Day 10: ELEGANCE

elegance

noun  el·e·gance   \ˈe-li-gən(t)s\

1. 1a  :  refined grace or dignified propriety :  urbanityb  :  tasteful richness of design or ornamentation <the sumptuous elegance of the furnishings>c  :  dignified gracefulness or restrained beauty of style :  polish <the essay is marked by lucidity, wit, and elegance>d  :  scientific precision, neatness, and simplicity <the elegance of a mathematical proof>

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DAY 5: COMMUNICATION

Bits of sound and data: conception, transmission, reception, return...

communication

  noun  com·mu·ni·ca·tion   \kə-ˌmyü-nə-ˈkā-shən\

• The act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to transmitor exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else.
1. 2a  :  information transmitted or conveyedb  :  a verbal or written message
2. 3a  :  a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a  common system of symbols, signs, or behavior < the function of pheromones in insect communication >

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Day 4: CHAOS

chaos

noun  cha·os   \ˈkā-ˌäs\

: complete confusion and disorder : a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything.

Chaos is running rampant through my house right now! Everyone is back to school and work tomorrow, and life will settle back down to our 'normal' level of chaos... Haha.
If you're like me and enjoy a bit of trivial 'word nerd' fun, check this out from the lovely folks at Merriam-Webster.com:  How a Word for a Void Came to Mean a Confused MassA mad dash, a big scrum, a muddled jumble — all of it could be described with one word: chaos. Our most common uses of chaos today imply either a confused mass or jumble of things, or a state of utter confusion. But when chaos first entered English, it referred to the inverse of confusion: chaos first referred to a void.

The English word chaos is borrowed from the Greek word that means "abyss." In ancient Greece, Chaos was originally thought of as the abyss or emptiness that existed before things came into being, and then the word chaos was used to refer to a specific abyss: the abyss of Tartarus, the underworld. When the word chaos first came into English in the 1400s, this sense was the one that was first attested to.
Later, in the 1600s, there was renewed interest in the Classical authors, and that's when chaos gained its more familiar sense. Ovid, the great Roman thinker, thought of chaos as not a formless void from which all things were made, but as a formless, jumbled, disorganized mass. English speakers borrowed this meaning of chaos, then broadened it into the word we recognize today: one that denotes utter confusion or disorganization.

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Day 3: GENEROSITY

generosity

noun  gen·er·os·i·ty   \ˌje-nə-ˈrä-sə-tē, -ˈräs-tē\

: the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish : the quality of being generous; especially : willingness to give money and other valuable things to others.

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I want to answer a few questions that have come up, and apologize again for the 'technical difficulties' of the first few days of the challenge.  Hopefully we'll all be on the same page from here on out and all of our computer/tech demons will evacuate!
First, I'd like to re-state the purpose of the challenge and give a few tips for how to approach it.  Keep in mind that it is daily exercise that will help you develop new habits and encourage you to experiment, seeing things in a new, abstract way. 
Abstraction is difficult for most people, (including me!)  Our instinct as humans is to name and categorize all things in order to better understand them, and then represent them using familiar symbols.  In these exercises, I am giving you a word that cannot be easily depicted with familiar symbols. The definition of the word will satisfy our human need to use other words to describe it.  The next step is to dive in and decide how it can be described by using a visual language.  For example:
Today's word is GENEROSITY.: the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish : the quality of being generous; especially : willingness to give money and other valuable things to others.
The word's definition gives me some things to work with...Of course it's my first instinct to think about kindness, money, lack of greed, and peaceful, amicable giving.  Maybe even joyful giving?  My mind wanders to things that are opposite, words like miserly, stingy, etc. Then, I begin to ask myself "What 'things' do I value that would show generosity if I freely gave them away? How do I decide what is valuable enough? You know, crazy questions like that.  Bear with me...

To fully understand GENEROSITY, I have to break the definition down to the tiny parts I can relate to on a personal level. 

The next step is to consider the challenge: Using only black powdered glass and whatever tools I can come up with, how can I convey the depth of the meaning of GENEROSITY to someone who has never known the word? Without actually drawing something familiar?  
 Everyone's interpretation will be different, (and this is where the fun truly lies!) You can say so much by using only shapes, contrast, line, pattern, texture, etc.  To me, representing something I find valuable would likely look heavy and dark.   I might show that by using thick layers of black or dark shapes.  The act of  'being willing to give away something valuable to me' might be characterized with flowing lines holding up the 'heavy valuable' shape to be taken by any random person (shown again through line, shape, contrast, pattern, etc.) Your vision of how something valuable would look will likely be completely and entirely different from mine, as would your interpretation of the word GENEROSITY.

Abstract nouns are words that can't be identified using the 5 senses, and each day you'll get a new one!
 Your job is to use black powdered glass in a way that describes to your viewers what you believe GENEROSITY looks like, smells like, feels like, tastes like, and sounds like.

I hope this helps those of you who are struggling... It's something that takes exercise for sure!  I purposely did not post my sgraffito drawing for today because I want all of you to take a new, fresh look at the challenge without a pre-conceived notion of what your entries should look like.  (I'm sure that by now you realize your entry should not look like an open palm holding a square gift box with a ribbon on top, handed down by a silhouette of a smiling face, right?)
I'll post photos down the road!

Day 2: EFFULGENCE

effulgence

Day 2:  Effulgence.  I love this word!  When I think about examples of effulgence in this world, I picture the tiny reflections of the sky on water, an angel's face, neat and intricate rays... Optical illusions...

 noun. ef·ful·gence \i-ˈfu̇l-jən(t)s, e-, -ˈfəl-\
Definition of effulgence:  radiant splendor :  brilliance

I'm glad to see a few of you posting your entry from yesterday's "Comfort" Challenge!  If you are having trouble with posting your photos on the blog, please drop me a note either by private message on FB or by email: Kelly@ModernAncientGlass.com.  I don't always see every post on the Sgraffito group page.  Thank you to last year's Pro's who are helping the new folks figure it out too!  It took me awhile to get back into the groove of figuring out the whole blog posting thing too.    Remember that you can have each daily challenge sent to you by email if you click 'Follow by Email' on the sidebar of the blog post.  Forward we go!

  

Day 1: Comfort

Comfort

: a state or situation in which you are relaxed and do not have any physically unpleasant feelings caused by pain, heat, cold, etc.

: a state or feeling of being less worried, upset,frightened, etc. during a time of trouble or emotional pain.

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I chose to use a rough, fuzzy-textured round shape, with extended 'protective sides'.  Also, I liked that the surround is the shape of the letter 'c' and the round shape is like an 'o', two letters in the word Comfort.

NEW 30 in 30 Glass Sgraffito Challenge!

ab·stract

adjective

abˈstrakt,ˈabˌstrakt/

1. 

existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

"abstract concepts such as love or beauty"

Welcome to the 2016 

Fused Glass Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge!

This year's Challenge is a series of 30 SHORT Warm-Up Exercises to get your Fused Glass Glass Sgraffito Drawings off to a good start in the New Year.

  

Each 10-20 minute exercise is designed to help you 'think outside the box', while experimenting with black powdered glass. The best part? We'll all learn from each other while beginning the year with some good creative fun!

Here is how it will work.  Each day I'll give you a word (an Abstract Noun, to be precise) along with it's definition. We all know that a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.  Abstract nouns are intangible, and do not have a physical or concrete existence.  In other words, you can't detect them by using your 5 senses; you cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or physically touch them. 

Your job is to use black powdered glass (or other powdered substance) to create an abstract description of the word.  Break it down to its basic parts and have fun!

Try to avoid using recognizable symbols, letters, or objects.  For example, the word LOVE may remind you of hearts, X's and O's, lips, etc.  Instead of using these symbolic reminders, think about how love FEELS... Is it light and airy? Heavy and dark? It depends on the kind of love you're talking about, right?  Perhaps you view love as something complicated.  How can you describe this concept to someone using only black powders? There are no right or wrong answers to the problem, and I think it will be interesting to see the similarities and differences in our interpretations. 

Things to consider:  How will this word influence the way you decide to apply and remove powder? What kinds of lines, textures, shapes, values, spaces does the word lend itself to? Will they be sharp, smooth, flowing, choppy, long, short, fast, slow, intricate, or simple?  

When you finish your drawing, please post your photo in your album on the Facebook Group page, and also attach it here on the blog post so everyone can see!  **Just as a reminder, when you attach your photo to the blog, you'll need a URL address for the photo.  All you have to do is post it to Facebook first, then click on the search bar and copy/paste the photo's URL into the blue link box here :) It sounds complicated, but after the first try it wil be a piece of cake!

Day 31: Show Off Time, Your 30 in 30 Review!

To all of the 2015 Fused Glass Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge Artists who have completed all 30 days of the challenge...

You have done what seemed impossible,

and your hard work has paid off!  

As Nelson Mandela said, "it always seems impossible until it's done". 

Mr. Mandela was speaking of peace, of course, but for those of you who have completed this seemingly impossible challenge will certainly relate to his wise words.  

 Your work is beautiful and you've improved so much during this normally dismal January.  

I applaud you in your efforts to learn a new skill and start the year off with lots of creativity and fearlessness about the unknown.

Now is the time to post your collage of the pieces you did this month so we can all see your progress!  

If you have trouble creating your collage, please look at yesterday's post for instructions on how to create one.

Although this is the 'official end' of this challenge, I think there are more plans in the works... It is going to be hard for me to just 'quit' when so many of you have given so much of yourselves to participate in this first time endeavor.

If you didn't get a chance to begin the challenge, now is YOUR  time for you to 'get busy'.  You can start at the very beginning and complete the challenges as you go.   To get the most from your efforts, start at the beginning and take each challenge in sequence.  Please post your efforts on the blog page by following the link at the end of each post.  If you would like to join the challenge you can sign up any time through Facebook by clicking the link.

Those of you who have participated, please keep working!  This is not the end, your journey in fused glass powder drawing is only just beginning.  I am sure of it.

I would like to thank this January's participants for your gifts of encouragement towards one another and for

'Playing nice in the sandbox'. 

It is absolutely COMMENDABLE that I did not have to intervene even one time to break up snarky posts and fix hurt feelings.   Hurray to all of you who have been SO AWESOME in participating while encouraging and helping one another without any BS.  I love that. 

You have all made this a project worth doing, and I can't thank you enough for being kind and encouraging  friends toward one another throughout this entire month. 

 That in itself makes it worth it to me to have begun this challenge.

Love to all of you!  ~Kelly

Add your 30 Day Collage Here!

It's Day 30, Congratulations to All of YOU!!

DAY 30 HAS ARRIVED, CONGRATULATIONS 
2015 FUSED GLASS SGRAFFITO ARTISTS!!

The First Ever Fused Glass Powder Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge is now ending, but that doesn't mean that you should stop making small efforts each day to complete SOMETHING!

 I enjoy the daily challenges (and even the frustrations) that go along with working in glass powders, and I've had a really great time working along with you during our 30 days together.  It is sad that the end is at hand, but:

Today is the day to post your gorgeous self-portraits!  

Alas, mine is not finished... I took a 'selfie' and then got insanely busy.

If yours is not finished it's OK... life happens and you can finish it over the weekend and still post it here.

Tomorrow, for Day 31:   I'll put up a link so you can share a collage of your work from the challenge.  
How might one go about making a photo collage, you might ask?.... read on!
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Here are some free websites that you can use to create a collage of your 30 in 30 challenge pieces.  It's really neat to see the progress you've all made, and WOW what progress it has been!  A visual record of everything you've created this month will be a fun thing to share.

The first one is PicMonkey.  

You can connect your photos from Facebook (and I KNOW everyone has their challenge photos ready to go on FB.  ha ha)  
Here is what the screen will look like after you hit 'collage'

The second site you can look at is for everyone who likes Instagram.  If you haven't used it before you should check it out, and then check out Flipagram, which is even betterl!  All of these options work easily and well with Facebook. 

Here is what you'll find on Flipagram.

Post your collage tomorrow, and we'll talk about what happens next :)
Great day to everyone, and THANK YOU for all your hard work this month!

Link your Self-Portrait Here

Day 28: Fused Glass Powder Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge

Today is Day 28... only one more challenge to go...

Today's challenge is to post your finished 

Albert Einstein Drawing. 

They are looking absolutely fantastic!  

You should all be so proud of yourselves.

 Today I'm posting my drawing of a girl, Jeanne Hebuterne; partly because I think it will help you to see how deep I make the black powder in the darkest areas before firing a drawing,

and partly because I've always loved this photo and I didn't feel like drawing Einstein.  lol

Here's a little history about Jeanne...

She was born in Paris in 1898. As a child, she loved to draw, and later pursued a career in painting.  In her late teens, she began modeling for some of the many sculptors and painters working in Montparnasse.  At nineteen, she was introduced to Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian Painter living in Paris.  They fell in love and became inseparable.  He painted many portraits of Jeanne in the three years they spent together, and she painted at least one portrait of him.

Jeanne's parents weren't too keen on the relationship.  He was fourteen years older than she...Jeanne's family were devout Catholics, Modigliani, a Jew....   Certainly, they didn't want their daughter hanging out with a guy who was smoking, drinking, and drugging himself into a complete human disaster, either... but that's another story.

They became engaged but were never married because of the family differences...  They had a daughter together in 1917, and Jeanne became pregnant again shortly after.  Money was tight. They traded work for food and an apartment, but never got ahead of his drug problems. He was picked up by an agent who arranged his only solo art exhibit, only to have the show closed because it wasn't acceptable to show huge nudes in the storefronts... 

Just as he began to gain popularity and see some success in selling his work, Modigliani's health quickly deteriorated. He had been hiding the fact that he had tuberculosis, and coupled with his lifestyle, he became ill very quickly and died rather suddenly on January 24, 1920.  After the funeral the next day, Jeanne's parents, relieved that the relationship had ended, gave her no choice but to bring her daughter and come home to live with them.  She was 8 months pregnant.  When they arrived at her parent's home, Jeanne was so distraught that she threw herself from the 5th floor window and committed suicide.

Modigliani, painted by Jeanne Hebuterne

Jeanne Hebuterne, painted by Amedeo Modigliani

The story is sad and the images haunting, but I dearly love looking at them.  So many beautifully talented artists live tragic lives and never see the fulfillment of their life's work...

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Onward to positive things now!  I want to give you a little hint to help you get ready for the final challenge, for Days 29 and 30...  Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.

The final challenge is going to be a self-portrait.  I KNOW you don't want to do it, but please do.  It can be very simple or very complex, serious or silly, but~

your drawing must include your face.  

A self-portrait can be a beautiful expression of you as a person, and on the final day of the challenge, I'd love for you to look yourself in the eye and say I DID IT.

Use your phone or a camera to take a black and white selfie.  To get good contrast, I stood by a window and let the ever-gray Ohio sky light my face from one side.  Overcast days are the best for taking black and whites!  

Charge on Sgraffito-ers!

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 27: Words of Wisdom and a New Inspiration

'I am the artist's model."  ~Albert Einstein

We are almost to the end of the 30 in 30 Challenge, only four more drawings to do... 

It's a little sad, isn't it?

Looking back at the photos of drawings you all did in the first week, I can hardly believe the difference in what you've been able to accomplish.  I hope you're seeing it too!

Today's challenge is going to feel impossible at first.

They all start out that way, but I have faith that you can do it!

The daily challenges leading up to this day have prepared you.  You're ready!

The challenge for Day 27 & 28  (I think you know what it is).....

Create a fused glass powder sgraffito drawing of our model, Albert.

(here is the space where I'll let you have that mini-panic attack and then catch your breath)

^)(#*&%_)@(*#_%()*_#*(&Y*(&^_(*@&!#^@&$%&*)(#*%&!+_)^*()!#&%&*#(^_@(*&^^

deep breaths, deep breaths

Here are some hints that will help you in your approach:

Begin your drawing upside-down.  Squint your eyes and look for the areas that are the darkest darks and the lightest lights.  Get the rough shapes of those areas in first.    Next, think about the tools you've created and the textures you've been able to make with them.

As you work, take photos of your portrait in progress.  This will help you figure out where problem areas are.  You will have two days to complete this project, so post an 'in progress' photo for today, and a photo of your completed piece for tomorrow.  

You have everything you need, use everything in your arsenal!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm behind on my painting challenge... I'll have to bust them out at the last minute (as usual!)

Here is one for today.  Alcohol ink on Yupo.