Shockingly, G is for GLASS

1. the blue-green glass that called out to be a mosaic got some wonderful compliments during the spring shows ~ more mandalas in my shop

2. Glass City Jazz:

3. Mosaic Woman's highly favored Glass... G is for Gold Smalti

4. Our Favorite Museum: Hate to shock you again, but we dig The Corning Museum of Glass where you can see:









5. Recently I taught my students about how the natural resources of the state influenced its development. One mentioned locale: Pittsburgh became king of glass by the 1800's because of the right type of sandstone and plenty of cheap fuel to transform it into glass.

6. Can I talk about glass without saying: Youghiogheny?

Nope. Which by the way is also the name of one of the best white water rafting locations in PA.

7. and why we call our newsletter (sign up here) No Bare Feet:

Crafting On Thursday--- using Youghiogheny Glass

Last week I blogged about my trip to the Youghiogheny glass factory in western Pennsylvania. At that time I showed what looked liked a sea of sea glass but which in reality was broken bits of glass thrown out into the elements (including shoes and tires) outside of the factory. At that time I promised to show how I have used some of that glass. The cool thing about the glass is the variation within one sheet. So when I decided to do a doodling with glass (no design, just cut pieces then make something up) with one type, I got this --->

Wayne Stratz doodles with glass

Much simpler were two patchwork designs that I made and sold (the one above has sold too!) using a variety of Youghiogheny glass --->

Wayne Stratz a patchwork of youghiogheny glass

My two highly favored mandala designs both have a large place where I love to highlight a piece of fancy glass:

a close up of a Dr. Ed Mandala I just finished --->

a Dr Ed mandala by Wayne Stratz, with blue youghiogheny glass

My Sophia Mandala ---->

A Sophia Spiral Mandala by Wayne Stratz

Yesterday my wordless Wednesday featured one sheet of Youghiogheny glass. Since I took that photo, I have cut out 8 pieces which are now sitting paptiently in a work in progress. So look at that sheet, then you can imagine a bit of what this will look like when it is finished and lifted into the light.