Fired Up

This weekend has been busy, fun and productive. I took my husband to LAX and he flew off to Puerto Vallarta for an eight-day sojourn on a tropical beach. It’s his first vacation since 1982 without me. He’s only called once; I assume he’s having a good time

From LAX I drove into West Hollywood to friends Davi & Bracha. Since my move to Palm Springs, we don’t visit enough. Bracha, Davi & I are having a great visit, too!

Davi and I collaborated on a stained glass project for our synagogue. I saw Davi every week for 7 years as we built those windows. We are again collaborating on a project for our NEW synagogue building. I wrote briefly about it two weeks ago. We’re making doors for the new Ark, the Eternal Light for the new sanctuary and the Eternal Light for the smaller chapel.

We are also making markers for the Yarzeit Board (Memorial Board). Our new building will be the second Synagogue in California certified green. To reduce electrical use, we are making fused glass markers for the Yarzeit Board to be used instead of light bulbs. The glass for the markers come from the shards left over from the stained glass window.

Neither Davi nor I have ever taken a class in how to fuse glass. Ten years ago, we just bought a small fusing kiln and gave it a go. We received two pieces of advice when we purchased the kiln: 1. Use glass from the same manufacturer, and 2. Keep an eye on that kiln.

Sage advice. We have forgotten that advice on occasion to disastrous results. One time we set our work in the kiln, turned it on and got sidetracked. We were reminded of the kiln when we smelled the tabletop burning. The kiln was lost but the house was saved from certain disaster. We purchased another kiln AND a timer.

Another time we neglected to pay attention to the source of the glass we used. We fired the glass, let it cool and set it aside for another day. A week later, as we were having lunch in the studio, those pieces spontaneously exploded! We dove for cover thinking there was a drive-by shooting! Yeah, our studio was in that sort of neighborhood.

Today, we set up the kiln and turned it on, remembering to set the timer. Timer went off. We checked the kiln. Needed another minute or so. Then we got sidetracked and forgot about it. Fortunately, we remembered before we ruined the kiln. The 9 pieces in the kiln fused into one large blob but the kiln was saved.

Making these Yarzeit markers is addictive. The synagogue needs only 15 markers for any given week. We’re making 100 of these puppies. They are just too much fun to make! And we have been making art these past two days. I’m in heaven. Beats Puerto Vallarta.

I‘m offering a couple of special deals on my artwork. I have pricing for most budgets – check them out here: http://dld.bz/KxWf. Contact me if you see something you like and please visit the rest of my website while you are there. Take a look at my artwork. And, while you’re checking things out at http://dld.bz/KxWf, sign up for my Newsletter. Add some spice to your reading life….

Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind!

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson