And the Winner is...

Kenya Bowl

I'll get to the winners in just a moment, but please take the time to read…

Someone sent me a link on Facebook a few weeks ago about how first world problems sound when read by someone in a third world country.  My favorite one was read by a little boy. "I hate it when I order food and say no pickles, and still, they give me pickles." Another man read a complaint outside of his tiny hut.,"I hate when my house is so big, that I need to buy two wireless routers". His face was bright and his voice laughed as he spoke.

I couldn't stop thinking about all of the random silly complaints spoken within the walls of my own house.  "This stupid toilet isn't flushing right", "I'm hungry & there's nothing to eat",  followed by "I don't like (name anything that's in the refrigerator)", "Do I have to load/unload the dishwasher again?"  I am now sadly aware…

I asked for your complaints surrounding the topic of water, because that Facebook story  made me stop and think… My family and nearly every family I know has access to clean water. The water we give our dogs, wash our cars with, and even the water in our toilets is cleaner than the water many people have to drink each day.  We don't become ill from our water.  We don't walk miles carrying a jug home each day.   I want to remember this more often, but in the world we live in it's difficult thing to do.

My parents began a project last spring after they visited Kenya on vacation.  They found out about these amazing filters that can turn ANY water into clean, disease free, drinking water.  They raised money over several months, and were able to supply a small village with the filters, one for each household. The filters never need to be replaced, they can be backwashed and used over many years.  With these filters, waterborne illness could potentially be eliminated in many parts of the world.  They can also be used in situations of natural disaster when water becomes undrinkable. 

A filter kit is $95. 
This includes international shipping, training sessions with a translator to teach families how to use them, along with ways to  prevent waterborne disease.  Best of all, a family will have access to clean water for a lifetime.  

This spring and summer, I'll be making a special group of glass pieces to help fund the purchase of more filters.  I hope to involve some school groups, friends, students, and random people in the creation of these pieces. (are you interested in playing with some glass?)… If you'd like to be involved, keep watch,  I'll be posting more details soon :)

OK ON TO THE WINNER!!!
Thanks to all of you for your contributions to the discussion, and especially for reading about the project.  I let my kids draw the names, and since there were two kids here, there are two winners.

Congratulations to ANNA CURTH! and CRAIG SMITH!

Here is the link to the Facebook Story I watched:

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If you want to hear more, read on!


Below are photos from my parents' project.  The group arrived very early for the training session, and I think the women are smiling the most because it is their job to deal with providing water for their families.  The second photo is of Rose Wambua, who is doing the training, along with the chief elder of the village, who is translating.





In Africa, 387 million people lack access to clean water. 

3.1 million people die each year from preventable, waterborne illnesses. That is more than the entire population of Los Angeles.

Globally, an estimated 200 million hours are spent each day collecting water.  

Women and children are prohibited from accomplishing little more than survival.  Not because of a lack of ambition, or ability, but because of a lack of safe water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and children in the developing world spend untold hours daily, collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, then return to their villages carrying their filled 40 pound jerry cans on their backs.

The lost productivity of people collecting water is greater than the number of hours worked in a week by employees of Wal-Mart, UPS, McDonald's, IBM, Target, and Kroger combined.

These statistics are from the World Health Organization.  (I didn't make this stuff up!)

Water and Winter (and a chance to win each month for a year!)

Winter Water Tower, Chicago
Fused Glass Sgraffito 'Frit Painting'

For today, January 14, 2014~ 
This is a piece I've been working on over the past week.  It's out of the kiln for the third time, and I still haven't decided whether or not it's finished.  All artists struggle with this indecision, but when we each make the final approval of our work, we sign our name to the piece and call it 'finished'.

That's a problem, because the odd thing about glass sgraffito drawing is that it is necessary to sign your piece in the powdered glass before it ever goes into the kiln.  What? 

It does feel a little disconcerting to be signing a piece that's barely begun, but I think it's far more beautiful to sign it in the glass itself than to skid across it with a Dremel tool later.  

So what happens to the pieces that get signed and end up in the junk pile?  People seem to want to know... so here's the answer.  The signature gets smashed off, and the piece 'goes to pieces' to make better things :)
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Don't forget to add your comments for a chance to win one of my glass pendants every month for 2014!

Here is all you need to do:

Please tell me your pet peeves, complaints, and 

irritations surrounding the subject of WATER.

Enter your response  in the "Comments Box" at the end of the post. 

Then, on the right side of this post, click on either 

"follow by email" or "subscribe to posts"

Pretty simple, no?
You'll get one entry per unique response between now and next Sunday, 1/19 at midnight.

Be sure to tell any friends that subscribe to add your name to the end of their comment, because you'll get extra credit for their entry.

Best to you all, I can't wait to tell you about the project!!

Win a Glass Piece Every Month for 2014!

January 12, the new thing I learned today is how to fix the problem of not having an easy comment box on this blog! 
Tomorrow will be better now.  
Here again is the recap from yesterday, along with an all new comment box so that we might discuss :)  
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Today I'd like to give each of you an opportunity to receive a surprise package in the mail each month for 2014.  I'm looking for some random input from random folks to help me with a project that is very meaningful.  I can't tell you the details yet, but if you're willing to help simply by giving me some opinions, I will put you into a drawing to win one of my glass pendants every month for an entire year.  I guarantee you'll be very glad to be a part of this when I tell you what it is!

I would like to move this project into full swing as soon as possible, and will draw the name on January 19, which is just one week and a few moments from right now.   Also, you will get an extra entry for anyone who you direct to my blog that leaves a comment to help with the project.  Doesn't that sound nice?

Here is all you need to do:
Enter your response  in the "Comments Box" at the end of the post. 
Then, on the right side of this post, click on either "follow by email", or "subscribe to posts"

Pretty simple, no?
You will get one entry per unique response between now and next Sunday, 1/19 at midnight.

Be sure to tell any friends that subscribe to add your name to the end of their comment so that you get credit for their entry as well.

Please refrain from duplicate responses, be creative!
HERE IS THE QUESTION:

Please tell me your pet peeves, complaints, and irritations surrounding the subject of WATER.

Here's a start.
I hate it when the shower water gets cold before I rinse my hair.
also,  I hate it when I step in water on the floor when I'm wearing socks.

READY??  GO!

Surprise in My Mailbox, and a Surprise in Yours!

An unexpected package arrived on my doorstep this morning, and if you lend me your input on a new project, one could arrive on yours next week too… read on~

My friend Ranae Atchison read of my 'melting dishtowels to the new stovetop' problems, and sent me these hand crocheted COTTON dishtowels, which won't melt when I do something stupid.  What a great surprise it was to receive something so sweet and without a bill attached to it!  
Ranae is a brilliantly talented sculptor, bead maker, silver designer… the list goes on… 

Check out her work here: Ranae Atchison, Artist 

I need your input!     Today's post is not about fused glass, or sgraffito, or painting… but I'll be back to the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge again tomorrow.  Today I'd like to give each of you an opportunity to receive a surprise package in the mail each month for 2014.  

I'm looking for some random input from random folks to help me with a project that is very meaningful.  I can't tell you the details yet, but if you're willing to help by giving me some opinions, I will put you into a drawing to win one of my glass pendants every month for an entire year.  I guarantee you'll be very glad to be a part of this when I tell you what it is!

I would like to move this project into full swing as soon as possible, and will draw the name on January 19, which is just one week and a few moments from right now.   Also, you will get an extra entry for anyone who you direct to my blog that leaves a comment to help with the project.  Doesn't that sound nice?

Here is all you need to do:

Enter your response  in the "Comments Box" at the end of the post.  

Then, on the right side of this post, click on either "follow by email", or "subscribe to posts"

Pretty simple, no?

You will get one entry per response between now and next Sunday, 1/19 at midnight.

Be sure to tell any friends that subscribe to add your name to the end of their comment so that you get credit for their entry as well.

Please refrain from duplicate responses.



HERE IS THE QUESTION:

Please tell me your pet peeves, complaints, and irritations surrounding the subject of WATER.

I will start.

I hate it when the shower water gets cold before I rinse my hair.

also,  I hate it when I step in water on the floor when I'm wearing socks.

READY??

Tell me what you think~  GO!

YEA!!! Thank you Ranae!!

Trees, Trees, Large and Small

Yellow Trees,  3x5, framed to 5x7
Fused Glass Sgraffito Sketch
Daily Paintworks Quick Auction, $40

Tiny Red Forest, 2.5x3.5, framed to 3.5x4.5
Fused Glass Sgraffito Sketch
Daily Paintworks Quick Auction $20

Here are few more Fused Glass Sgraffito  tree sketches to share~  I spent much of the past week working on color swatches and test samples.  New glass colors are always tempting me, and there are always new ones coming out. (Big thanks to Bullseye Glass Co. for that) Each new color I use requires some testing to see how each interacts with colors I'm familiar with, and how each works for the technique I'm using.  Today I have been working some trees with a special production 'Chalky Blue' glass. It's a larger frit painting that will require more than one firing, and won't be ready to share for a few more days.  The other one I'm working on is a Chicago themed piece featuring the famous Water Tower.  A little tricky to plan, and again, multiple firings, but I'm really excited to see how these fare in the kiln.

Here's a little sneak peek of the chalky blue forest...

Throwaways?

 Glass sgraffito sketch made with powdered black glass on white sheet glass

This is a photo of a demo sketch I did at an art show somewhere last show season. It's a 'throwaway' of sorts.  Because there is no way to melt the glass on site, it all gets dumped back in the jar or brushed away into the grass when it's time to go.  

People don't like it when I do that, for some reason.

Here is another sketch from a different show, only this time I forgot to bring the powdered glass to demo with.  Aye… and I was on the schedule at 1pm...

This sketch was made from dirt that I found along the riverbank.  Turns out, it works just like powdered glass. 

Can you keep it?  Nope.   Can you sell it?   Only if it's a cornflake that looks like the Virgin Mary. 

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The beauty in these 'throwaways' becomes my sketchbook.  The lessons they teach me while I'm sitting at shows with nothing to do can't be replaced, redone, or made better by keeping them in a physical sense.

I've learned not to get so attached to a piece that I forget to think about why I am creating it.

Blowing these sketches into the wind is very freeing.  I would recommend it to artists in all media.  Smash a pot, burn a painting, build a sandcastle, speak your heart into a dog's ear...You never lose, you only get better.

Another lesson I learned from dirt painting is that it's an excellent way to teach kids to draw.  Dry erase board + dirt + kid,  there is no end to what they can make.

Chameleons and Denim

Fused glass sgraffito painting, 9"x 12".  This piece is sold, but you can check out some others here

She's going into the kiln for the last firing tonight... finally!

Day 8 of 30 "Kiln glass frit paintings" in 30 days

I've been trying out some new color schemes lately, and it made me think about how much light really has to do with how they look.  If you look at each of these photos, they almost look like two different pieces.  Slight changes of color and lighting can really change the way we feel about something we see.  For example, I put on my daughter's denim shirt the other day when I forgot to  take a clean one in for my shower. I don't like wearing blue at all, but after fumbling with a towel and wet hair, I didn't really care what shirt I got out of the dryer.  Later that day I caught a glance at myself in the mirror…
 "Man, that doesn't even look like me", I thought when I saw the blue. Strange.

After pondering this for a bit, my mind landed on chameleons~ and that brings us to the new thing I've learned for today, January 8th.

    Everyone knows that chameleons can change their color to blend in with their surroundings, but did you know that they have the most complex eyes of all reptiles?  I didn't. Chameleons' eyes work independently of each other, allowing them to look at two different objects at the same time, adjusting the depth of field in each eye according to what they look at.  They can see 360 degrees around them at any time!  Pretty tricky to keep one eye watching out for predators from afar, and the other eye sharply honed in on someone's tuna sandwich.  I'm glad human eyes don't work like a chameleon's. Can you imagine driving like that? Or going on a date? or trying to make art? 

Here's a wink for you!  Stay warm friends~

My Best Friend

On the day after Christmas, my best friend moved 1000 miles away to San Antonio, Texas.  Let me tell you about her…

Wendy Garland has been my best friend since we both got stuck in a small country school when our parents moved to the boonies.  She rode my bus, which was full of kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. That was a little weird.  Who on earth would put little kids in the same bus with middle and high school terrors, really. 

 The first day of school for my brothers and I was in November, 1988.  I was a sophomore.  It was not fun walking down the endlessly long driveway to stand at the end of the street waiting for a stupid bus to take me straight to hell.  It was even less fun entering it, making sure my little brothers had a spot to sit where I could be close.  I was the only high school student sitting in the front of the bus, and I hated the feeling I got from the staring eyes of everyone behind me. (still hate that feeling, so if you are staring behind me, please alert me so I can turn around and stare back. LOL.)

Enter Wendy.

Equally miserable, as I found out later… her parents had moved a mile down the road from me about two months earlier.  She had been there since the beginning of the school year and had not been enjoying the new school at all.  We got to know each other and found that hating our parents for moving us out of our happy lives was our common ground.

Turns out, it was probably the best thing our parents could have done.  She has been the best friend I could ever hope for, the sister I never had, and a huge inspiration to me in so many ways.  She is the strongest, smartest, most independent and driven woman I have ever met.  Wendy has stuck by me through thick and thin, when I was on top of the world, and when I was buried beneath it.

She is beautiful, graceful, and most importantly, she DOES right. Standing up for what is true and good is hard in this world, but she is right there doing it. I love her for that.

The piece I submitted for today was made last fall, so I am cheating a little by submitting it today.  It is a tribute to my friend, who I hope to walk with in Paris some day when we are fat and old.

Why is Everyone Throwing Hot Water?

Tiny Summer Garden Fused Glass Sgraffito , 2.5"x 3.5" Auction starts at $15

Today, January 6, is the coldest day on record in the past 150 years here.  In fact, the air outside is so cold, that many people have been outside trying this interesting experiment:  

Boil a pan of water. Take it outside, and throw the water up into the air. The water immediately turns into snow and blusters away. WOW!  That is really a cool trick!

It has been fun watching my 100+ lb. golden retriever swim through the drifts too, I can not imagine trying to go to the bathroom in a snowdrift that is waist deep.  Ha.  Even the squirrels seem to have that puzzled,"what the heck happened here?" look when they ran down the tree, disappeared in the snow, then did a quick 180º back to their nest...

I thought a tiny summer garden piece would be appropriate for my 30 in 30 entry for day 6.  I can look at it and think about flip-flops and skirts, and how the summer breeze will be back when it finishes warming the other half of the globe.  It is their turn, after all. Stay warm and happy friends!

Short. Sweet. Wet. Sticky. And a Kitty in the Window

Kitty in a Window  Fused Glass Sgraffito Drawing 5x7 Daily Paintworks Auction 

My post for today is going to be short and sweet, and wet and sticky.  More on that in a minute… 

Today, January 5, I am excited to have this lovely snowstorm blowing in tonight.  Everything is so beautiful and quiet outside, and it was a balmy 30 degrees all day. My studio is finally warm enough to be able to work in without a bunch of sweaters and boots on, and although the temps are supposed to drop to -17F tomorrow I am happy, because my big kiln is loaded with new artwork and warming up as I type. 

 (By the way, I am typing with both hands again, which makes it even better)So here is the wet and sticky part.

When I came in to do my computer work, my lovely husband brought in a nice glass of wine and some almonds for me.  He spent the entire day slaving away scrubbing and resealing grout with a toothbrush, and painting trim.  In comes my daughter (who is supposed to be in bed, but for some reason needs the stapler RIGHT NOW).  She reached for the stapler, and knocked over my nice glass of red wine right into my keyboard, my iPad, my new white Goodwill sweater that I love, and oh no… right onto the new grouted floor. OH Oh oh.

I can tell you that the stuff he got from Lowes to seal the floor worked like a charm and there is no trace of purple anywhere except my lap, which is still soaked. Happy ending to a nearly disastrous event. The new thing I will learn for today? How to change the keyboard back to english.  I must have hit something while I was drying the mess :ñ 

Mixing Media…I Can't Help It.

Tree Study in Alcohol Ink

Purchase this painting at auction, starts at $15

My college advisor told me that if my art was ever going to be taken seriously I needed to settle down and pick one medium to work in.  He said 'concentrate on one thing, so that you may master it'.  In many ways he was right.  The problem is that I LIKE to work in so many different media.  While it was very good advice given by someone I respected, I am still at odds when I look back.I think it's important, especially for children to realize that artists don't just sit down and whip out masterpieces.  Even the old masters.  

In sixth grade my school had a program called 'Mini Art'.  A random mom would come in with plastic covered prints of a master's works, and tell us about the artist, their work, and their (normally sad) lives.  In my 11 year old mind I thought my desire to be an artist was out of reach, because I couldn't make a masterpiece at all. My hands were never able to create what my brain imagined, no matter how much time I spent or how hard I tried.The part they left out of the 'Mini Art' program and my art education in general, is that no artist gets anywhere without regular, concentrated practice.  Artists screw up every time they work.  That's how art is.  It's a series of practicing adjustments, and keeping the best ones.  As an adult artist I wish someone had told me this when I was very young.

My piece for the day is a sketch in alcohol ink.  It is an attempt to quickly study and work out the kinks before I have to make decisions about creating it in glass, which is my media of choice on most days.  I work in any media I can get my hands on to figure these things out. My college didn't offer glass in it's program, and my advisor has since passed away.  I wish I could tell him that I found the perfect media to claim as my love, but I need the other ones in order to make it work..

Tiniest of Trees for Today

Short and sweet today, I'm up to my eyeballs in orders and piles of glass.  This is a great thing!  These little fused glass sgraffito 'sketches' are tiny, only 2½ x 3½ inches, but they're great for testing color in the kiln without wasting a lot of materials. I've been worrying about my baby fruit trees surviving the cold, so sketches of warm weather trees will do nicely.

Today, Jan.3rd,  I learned that I have to set up my keyboard in order to type the 'half' symbol.  I thought I would be smart and copy/paste one from another site, but alas, it has changed my font size.  Lesson learned. I also tried mint tea for the first time and it's not so bad after all.

These pieces are available for sale in my Daily Paintworks Gallery

Something Old (sort of), and Something New

"As Luck Would Have It", Kiln-formed glass panel.  Kelly Alge ©2013.

This is my entry for Day 2 of Leslie Saeta's '30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge' … I made this 3 months ago, so it isn't exactly old, but it is definitely not something new I suppose.  To truly be in the spirit of this challenge I should have made it today, but life got in the way and I didn't make anything art related.  (boooooo!)  I'll make up for it in the end.

Anyway, in keeping day 2 of my resolution to learn something new everyday, I can tell you that I've learned several new things today…

I learned how many sorts of sutures surgeons have to learn and what each kind is good for the thing you need to suture.  I read about all the different filaments that are used, which ones are strongest in certain situations, and I learned that some of the self-dissolving ones are made from catgut or beef tendons. Interesting.  The patterns and technical knowledge, along with years of practice develop the suturing skills of the physician until he or she can do them perfectly.  Kind of like art, isn't it?  

Two weeks ago today I had hand surgery to correct a tendon problem.  It's healing nicely, and my sutures were actually pretty interesting to look at. Very precisely done, and surprisingly not like any stitches I'd ever seen.  I was supposed to schedule a followup to have them taken out, but instead I got busy with the holidays and such.  Deciding to try to remove them myself,  I found my tiny scissors and tweezers. When I couldn't figure out where the snips should be,  I resorted to the internet.  How many things do you think go wrong when consulting the internet?  This time things went well and I wasn't "left in a stitch".  

Another important lesson from today… as a new user of a smooth cooktop stove, of course I've been freaking out about ruining it somehow.  After I made dinner I carefully squirted the polish on, then put my teakettle on the back burner to heat.  Wrong burner.  When I turned around I noticed that my polish was boiling and the water was not, so in a dash from the sink I instinctively tried to quickly wipe it off with one of my orange dishtowels.  UMMMM… I won't be buying anything but cotton dishtowels from here on out.  That's all for tonight.

Hello 2014, I've been waiting for you!

Welcome to the New Year 2014!

Last night I asked my kids what their New Year's Resolutions were this year.  Each of them replied,"I don't have any". One said it is impossible for her to be changed for the better, she likes herself as she is.    Another said "Why do we have to make resolutions? They're stupid!" followed by a third "I bet you don't have any, and does Daddy have to make some too?" The last one simply said "I'm not doing that".  Okaaay...

My 9 year old caved first and made her list of the requested 5 things she could do to improve herself in 2014.  Her "Revolutions" for 2014 included improving her school work, practicing basketball, and riding her bike every day in the summer.  My 17 yr old is going to write letters to her favorite singer and do 50 pushups each day.   I'm still waiting on the other two to come up with something before the night ends...

As for myself, there are many things I'd like to change for this next twirl of the world.  I'm definitely not doing pushups or trying to play basketball (I am nearly 6 ft. tall, can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, and I'm still happy:) 

Here are some things I'd like to get better at this time around… and a quote.

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
Pablo Picasso

 
I'll make a concentrated effort to learn something new each day, and document it.

I'll look for the positive in every person in every situation, and remove myself from the negative.

I'll trust God over myself.

I'll spend more time listening to others.

I'll waste less time on things that aren't important.

For January 1st,  as silly as it seems,  I tried to make homemade tortilla chips with limited success.  I also learned how to take care of the orchid and bonsai tree I got for Christmas from my husband, and read all about how not to kill the poinsettia I have slowly strangled for the last two weeks.  Fertilizer in hand, I hope Jan. 2nd brings some perk in everyone.  I'm going to participate in Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days again this year, but instead of working in oil, I'll be "frit painting" with glass so I don't get behind in my regular art job.  I learned so much from participating in this challenge last year, I'm really happy to be able to do it again.  Best to all of you!  ~Kelly