April Flowers

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 April brings lots of new flowers to our mountain gardens. The bleeding heart is in the faery garden next to the woods. It is home to a few faery garden statues.

 The poet's daffodil is a very old flower. I brought a few from the Episcopal rectory which was built in the early 1900's before 1916. It is quite fragrant.

 Threat of frost this evening which always seems to happen when the lilac begin to bloom.

                                     We planted five of these in the woods. Three are blooming.

                 Wild jasmine, a native plant,  grows with the tulip poplars in a wooded garden area.

 When the Asheville Botanical Center had a plant sale, I purchased this yellow wood poppy several years ago. The deer and bunnies nibbled it to the stem last spring. Even the hostas are okay. I am using grated Irish Spring soap again this year and garlic powder.

 These daffodils are just some of the bulbs I ordered in the fall from a company that specializes in bulbs from Holland. The bulbs were very large and often had three or bulblets attached to the mother bulb. The success rate was amazing. As soon as I find the catalog, I will share the information with you.

      Yellow primroses purchased from the Southwest Virginia Museum's annual plant sale.

     Some of the first flowers planted here and hiding in the daffodils near an old stump.

          These tiny flowers are some of the sweetest smelling in the front gardens.Iris will be blooming                soon. The critters ate the few tulip bulbs. Saw a lily poking its head up near the greenhouse.


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What a difference a day makes!

The day after the election. Being in a swing state, our telephone has been ringing quite a bit. And, they leave messages. The fog settled in most of the day. With the chill in the air and the fog, seemed like a nice day to settle into the studio.I have been etching numbers on the back of the limited edition of twelve holiday ornaments for Artisans of the Gap.I also made several new pieces of glass art which are in the kiln.

 Around five o'clock  the sunlight changes.  The mountains begin to glow. You can see just a bit of it in the clouds. I have noticed it along the side of the house where all the leaves lie. They become a golden brown.

 The light is almost a orange golden soft glow. Even now, the clouds and fog are swirling together blending red, orange, vanilla cream, pink, rose, and grey against the blue sky. Well, there is not so much blue sky as the grey clouds are beginning to mass.

Rainbow Hued Blue Fused Glass Bird Plate

 Saturday, I listened to a baker of very good bread at our local Farmer's Market. He talked to me about the beauty of glass, especially blue glass. Blue is his favorite color he told me. We had been talking about the red and white glass plate I made with the copper birds at the time. The conversation and the look on his face provided me with creative inspiration.

 I had some Bullseye Rainbow Hued glass in the studio. I very carefully made a template of the mold. I carefully cut out the blue glass and the clear glass using the template. I used copper foil for the birds. I got so excited about the plate I emailed him.

Don't you just marvel at how light plays off of the glass? All the photos were taken outside in the same space in the yard. The first photo is on a white sheet of paper. The second photo, I held the plate off the paper cropping my hands out of the photo. The third, I placed the plate in the grass. I also used one of the special effects of Picassa so that the photo glowed a bit around the edges. What do you think of the new plate?

Fall in the Air

The mums are blooming all over the yard. We planted these the very first year we moved to the Valley. They are by far the bushiest and most healthy. 

 I have been creating quite a bit lately with gemstone nuggets. I took off my necklace just to see how it would   look against the gravels. The dragonfly was from an artist friend, Gena from France. The necklace is made of  moonstone and amythest stones. The moonstone seems to glow against the grey of the gravel.

 This was the only butterfly that I could have reached out and touched. Did not seem to be in the least bothered with me and the camera.

 Japanese anomoe cascading in near the door of the studio. Those are bits of leaves laying in front of the door. Lots more of those to come as the days began to get cooler.

The swallowtail butterflies enjoy the butterfly bushes in front of the house. The house in the photo is the house across the road.  The trees are just as tall as the ones in our yard and lots of them as well. This is a very quiet  mountain country road that dead ends just a bit beyond our house.

Butterflies and Glass Art

 The tiger swallowtail butterflies are flittering everywhere on the butterfly bushes. These are just two of what seem like dozens flying around. Right after taking the photo, one of the butterflies joined with two others and flew into what seemed like a spiral dance catching a bit of the wind. Then, just as quickly, they flew away one by one to find a flower.

 It has been so rainy here. The air was thick with humidity and the sky covered with clouds when I strolled out into the back yard. In the fall, we broke apart a large butterfly bush to move it. This was one of several smaller bushes growing near the mother plant. I planted one on each side of the garden out the back door. They are now over seven feet tall. In between the butterfly bushes are hosta, herbs, and a few flowers.

The Japanese Anemone are just beginning to bloom. This beauty is right next to the door of the studio. It is covered in tight buds just waiting to open. Seems a bit early, as they usually bloom in the coolness of the fall. But then, this has been an unusual spring and summer with lots of rain.

With all the birds, the full moon, stars glowing, I created this plate this weekend. The bird and stars are formed from copper foil. If anyone is interested in any of the art glass or jewelry, just let me know.