The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education will be hosting ORA Northwest Jewish Artists on April 7th from 11a-4p. It's a free admission day at the museum and will also feature an amazing exhibit called The Burned Piano. I'll be selling a good bit of Judaica as well as my masked featured in earlier posts. This is one of my simple Hanukkiot... Most folks call these menorahs, but menorahs hold seven candles. A Hanuikkiah holds 8 candles plus the Shamash (a lead candle.)  Come see me...I'll be there all day ..read more

  I Love Lucy! Yes, that was the name of her television show....but I love Lucy!  Lucille Ball was not a compliant woman, at a time when women were expected to be agreeable and do what their husbands told them to do.  My tribute to Lucy includes a chocolate heart necklace and earring (resin shaped to look like chocolate. That's a nod to a fabulously comedic episode where Lucy and Ethel work on an assembly line in a chocolate;late factory. Her other earring is a bottle of Vitameatavegamin which she was sampling repeatedly as she was being filmed for a tv commercial. Apparently t ..read more

  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I only make masks of individuals I wouldn't mind inhabiting space on my walls. Harpo is one of those characters who remind me how important it is to be silly and laugh! As a child, I delighted in watching Marx Brothers movies on tv. I still do! Harpo was the most musically talented of all the brothers...and could make people laugh without uttering a word! His hat is made of felt with green sparkles that match his eyes. His time is made of needle felted wool and the harp is a sticker I found.  His hair? Dolls hair from a local craft store....an ..read more

  I have such fun making fused glass caricature  "masks". I'm prepping for a 1-day art show @ the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education on April 7th (11a-4p). The museum is generously sponsoring ORA Northwest Jewish Artists in our ORA Artists A-Z show.  I'm in the process of finishing my third mask that I'll be selling that day. Albert is the first mask I want to share with you all. I am always optimistic that they will sell, but my rule of thumb is to only create masks of folks I am happy to live with on my own walls. Albert was made awhile back ...but I was ..read more

  Framing up! A lovely young couple received one of my gift certificates from friends  Their friends imagined a menorah or a seder plate, but the couple wanted special frames built for three of their wedding photos. The photo above shows Hebrew lettering pasted onto copper foil. The lettering spells a beautiful saying from Song of Songs: "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Frame #2 will say Mishp'cha which means "family", and the third reads "Ahavah" which means "love" posted below. Once I cut these letters out, I soak them in soapy water and dry them with Q-tips. When t ..read more

  I haven't written anything in a couple of months...OOOPS! I've been busy filling commission orders and haven't really had the time to write about my work. Above are pictures of 2 new gnome commissions that I'm pretty happy with. What do you think? Here in Portland we have been blanketed in sub-freezing temperatures, snow and ice for almost a week. Today the temperature is above freezing but freezing rain and a temperature drop are predicted to hit in just about an hour.  While it is the perfect time to focus on cleaning up my studio, inertia has grabbed a hold of me. Maybe late ..read more

  \ There is often confusion about what to call this ritual item that eventually holds 8 candles and a 9th lead candle. Most folks call it a menorah...but technically the menorah holds only 7 candles. Hanukkah is a festival lasting 8 days. Each day succeeding candles are lit: 1 for day #1, 2 for day #2, etc..... The candles are lit from a lead candle also known as a shamash. This candle holder is not a menorah but a hanukkiah. I've made two additional ones which will be available for purchase at the MJCC here in Portland Oregon, tomorrow! Our Marketplace event will only be open thr ..read more

  I don't know why I keep forgetting to post on this blog! Oh Well...I'm here now! This is my table area at the MJCC (Portland Oregon). ORA has a Hanukkah MarketPlace event all week. In addition to my tallit clips, garden stakes, seder plates and quilted glass, I will be adding menorahs to the display starting this afternoon ! I'll post photos later this evening ..read more

  Twenty +...yes...20 + years ago we renovated our kitchen area. We had a curio cabinet installed and I asked the contractor to leave space for my own windows.  Inertia, perfectionism, laziness, forgetfulness...more inertia, more perfectionism, more laziness and finally "What the Heck!!!!...just do it ! (to coin a much over-used phrase.) I'm not getting any younger! I decided to opt for an easy solution. I used Bullseye Tekta and tack-fused blue and clear confetti . That's it!  How silly that it took that long to do something so simple, so basic ..read more

 This is a commissioned piece for a long and narrow bathroom window. The hoe owners wanted to add a little more privacy to the space. It's approximately 20"x9". The base is Bullseye Tekta clear and is topped with a cloudy white streaky glass. The tree is adorned with green fruit and dichroic dots. Powdered fruit was sprinkled on the background to create a "mood. The moon is a small disc of new lavender capped with iridescent clear. The grass is aventurine green with home-made aventurine green fruit. Fingers crossed that it will make the journey safely...A family member is carrying ..read more