Kay Lodahl Glass Art and Watercolor Painting

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...

Bet there are a lot of people wishing they could swim under water about now!! Particularly in the Pacific Northwest. My gosh, I don't think I have ever heard about it being that hot there. The humidity must be much like Houston, Texas, as I remember it on a stormy summer day. I still am burning glass when I can. I am fortunate enough to have air conditioning in my shop.. spoiled aren't I?!! But when I don't feel like playing with fire, I find watercolor painting a relaxing relief. This is a piece we did in class. I have seen the picture somewhere but this is my own rendition and I am liking it.. This boy was done on my own. The background reminds me of the hills in California where I was born. I am working on making some greeting cards using these two pictures and perhaps some others I have done. Maybe a floral set coming soon....

Okay. Totally boring to most of the world, but this is fun news for my family and friends. Meet Christian Odin Lodahl, two weeks old in this picture. It is the first time we have seen him. Mike looks pretty happy.. this is the first grandson on his side. Little Odie was crying but Mike took him in his arms and walked him.. hasn't lost his touch. It is what Odie needed and was soon quiet and calm... look at how tiny he looks. What a joy...

Garden shots.... Bee Balm. The plant is about 5 foot tall and 5 foot wide. The bees are happy Forgot what these are, maybe a straw flower family member? They are so bright and cheery. Notice how the color doesn't blend from brown to yellow like most flowers would. Almost a direct line. Unique. These would be fun to do a watercolor painting, perhaps. This part has a covered roof but the evening sun comes in so we installed these drop down shades which help a lot and withstand the late summer breezes we get through here. Do you like our little wood stove? It is actually a functioning item. We have it hooked up to a propane tank under the deck and use it when it gets cool. We just open the door after the iron gets hot. No ashes or smoke in your eyes and hair. To the left is the hot tub which doesn't show in the picture, so a privacy panel was installed as there is a neighbor way out across the field. I didn't want to scare them off!! (actually I do but that will n

This is the latest watercolor project I was working on. I am thinking I am liking it although landscapes are my subject of choice.

and look what the kiln gods gave me... yes, I made my own beachglass. With a bottle of gin. Drinking it was the fun part then breaking it up into pieces was almost just as fun! now to present a question. a beautiful, aqua transparent beachglass. All of these are no bigger than pendant size pieces but I am thinking they can be used also in mosaic art for a transparent type item such as a votive or candle holder of sorts. My original intent was for wire wrapping pendants. So how do I sell them? Need more thought. The piece below is an experimental color that has proven quite pretty ..made with the same colors as the beads in a previous post. A lovely raspberry almost transparent piece with swirls of lavender blues...

This is behind the house last year. You can see the deck was just put up and if you look at the top of this picture, that is where the lavender garden is now. Same garden here but one year old this summer. All creeping thymes, ornamental grasses, drought and deer tolerant. The posts have been installed for the pergola on the deck. This is the lavender garden just south of the house with a dry river bed along the right side of the picture. An old single plow as a yard ornament behind the ash tree. Ground covered in red cinder rock and all the rocks surrounding the gardens are from a big pile in one of our fields. My handsome, talented, everworking husband installing the beams on the pergola. Almost done. Just need to add the 2x2's now for additional shade... my job is to hand things up to him to avoid up and down on the ladder.... and then come the grapes!! He has all the railings up now for the deck and pergola. Turned out to be a very nice sanctuary. Look how tall those

Got some torching time in last night. Made a trip over to the West Side and paid a visit to Momka's Glass. So what do you think of this color? I love it... Am thinking a good name for it might be Raspberry... The blues you see come naturally when clear is added to the mix and then it is struck in the flame. Oh my. And I love raspberries!!! This tube has a frit mix on the surface of the raspberry and under the clear.