Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

                                 Langston Hughes

I'm all about the Bucket list lately.
Dreams fulfilled.
Have you noticed?

The latest one was a glass class, which I took with three great friends.
We ruled the class.
Rowdy, we were.
It was a cast glass class, which wasn't my first choice, but the fused glass class conflicted with the trip to England.
So cast glass it was.

It was fantastic fun and I learned a lot. My creations look like third grade art projects, but I'm being kind to myself and calling them "garden art".

Here's Lori, showing off her "quilt fan" tile.

Her hubby, Elijah, liked the idea so much he stole it and ramped it up a notch.

No sense of ethics, that boy!

Then she made some stained glass sun tiles.

Which I copycatted too. 

Where would we be without Lori's creativity?

She's a true Ninja crafter.

The evilly-grinning sun design is cut out of a thick papery medium and creates an indented relief after firing.

Lori's sister, Colleen, helped me cut the glass.

I carved this design out of plaster of paris. 

Not my favourite process.

Black-eyed Susans.

The circle-cutting tool.

Mastery of this process gives one a feeling of self-satisfaction.

These glass chunks are from a tile that I had made from several layers of colour. When turned on their side and fired again, they were supposed to turn into puddles of swirled colour. The finished result wasn't what I had hoped for, as they were too close together and didn't swirl, so I'm still working on this one. 

Our last batch of treasures, waiting to be fired.

This was my first effort. Another cut-out pattern.

It is imperfect, like me. 

Note the little red spot, that must have sneaked in with the clear frit.

See how handily I sneaked in that word?

Frit.

Tiny chunks of glass.

Feel free to use it any time.

I like how it looks when I hold it up to my Solatube.

Jeff wanted to know if the flower centres were raisins.

So, the three classes were fun and a learning experience for me. I decided that cast glass is probably not my preferred method, so at some point I will take a fused glass class. I did learn some good basic techniques for working with glass and had some entertaining times with my friends, so it was definitely worth the money. 

And I just discovered Langston Hughes poetry.

Another one?

I thought you'd never ask!

Helen Keller

She,

In the dark,

Found light

Brighter than many ever see.

She,

Within herself,

Found loveliness,

Through the soul's own mastery.

And now the world receives

From her dower:

The message of the strength

Of inner power.