Final Day of Sgrafitto Challenge

This is our last day and here is my self portrait done in glass powder.  It's in the kiln now...i decided to fire it and keep it because it's probably the last portrait i'll ever do!  For those of you that don't know this was organized by Kelly Algae, powder sgrafitto artist.  She put an enormous amount of time and effort into this and we are ever so grateful.  I learned something every single day that will help me along in this glass journey.  Thanks Kelly!

Day 29 of Sgrafitto challenge

Oh gosh, a selfie!  Lol. I really thought i might not be able to do this since the portrait of old Albert wore me out.  But

i do want to be able to say i finished the challenge...so here she is...my selfie!  

Day 28

Here's the final on old Albert!  Definitely a very difficult and tiring challenge....so i just had to find a stopping place and quit!  You can just pick and pick on something like this and run the risk of making it worse instead of better.

Day 27 & 28 of Sgrafitto

Most difficult so far...portrait of Albert Einstein!  Oh great...never been ok sketching humans but we have two days.  This is at tne end of Day 1... I'll have plenty to do tomorrow

Day 26 Sgrafitto Challenge

Well, not proud of this one so it went back in the jar right away.  The task was to draw a tree upside down and you could only use your right hand on the right side and then only your left hand on the left!  Bingo, turn it around and you should have a tree????  My brain just doesn't get it upside down...lol

Day 25 of sgrafitto challenge

Today we still have to do a tree drawing using the non- dominant hand.  Ugh!  We are allowed to use any of our tools so hopefully it's better than yesterday.  I can't control the tremor when trying to use my leftie...there's a reason i'm right dominant!!

  I'll save this one and see if i can correct tomorrow using my good hand before firing it.  If all fails, it goes back in the powder jar!

Day 24

Do sketches of tree using your non-dominant hand and a business card only??  So this is done on a random piece of glass as i know it's going right back in the jar!  I'll barely be able to keep the powder on the glass!!  It was easy to spread out the powder with my left fingers but when it actually came to shaping trees....a nightmare!  Not willing to spend a lot of time here...but here's my trees done with my non-functional  left hand!!

Day 23 of Sgrafitto Challenge

Today's assignment was to sketch something from your personal collection.  This is the powder sketch of one of my favorite

little antique figurines.  I've had her since i was a little girl and always thought she was a princess!  Hopefully, she will improve after firing and coloring.

Day 22 of shrafitto challenge

A disaster today!  The assignment was to do a safety pin highlighting the shiny areas to make it look like metal.  Well, it took forever and just as i was getting my pin in line to do my highlights, i dropped my pen in the big middle of it.  Not about to start over and fortunately i had just snapped a progress pic...so here is my slightly unfinished pin!

Day 21 of Sgrafitto Challenge

I had to do this for make-up....today is a vase of flowers.  I didn't have a lot of time so here is my quick version of Ikebana vase with mums.

Day 20 of Sgrafitto Challenge

Another black & white flower for today!  So here's my tribute to Georgia O'Keefe...the throat of a purple pansy.  This is just the powder photo...it's now in the kiln.  Once the yellow and white center is colored and purple put in...i think it'll look more realistic.

New firing!

Just out of kiln.  I colored up the itty bitty bunny done in "the something white" challenge and also the onion done in the vegetable challenge.  The magnolia was also fired and i'll try to color it today if time allows.  Todays challenge is another white flower...problem is i'm running out of white glass!!!!

Monkey Business!

Here's my monkey after firing...bahaha...a sunburned little monkey!  Can be your smile for the day!

Day 19 Sgrafitto Challenge

Born and raised in Louisiana, so when todays challenge was to be a floral, i knew it had to be the Magnolia.  Not a fragrant flower but majestic with its beautiful, graceful white petals and its deep red throat.  This is the powder sketch before the firing.  It's now in the kiln!

Sgrafitto weekend, Day 17, 18

The challenge was to do 3 sketches over the weekend of something all white.  I completed mine on Sat. Am...a white wolf's eye, a little bitty bunny (white), and a howling white wolf!  Done!!

Day 15 of Sgraffito Challenge

We had only 15 min today, using our rustic tools, to do a quick sketch of something eaten today.  Since I had hard-boiled eggs for breakfast..here's my unfinished sletch as 15 min is gone in a flash.  This powder may end up back in the jar?

Day 14 of Sgraffito Challenge

This is a quick sketch as life has other things for me to do today.  I'm not really afraid of too many things...maybe flying, heights, poisonous snakes but creepy crawly things don't really bother me.  So now you've guessed todays assignment...to sketch something in powder that you're afraid of.  Here's the dreaded little brown recluse spider...identified by a little fiddle/violin on his back.  His bite is very toxic and i saw a lot of these wounds while doing home care in Texas...bad, sloughing wounds taking a very long time to heal and several led to amputations!  I guess i'm afraid of not seeing him...they're sneaky!

Day 13 of Sgraffito Challenge!

I have to admit i was a little

surprised to see the gaping jaws of a shark!  Steven Cross submitted the image of a great white.  I couldn't help but try but feeling like i only wanted to spend a short time and then dump powder back into the jar!!  I would love to do this later when i can spend more time doing it in layers with multiple firings and using grays instead of the stark white practice powder of today.  So here's the results....

Day 12 of Sgraffito Challenge

Today's assignment was to use powder & your tools to create something personal...a drawing of something you use every day.  I'll revisit this post when i have that done but since i'm the senior citizen of the group, i feel i can take a day off if i so desire.  I did color and fire a few of the previous pieces...

Day 11 of Sgrafitto Challenge

Today's challenge is to do a vegetable in powder.  I chose a sprouted onion from my pantry and used only my home-made whisk broom tool, a business card and my fingers.  The little tool i made on the tip of a pencil is neat for putting

in fine lines.

Day 10 of sgraffito challenge.

The challenge today was to put your piece of fruit into a setting or "something else".  Since i had already fired my apple, i decided to add leaves and color.  Nothing complex but it keeps me up to date!

Day 9. Fruit using fingers, card, and home-made tools

Day 9 of the challenge is to do a piece of fruit using only your fingers, business card, and home-made tools from day 7 & 8.  Since i don't happen to have one piece of fruit in the house, my apple is from my imagination and past history of doing fruit in still lifes when i oil painted.  Normally, i fire the piece first and then add color in second firing but today i decided to add just a little color to see what happens...will post results

Day 8. Sgraffito Challenge

Today we had to make a home-made tool to use in powder.  I clipped hairs from a plastic whisk broom & taped them to the end of a pencil..."hair tool". So here's a quick rendition using only the hair tool. Meat thermometer from Day 7, fingers, and business card or a piece of card.  No other tools allowed!

Day 7 of sgraffito challenge

So we could add a tool today.  I added a meat thermometer, as the end is weighted and t thought might steady my shaky hand.  I didn't realize we had unlimited time so i just did 5 min sketches again and all were dumped back into the powder jar.  The pointed end was nice but i'm still shaky!!  Tomorrow i'll use more time!!

Day 6 of Sgrafitto Challenge

I didn't complete 5 drawings, 5 min. each, today!  Feeling under the weather so i colored and fired two drawings from the previous day.  I did make two 5 min. Drawings of feathers using only my fingers and a business card.  Good-bye 5 in 5 min....cause tomorrow will be a new challenge????

Day 5 of Sgraffito Challenge

Not all days are good days for creativity!  I started off my 5 min drawing with a repeat of the cattails that i didn't complete yesterday!  Ummm. Well, then i moved to 5 min flowers...ok only.  And at this point, i couldn't draw a koi to save my soul and was not in a mood to dump the powder and start over...so there!  The face is a mess and as my final contribution, i have to admit, the boat took longer than 5 but i couldn't stop because i knew i would never finish...so my boat up front is a cheat!  As i said not all days can be good, but tomorrow will be better!!

Day 4 of Sgraffito Challenge, 5 in 5

Woo-hoo...do sketch in glass powder in 5 min. using only your fingers and a business card.  We are to do 5 sketches total..i started with an iris since i'm familiar with it's shape.  I repeated a tree since i felt my first trees were a disaster.  Goal was to become lighter and simpler and this challenge has helped me a lot.  It's amazing how simple you get when you know you only have 5 min!!  On the last one...the cattails...i was really going for simple.  Unfortunately it's a bit unfinished since that's my blood

in the middle of it!!  Lol

Days 1-3 after firing

These are the quick sketches done with glass powder after firing

Day 3... Landscape using only your fingers & business card

I'm still doing my quick studies in black powder only...hoping to learn more about the thicknesses of the powder and how they fire.

Day2...A tree using only your fingers and a business card

I can't do a tree even on a good day!  My first attempt at top was way too heavy...didn't know what to do with all that powder...but, i finished.  So at lower, i tried to become lighter.  Too many branches so i got lost in them.  I didn't do trees even when i oil painted!  Goal now will be to do a lighter, simpler tree!

Draped fused glass vases

I wanted to post a collection of my vases done in 2014. The plum with white trim was finished today, New Year's 2015

Jan, 1, 2015... Day 1 of sgrafitto challenge

Well, here's my first fingerpaint in powder...very messy.  I decided to do a quick rose after being up all night.  New Year's revelers started again at 3:20 am by not observing a polite curfew and set off bombs outside my bedroom.  So i've been up all night!  I spent about 30 min. on

this and i have to say it was fun!  I haven't fingerpainted since grade school and that was a very long time ago!