The Joy Of Spring: Art Glass Flower Basket
This beautiful sculpture started during one of my morning meditations. Just sitting and thinking about the things I have made through the years that still fascinate me. Sculptures in my private collection. The ones that still take my breath away and make me smile
"Melt Down On A Daisy Of A Day" // 2009
The one piece that stood out to me was the beautiful light blue glass daisy sculpture above. It's titled, "Melt Down On A Daisy Of A Day" . I created it in 2009 and it has been one of my favorites ever since. In fact it still resides in my home. The funny thing about it is I had a whole different vision in mind. The original design had a longer stem and the back was more open rather than concave but the day I put it in the last kiln anneal the temperature of the kiln went to high and it partly "melted" or flowed into this interesting shape. I thought it was ruined. After looking it over I decided to work with the odd shape. I changed the clear bottom portion into what you see today and it really enhanced the composition. What started out as a heart breaking mistake ended up to be a heart pounding love. Life is funny like that. Sometimes we just need a different view, a new lens to look through and see things a bit differently. As I was sitting on my sofa thinking about this piece I started to sketch out a new multi flower arrangement. One with Periwinkle flowers, clear glass branches and leaves. In the studio I melted the glass into varying shapes and shades until I was satisfied with the look then set about to create many many pieces and parts.
Bit by Bit, Petal by Petal
Petal by petal, leaf by leaf it started to transform into this amazing flower basket. The picture above is in my glass studio. Each flower, branch and leaf decided where it wanted to go. One at a time I would place them, knowing that at some point I had to call it done and hoping I would know when that point had arrived.
Here is a small window into the process of flameworked glass. This video is about 5 minutes long and shows you how a flower petal is made, attached and then added to the flower basket. The final sculpture has 20 periwinkle flowers, 6 top branches with leaves and 16 bottom leaves.
Detail Of Clear Glass Leaves
A close-up detail of the clear glass leaves arranged around three stems. The bright color of the open basket needed an elegant yet bold statement to finish it off. I feel the leaves do just that.
The final piece is stunning. The Dimensions ::: 7"H x 7"W x 7"D
"The Joy Of Spring" // 2021