Red Hot Art and Fun

Last night, my friend Gabriela and I attended the very swanky Red Hot party and auction at Tacoma's Museum of Glass.  Gabriela Cowan is half of the mother-daughter team that comprises Hexen Glass Studio in Olympia, and they create custom stained and fused glass artwork.  We each juried into this exhibit, in which all proceeds benefit the museum's education programs.  I also attended last year's event, and it has proven to be a great opportunity to network and gain exposure.

As both Gabi and I are introverted country girls who spend almost all of our time on farms and in studios, we were giddy with the excitement of dressing up and going to a fancy party.  Walking into the Museum of Glass during the exhibit is like entering a glass artist's wonderland.  The whole main space gets set up as a huge maze of every kind of glass art, nicely lit and displayed.

This is one of my favorites, blown and hand-sculpted glass by Shelley Muzylowski Allen.

With our glasses of wine, we perused the art, commenting on how important it is to get out of our comfort zones once in a while, and to look at art made by other people.  I enjoy eavesdropping on people as they look at my work.  Whether they like it or hate it, I find it interesting to hear their perspectives.  In this case, I overheard rave reviews, and watched as the bidding sheet quickly filled up!  Here's the piece they won:

Gabi's fused glass cityscape also received many bids, and it looked great.
I can't find a digital image of her piece, but here is one that is similar:

We were both invited to give an interview for a live webcast, and I agreed.  Always nervous when put on the spot, I don't remember much of what I said.  I was completely hypnotized by the tall, gorgeous woman interviewing me.

After the silent auction, we were called in for dinner.  After a week of eating without groceries, it was great to be served a delicious meal, but the very best part (possibly the best part of the whole evening) was the chocolate wine they served with dessert!  Chocolate Wine...I didn't even know such a thing existed!  It was absolutely divine, especially paired with a dark chocolate truffle.  What a treat, and what a fun night.  I'm so glad I was able to share the experience with a good friend.

Continued...

Ok, I'm having some trouble downloading and organizing my photos here, but the metal shelf holds the scrap that I use most often. (I salvaged that shelf, which is on wheels - most convenient.)

The very small bits go into random containers and onto that bamboo shelf, which used to be a display unit for bamboo flooring. These tiny pieces are used in my workshops, as I find that most of my students like to use these to fill their designs. On the floor in front of that shelf is a box of cupboard door demos waiting to be dismantled for mosaic, and some wedi scraps that my tile-setting friend, Frank, gave to me.

A tour of my salvaged studio:

I spent most of New Years Day cleaning my studio, which had descended into such chaos in November and December that I could barely fit in the door, let alone work there. While tidying the place up and getting ready for new projects, I took photos for a blog entry about being resourceful in the studio.

These are old milk crates, in which I stack the larger pieces of glass that I collect, separated by cardboard. When I work and when I collect glass scrap from stained glass studios, I separate the small pieces into these shoe-tubs that a friend didn't want anymore:

Ok, it appears that I can't add a photo here, so I'll post it in a new entry.