Gallery Glass version of Show and Tell

Once in a while, we invite members of our craft group to bring in their painted projects. It's a thrilling experience for me because my ego gets stroked. I pat myself on the back for being such a GREAT teacher! And then comes the nagging thought, that their amazing results are probably due, not to my influence, but to their unbelievable artistic talent. One thing for sure--together, we're awesome. Lynn Morgan has become extremely interested in seasonal door decoration. She owns a very successful Accounting Firm and enjoys frequent visits from many of her clients on a regular basis--especially during tax season. So for her, the office door has to keep up with upcoming holidays. Her first door project was a colorful collection of ornaments during the Christmas season. Everyone enjoyed it so much, that she made a big collection of hearts to post when it came time for Hearts and Flowers. St. Patrick's Day is one of Lynn's favorite holidays and the Celtic symbols are near and dear to her heart. So she has been busily making shamrocks and yesterday, she sent me this wonderful picture of the Clover Door. I love that they are colorful and fun. It adds a cheerful note to the somewhat repetitious traditional green scheme--although you can spice it up a little by using various colors of green. There are so many Greens in the Gallery Glass line--Emerald, Kelly, Ivy, Lime, Celadon, Jadeite, Green Shimmer, Fresh Lime and Italian Sage! But, who's counting? Too bad that she didn't make them all 4 leaf clovers-- to ensure good luck for her visiting taxpayers.

At one of our last craft classes, members were allowed to "order" pictures they would like to paint and I leaded the panel for them to paint on their own. The basket of flowers was a popular favorite. Lynn Morgan LOVES color and her choices for the flower basket are characteristically bright and cheerful. But notice that every flower is not a different color. There is logical repetition to the arrangement with one focal bloom in the center--illustrating a very important principle of good composition. The sailboat illustrates a small amount of brighter colors which stand out from the basic blue and clear background. The snowflake is a good example of monochromatic coloration--or varying shades of one color.

Some of our other wonderful glass crafters brought in noteworthy examples. Marian Wright painted the lovely Tulips and Fruit in the lower left corner. The coloration of the leaves make tem look almost 3 dimensional and alive. And the gradual shading of the fruit and mushrooms shows off their curves. The painting is 16"x20" and was her first BIG painting. She was proud of it when she finished and realized that it would not take her as long on the next big one. The more you paint, the faster (and better) you get.
The egg basket was painted by Lynn's husband, Richard, and he loves color, too. But he wanted to paint the basket with traditional basket browns and I like the way that it makes the eggs really pop. Several of the Clover Wreaths had been done as color charts which makes a great reference when you are painting other projects. The snowflake in this picture looks just like the one in the other window, although the paint is not as thick, so the colors do not appear to be as dark. It's interesting how two of the same designs--painted by different people, can look totally different.
Most of these patterns are already on the blog in other posts, but if you don't see them, trust me, they are ON THE WAY! Thanks to Lynn, Marian, Richard and the rest of the craft class for letting me take your creative efforts to the world wide web. We can all learn from each other.