No Surface Is Safe

No surface is safe

Lynde Mott presented “What we  learn from Jane Austen” I love her presentations but my mind wanders. There is so much to see in her home. No surface is left untouched by her creative hand. The Nauvoo room takes me on a virtual tour of Mormon history. Every inch of floor, wall and flat surface is adorned in lovely painting. Her creativity is inspiring. In each window is a stained glass panel. Some were found in antique stores, some on e-bay and some were made by our studio such as the  Pioneer women entitled “Creative Opposition” I have only captured a small portion of the beauty of the home. Find a virtual tour by searching Lynde Mott’s home tour. It’s wonderful.

If that hasn’t peaked your imagination perhaps this brief tour through the fabulous antique store “Cat’s Cradle” in downtown Provo, Utah will. I always find treasures waiting for me there. I was especially taken by some fused glass mobiles made by Higgins Glass Studio in Riverside, IL. I left with some fantastic hats that I can’t wait to wear.

There is so much to experience and learn. I am drawn to beautiful glass no matter where I land. My studio is open for classes and visits about your stained glass dreams. You can find more of our work at Gomm Stained glass or www.gsg-art.com.

Showing Art

It has been a wild and wonderful week of art shows. Have you heard the phrase "If you build it they will come" from the movie Field of Dreams?  I suggest in our case it could be changed to "If you build it, then show it!". If your buyers don't find their way to your studio you will need to get your art to them. Galleries and shows are ways to do just that.
The Woodbury Gallery in the University Mall in Orem is hosting a show entitled "Coalesce". We are pleased to be a part of this show with many other talented artists. We are also in a show with the Utah Valley Artist Guild at a local Country Club. We haven't gotten a photo of that one yet because they are still trying to figure out how to hang it. Stained glass is sometimes tricky to hang at shows without windows to showcase it. We are encouraging curators  to consider hanging art glass on the walls such as here in the Woodbury.

At the Woodbury Gallery showing "What Goes Around Comes Around"

There was quite a crowd at the Zion's Bank show. There were 52 artists on 5 floors of the bank. Each floor had food and music along with the lovely art. It was fun to see our artist friends and make new acquaintances  as we talked about our stained glass

We had a good looking presentation with windows we finished just for this show and a few oldies but goodies. We appreciate galleries and other venues for hosting these exhibits for local artists. If you missed any of these shows we would be happy to let you know when the next ones will be. You can follow us on Instagram @jeannegomm or on Facebook at Gomm Stained Glass. To receive emails about future stained glass fun and information about upcoming classes, opt in to our newsletter by going to www.gsg-art.com and entering your first name and email in the dialog on the main page. 

Homeward Stretch

We are on the homeward stretch to the Zion's Bank Art Show on May 18th. We have been building windows to put in the show along with our other projects. We laid them all out on the living room floor to get a feel for the layout. There are a few little additions but for the most part we are ready. We hope to see you there. It will be an awesome show with artists from all over the area on 5 floors. We love to see the artwork and meet the other artists. We invite you to attend and be sure to visit our booth and say "Hi".

Here is a photo of the invitation. 

It looks pretty good spread on the carpet .

"Mother Nature's Sun"

"Jade in the Mist"

"Home of the Bees"

"Evening Song"

"Above the Door"

'"Cherry" and "Flower" mosaics

"Georgia"

"No Problem With Paisleys"

So you have a sneak peek at the line-up. We look forward to seeing you.

A Second Look

Folks keep advising us as artists that we need to tell our message over and over, as many as 7 times to get through. To Jeanne and I, we don't want to run the risk of becoming a boring, repeating record, skipping over and over.

But the advisors do have a point.

I saw The Last Jedi at the theatre with Jeanne and then found that when I viewed it at home, I liked it better. So maybe it's because I gave it a second chance. I found more to the story, I enjoyed the character development more. I watched it with different eyes, a different perspective. I liked it at the theater but I liked it more on the second viewing.

Does this mean that telling the story of how we build stained glass again might peak someone's interest. We showed how we put stained glass together on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD3Jh5SWKhQ&t=4s  

We like sharing our love for stained glass, with all it's nuances, we enjoy every project, there's always something to find interesting, Sometimes it's the challenges we encounter, sometimes Jeanne combines a different pallet of colors and creates something unique. So, maybe it remains interesting, even though we've said it before...let us know!

Cleaning for clarity

Getting clear in my business involved clearing out and cleaning up the studio. I should have known this would help because I cook better in a clean kitchen so it makes sense that I would work better in a clean studio. The truth is that I usually work on more than one project at a time and stuff gets messy. Truth number two is that finishing a project feels so incredible and freeing. Today we get to install some bathroom cabinets and I am already giddy about getting two more windows put in their permanent homes. My mantra yesterday while I was scrubbing and sweeping was " Every corner I unveil makes me feel a little bit lighter". It's true. Sure, things get cluttered and the studio will see many more days of three or four windows in various stages of completion. That's just how I roll. But once in a while it will look like this. Scroll down for studio awesomeness. 

I even added some plants for two reasons. 1. They brighten up the place. 2. I wanted the oxygen they provide to compensate for the solder, chemicals and other unwanted gunk in the air. Since it's Spring I can open the doors and welcome in the fresh air.

Every corner I unveil makes me feel a little bit lighter. Just hanging up the brooms and dustpans in this corner was like magic. 

Even Spidey is happy here.

The glass is so much easier to slide out of this corner now. 

You can't even imaging the transformation of the back part of the studio. This is where David builds crates, frames and all stuff wood. I am so excited to see the table tops again. On the back table is our "Book of Life" sculpture. I can't wait to tell you about that too.

I am ready to get some major work done in this beautiful space.