stained glass mosaics Charlotte, NC – Flower Floozy Designs

2019 was a challenging but really fun year for me. I started the year with lots of classes, back pain, 2 estate sales and a trip to Franklin, NC to learn how to fuse glass. If you haven’t been to John C Campbell Folk School, take the chance and go. I wanted to learn everything they were teaching. Bobby Umbach gave me the knowledge and the courage to start using my kiln and fusing glass. I am still learning the whole world of kilns and the very capricious kiln gods which cause quirky things to happen to your glass while it is in the kiln.

I had some great shows that involved traveling to 2 of my favorite places – Charleston, SC and Blowing Rock, NC. In August, a friend and I marked lots of things off of our bucket lists with a trip to Barcelona, Ireland, and Venice. I visited mosaic sites, glass manufacturers, and mosaic artists in all 3 places and was just stunned by the beauty of the mosaics of Gaudi and the St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice.

The fox in the picture above, was my ode to Ireland. While driving down the Dingle Peninsula, a beautiful fox crossed the road in front of us and turned around to watch us drive by. I had to immortalize him when I got home. The red flowers in this piece are the crocosmia which grow wild everywhere in Ireland. In Listowel, Ireland, I met a mosaic artist who I have long admired, John (Solly) Sollinger. He was doing a month long residency at Olive Stack’s Gallery. In March, 2020, I am going to Michigan to take a class from Solly. Seeing his work up close and hearing his descriptions made me decide that I have to go while he is on this side of the country.

2020 is looking like a fun year for teaching classes and taking classes. I am teaching a few new classes and techniques this year so look for the new schedule of classes coming on Monday. I hope to see lots of you either in class or at shows. I have applied for several shows and should have my show schedule confirmed in the next month or so. Thanks for checking out my website and hope to see you soon. Karen

I was reading Art Elements Blog last month and saw that the September Challenge was to create art using Foliage. I love all of God’s creations and have been thinking about foliage and the varieties and beauty of it. Some of you may know that the reason my mosaic business is named Flower Floozy Designs is because I am so crazy for flowers and color. I belong to a group of gardening ladies who call ourselves the Planters Nuts. Most of them have lots of shade and have been very much into foliage for years. I always made a beeline for the flowers at the nurseries so they teased me that I was a Flower Floozy. It’s true! But lately I have been making a conscious effort to look at foliage to appreciate the beauty in the leaves. I accomplished a few things this month with foliage and looked back through my previous projects for a few more examples of foliage to share with you.

Here is my most recent project. I am still learning the ins and outs of my new kiln so I made these small leaf dishes that can be used as soap dishes, ring dishes, or outside in the garden to hold water for the birds. The dishes were made using a leaf from the garden as a pattern for the pottery. After they were fired, I mosaiced the leaf dishes with stained glass and grouted.

Here are a few other past projects that I made highlighting the greenery, leaves and foliage.

Art Elements has organized a group of artists who are all spotlighting foliage this month. Check out these other amazing artists. Click on the name and it will take you to their pages.

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I hope you have as much fun checking out all of the different ways that foliage is interpreted in art. I am now super inspired to go create more foliage art and to study it more closely.

Category: stained glass mosaics Charlotte, NC

A little late Happy New Year and the many reasons I am thankful for 2019

Has my love for flowers blinded me to the beauty of foliage? Art Elements September Challenge