auf dem Wasser zu singen

a treasury on Etsy, in greens and blues, inspired by flickering water surfaces and tree groves, based on Schubert's song...



Drat, now I want to climb on a little boat on a lake and do nothing but float to the center, a foot in the water. And to get serenaded. But I'd better get back to the books... *sigh*

treasured & linked

Here comes the sun by atelier stellaria featuring a bubbles necklace:

...and framed cuties by fellow Belgian Etsian Octopurse featuring these delicate balance earrings:

And ecological link love from handmade Europe featuring the Napjesdrager! Thank you so much! Do check out the other ecological blog links too and let yourself be inspired...

and now for something slightly different...

I made a collage.

I know I should be studying, but I always tend to get inspired in these exam or study periods... Of course I'm not supposed to give in to it, so most ideas get scribbled down a sketchbook. But it is tempting, and now and then I have to let myself go a little...

With glass, metal and fire lacking I have to do with what I can find. Quite literally: this is a little collage made out of a handful of thorns, 3 butterflies, 2 bees, 4 cat's whiskers (probably Yang's and Shelley's), a bumblebee, a mosquito and a pupa. I've collected them over the years, they died of natural causes (or quasi natural, as one of the butterflies was trod on by a toddler :-/ ).
 
I love the organic shape of wings, of thorns, of whiskers...They seem perfect even though each one is different.

The work wasn't all that different from gluing murrine on a sheet of glass -only, with such light wings I had to take care not to breathe to hard! V-e-r-y delicate work. But boy it felt good! And now I I'm satisfied and can get back to the books. Until the next idea strikes... ;-)

glass heroes

A few weeks ago I was in London, visiting the V&A museum. What an inspiration! The contemporary glass section featured many of my glass heroes (mainly heroines actually!) and felt so happy to finally "meet" them...I didn't make a lot of pictures, but here's a little glimpse of all the beauty:

"lollipop"; design by Oiva Toikka & manufactured by Nuutajärvi glassworks

"Birdbath"a panel by Judith Schaechter (detail)

Colorbox 1-5 by Jun Kaneko

A vessel by Toots Zynsky which I forgot to take a picture of, but here's a wonderful video of her work process:

I forgot who made this gorgeous cast glass and can't find it on the V&A site... but look at the fantastic green hues and matte reflection! It could be a meditation piece...

And there was a Chihuly dangling in the hall...

Not glass, but sheer poetry:

Lehti, in photo-etched brass by Maria Jauhiainen

I have some more photos at flickr. Sorry for the rather short post, but my college exams are coming up and I feel the heat...so it's back to the books for me. Wish me luck!