Kay Lodahl Glass Art and Watercolor Painting

I can't imagine what it must feel like to have someone close to you in the service right now. The anxiety of the wives, children and parents, and the stress of hoping you don't get that "visit" or "phone call" (though I would hope the service would care more than to just call about something like this!) My heart goes out to all the families and servicemen serving right now. And my thanks to all those that have served. You were sooooo brave. A great big HUG to all of you!!! This is my husband, Michael, during the Vietnam war in about 1968. He was 20 years old. Dong Ha, Vietnam War 1968. Never knowing what the next hour may have in store for you! This is my Dad during his naval stint during WWII. I am not sure what year this picture was taken but I would imagine he is about 20 years old and am thinking that was 60 years ago!

Last week was an unusual one but lots of fun. I spent a week with my best friend, Karen, in her hometown of Sequim. A very, fast growing little burg on the other side of the waters of Seattle. I was greeted with the damp atmosphere the west coast is noted for, thus cleaning out my sinuses but Sequim hardly received any actual rainfall as the surrounding areas were swamped. Mike stayed home and tended the homefront. He was entertained by several of our friends and, of course, Ruby Ann shadowed him where ever he went. Karen's hubby went hunting for almost two weeks so us girls had a grand time. Both of us torch glass and this trip, I showed Karen how to use her kiln to fuse glass. She is totally inspired now and having, also, showed her that she can do borosilicate glass with her torch and kiln, she now has bigger horizons to explore. We managed to make a big mess every day, in some form or another. A couple days of rubber stamping, watercolors, crocheting, shopping, Casino ...

I decided that doing florals in softglass is a challenge but found out doing them in boro is even more challenging!! But look at this! It is about one inch wide.. l boro.... Wahoo...

I actually put something up on Ebay this am. I haven't done that for two years now. Boy, they have made some changes... my sunshine set.. clicking on the picture should take you to the listing....

I have been experimenting some more with this technique. These projects came from the kiln. The halo gold really speaks to me but some of the other lustres, I am still exploring..

I watched Dorian make this little guy. He is hanging in my studio for inspiration!! Lots of detail in him including his tummy. Tummy is made with dichro glass encased with clear...

this is a not too uncommon scene from my cousin's place in Ketchikan.. Their house is to the left of the red one.

I love feedback ... be it good or bad...

It is made with Bullseye glass rods..

The pictures in this portfolio are of the lake we live on. We don't have waterfront property, but we do walk to and ride our horses down to this lake. The Lake is visible from our little ranch and right now the fall colors are coming to full bloom. Beautiful aspens quaking in the breeze outside the big picture windows in the back of our house. Every year there is a Poker Paddle and it is a lot of fun. The lake is about 3 1/3 miles long. For the pictures, check out the link above... or here. Eloika Lake

Karen is visiting from Sequim. We are both flameworking artists.. After the initial visiting and catching up on things.. we spent time just putzing with glass and putting things together.. The first part of the day we are going to Ione.. a little town up north where another flameworker resides. Peggy Rose does awesome glass art and is sharing her time with us. We love networking!! Here are some pictures of some of my last pieces... some fused plates and the first one is a candle tea light holder my DH made for me from an old fence post...

At the end of this ride, we have to pass by a latte stand to get home. We thought we might get in line at the drive-up window?? :-) Cheryl & me. Cheryl, me, Nancy and Mike Waiting in the latte line behind a car that was probably scared one of those "beasts" was going to run over her car... or maybe she didn't even notice.. she was on the cell phone all the time we were there.!

This guy rocks.. turn on the sound and get ready to boogie!! Tommy Johnson on YouTube..

I took a class this weekend on the art of traditional stained glass painting. Better known as enamels on glass.. such as the old style church windows... a permanent form of painting on glass. The class was with Sherry Yost, a great artist and even better person! Her website is www.lostartoriginals.com These three items are the results of my endeavors. I have yet to add some additional colors to these but this is the beginning of the process. Each one of these pieces has been fired twice already to 1250 degrees. And I got to use my new kiln... which did wunerful wunerful!!!

These were shaped with the help of a glass tool called the Ruffler. They are sooo much fun to make. The size is about 1 1/2 inches or so in diameter.. And I am so psyched. My new kiln came. A Paragon BlueBirdXL. I love it! The controller is so user friendly.

First here is a softglass set of lentil discs. Great for a bracelet, perhaps... Second set is borosilicate glass of many colors. A textured swirled pendant with matching cubes. They are so pretty in real life....

I love the colors on these.. Put them up for sale on my Etsy site.

These are all made with an 1/8th inch mandrel so they might be appealing to those doing hemp cord necklaces or bracelets..

Dorian and his friend Jeremy came over yesterday and we played with glass. This pendant is gorgeous. Dorian did it and I am really impressed with the detail in it. The color blue isn't quite that bright, mostly darker like Blue Lightning or Blue Moon or something. It is gold fumed on the back side and has a lovely pink gold color showing through.. and look at the little blue design in the center. Yummy piece!! Thanks so much, Dorian. These next two pictures of boro beads are pressed with the Kalera press and the colors are reflecting a lot of silver. I love these!! It will be hard to part with them. Some are with soft glass and some of the barrels are boro. Hafta make more... huh. This really nice piece was mad by Dorian for me. Yup Yup Yup. It is a business card holder. That guy amazes me. It was a great day.

Get a load of this real treasure we picked up for $25.00 Can't believe it. What a jewel and it works. Will wire brush it and apply some stove black then I think it will sit by my studio door on the covered deck. Probably put a plant on it. Found this blogsite and great story while researching the model which I date back to the turn of the century. Goodtime Stove Co .

I have been practicing making these little jewels. The technique is so different than making mandrel beads. It is blown glass art. Shaping has to be the most difficult but with practice, that should come easier. Details in the glass really make these little treasures so I am working on those additions. The one on the right was the very first one.

I loved the technique it takes to do this. Lots of fun.. I couldn't get the picture cropped straight but this isn't a juried blog!!

Aw, what a treasure it is. Peggy Rose made this bead doing a demo. I think it is absolutely gorgeous!! And Peggy gave me this little prize.. I love her!! This woman loves her glass. She is a joy to be around. And her husband is soo supportive of interests. He is a jewel... Janelle made this at the torch. Bullseye glass. She said I get to keep it!! It is a keeper! I traded a necklace for this unique pendant Dorian brought to the event. This guy can sure do wonders with glass. The pendant is huge. It will be fun to where to that special event... And this little guy now lives in my house. Traded him with Davey and what you see next to him is a set of three really pretty little texture florals Davey gave to me. More really appreciated little treasures. Thanks, everyone, for making this special day just that much more memorable. I know Janelle will remember it for sure...

And it is more gorgeous in person. Dorian is a great lampwork and furnace glass artist. I feel so fortunate to know him. He has also shown me some great techniques to improve my own skills. This piece is made with Momka's Blue Lightning. The whole piece, except the white and clears of course. Look how the colors on the body of the glass fade from purples to greens.. I played with this color tonight and was amazed. I had no idea what it was capable of doing. And I have had a pound of it for two years now!! Wait till you see the beads I made.. will post them at another time since they are in the kiln right now...