what to do when your workshop is down...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so by my calculations I have almost three months of fondness coming from readers of this blog.

My hiatus from glass has been caused by the construction of an expanded workshop. I became tool-centric this past year and absolutely needed to add a sandblaster and a wet angle grinder to my bag of tricks. Yippee, we are almost there -- just awaiting arrival of the monster air compressor that will make those tools operate with the efficiency of the Pilchuck coldworking room.

Meanwhile, I tried my hand at painting with smoke, inspired by the strange and compelling geological formations at Plaza Blanca, New Mexico. Here is my initial attempt:

I have in mind some application to glassworks, but that process is still percolating,

Meanwhile, to whet my art-appetite, my husband and I undertook to redesign our front yard. Nasty raccoons made a meal of the last of the goldfish in our pond, and faced with the prospect of providing fodder for the local foragers or just getting rid of the pond, the latter seemed the logical option.

The drought made that decision easy. The pond and waterfall consumed water, a forbidden enterprise in these parts. So, here is the new space. I will be making glass to suspend from the black frames (design yet undecided). Cables can be used to stablize the glass. Who knows whether the Santa Ana winds will destabilize the cable system...

We had a grand time designing and building this. The stone in front has a recirculating pump (read:water saver). Plants are all succulents.