JBR

Seen on Sóla’s noon walk today.

Nice walk this morning. Got a lot of work done on the second lampshade. Three more sides to be foiled. M helped choose the colors. Mondrian’s clock will be completed on Sunday when the ray extensions and clockwork are added, installed.

“Wandering through Life, A Memoir,” Donna Leon. Am enjoying this book. Her mother, like mine, read to her at night when she was a child. We had some of the same books read to us: Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, & The Little Blue Engine that Could. I love inspector Guido Brunetti.

As it should be, a man standing on a hill with a dog. Green grass below. The dog is very happy her dad is home.

Neighbors are getting into the Diwali/Halloween spirit. Mark, the raven, is “prukking” to let everyone know he is here and the crows are cawing about it. Sóla lost her mind when she saw M coming up the walk. Shot off in a fit of zoomies with lots of butt wiggles. She loves him dearly.

What we saw on our walk today. Have two glass classes today. 1) Painting in color in glass; 2) Beyond beginner- open studio. Mondrian’s clock is on my list to complete.

Always listening to music while working & love a variety: Portishead “Sour Times”; Enigma “Sadeness” & “Age of Loneliness”; Skrillex “Recess”; Gugusar “Nær”& “Reykjavíkurkvöld”; Ásgeir “Snowblind”; The Sugarcubes “Leash called Love”; GusGus, Sisley Treasure “Came Back to Life”; Högni “Ktla”.

Mobile No. 3, from Extreme glass class, “Bárður the troll.” Yes, my house is a freaking glass gallery, my kids say they will wait to sell it all after I’m gone, as it will be worth more then. Am leaving proof that I once lived on the planet and made things out of glass, an artist who liked color.

This morning’s colors.

Another one bites the dust in the neighborhood …. We knew the owner whose son went to school with our daughter. Lost touch with her years ago. The furniture is still in the house and we noticed that she threw out very little.

Trash day: saw a deteriorating heavy sculpture out by the curb. We saw red, purple, orange and gold colors today. Will finish the last mobile from extreme glass class today. I really like the process of adding metal with glass. It allows freedom from traditional leaded or foil glass work.

She told me what she wanted and there was no of saying no to her. Still seeing nice colors on the trees. Another house is being torn down soon. One more mobile to be assembled today. Last one! May take two days to do it. Lots of work.

Mobile No. 2: Erasmus’ dive. Contains a) the River; b) Erasmus the diver; c) The devil’s sheep and d) the monk

Purple rays of the Icelandic sun mobile has been hung from a covered beam.

A few of the orange mushrooms have been pulled out. Not sure how this happened. Beautiful day forecast for today. Glass work today: pulling pieces together to make a vertical mobile.

St Brigid’s Cross made with strips of blue copper streaky and crystal clear bullseye. This is the finished plate made in the strip cutting class.

The red tip of the maple tree caught my eye today. This tree will have three different bands of color before it begins to drop its leaves, top down. Sóla looked back to see if any dogs were behind us, a great worry for her. I look forward each day to see these orange mushrooms.

All about the colors this morning on my walk with Sóla. It was cold enough to wear winter coat, lined hat and gloves. Sóla loves the cold.

Also seen today at the rally.

Went to NIH today for the No Kings rally. It was also a “get out the vote” rally. Was windy and chilly so we only hung around for an hour. I made a poster for Sóla to wear today. Such a good dog, the kids gave her lots of love. It makes me so sad what this administration has done to the country.

The Cosmos, a piece created in Painting with frit and powder is home while the piece created in Strip Cutting (St. Brigid’s Cross, lower left) is still too hot to take out of the kiln. Very pleased with how these turned out. I could really see doing more work using both of these techniques.

Eastern Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms, as seen on our walk this morning. Omphalotus illudens glow green in the dark to attract insects. They are absolutely beautiful but toxic.

And when I do take a break from glass work, someone jumps in my lap looking for cuddles. She cannot get enough love and affection.

Jump rings were made and attached to the projects from Extreme Glass. Patina will be added this afternoon. Will continue making elements to add to the pieces, in weeks to come. Mondrian’s clock is on hold until our make-up class, as it requires a drill press to cut the hole for the workings.

holyfrit.com

Tuesday, roasting butternut squash and an onion to make soup later on. Colors of the leaves are getting more and more beautiful here. Watched “Holy Frit” twice. Great documentary (Prime) about the making of the 4000 sqft stained glass window for the Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas.

Today is a better day for a walk. Completely soaked myself 3 times yesterday going out in the rain. The studio had a small fire in their office ceiling due to a bad ballast. They had a “box” response by MCFD who pulled a loaded/leaking hose through the studio. Big mess so first class was called off.

Yesterday’s Strip cutting class yielded an 8” square piece. Asked for the square plate, to be slumped.

Raining like nobody’s business today. Class was cancelled this morning. Don’t know about this afternoon. Out on the farm buying cauliflower, cabbage and a pumpkin for soup. River Rd is notorious for flooding and car crashes, taking it slow.

Test pieces after fire using all four sizes of frit and four techniques. Final 8” square using three sizes of frit (powder, fine and medium) with sifting and displacement techniques pre fire.

Storm is acoming tomorrow early morning. Sky was red too. Got a glass class this AM, Painting with frit and powder, Day II. We made test pieces last week and fired them. Have an idea of how to pull all four techniques of painting with frit together. Have seen beautiful art made this way in Ireland.

Saw one of these gold colored Tesla Cyber cabs (Robotaxi) on my walk with Sóla at noon today and did not know what I was looking at. Honestly thought it was a gold-colored cyber truck with the bed chopped off. Just stared at it as it drove past. Absolutely hideous design, IMO.

Been listening to Alaniss Morissette, unplugged, a lot, and singing out loud like no one is listening. Sóla is deaf and does not mind. Made a nice roasted cauliflower soup yesterday. M loved it. Been busy with glass projects. Hope to have at least one finished during Sunday’s last class.

Today is brought to you by the color red and by Fibonacci’s sequence. A little bit of fog, in the air this morning. Side effects from the Covid 2026 vax yesterday has made this morning’s walk difficult. Normal for me to have fatigue from a vax. Will be fully recovered tomorrow. Will solder today.

Not sure about the cowboy skeleton riding a flamingo. Is it a unit or what. Another neighborhood house is going under the chop. Two pictures of the same thing taken at the same time: one with artificial light, the other without to show how dark it is at the start of our walk- we use a headlamp.

Read a WAPO article this AM about wind-testing mobile homes in FL. Reminded me of our trip in 2014 to Tory Island, Ireland, Co Donegal, in the N. Atlantic, a place subjected to sustained gales where we saw mobile homes reinforced with cinder block walls. Don’t think you could do that in the US.

Got a lot done yesterday with the extreme glass project. Soldered five pieces. Work today: Foil two additional pieces. One is a clock and the other is a continuation of the same theme. We walk in the dark now and it is chilly. Sóla loves the cooler temperatures and is full of the joys of life.

Some mornings are like this. We were walking along in the dark with moon overhead when Sóla began to growl and pull. Out on the dark field, reflected in my headlamp, two little green eyes glowed. It was a fox and she was pretty close by but not for long. She ran off pretty quick. Quiet walk today.

New glass class this PM, Strip Cutting. Discussions today: The Ondt and the Gracehoper; the sky is falling, chicken little; taking the high road; RUS; the new resident; Sóla met her pal Rod, our neighbor, beside the field. She did a collie belly crawl, she was so happy to see him. Drizzle felt good.

The four test pieces made in Fusing with Frits and Powders glass class are going into the kiln tonight. Techniques: mix of medium and fine frit; cold comb using medium frit w/Glytac gel; displacement; powder. Selected colors: Tomato Red, Black, Orange, Yellow, Spring green and French vanilla.

Today’s glass class- Fusing with frit and powder. I’m calling it “fusing with grits and black powder”. Actually using black glass has been disappointing for me because it the color absorbs too much heat & has taken over the composition. Worked on the projects yesterday until 1800. Trying to finish.

Worked hours yesterday on design a stained glass clock. Loads to do today, with 3 additional pieces to build. Must have everything ready for soldering on Sunday. Not sure where these individual pieces will end up- mobile maybe?