Koi Pond Shade

I completed this shade just before Christmas and decided to wait to post it---so as not to wreck a surprise! It measures 16" square and is on a heavy mission style table base.

Hidden Benefits of a Heat Wave

When it's too hot out to do anything else there are two things I like to do.

1. Sit in the basement with the spiders and play computer solitaire.

2. Work in the shop. 

Working in the shop has been almost as cool as the basement. There are probably half the amount of spiders and it proves to be a lot more productive. My list of projects is long.... maybe longer than the heat wave. 

A Tribute to the Army

I had the honor to construct three military themed lamp shades for our retired Army friend, Bob, who lives in Georgia.

Bob was married to my dear departed friend Betty. She started as my best friend's mom in the 60's and then ended up being an integral part of the Studio Works family. We worked, laughed, cried and played together for twelve years and beyond the studio years until she died in 2005.

So, long story short, Bob called me to arrange to have these shades made. Two shades are the same. One for him and one for his crew chief and the last one was designed to be donated to his military reunion auction next year.

This project has been on the drawing board for several months as I dreamed about how to replicate the military badges and service patches in miniature and in the right colors. The result was achieved by first making black and white art work of each element. The design was then transfered to a sandblast stencil and deeply etched onto the glass panels. After the panels were washed I filled in the depressions with black first and then painted in the individual colors. The panels were then baked in the oven to set the paint into a permanent state and the rest of the regular stained glass soldering took place.

It was an interesting project as I learned to use new techniques and tools.