A Fruits of The Spirit Blessing

Inspired by one amazing commission and one beautiful Bible passage...

A Fruits of the Spirit Blessing

May love flow into and out of you as if there is no other reason to be
May your days be filled with people who bring you joy
May there be moments of peace that soothe your soul
May you have the patience to travel without rage
May your heart open to the kindness of others


May our hopes for you settle into your soul with a gentleness that warms your day
May a sense of goodness guide your decisions that unfold you into your destiny
May the wisdom of self-control guide what goes into and out of your mouth
May you experience the faithfulness of one who truly loves you

The Lyrical Chef Surprises Red and Creates Hope

   you will create this, because of this...



You come home and on the porch is a book.  There is no note.  Feel free to wonder why "Sean Scully: Works on Paper" is now in your house.

Go ahead, assume a phone call or e-mail will explain.  But you are left living a mystery.

Then one day, The Lyrical Chef shows up, unexpected as you expect.

He has something to say to you.

"I want a gift for Red.  This is all I ask.  I left a book here.  I want you to be inspired by Sean Scully.  I want something between x$ and y$.  I want it by Christmas.  I want to give it to Red."

You are one who believes that your brain works while you sleep, so you take the book to your bed and you look though it... night after night.  You are trusted to create something.  You are blessed.

Eventually images like this begin to become part of your daily thoughts

 
But your favorite number is 21, so you imagine this:

7 columns times 3 horizontal boxes

and

3 horizontal boxes times 7 pieces in each box.

You love Youghiogheny glass and you love your friends... the columns.

For diversity you turn to amber... the boxes.

Now it is Christmas Eve.  You have gotten all other commissions into the hands of the givers, but where is the Lyrical Chef?

The daughter e-mails.  A time is set.  And 20 minutes after the exchange of cash and unexpected sticky buns, you head off to worship with Red, who knows much, but not about this...

  


and thus there were 14 shades of amber glass sitting on my drafting table which cried out to be something special... 

The Dream Garden via Tiffany via Parrish; Wordlessly

Tiffany Dream Garden Mosaic at the Curtis Building, Philadelphia, PA.  Photo by Wayne Stratz.

Tiffany Dream Garden Mosaic at the Curtis Building, Philadelphia, PA.  Photo by Wayne Stratz.

Tiffany Dream Garden Mosaic at the Curtis Building, Philadelphia, PA.  Photo by Wayne Stratz.

A Pug named Jazz and some Salty players

It was a Friday night and my friend and I stood in the deserted parking lot outside the Friend's Meeting House, where we had participated in group spirituality, though not in each others group this time around.  She mentioned a blog her pug had started, so the next day I checked out the blog, became a follower and set up the sale of one jazzy mosaic:

How I came to find out that my friend desired the mosaic was through the voice of her pug, Jazz , which may be my favorite shout out of Nutmeg Designs to date.

So yesterday I used some of my time off from work to visit my friend (and her pugs) and just wonder about all those shows where we displayed the mosaic in hopes that a jazz lover would be enticed.  By the way, my friend digs jazz, the music too!  So here is some jazz about how things are just unknown from some Salty Dogs.

Propioception in the studio: Science Mondays

We try to be mindful humans, but there are some things we should just let the mind take care of by itself.  Like our sense of where our body is in space.  I can close my eyes, and move my arms about and know clearly where they are, just as if I was staring at it with open eyes.  I can fling them about and prevent collisions by way of propioception.  I know I am walking, whether or not my eyes are open and if I try to control exactly where my feet will land, my gait will lose its fluidity.  Welcome to your 6th sense.

Not that I should cut glass with my eyes closed, but I should trust my body to find a natural and comfortable position while doing it.

Until we can do that our backs will ache.  So for now we are trusting a multitude of timers to remind us that time is passing.  The timer goes off and I stretch as I reset it.  We float between studio and computer glad to know where we are in space and time.

Those who lack propioception will likely fall down if they close their eyes.  The sensors in their muscles will not tell the brain that they are standing and they will topple.  Taking large doses of vitamin B6 will let a person know this feeling, a clear example of too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

So sit back and close your eyes and be glad to know where your body is in space. It is a blessing we rarely give thanks for, eyes to see, ears to hear, ... muscles to locate ourselves.

Wordless Wednesday: Late fall in the garden

A Future Wordle: Nutmeg Designs

in our recent newsletter we had a link to this simple question and got several answers, but we are hoping to get a few more responses:  Thanks for taking the time during this busy season.  What is Nutmeg Designs, well this is Nutmeg Designs? 

What is a Wordle?  Here is one I made with my students:

resonating on a need for rest

the Christmas song that has caught my ear and soul this year has been God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.  After 5 shows in 7 weeks, I  was met with jury duty yesterday and now a week of immense paperwork at school.  My apologies for not visiting blogs or blogging.  Things are about to slow down, I think...

still lacking words for Corning Museum of Glass