Judith Jamison Stained Glass Panel

This Judith Jamison panel has been in the making for about three years. I was inspired to make it after seeing a segment on PBS on Alvin Ailey. From there, I went to the library, and while looking through several books on dance, this image spoke to me. I copied the page, brought it home and studied it for a few days.

I used the Dragonfly stained glass software program to develop the initial drawings as you can see in the first few frames of the video. If you work in stained glass, this program is one of the best to have. I use it for most of my design work but nothing beats picking up a pencil and sketching. After playing with several color choices, blue seemed the best choice. I guess I was in one of my blue color moods during that period.

So, after out vending for over a year and not having time to do anything else but produce product for shows, here she is, finally finished.

This panel was truly a joy to create and now she is part of the family until she has to go live in someone else's home.

In Four Treasuries This Month

What is a Treasury? It is a collection of items related to a theme, chosen by Etsy members.
So far this month, 4 of my stained glass pieces were chosen to be in Treasuries. For me, this is an honor that my items were chosen from the millions of items on Etsy.

In this beautiful Treasury named Somewhat Transparent, my Business Card Holder was included. This Treasury was made by Peachy Designs.

This colorful Treasury was made by soap and named Full Spectrum. Go. She used my multi-colored Paperweight in this fun Treasury.

The Simple Beauty Of Nature is the name WhimsicalJewels used for this visually festive Treasury. She featured my Trinket Box.

In this last one named Translucent World made by MsPolite, my Earrings and Pendant Set was featured along with other stunning pieces.
Please take the time to visit the shops of the curators of these eye pleasing Treasuries.

My Latest Custom Stained Glass Panel

I loved creating this panel. I have been holding this design in my head for quite some time, to make in stained glass. Years ago when I was into ceramics, I painted a plate that was similar to this panel.

I cannot tell you how happy I was when I got the call and the client described her vision to me. She wanted a 14" circle panel with a woman in profile. She also said that she likes triangles, circles, and diamond shapes, in that order. The woman's face was to be medium amber and the other colors were to be red, orange, yellow, purple, blue and green. Colorful is right up my alley.

When I delivered it to her, She could not stop smiling. She loved it and called me the next day to tell me how the sun was affecting the different textures.

Its really a good feeling when you can bring someone's vision to life and it exceeds their expectations.

Upcycled Jewelry

http://youtu.be/d-sxQHmz9sU

In A Treasury

A Treasury is a collection of someones favorite items that they put together and share with other members of Etsy. This Treasury was made by locustgrovelori, who makes the most interesting pieces using buttons and other objects. My favorites by her are the ones with a steampunk flavor. Take some time to look at her work. I'm sure there will be something that speaks to you.

Inland Wiz Cg Grinder

This is the new toy I'm getting tomorrow. The grinder I have now still works BUT the bit is frozen to the shaft. I've tried everything from WD40 to a hammer and still can't remove it. Its old anyway. This happened when we were going out vending and I was busy making pieces and not paying much attention to losening the grinding head when I wasn't using it.

I'll hang on to it just in case I start teaching a class or some strong man comes along and losens the head for me. Wish me luck.

Car Angels

I created my first car art soon after I finished my stained glass class in 1997. At that time I was making all kinds of items. Originally called car art, that changed when my customers would tell me that they looked like angels, so I changed the name.

One of my customers used hers as Christmas ornaments. They have also been used as sun catchers, a key chain and even a pendant. You never know what someone is going to do with what they get. As long as my pieces go to a good home is all that matters.

I truly believe that everyone should have an angel close to them with all of the activity taking place while driving.

Green Tea And Memories

I usually start my week drinking tea, listening to my ipod and fixing pictures to add to my shops. From Me To You by The Beatles came on, which came out when I was in elementary school. That song took me back to this boy named Willie who had a crush on me. Always staring. Anyway, I guess he finally mustered up the courage to say he was going to the candy store and asked if I wanted a 5 cent ring or a 10 cent ring. I took neither.

Thinking back on it, it was a sweet gesture. That's the kind of sweet innocence we all start out with before we get older and really start living life.

In Two Treasuries

A Treasury is a collection of someones favorite items that they put together and share with other members of Etsy. This Treasury was made by Lindabutterfly. She a really creative lady that I've had the pleasure of collaborating with, making a pendant. I'm looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us this year.

This Treasury was made by expressions123. She included my panel in her treasury, but also notified me that she did. I love the refrigerator magnets she makes, in her very eclectic style. Check out her shop and you'll see what I mean.

Upcycled Pendant

I worked for a glass designer and would take the broken vases, bowls and a host of other pieces that were going to be thrown away, not thinking of what I was going to do with them at the time.

Everything was too pretty to be thrown out. What glass artist throws out glass? I don't know of any. do you?

Dining Room Window

Dining Room Window, originally uploaded by AfricanSand.

This is my dining room window and where I spend most of my time when I'm not playing with glass.

The cactus in the middle belonged to my mother and is about 40 years old. It seemed to sense that the ceiling was there and stopped growing up. Now its filling out.

My Studio

Studio 4, originally uploaded by AfricanSand.

This is a small section of my creative space. I love it so much because its not shared with anyone. Everything is still in the same place when I go back to it. Just lovely. View a few more pictures of my studio on flickr.

November Already?

I just got my Delphi Stained Glass Supply catalog in the mail. They are starting to not only deal with items for the glass artists but for the ceramic artist too. I always have to fight to stay focused when I get this catalog because it makes me want to try mostly everything in the book.

Their website is user friendly so check it out when you have some time.

It doesn't seem like this year is almost over. I'm still wanting some more warm weather. Unless I move to a warmer climate, that's not happening. That doesnt mean that I'm not enjoying the colors that this season brings, because I am. I'm just not looking forward to the bulky clothes and all that it takes to feel comfortable outside. I'll miss you, warm weather.

Dragonfly Software Design of the Month

A few months ago, someone contacted me from Dragonfly Software (the premier software for stained glass design) and wanted to know if I was interested in having one of my designs featured as the design of the month. Since I had previously participated, I thought I couldn't but she informed me otherwise.

I sent in my write-up and didn't hear anything else until one day I was looking at the stats for my website and had an unusual amount of hits coming from the Dragonfly Software site. That's when I found out that my design was featured in THIS month. So here it is.

The Kokopelli panel featured was a commissioned piece made for one of my customers on Etsy.

Included In A Treasury

What is a Treaury? A Treasury is a collection of someone's favorite items that they put together and share with other members of Etsy. Some make it to the front page and some don't.

One of my items was featured in another Treasury. This one was made by nomadcraftsetc from items found on Flickr.


Take a visit to her shop to see the various pieces they have to offer. I especially like the glass jars and vases but they also have jewelry, lampwork beads, and marbles. There's more to see. I just listed my favorites.

Absolut And Grey Goose Vodka Jewelry

As long as I keep getting these bottles, I'm going to make something out of them. The Grey Goose bottles are cool because of the geese and mountains. Plus I like the frosted and clear glass.

The fun thing about the Absolut bottles is that the vodka comes in flavors so no two bottles are alike. Also, I love script text and the glass is frosted. As you can see in one of my earlier posts, I have quite a few bottles to work with, thanks to someone I know who loves this drink.

In A Treasury

Another one of my panels was chosen to be in a Treasury by mysticwynd. Please take the time to check out her shop. She creates some very unique jewelry.

The panel she used is the one in the middle at the top. That is one that doesn't get much attention, I guess, because it is so simple compared to the other panels I have.

To see more of my panels, as well other pieces not listed on Etsy, go to my website at www.africansand.com.

Custom Pendant For Lindabutterfly

This pendant is another collaboration between Lindabutterfly's artwork and my soldering skills.
She is one very happy lady who can wear her art wherever she goes. How's that for advertising?Please take the time to visit her shop at http://www.lindabutterfly.etsy.com/

Absolut Vodka Bottle Earrings

These are the earrings made from the same bottle as the pendant below. I'm really excited about how these are turning out and the response to them.
When I make these, I break the bottle with a hammer and use the most interesting pieces. I have to cut the matching earring but other than that, the way the glass breaks is the shape its going to be. More to come soon.

Absolut Vodka Pendant

Ever since I made the Corona bottle earrings, I've been thinking about incorporating bottles in my work. Its still glass, just with a slight curve to it, which is a challenge when it comes to foiling. From the look of all those bottles, I'll have enough glass to use for lots of pendants and earrings.

The pendant above was made using just one small piece of one of the bottles. I wanted to use a yellow piece but this broke so perfectly that I decided to use it. Also what I like about these bottles is that the glass is frosted. I'll make one with yellow tomorrow with earrings to match.