Calligraphy Art Opening

Calligraphy Artist Sally Penley gives her welcome to everyone that came to her opening night for her art rotation at the Maple Valley Creative Arts Council on February 12th.

Members of the Tacoma Calligraphers guild were on hand to write beautiful bookmarks for everyone to take home.

We tasted five different Red Hot Latin Wines from Chile and Argentina..........Debbie wasn't content with her own tasting she had to steal from my glass too - Lush!!

Chef Matt Anderson was at the opening showing off his skills as a food artist. Starting with bowls of fresh fruits and chunks of cheese, Matt created wonderful appetizers for everyone to enjoy.

Yummy strawberries, blueberries and mixed cheeses..............mmmmmm

Simple but beautiful designs............

................and all edible into the bargain!

Check out Matt's website at http://www.chefmattanderson.com/ Matt offers private gourmet, artful dinners in your own home at very reasonable rates. If his fruit platters are anything to go by then I can hardly wait for a special occasion to hire him for!

Smile, you're on Candid Camera...............

It was a great evening and Sally's art is wonderful. Stop on by the Maple Valley Creative Arts Council sometime to check it out for yourself. http://www.maplevalleyarts.com/

Leaves......

Living out in the sticks here in the Pacific Northwest has me surrounded by lots of trees, and a large garden. Some of my latest glass creations are influenced by these surroundings. Whether it be crystal wine glasses with Maple Leaves and Geranium Leaves, or stemless Riedel wine glasses with Fern Leaves and Salmon Berry Leaves, each one is hand painted with pride and attention to great detail. Here are some pictures of some of my most popular Art Glass pieces.

Riedel "O" stemless wine glasses.

Burgundy and Copper Fern Leaf Platter Blue and Gold Fern Leaf Platter

Blue & Gold Fern Leaf Accent Bowl Green & Gold Fern Leaf Platter

I love painting these pieces. The Platters and Bowls are painted upside down so I never know what each one will turn out like until I flip it over when I'm finished. Each one turns out different from the next.

If you would like to see more of my Hand Painted Art Glass, please check out the following links and be sure and follow my blog.

http://www.classonglass.etsy.com/
http://www.classonglass.biz/

Shannon's School Valentine Dance

Wow, how quickly they grow up! Shannon headed out to the school Valentine dance the other week. It seems like only a few months ago that I was putting her on the bus to Kindergarten.!

Featherstone Mask Party

In January we went to the Featherstone Mask Making Party in Ravensdale to help Gill celebrate her birthday. Here's my completed mask. I used lots of seed beads and strands of freshwater pearls along with colored glitter pens and even some yarn.

Whatever it was, it was funny.......and I love Debbie's mask LOL!

Me, Nicole, & Dan.

Lotsa goodies for our mask making.

Marilyn & I.

Shells, Fossils & Rocks completed this mask.

Marilyn used lots of feathers and would you believe, scrapbooking supplies!

Marilyn & Nicole

This was Marilyn's first time out to a Featherstone gathering of artists. We had tons of fun, great food, good wine, and wonderful conversations with fellow artists. Can't wait for the next get together in March.

Wildlife World Zoo, Phoenix

We all took a trip to the Wildlife World Zoo during our visit to Phoenix. The Giraffes are probably my favorite and here's a young one enjoying some time away from it's mother.

The big cats are sooooo amazing.........

.........but we hate the cages!

Love the Zebras......

......and all the exotic birds.

Christmas Day with Grandma & Grandpa

We were lucky enough to spend the Christmas break at Dan's parents in Phoenix this year. After our side trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas we made it back to Phoenix on Christmas Eve and stayed until after the New Year.

Christmas morning, Shannon & Kendra both got cozy hats. Shannon's turned out to be a bit big....................

.......but Kendra's fit perfectly.

Al & Chris thought his musical tie was pretty cool!

I think she likes it!!

I guess Shannon's happy too!

A few days after Christmas we took a hike up to White Tank Falls at the White Tank Mountains Park. It was one of the hottest days we had.

There are lots of petroglyphs in the park...

and Shannon & Kendra climbed up to the falls although it was completely dry.

The next day we went to Scottsdale and saw this wonderful metal sculpture of an Indian lady.

Chris & Al get to see incredible sunsets from the back of their house.