Greed

I'm still working on my project as diligently as I can, while attending a gazillion art openings! If you haven't gone yet, make sure to check out Idiosyncrazies (through the end of April) in Pt Pleasant, NJ, Monmouth Festival of the Arts (through April 13) in Tinton Falls, NJ and last but not least, Belmar Arts Council's -7th Annual
Jersey Shore Juried Art Show (April 9 - May 13).

So I've made it to all those openings and I'm now working on my second tile. Greed. I photo transferred an image on a hundred dollar bill onto some lavendar glass. Here's you sneak peak !

A snippet of Green with Envy

Here's a snippet of my first tile for the book I am co-authoring (with many other artists). When I'm making, what I call Mosaic Fused Glass pieces, I spend time sorting through my glass, picking out the colors that please me and then I just start cutting. I cut squares, rectangles,etc. I just spend time cutting a lot of glass and then I sit back and start placing them together on the base glass. I start layering. Sometimes the very first design I work through is perfect. Sometimes I play with the glass a long time, changing the pieces and moving them around. After a while, there comes a moment, when it feels just right and I stop. Sometimes I walk away for a while and come back. It's rare I change anything after I've walked away but every once in a while, I'll think it's too green or too yellow or whatever, or a shape won't look right and I'll replace it with different shapes or colors.

It's like a puzzle that I'm making as I go. After I get to a certain point, the precut pieces of glass left aren't what I need, so I start cutting specifically for that space on the base.

I love leaving the glass at least a little lumpy. That is to say, once I've done my design and I have glued everything down. I put it into the kiln at a very slow, slow program. I set the program so that it rises to about 1250 - 1300 degress depending on the project and then comes back down to room temperature very slowly. This typically takes close to 24 hours depending on the project. I'm rather obsessive about this. I want to make sure the glass retains it's integrity. I don't want to worry about thermal shock or any future problems with stress or weakness in the glass. I purposely set my program so the glass will not full fuse. Full fuse, means that I allow it to melt down to one dimension. I like my glass to be lumpy! People who view it seem to have an irresistible urge to run their fingers over the lumpy texture. And there you have it, a snippet of the first tile!

Check out this new book!

Enter to win these GORGEOUS hand-made earrings from mom artist Yvonne Yaar, when you purchase the book: Stories for the Homeschool Heart

"Stories for the Homeschool Heart is compiled and edited by Patti Maguire Armstrong and Theresa A. Thomas. Stories for the Homeschool Heart will wrap you warmly in a blanket of faith, love and inspiration."


"In Stories for the Homeschool Heart you will:

• Read how ‘Rachel’ experienced healing after abuse and abortion…

• Share the joy of a military family who brought home two precious sons from Russia…

• Read how Mary’s family struggled to discern God’s will and went happily from riches to rags…

• Laugh when you see how a wayward duckling led the way for Patti and her family…

• See how Luke chased butterflies all the way to Guatemala…

• Learn how God led Theresa through the experience of cancer, with renewed hope and a new baby…

Stories for the Homeschool Heart will be running a contest.

Anyone who orders the Stories for the Homeschool Heart book between now, Dec. 6 and Dec. 16 will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a Homeschool Heart MUG!"* You will also be entered to win these gorgeous earrings hand made by Yvonne Yaar!
* Quote/dialog comes directly from the blog: Stories for the Homeschool Heart

Remember to check out Art Starved- Feed Your Head

http://artstarvedezine.blogspot.com/

For listings of local art happenings/ cultural events - follow this blog! For the art lover, whether you are an artist, who wants to promote your own art on the blog or an art connoisseur, who wants to know what's going on in the Art Scene- Art Starved is a great place to find out what is happening in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Theatre events, art exhibits, art opportunities are some of what is listed there.

A Blast From the Past

My Lament @ 23
16" x 20"
Mixed Media

While doing some "spring" cleaning, I stumbled upon a couple of old, yellowed pieces of paper. Written on those pages, some poems I wrote when I was 23. (1986) Pleeeeease... Don't do the math. Unfortunately the man I had been dating - was not treating me very well and the relationship was short. Thank Goodness. I'm sure we all have had our share of bad relationships in our youth. I read one of these old poems and laughed. I've always dealt with my "issues" with humor. Humor has gotten me through many hard times. Proof that art is an excellent and healthy response to life's drama. Instead of doing something I would regret, I got my frustrations, anger and hurt out with a poem. And now, 24 years later (yes, I'm ready to admit it) finding the poem again, inspired me to put it to canvas! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. There was another poem there too, I may tackle it later.

Playing For Change: Peace Through Music

From Bill Moyers-PBS site.....

Guest Blogger: Mark Johnson on PLAYING FOR CHANGE

(Photo by Robin Holland)

We'd like to thank Mark Johnson, creator/director of PLAYING FOR CHANGE: PEACE THROUGH MUSIC, for sharing some additional thoughts with THE MOYERS BLOG. We invite you to respond below.

Please note that the views and opinions expressed by Mark Johnson are not necessarily the views and opinions held by Bill Moyers or BILL MOYERS JOURNAL.
--------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYING FOR CHANGE is a movement uniting people all over the world through music and inspiration. It all began about seven years ago as my producing partner, Whitney Kroenke Burditt, and I assembled a group of like-minded people with cameras and a mobile recording studio. We embarked on a journey across the globe in search of music and human connections.

We started the journey with the idea that with an open mind and positive intentions we can find ways of uniting people as the human race. Music has always been the universal language and we followed its path from city streets to Native Indian reservations, African villages and the Himalayan Mountains. I could never have imagined that we would discover a world with so much love, hope and inspiration. In a world with so much focus on our differences I am proud to have discovered that people everywhere believe in creating a better world together.

Throughout our travels we created songs around the world such as “Stand By Me” and “One Love.” These songs and videos offer musicians who have never met in person the ability to collaborate and unite through the power of music. We also interviewed all of the musicians and learned stories of how music has helped to persevere through struggles all over the world. These collections of songs and interviews serve as a reminder of the power of the human spirit as well as a means of further illustrating our global collective conscience. We live in a world with way too many starving children and way too many warring nations. As a human race we come together for birth, and we come together for death, what brings us together in between is up to us. Stop and listen to the universal language of music and bring that positive energy with you everywhere we go.

The vision of PLAYING FOR CHANGE extends far beyond just music and film. We have established the Playing For Change Foundation to build music and art schools for kids around the world. We have recently returned from Gugulethu, South Africa where we constructed the first Playing For Change Music School. We plan to build many more schools, each equipped with cameras and a recording studio so supporters all over the world can watch recitals and performances in the schools we are building together. We can use these schools as sources of inspiration and a means of breaking down negative stereotypes among people everywhere. In the words of one of the artists featured in PLAYING FOR CHANGE, Vusi Mahlasela, “The world is immigrating into a global village, the question is how much do you want to belong.” Learn more about PLAYING FOR CHANGE, and together we can accomplish much more than we ever can apart.

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Tag(s): guest blogger
Posted by Bill Moyers Journal on October 24, 2008 3:58 PM | Permalink