JNW’s Halloween Challenge Day 4: Cat
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the letter G (green eyes)
Wordless Wednesday 10/4/17
5
Category Archives: photo challenge
window behind the curtain
I think I’m hidden
you think you can see through me
seems we both are wrong
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Windows
Focused on Fun (photo essay)
Stained Glass Production: at the Corner of Art and Environment
Interior corner at the Uroboros Glass studio in Portland, OR.
The art glass industry is facing many changes lately, and it’s hard for me to get on board with the direction things seem to be going, even though I feel like I “should” think it’s all for the better. Even though it IS for the better. Likely.
In the Pacific Northwest where I live, two of the three nearest art glass manufacturers have essentially gone out of business recently, in large part due to newly imposed environmental regulations. Growing concern about poisonous contamination from glass factory operations have led to tighter – and very costly – restrictions on manufacturers, and the expense of implementing the revised safeguards has been crippling to the industry.
Glass bins were nearly empty at the Uroboros Glass factory as of mid-July, 2017
One could question the impetus for such strict mandates: How viable were the environmental studies, and did they provide an accurate depiction of environmental impacts? Was there consideration and investigation of other potential sources of contamination in the tested areas? Are the specific restrictions and requirements that have been imposed actually effective and/or what is needed to improve safe factory operation?
Maybe it simply boils down to “better safe than sorry.” Environmental, ecological and human preservation and safety are paramount, and if the art glass industry has to sacrifice certain hues of glass to contain unhealthy contaminants, then so be it.
A no-brainer, I suppose. But still…
Entry to Uroboros Glass Studio in Portland, OR.
Production of art glass previously produced by the two closed factories, Uroboros Glass and Spectrum Glass, has been taken over by another glass manufacturer, Oceanside Glasstile, and moved to a different, less restrictive location. But that doesn’t really resolve the issues.
There are still myriad choices in color, texture, opacity and other facets of art glass, certainly enough to feed my artistic soul for a long time to come. Perhaps I need to be open to “turning the corner,” and seeing what new “avenues” appear, so to speak; non-toxic avenues that will help sustain ALL of us for a long time to come.
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Corner
August landscape
color and beauty
give way to texture and form
as summertime ebbs
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Take a New Photo or Photos – Any topic
boot camp
break with precision
grind sharp edges to conform
redefine wholeness
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Numbers: Anything with Numbers on It
What Money Can Buy
I was talking with my eldest daughter the other day (okay, maybe it was more like complaining) about how much I’ve been spending on all my DIY home improvement projects; projects which include reviving the hardwood floors that I discovered under my grungy living room carpet, ripping up the ugly linoleum from my bathroom floor and laying down vinyl tile, making a bathroom sink back splash out of art glass squares, constructing a stained glass privacy panel for the bathroom window, remodeling the kitchen (still in progress), and redoing my dining room to… well, to make it look like a dining room and not a staging area for all my other projects.
dining room
And those are just the indoor projects.
My daughter asked me if spending all that money brings me happiness. ‘Cuz, you know – that whole thing about how money can’t buy you happiness. I didn’t have to ponder that question long at all before giving a resounding “Yes!”
I never had much occasion to practice any handyperson skills up until the past couple of years, so every home improvement project I take on involves a learning process of new skills and knowledge about the workings of “this old house.” (Does that phrase sound familiar? I could probably start my own DIY TV program).
living room floor
The projects have varying levels of success. Some turn out well, some have to be completely redone. Some results are “interesting” and “unique” to say the least, so I just pass those off to my eclectic artistic license and try to imply that that’s where I meant to go with the project – I just didn’t know it until I got there.
Regardless of how I rate the outcomes, I can honestly say the process itself is almost entirely fun and satisfying. I love the challenge, the chance to research and learn new things, the hands-on real world application of what I learn, and the gratification of a daily tangible result.
kitchen
So despite my complaints about the cost of my myriad DIY projects, it is indeed money well spent. It buys a more comfortable, appealing home atmosphere. It buys an “experience” in addition to paying for material goods. And – you might well say – it buys me happiness.
bathroom sink glass back splash
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Satisfaction
pawpaw patch
pawsit pawsitive
pawsibilities upawn
pawsing pawnderings
(posit positive
possibilities upon
pausing ponderings)
