An Ocean Wave Mandala; celebrates a friend at the shore

Wave Mandala by Wayne Stratz

A friend and colleague of  twenty and half years asks me to stop by the classroom she works within; and tells me of a friend, who had offered up a home at the shore. A home at the shore, which allowed for vacations from Pennsylvania. She wanted something to thank them with and I am lucky that she thought of me.

She told me to think of the town and the ocean. The first design featured the name of the town, but didn't quite work. I am grateful it didn't work, now that I see what emerged when I removed the lettering and explored wave motion.

A few days ago, a student stopped by my room. He handed me a card and told me that my friend had wanted me to see it it. It was a note of gratitude my friend had received from the recipient of the Wave Mandala. Gratitude for the gift, for the willingness of my friend to accept the offer to stay at the shore house, and for the friendship they had with each other.

Two decades ago I was a new teacher at the school. And my friend, was not only a colleague who assisted in another classroom, but also the mother of a student in my room.

As I write this I am wondering of her initial thoughts of me. Parents place a lot of trust in us teachers, and clients place trust in us to make a gift that will express their emotions. My friend has experienced both sides of this trust.

TBT: A hippo, A Golden Eagle Feather, and a Butterfly walk into a bar, I mean House Number by Nutmeg Designs

The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

I had to laugh when I saw these images were taken on April's Fools Day. When Margaret told me what the potential clients wanted on their project, I tghought it was a perfect spam joke for our business. Two four digit numbers, a butterfly, a Golden Eagle Feather, and of course a hippo.

It turned out to be true and now three plus years later, I can tell you it has not led to any hippo commissions, however, up in our studios and Red-Tailed Hawk feather is nearly complete. 

You never know where a client will lead you here at Nutmeg Designs

Close up of the Butterfly featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

Close up of the Golden Eagle Feather featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

The Hippo featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

The 12 Days of Christmas Shout Outs: Paula Lewis for day seven

You are looking at what happens when you commission Paula Lewis to create a piece of art for you. I gave her some gerneral guidelines, then sat back and waited. I told her i was in no rush so she let my desires percoloate. Apparently Paula faces some danger as an enamalist, which is why she goes by Scorched Eyebrow Studio.

I do believe I only met Paula once and that was at a craft show. I stood in her booth amazed at her artistry and a seed was planted for the commission that was to become a part of my studio.

By commissioning others I am exposing myself to how others feel when I am commissioned. I also end up with a studio being filled with art by favored artists. I hope to keep this habit going. It's fun. But also a bit nerve racking as you don't know what it is you will be getting. But if others can trust me, I can trust others.

So while I am at it, let me celebrate the Jazz Tree I commissioned earlier in the year.

 

Imaging hope to bring peace

Why

 

Becky Eldredge, the person who inspired the sunflower

I do not need 1000's of more followers, what I need to do is make wonderful connections with a few of the ones I have on twitter. Becky Eldredge seemed like a fine person to get connected with. I had fanned her page on Facebook, followed her on Twitter, and read her thoughts at her website.

Then one day she sent out a tweet asking for prayer requests. I asked for some directed towards my students. She asked about my job. A connection had been made. Yes, it is across state lines and we may never meet, but I will keep an eye out for chances. My hope is that she leads a retreat at the Jesuit Center. She does things like that. My hope is that I will one day read the book she is writing.

Yes, it is ours. She recently wrote to me responding to the word collaboration. She mentioned synergy. People saw this as one of MY best pieces, but truth be told, it would not be in this world without Becky.

First ~ she desired a piece of art celebrating sunflowers

Second ~ she shared some photos she had taken of sunflowers and when I fell in love with a flower emerging into fullness... we realized that we both love the word, unfolding

Third ~ she wrote to me about why sunflowers are important to her.

Fourth ~ she agreed with me that the design should emerge while I was on a retreat and patiently waited for that retreat to come along. I took Becky's photo and words on that retreat.

If it is one of my best pieces, it is because of the spiritual connection between plant and human, which led to this photo.

Thanks, for helping me to be a better artist.

 

Commissioning a Collage From Abby Sernoff

I have been thinking about celebrating this piece of art for too long, but hey here I am finally doing it. Maybe it was finally commissioning a new piece of art (a gift to myself for a big birthday) that finally got me into the studio to get an image of this jazz tree.

Abby managed to get music, botany, birds and orange into this piece of work. Nothing like hitting many of my interests and showing she made it for me. Check out the post she wrote about the piece and Abby explained how it was somewhat a collaboration between us and while you are at it, you can see her other great art on etsy.

 

The Sunflower Commission ~ watching a glass flower emerge

That is on its second day in low light, high light is at the bottom...

finding the greens, by the end 7 types if glass were called upon...

adding the petals, looking yellow but actually yellow-orange...

Needing something special for the center, orange, amber, green all in one piece, took me to my stash of Youghiogheny...

foiling a sunflower...

Into the light ...

 

The Sunflower Commission is about to unfold

A few weeks ago I put out a cry for help. I was packing for a time at the Jesuit Center. It wasn't the choice of clothes or mug (that is for Michelle) that was causing me angst. It was the intensity of the commissions, which I was hoping to design.

The client, who hoped to bring peace to grieving parents, came by for the mandala he commissioned. The blue behind the symbol of the lost child caught his eye. May it truly bring peace.

Margaret has grouted the Celtic Tree wedding present. I think we did something amazing together and may it be a blessing to the two lives that will unfold together.

And now the sunflower. I first tried to hand the commission to Margaret, who has made mandalas inspired by the colors of various sunflowers. But as you can see the client wrote, "made by your hand," and then went on to share her connections. I took that note with me and read it prior to designing the suncather with the hope that I could capture what clearly is her totem plant.

The post card was sent to the Jesuit Center by Michelle. It came late, but it showed up here in Lansdale. Jesuits are kind that way (I owe the man a thank you). Michelle's card is in my studio as a reminder of all those who prayed for me.

My client also digs Jesuits and she believes our lives unfold like a sunflower. This is no typical sunflower. It is like us. Beautiful, but only emerging into our full splendor.

Three commissions that awed me. That took me to the hope that I could create them in the midst of prayer.

 

Wordlessly celebrating my second glass cello

 

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N is for Nuthatch ~ the A to Z of one word messages

White-breasted Nuthatch
created and designed
by Wayne Stratz

Yes, that is a bird and not a one word mosaic sign, but we have not done an N word (commissions welcomed if you have one in mind).       

So...

Bird names for me are often one word messages. Name four species of woodpeckers and you can take me back to a spring break camping trip to the Smokey Mountains, a forest east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, a time share in WI, and the Monocacy Creek that I walked to as a teen in search of solitude. 

Maybe going for a walk recently with Mosaic Woman on a path along a busy road during rush hour will come to mind if you say Red-Winged Blackbirds to me ten years from now. We stood as they perched and called out and flashed their red allowing us to appreciate their beauty.

And that makes these one word messages indeed.  So where do nuthatches take me? My childhood home and the oak trees that soared above our house and the tiny birds that delighted me as they behaved in a rather unexpected way.

  What animal name creates a one word message in your mind?

The A to Z of one word messages ~ The B's are Believe, Bloom, and Breathe

Believe sign by Nutmeg Designs
Wayne Stratz on the lettering and large blueness
Margaret Almon on the background and filling in the oval blues

 Sometimes your last hope is to believe all things are possible. That healing can happen. And then celebrate. Our first believe came from that place. The in-laws gifted this to a woman who emerged to health after months of illness. Believe!

Bloom sign by Nutmeg Designs
Wayne Stratz on the lettering and large greens and Red Rose
Margaret Almon on the background of the letters

This was our choice. I love flowers, as I said yesterday, they Awe me. But it is about the emergence. When watched the bloom. The plant shows an inkling to do something special. Watch it closely. We too have that inkling. Bloom!

Breathe sign by Nutmeg Designs
Wayne Stratz on the lettering
Margaret Almon on the vibrant background

Another commission here. Breathe. How many times has our client at Windward Farms Garden Retreat whispered that message during her yoga sessions. Breathe. And I who have taught for 26 years, how many students cope by doing this simple thing? Be calm. Breathe.

Do these words resonate with you? Any other B messages?  Maybe this one is in our future.  Be. Margaret went to Bethlehem

Nutmeg Designs celebrates their first baby mosaic with a video

a celebration of birth
by
Nutmeg Designs

This is the first time we placed a baby's name into one of our mosaics.  What a joyful thing to be asked to create. And how kind of the recipient of this commissioned gift to have given their child the name of one of the greatest sax players to ever play jazz.  Once I handed over the letters on a piece of slate to Mosaic Woman, she took lots of process photos. I took the photos of her grouting.  See it emerge here:

a sampling of recent commissions

Portion of a Dr Ed Mandala

commission by way of the Lansdale Farmers Market

Commission by way of the PA Guild show in Delaware

for healing

to Canada!

by way of Margaret's networking friend who saw one hanging on
our living room wall

three Dr Ed Mandalas
by way of our show at Virago 

Improvising ~ Coltrane and a commission gets me thinking

Rainbow Starflower by Nutmeg Designs, glass on wood, 7 inches, ©2012

I once heard and have since forgotten the number of times John Coltrane recorded My Favorite Things, but what really matters is how many times he explored its being. The change that emerged could be staggering if one jumps from the first to the last. What is you could hike the musical path he created with his love of exploration.  If someone, who only knew of the first version called out to hear it in concert.... They may be disappointed.  Or they may be transformed themselves.  
We have been asked to recreate the above piece. Our challenge is to make it pleasing to the client while not hindered by trying to make it exact. At this point I can say it might have been more fun to let loose and truly play with the design. 

As an artist, what would you have done?

And I wonder how I would act as a client??? Would I be willing to commission a piece and say, "Make it new. Let the creativity flow?"  I am thinking of doing that with a collage artist.  I desire one of Abby Sernoff's pieces, but how to make that commission still floats in my mind.  

It can be a bit challenging to have open ended commissions, but the results can be so worth it.

I did let Coltrane flow when I made our second version. And that's a good thing. I am thinking about being creative with this design, one that emerged at a silent retreat.

Now be prepared to be taken to a place by someone who has truly explored it ...

My first 3D commission... or what happens when you choose the colors and let me create for you

I stopped by to see a friend and told him I had completed my first 3D suncatchers.  He said, "How about 4D?"

Since I knew some physicists thought time was the fourth dimension, I said, "Already done." and showed him this.  He was interested.

But when I showed it to him in person, he imagined something new, something yet be be created.

"Blue, Pink, Gray," he said to me.

So with with 7 pieces of gray, 7 of blue, and 7 of pink.  I got set to creating...

Then photos on flickr and instagram flowed into my life and I saw what I was creating.  Remember that amazing sunset when a partially cloudy sky turned pink, with patches of blue sky, and portions of clouds that remained gray?  Yes, my friend without knowing it had commissioned a sunset.

Believe, a commission of celebration

Collaboration Mosaic
Margaret Almon and Wayne Stratz

Updates sounded better.

then Months

The opposite of hope is despair.  

Saturday evening as the band paused between songs, 

I leaned toward the young woman.

"How are you?"

Healing,

Fueled by positive medical reports,

Stronger.

We celebrated with her in-laws

 this piece.

Tears of joy.

Shipping animals

Red-winged blackbirds
by
Wayne Stratz

Last night on facebook I passed along something I had learned earlier in the day... that it is cheaper to ship a hippo to California than a lizard to Colorado.  I would like to think it has something about the butterfly and the eagle feather that travelled side-by-side with the hippo, but it is more likely that the lizard was weighted down by its concrete base as compared to the larger but lighter wedi board where the hippo resides.

But it made me think of other animals I have sent here and there, including the flock of red-winged blackbirds that went to Maryland.  A special commission that came about when my client and her sisters went for a hike to celebrate good health news and were greeted by the beauty of the birds.

What comes to mind is that all these animals came from the heart of the client who commissioned them.

The Lizard:

Snowcatcher's Collared Lizard
by Wayne Stratz

This cantankerous critter demanded to be delivered in our own vehicle:

Di's Red-tailed Hawk
by
Wayne Stratz

Mickie's Siamese cat that went to Alabama:

Siamese Cat
by
Wayne Stratz

The infamous Hippo Project:  (see the whole thing and the close-up of the butterfly):

The Hippo
by
Wayne Stratz

commission your totem critter

The Hippo Project

The Hippo Project:
A collaboration by
Margaret Almon and Wayne Stratz

 Checking my e-mail one day at lunch I found a note from Margaret.

"Get your representational skills set to go..."  That night we wondered if we were being pranked.  Surely people send artists prank e-mails.  This was no typical house number project~ two four digit numbers plus a butterfly, add a feather, and throw in a hippo.  A hippo, who, what, why?

so we said: OK.  and then we said: How big?  and then we said: Give us some money and we will give you a design and an estimate.

They said 18 by 24,  OK, OK, OK...  and finally "It's beautiful!"

Butterfly design by Wayne Stratz

Blue background design by Wayne Stratz
Golden Eagle Feather by Margaret Almon

Hippo design by Wayne Stratz

changing Kirk's moment in time into glass

Africa, boat on river, photo by Kirk Barbner

 It was back in the days of 1984 or so when I became friends with Kirk in college.  I don't think either of us were studying for what our future jobs would be.  Kirk would venture south and possibly the last time I saw him was in West Virginia.  His heart and soul were being pulled toward helping people with a critical need for housing.  He drove me around those mountains and to this day, I will not forget what he taught me and though I have not made it my life's commitment, the need to feed the hungry and house the poor were ingrained in me.  Although I may have been leaning that way already.  Who knows, but Kirk surely opened my eyes. 

I moved on to MA, and OR, and IL and then back to PA.  At some point Kirk landed in Georgia where he does amazing things at The Fuller Center for Housing.

This past year we found each other on facebook and became reunited.  I read about his journey to Africa.  One day I got a message from Kirk's wife who wanted me to create a gift.  She sent me photos and I resonated with the one above.  It was all those bright clothes.  Then the color of the river.  The streak of violet across the horizon came much later.  She was well pleased with my choice because it was her favorite.

So I said, "If you want realism, go elsewhere, but if you want me to spend time with this photo and create a design.  I am your man."  She said go for it.  And then the glass was there.  Purple water glass!  Mystic purple glass for the boat's reflection!  Youghiogheny glass that had never been called into a piece said, "Now is my Time!"   

It was a blessing to create this for my friend.  May we look into each others eyes, shake each others hands, and have a conversation this year which does not involve technology.

Peace and Hope

Stained glass by Wayne Stratz, Kirk's River Side View

Stained glass by Wayne Stratz, Kirk's River Side View

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...