Red Swan Studio: Flowers, Snow and Christmas Trees!

At the tail end of my assignment in Alaska, the snows were heavy and daylight slanted through a small 5-hour window each day. But you can find beauty anywhere and watching the snow march down the majestic mountains was amazing. As an artist, I appreciated the muted colors of the sky from silver gray to powder blue to pastel pinks, purples, and oranges. If I had been a painter...hahaha.

In Fall and Winter of 2016, I expanded out from making stained glass birdies to creating fused glass pieces and this one may have been my first fused glass piece (terrible pic, sorry). My son loves gardening, so I made a potted plant/flower for him to hang in his window. This is a small piece and the flowers are made from tiny shards of glass. Shown after tack fusing, which still leaves texture.

Pretty soon, though, snow began to blanket the ground and delightful ornaments were so fun to make! The Christmas trees were done in December 2016, just as I was moving out of Alaska. The other ornaments were in December 2017 back in Tennessee (snowflake and candy canes shown prior to firing; Christmas trees tack fused).

Putting AK in the rear view, I believe it was zero the day I left. Despite the cold, I found it astonishingly beautiful in the winter.