfilling, fun and rewarding than having the same thing all your neighbors have that was purchased at a big box store.

If you’re in the Portland Oregon area, please come to the Glass Gallery at the Portland Convention Center April 29 – May 1st to see what I do!

Yesterday when the sun came out I was compelled to take a break….

….to make sure my garden was still growing.  And to see what the deer left me.

Yes, they’ve been grazing through my garden all winter and spring.

I haven’t had time to spray Liquid Fence, which has worked beautifully for me.

I’ll be showing glass garden art at the Master Gardener’s Plant Sale at the Extension Office in Hood River on May 7th in the morning.  Their sale closes at 1pm, so come early!

May 14 and 15 you can come tour my studio along with 40 other artists in the Gorge Artists Open Studio Tour.

June 3 – 26 you’ll find my work at Columbia Arts gallery show ‘Get Centered’.

As you can see, I will only have limited forays into my garden as time allows.

Hopefully I can work fast in the mornings, then spend a few hours in my garden.

I have so many plans for this year.  Plants that need to be moved, a terraced slope that needs to be redone.  Not to mention expansion.  I still have several areas that can be converted to garden space on my little two acres.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time…..

How You and I Can Help Relief Efforts for Japan

On March 12th a 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami hit Japan, wiping out many coastal towns.  I cannot fathom the heartache of those who lost entire families in this tragedy.  And I can’t stop thinking about it.

In the days that followed, I considered what I could do to help.  You can read my thoughts in this previous post.  As many of you know, I’m a glass artist by trade, so I decided to make some sushi sets to sell in my Artfire Shop.

I started by sketching some patterns and designs, then ran some quick small tests to see which I liked best.  After narrowing it to these three designs, I asked for help from my Facebook friends to decide which sets to make.  They had to be made in between previously committed projects and classes I was teaching.

The two selected designs were scaled up and made into 6″ sushi plates with matching sauce dishes.

When I posted results on my Facebook Page, my friend Katie offered sushi presses that Wayne (of Sticks & Stones) had made to go with my sets.  A perfect addition, I happily accepted.

The sets are $95 each and consist of two plates that are 6″, two cute little sauce dishes that are 3.5″ to 4″ and the beautiful 3 part Sushi Press.  A sweet set for two, I think it will be quite romantic using them!  Or for family fare you’ll need two sets.

Click here to purchase the set above (Whirl Design on Black)

If you’d rather have the Whirl Design on white, you can purchase it by clicking this link.

If you like the white background, you can purchase the Wave and Lotus Design with a click on this link.

And if you like the black background with the Wave and Lotus Design shown at the top of this post, you can click here to purchase it.

I’ve given my time and talent, along with Wayne and Katie Cordrey to produce these beautiful sets.  I hope you’ll consider purchasing one or two.  100% of your purchase price will go directly to relief efforts.

Did I tell you the carving on the sushi press is the Japanese character for ‘peace’?

Peace to you and yours.  xoxoxo