GLASS CAT STUDIOS

I’m looking forward to Fall, aren’t you? We’re just getting a touch of color here now. Some of you living further north are definitely into the swing of things. I even noticed some changes on our trip to Mackinac at the end of August. A any rate it inspires me to change my color schemes around my studio, as well as, my home.

The change of weather always effects me. Inspires me. Gets me off dead center.

I don’t know about you, but the heat and humidity of Summer makes it very uncomfortable cutting glass and working with a soldering iron. That’s one of the reasons I switch to leading in the summer. My glass studio isn’t air conditioned, and because it’s in the basement, it can get very sticky down there when the heat soars.

I spend more of my time perusing magazines in the summer, sketching, and even checking out new ways of expressing myself, often trying out new (to me that is) crafts that I haven’t explored yet.

One of the new magazines I’ve added to my virtual book shelf is Astarte’s Mega-zine. It’s truly lovely and if you haven’t already seen it, why not check it out here. You can pick up a free copy to read at your leisure.

Now that we’re past those dogs days, I can move my kiln back in from the garage since it gets much too cold to work. It’s also safer cutting and constructing stained glass pieces downstairs where I have an off limits sign up for the cats. (Yah, like they can read!) I can spend more time playing with my ideas downstairs in my workshop, too.

I think my cats miss me when this happens… after having me around the house more in the summer, but I look forward to being back in my glass studio. Now, I can put all those ideas I’ve been wanting to try to work and see what comes up. I’ll also be working on gifts for the Holidays.

Well, there’s just a couple more weeks or so to go of hot weather (let’s hope). So, keep cool and while you’re at it, why not leave a response to this blog, and tell us how you cope with creating in the heat or how the change of seasons inspires you.

Happy Fall.

Well, I don’t know about where you live, but allergy season has kicked in big time here for us at Glass Cat Studios. Even the cats are sneezing and wheezing.

It’s hard to keep from ‘itching’ my eyes, and I’m not particularly happy about sneezing right in the middle of a delicate cut. My problem isn’t the dust so much as the mold. I work in our basement, and like the rest of the Midwest, we’ve had an awful lot of rain which usually doesn’t bode well for my basement.

Now, before I go on, let me say, my heart goes out to you folks who’ve been flooded out of your homes and even your livelihoods. Allergies are obviously the least of your troubles although they’ve probably compounded your troubles. May you find relief and safety soon from the disturbing upheaval in the weather.

But for artists and crafters everywhere, allergies can be a nuisance, at best, to life threatening, at worst. If you already suffer allergies there is so much i our work to irritate them, and if you don’t already have allergies, chances are good you will. Dust. chemicals, powders, fumes, not to mention our furry friends, are all a part of our environment.

So, how does one tackle the annoyance of coughs, sneezes and itching eyes in the workshop or studio? Do you know what you’re allergic to? How do you protect yourself?

If you have asthma, as I do, dust masks might help especially around fine powdered substances in the air and glass frits. These masks can protect us from dust, molds and even some fumes. There are varying degrees of filtering that different face masks can provide, some with carbon filters.

Also, there seems to be an added benefit, apparently hitherto unseen, in using an electronic HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) air purifier, many of which have been highly touted as efficient handlers of airborn irritants. In a Los Angeles Times (Feb. 18, 2008) article staff writer Janet Cromley reported on one Danish study…

“Just two days of exposure to HEPA filters in the home resulted in a significant, positive effect on a key measure of cardiovascular health among 21 nonsmoking couples ages 60 to 75, says Dr. Steffen Loft, professor of environmental health at the University of Copenhagen’s Institute of Public Health and lead author of the study, which appeared this month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Using a finger sensor to measure the function of small blood vessels in participants, the researchers found that reducing airborne particles resulted in an 8% improvement in microvascular function, the ability of small arteries to relax when blood is flowing through them. Poor function is associated with increased risk of heart attacks. The HEPA filters removed about 60% of the measurable air particles in the homes.”

Now, before you run right out and buy one, Dr. Loft of this study did suggest that there was a lot more research that needed to be done. But this does bring up a good point; we seldom think about the fact that our shortness of breath is actually hurting other bodily functions. So, it’s important to look at how our work environment is impacting us.

I’m going to suggest a discussion on this subject. What do you think? Please leave your comments, and I’ll take this up again soon.

And before I go, here’s a great place to check for other allergens you might run up against in products we use all the time.

It’s the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Household Products Database at http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm Check it out. I think you’ll find it useful.

Until next time… stay well.

Technorati Tags:
allergies, health issues, airborn irritants, air filters, craft substances

Ah, Summer. Well, maybe I’m a bit ahead of myself. But it brings up thoughts of grilled Polish sausages dripping with onions and popcorn and ice cream and art festivals.

And there, I’m actually a bit behind myself, because those wonderful events of sights and sounds are getting into full swing now with the month of May here… already? How did that happen?

I for one am looking forward to going out and getting a good burn on my shoulders and arms from hours in the hot sun jostling around in crowds of hot sweaty people trying to get a glimpse of some bit of art or some turn of craft that takes my fancy and is easily swept off to my car—which, BTW, is parked, where?

Now, I know that doesn’t sound like I’m much of a fan, but truth is, I actually love even all that about festivals. Does that make me a sadist?

No, on the contrary, it means I have such a great time enjoying myself, I’m willing to put up with the heat (or rain) and the crowds and the waiting in line to pay for some just-have-to-have-it things I really have no room at home for.

I go to art fairs expecting to be enlightened, creatively charged up and motivated.

I study each photograph at a particular photographer’s stall, scrutinizing the lighting he or she has captured and finding the defining theme in all their work. I loose myself in the colors and hues on a painters canvas, amazed at the shapes and textures they’ve managed to bring together in some sort of storyline. I gawk at gangly sculptures in all sorts of media. I ooh and ah over glass that has been brought to life by skilled and sensitive hands.

Oh, yes. Don’t mess with me at Festival time. Leave me to my revelry, and I’ll see you there, sunburn and all.

Here id just a sampling of some shows that are coming up very shortly in my own great state of Illinois. For details and a more complete listing (especially if you’re interested in exihbiting, find the deadlines and aplication fees) go to Festival Network Online

Custer’s Last Stand / 06/21 to 06/22 / Main Street and Chicago Avenue / Evanston, IL




Skokie Art Guild 47th Annual Art Fair / 07/12 to 07/13 / 5211 W. Oakton / Skokie, IL


Art Spectacular-Juried Fine Art Fair / 09/13 to 09/14 / Rees Carillon-Chatham Road & Fayette St. / Springfield, IL


Edwardsville High School Craft Fair / 11/08 to 11/09 / Edwardsville High School / Edwardsville, IL

Art on the Square / 05/16 to 05/18 / Public Square / Belleville, IL

Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair / 05/17 to 05/18 / Old State Capitol Plaza / Springfield, IL

Oak Park Art in the Park / 05/18 to 05/18 / Austin Gardens Park / Oak Park, IL

Prairie Arts Festival / 05/24 to 05/25 / Robert Atcher Municipal Center Grounds / Schaumburg, IL

Cuneo Gardens Art Fest / 05/24 to 05/25 / Cuneo Museum & Garden Grounds / Vernon Hills, IL

Chicago Gospel Music Festival / 05/30 to 06/01 / Grant (Millenium) Park / Chicago, IL

Cherryvale Mall Art & Craft Show / 05/30 to 06/01 / Cherryvale Mall / Rockford, IL

Deerfield Festival of Fine Arts / 05/31 to 06/01 / Deerfield & Park Avenue / Deerfield, IL

Naper Days / 05/31 to 06/01 / Washington & Jefferson (downtown) / Naperville, IL

Well, I could go on, and this is just the beginning of the Summer and just for Illinois. So, please do use the link above or in the Blogroll on the side to visit FNO and check for shows in your own state. Happy perusing.

Technorati Tags:
art exhibitions, craft fairs, fetivals, Summer fairs, outdoor fun

I hadn’t been long at doing stained glass, and like a child in a candy shop, I was in awe of the variety of glasses to choose from. So, I started gathering glass to me like a squirrel gathers acorns.

Now, it’s not often does one actually gets physically go to a shop with huge inventories of glass in varying colors, textures and degrees of transparency. There aren’t too many around where I live. I tend to search online.

But one day, I traveled a bit further to find a shop I’d seen advertised online. It was about a forty-five minute drive, and I had to search for it a bit before I found it.

I did end up purchasing a few pieces of glass for a project I’m doing… more on that when it’s finished. But what made the trip so worthwhile was a large piece of glass standing behind the counter that nearly took my breath away.

Swirling, variegated reds and browns and golds with a hint of green here and there. Subtle dark overtones that rushed in and out keeping it from being symmetric and predictable.

There was no way I could have ever brought myself to cut that piece of glass! It was perfect just as it was. There was a painting in that glass that spoke of wild horses racing a storm across the plains. I felt like it could transport me not only to another place but to another time.

I believe it was one of those opal mixes, where several cathedral glasses are fused together with an opalescent and raked while molten. I don’t recall if it was square or rectangular, the latter I think, and it had to be about 24″ wide.

The price was, well, let’s just say, out of my range. But for a moment I thought long and hard about the practicality of purchasing it and finding some way of giving it a place of honor in my home.

This one piece of glass gave a whole different meaning to “art glass.” Wow. What a great experience.

And that is one of the many joys of being a glass junky.

Has something like that ever happened to you? Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t bring yourself to cut a beautiful piece of glass? Let me know about it by leaving a comment below. And happy glass gathering…

Go to Kokomo Opalescent Glass for a sampling of the type of opal mix I’m talking about. BTW— Kokomo is celebrating their 120th Anniversary. They are the oldest manufacturer of Catherdal and Opalescent Glass in the World.

©2008, Olson VanderPloeg Designs and Glass Cat Studios; all rights reserved.

Technorati Tags:
art glass, opal mix, stained glass, purchasing glass, Cathedral glass

When I started this blog I promised myself one post every other day. Well, I didn’t quite make it, but “a promise is a promise.” So, even though I couldn’t come up with a glass topic for today, let’s look at the idea of promises in the context of a couple of things.

First, what about a promise to yourself? Do you have to keep it? What are the ramifications if you don’t? Or what if you do?

Say you promise yourself you’ll get two stained glass panels done this week (obviously, neither very complicated nor very large projects.) But then, so many things happen during the week to distract you, that you barely get the first one cut out let alone finish any of them.

What happens next? Well, you’ll probably promise yourself you’ll get them done the next week, and, to make it all up to yourself, you’ll work in an extra little project to boot. Sound familiar?

Now, if you’d made such a promise to anyone else, what do you think they’d say?

Perhaps they’d offer a very sympathetic, “Oh, don’t worry about it. Whenever.” Or maybe a more frank, “Be realistic. Just finish the first two.” But do you think they’ll be holding their breath for those panels to get done?

So, back to you. You know yourself best. Do you really think you’ll keep that second promise to yourself to make up the first promise?

Maybe this one week was a fluke and things really did get out of hand. But then, maybe your life is like this all the time… unexpected distractions tugging at you and pressing responsibilities calling out your name… keeping you away from those promises you make to yourself.

Somehow, a promise to ourselves doesn’t seem as high priority as one to others, especially significant others. It sounds foreign (in our culture, at least) to say to someone who is interrupting us, “No, I just can’t now. I promised myself I’d finish this project by the end of the week.”

But why? Why shouldn’t we value the promises to ourselves as much as to others? Or is there something else going on here?

Well, for one thing, many creatives find it hard to value their own work, partly, I think, because it feels like play.

Yet, most self-help gurus will tell you, in order to be successful, to find something you love, even feel passionate about, and make that your work. So, aren’t they telling us to go out and play? That it’s okay and even important that we do?

But when it comes to the question of fulfilling a promise to ourselves or meeting someone else’s needs, we don’t feel right to be ‘playing’ when there’s ‘work’ to be done, especially for someone else.

Let me ask you… were you allowed to play as kids when there was work to be done around the house?

Don’t get me wrong; I’m very much in favor of kids having chores and errands. Not only does it help the family, it let’s children feel they’re an important part of the family unit, as well as, teaches them responsibility. But when it’s not okay to play at all, the wrong message is sent.

Many parents adhere to the strict work ethic that basically teaches work is work and, thus, valued, while play is just plain silly idleness. Please note, this stern philosophy never seems to teach that work can be enjoyable, too.

Even the old adage, “Play is the work of children,” seems to be saying that it’s okay for kids, but not adults.

So, look at your selftalk. It comes from the messages we gather as we grow up. Maybe if working at something you love and are passionate about had been a goal for us when we were young, we’d value our talents and creativity enough to say, “Not now. I have a promise to keep… to myself.”

Okay, this is getting long. So, I’m going to stop here for now. I’d like to continue this discussion if there’s any interest, and I invite your comments. Click the “Comments” link below. Do you have a hard time keeping promises to yourself? And how do you feel when you don’t? Do you know why you don’t?

I wish you a lot of fun and passion in your work. I’ll see you here soon, and that’s a promise.

©2008, Olson VanderPloeg Designs and Glass Cat Studios; all rights reserved.

Well, today was a very nice day. I spent the afternoon chatting with my creatively talented mother and a very dear friend of mine who is also extremely creative. You might say, I was “outnumbered.”

We discussed our families and growing up, as well as, our hobbies and our work. We pretty much agreed on many things, and we were absolutely relaxed and secure in each other’s presence.

How good it felt to be with others of like mind in such an unconditionally accepting setting. How freeing to just be ourselves for a short while. Actually, it wasn’t so short, after all, although it seemed so. We suddenly realized we’d been talking for about three hours or so.

Now, it occurs to me that taking time to just sit and talk with others with mutual interests is so very important to the health of just about anyone, but especially creative sorts. For most of us, it’s absolutely necessary to feel supported by others and especially by our peers.

Many of us deal with “the Public” and feel we have to justify our view of the world or explain why we are the way we are. Others of us feel a need to be all things to all those around us caught in some sort of bizarre juggling act.

So, being with other creatives gives us room to breathe and just be ourselves. It also helps us to expand our creative antennae, so to speak, tapping into some higher vibration that a gathering of like minds creates. Okay, I know, now I’m talking weird. But that’s just what makes it okay… when you feel safe, you can.

I’ve put together a short survey which I hope you’ll help me out with. You can reach it by going to the link below. Please take a moment to answer the question which explores how we creatives seek out the company of others in this busy and crazy world, and how important it is that we do. I’ll post the results here next month.

Thanks and may you be blessed with lots of like minded people to support you through your day.

Click Here to take our survey. How do you communicate with others in your field and how important is it to you?

©2008, Olson VanderPloeg Designs and Glass Cat Studios; all rights reserved.

With the weather getting warmer (for some of us, that is) my thoughts are turning to long walks on the beach looking for sea glass or, rather, beach glass, for those of us who live on one of the Great Lakes.

I don’t know about you, but since I was a child, I’ve had a fascination with these wonderful, colorful found treasures.I love running my fingers over the smooth, rounded edges of their odd, irregular shapes. I marvel at their frosty texture.

Way back when, my grandfather explained they were pieces of glass jars that had been tumbled over and over in the water for a very long time — the sand acting like sand paper smoothing down the edges while roughing up the surfaces.

Here in Chicago, there’s a good chance that what we pick up could be left from the Great Fire. When the fire was done destroying much of the City, the rubble was pushed into the lake as a sort of landfill.

Or, of course, it could be a beer bottle tossed into the waters to celebrate the Cubs last World Series win (when was that? Oh yeah, 1908!)

I would be so excited when I’d find even the tiniest piece. I’d scoop it up, examine it carefully and lovingly, and put it in my pocket feeling like I’d just discovered some precious pirate’s loot that had washed ashore. When I got home, I’d stashed my treasures away in my jewelry box… you know, the one with the little dancing ballerina inside.

Funny how something so simple can bring back such great memories. Even today, the sight of a piece laying in the sand brings back the little kid in me.

Sea Glass is becoming harder and harder to find and there are societies and collectors dedicated to keeping it authentic. Of course, you can make your own immitation nugget, and some unscrupulous vendors sell man-made beach glass claiming it’s genuine. I’m told you can tell the difference if you’re really an expert. I’m not sure if that’s true of all tumbled glass, though.

But there are people who can give you the history of a piece of glass down to what era it’s from, what type of bottle or jar it was a part of, and perhaps how it came to be on that sandy beach they’re walking.

I did a little Googling on sea glass, and I thought I’d share some of what I found with you. A business woman who spends most of her free time beachcombing and collecting beach glass; a how-to that suggests using your bits and shards in a pendent or earings; a great festival celebrating the wonders of this unique kind of glass and a fun way to spend a weekend. To see the video click on the image below. Enjoy! 

©2008, Olson VanderPloeg Designs and Glass Cat Studios; all rights reserved. 

Click the image to view the video. The browser will open a new window. If anyone knows a good way of getting this on my page without having to give YouTube all my private site info, please contact me.
             

Well, here I go. A new website (www.glasscatstudios.com) and a new blog. I don’t like trying to analyze things too long before I jump in. So, let’s get to it.

My name is Cathy, and people don’t usually call me Cat, although you’ll see me on the Internet as catvaloo, and I did have a website called Cat’s Attic Antiques (and which I might resurrect.) I get called Cath sometimes, which is okay, and occasionally Catherine or Cathlene, which are just totally wrong.

I’ve been doing glass for several years now, having first incorporated it into my PMC (precious metal clay) work and then moving on to lampworking. I became fascinated with fusing and slumping glass. So, I somehow, naturally, found myself getting into stained glass, if that makes any sense. It worked for me.

My two assistants are Jingle Belle Cody (Jingles), a dainty tortoise-shell who checks in at times when she isn’t preening or sleeping, and Mr. Moe, a feisty gray Tabby who is my constant companion.

Now, that said, the studio is off limits when I’m cutting or flameworking, so they supervise things from afar mostly, and provide inspiration and a little constructive criticism now and then.

The cat’s, BTW, call me Merr-ow. I know they’re talking to me because the only time they dain to speak to my husband is when they want to be fed and I’m not home yet. I don’t know what they call him.

I’ve started this blog partly to generate interest for my site, which is just in it’s juvenile state, and partly to start a community of glass workers and groupies who want a place to find out what’s new, or what’s old, or whatever’s hip in the world of glass art and craft.

Oh, and Moe just reminded me, we’d very much like to include any and all crafts where glass can be incorporated, like I have in my jewelry.

So, don’t be shy. I hope you’ll join us, and let us know what you’re most interested in, as well as any suggestions you have for the site. I’d also like to invite you to sign up for my newsletter, Slivers and Shards.

See you around.

Cathy, Jingles and Mr. Moe

©2008, Olson VanderPloeg Designs and Glass Cat Studios; all rights reserved.

Oh, and here’s Jingles, being really cute.