Well it is here! Wacky Wednesday at my studio! It is time to work on old projects that need finishing up, repairs, cleaning the grinders and thing that needs tending to. Three students came in, two working on their projects and one to buy more glass! Always love supply shoppers.

I will be planning  for the next quarter this week- classes, workshops, projects, outreach, new products to try. 

So what are you doing on your Wacky Wednesday? 

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Remember to keep art in your heART!

Have wonderful Wacky Wednesday!

​Kim

HERE’S HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A STAINED GLASS PIECE OF ART

HANGING A SUNCATCHER OR STAINED GLASS WINDOW:  I RECOMMEND THAT YOU HANG YOUR PIECE SECURELY FROM A STURDY HOOK THAT HAS BEEN SCREWED INTO A SECURE MATERIAL, LIKE A WALL STUD OR WOODEN WINDOW FRAME – SOMETHING THAT ISN’T GOING TO FALL DOWN. I AM NOT A HUGE FAN OF SUCTION CUP HANGERS ATTACHED TO WINDOWS.
 
CLEANING: THE STAINED GLASS PIECE YOU HAVE PURCHASED HAS BEEN CLEANED, THEN COMPLETELY PROTECTED WITH A WAXY SEALER THAT IS APPLIED IN ITS SPRAY LIQUID FORM, IS LEFT TO DRY, AND IS THEN BUFFED AND POLISHED WITH A SOFT, DRY RAG. ASIDE FROM A GENTLE DUSTING, YOUR PIECE MAY NEVER NEED TO BE CLEANED. I DON’T RECOMMEND USING WINDOW CLEANERS OR OTHER CHEMICAL CLEANERS ON ANY PIECE OF STAINED GLASS, SINCE THEY MAY DAMAGE THE LEAD, SOLDER, GLASS AND INTEGRITY OF THE PIECE. 

WHITENING OF SOLDER LINES: I CLEAN THE PIECE BEFORE IT IS SEALED. HOWEVER, FROM TIME TO TIME, SOLDER OR LEAD WILL OXIDIZE AND LEAVE A WHITISH SUBSTANCE ON ITS SURFACE. GENTLY WIPE WITH A BRUSH OR A NON-ABRASIVE PLASTIC POT SCRUBBER TO REMOVE THE “WHITE”. (NEVER PUT ABRASIVE STUFF ON YOUR GLASS PIECE. IF YOU CAN’T GET THE “WHITE” OFF, CONTACT ME.) 

TWICE A YEAR, I RECOMMEND YOU RE-SEAL THE PIECE SO THAT IT’S PROTECTED FROM “WHITEN”. GLASS SEALER IS AVAILABLE AT ART HAPPENS ON TARBORO. I SPRAY THE SEALER ON A SOFT RAG AND THEN POLISH THE METAL AND GLASS SURFACES FOLLOWED BY A SOFT DRY RAG TO BUFF IT.​

TOUCHING YOUR GLASS PIECE:  STAINED GLASS PIECES ARE PUT TOGETHER WITH SOLDER THAT CONTAINS LEAD. EVEN THOUGH EACH PIECE IS SEALED WHEN IT’S FINISHED, I ALWAYS SUGGEST THAT YOU DO WHAT I DO AND WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WARM WATER AFTER CLEANING/ HANDLING ANY STAINED GLASS PIECE. LEAD IS A HEALTH ISSUE WHEN INHALED OR INGESTED. WASHING YOUR HANDS AFTER HANDLING IT IS CONSIDERED SUFFICIENT PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT UNWANTED EXPOSURE.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL ME 252-650-2530 OR EMAIL ME  at kim@arthappensontarboro.com or kim@kimsjoy.com.

I love stained glass Sunday! Actually I love stained glass everyday. 

Someone asked me why? Why do you work in stained glass? It is so old fashioned. Nobody has stained glass in their houses anymore. It is just something to block you window and the view of outside.

I wanted to cry and scream. I kept my patience as they went on and on. Finally I could take it no longer.

Why do I work in stained glass? Because I love it. I love to work with the glass, listen to it tell what it wants to be, hear its story ( if it is a repair), be amazed it the way light plays with. To take a few sheets of flat glass and to cut it apart, pit it back together and then hang it in a window and see it come to life... that is why!

It has been around for hundreds of years and it came after painting. Does that make painting old fashioned also? There is so much contemporary stained glass out now, it is not your Granny's stained glass! 

Many people have stained glass hanging in their homes and some make it permanent fixtures with built ins. A realtor makes special note of stained glass in a home being listed. And there is lamps and freestanding pieces around in homes.

Block your view? I have stained glass in windows in every room in my house and even numerous pieces in some rooms! I so want to make little pieces to hand in each pane of the frame! Like a stained glass applique window. Stained glass can be transparent so you can see through it and unless the piece covers the whole window, you can see around it.

I just looked up from my computer, it the window in front of me have three pieces hanging and the other window in this room has two. 

Do you think stained glass is too old fashioned? Do you have pieces of stained glass in your home? Do you think it blocks the view? 
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Let me know you thoughts.

Have a great week. Keep art in your heART!
Kim

No really! I just lost track of time and got sidetracked big time.

I have been tackling repairs left and right. Trying to clear the workbench of of unfinished projects and such. I have also been racking my brain for ne class ideas. If you have some stained glass project you have been itching to do, please let me know and maybe we can set up a class for it.

The storefront is done! Took long enough and we had a few hiccups along the way. The window boxes still look dark, I do turn on the overhead lights when I am there. 

​What do you think about the facade now? Can you remember what it looked like before?
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How do I manage my time and structure my day? Wow this one is hard for me, I am more Coker Spaniel than Border Collie! I am easily distracted! There are so many books to read, piles to move, You tube videos to watch, classes to take houses to look at, art supplies to put in a cart you never will buy.....

I do have a planner, it is a hybrid cross between Passion Planner and Planner Worksheets. 

Monthly- I list all appointments, birthdays, appointments, classes (that I am teaching and that I am taking) and any other important events.

Then weekly I get down to the time blocking. Everything is put in the weekly calendar from the monthly calendar, then I block studio time, marketing time, social media time, business education time and so on. I highlight blocks that I am in the studio- this is non-negotiable!

The worksheets are Goals, 90 Day Goal broken down into doable chunks, notes on the goal- what needs to happen etc. Then Action Plan. Review of Quarter. And repeat for all 4 quarters of the year.

​It works pretty well, if I do not get distracted! I also have my calendar on my phone so it is always with me.

What kind of planner do you have? How does it work for you? Please share your planner and why it works best for you.

Thank you and remember to keep art in your heART!

Don't forget to sign up for the VIP List so you are first to know what classes an workshops are coming up!

Kim

How can you show love for the  person or persons you love and at the same time help out someone that has been affected by the COVID shutdown? Maybe you could buy some artwork and support an artist? Art Happens on Tarboro is full of local artists' work and they would not be your typical Valentine's gift. These are just a handful, there are 100's of items to chose from. Stop on by and check them out before you head to a big box store. Support local artists! 

Thank you and Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!
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I am blessed to have two studios. One at my home and one at Art Happens on Tarboro.

My home studio is in the largest bedroom. When I moved into my house I wanted a studio to work in so I set up my jewelry and mixed media studio in the bedroom. I thought I was going to convert the garage into my stained glass studio. It has a wood floor, no electricity, no heat or ac- yes all that can be upgraded. I ended up buying the storefront on Tarboro Street in Historic Downtown Wilson- there I have my stained glass and teaching studio as well as a gallery of local artists. Both studios are my happy place! 
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Above are photos of my home studio, just finished cleaning it. It normally looks lived in and worked in!

My workbench at Art Happens on Tarboro and some gallery photos.

I love have places to work, when I am home I can create any time of the day or night and when I am Downtown I have a huge space to work and share art with visitors.

I started out in a 5' x 8' potting shed attached to the back of a garage with no electricity, just an extension cord. Now I am in a 1900 sq ft studio! Came a long way but it took many many years.

What does you work space look like? What do you call it? Studio? Workspace? Tell me about it and share photos if you like.

Happy Creating! And have an artful weekend!

My stained glass art is influenced by the styles of Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright and William Morris. They are not all stained glass artists but I love their style of work. Each different in their own right.

When starting a stained glass piece, mostly the glass "talks" to me and lets me know what is going to happen. Yes I know that sounds a little wacka doodle but it is how I work. I have one piece of glass that I have not cut in 16 years, I have pulled it out for projects but it "tells" it is not the right time or project. I have pieces of glass from stained glass artists that have passed and they had them since the 1940's and 1960's- hard to part with theses pieces of glass making history.

I like to work from nature and from line design. I guess you could say I do not have a set style, it is all an experiement waiting to happen. I do like to look at others' work, to see what their story is. My story? I am all over the road! I have a secret, I use the colors in birds and woodlands a lot in my work.

Each new stained glass class coming in has the hardest time picking the glass. There are so many choices and you can see the angst they go through. Until they start cutting the glass they can change their mind, afterwards they stick with their choices.

I am the same way, I pick more glass then I need and then sit with it and look to see if they will be good neighbors and it meets the design correctly.
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First you cry then you pick yourself up. Let's walk through the process.

When someone calls me or brings in a broken piece of stained glass art, I first take a look at it- just an overall evaluation of the piece. Next I mark each broken piece with a sharpie with a number, this way I know how many broken pieces there are and they are marked so I do not have to look for them again. Then I figure out what kind of glass it is- true antique or present glass (1970's to today). Do I have the glass? Can I get replacement glass? Is it lead work or copperfoil? How hard is it to get to and replace the broken pieces? Does the whole piece need to be taken apart to to repair it?

I know that there were way too many questions in that paragraph. It takes some detective work to figure out the process from start to finish and I just wanted to give you a peek behind the process.

As a base line I charge $50 for the first piece and $25 for each addition piece. The amount of damage also may make the piece not repairable, both glass wise and financially. It is hard when someone comes in with a piece their parent made or that has been in the family forever and they want it repaired and when they hear the cost they are devastated again.

I have had people sign up for a stained glass class so they could learn to do stained glass and try their hand at repairing the piece themselves.

If you do have a stained glass art piece that needs repair please email me at kim@kimsjoy.com or call me at 703-623-0905 for a complimentary estimate of repair. 

HERE’S HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A STAINED GLASS PIECE OF ART. (This is cut and pasted from a handout on stained glass care that will be going home with each piece purchased or commissioned from Art Happens on Tarboro.

HANGING A SUNCATCHER:  I RECOMMEND THAT YOU HANG YOUR PIECE SECURELY FROM A STURDY HOOK THAT HAS BEEN SCREWED INTO A SECURE MATERIAL, LIKE A WALL STUD OR WOODEN WINDOW FRAME – SOMETHING THAT ISN’T GOING TO FALL DOWN. I AM NOT A HUGE FAN OF SUCTION CUP HANGERS ATTACHED TO WINDOWS.
 
CLEANING: THE STAINED GLASS PIECE YOU HAVE PURCHASED HAS BEEN CLEANED, THEN COMPLETELY PROTECTED WITH A WAXY SEALER THAT IS APPLIED IN ITS SPRAY LIQUID FORM, IS LEFT TO DRY, AND IS THEN BUFFED AND POLISHED WITH A SOFT, DRY RAG. ASIDE FROM A GENTLE DUSTING, YOUR PIECE MAY NEVER NEED TO BE CLEANED. I DON’T RECOMMEND USING WINDOW CLEANERS OR OTHER CHEMICAL CLEANERS ON ANY PIECE OF STAINED GLASS, SINCE THEY MAY DAMAGE THE LEAD, SOLDER, GLASS AND INTEGRITY OF THE PIECE. 

WHITENING OF SOLDER LINES: I CLEAN THE PIECE BEFORE IT IS SEALED. HOWEVER, FROM TIME TO TIME, SOLDER OR LEAD WILL OXIDIZE AND LEAVE A WHITISH SUBSTANCE ON ITS SURFACE. GENTLY WIPE WITH A BRUSH OR A NON-ABRASIVE PLASTIC POT SCRUBBER TO REMOVE THE “WHITE”. (NEVER PUT ABRASIVE STUFF ON YOUR GLASS PIECE. IF YOU CAN’T GET THE “WHITE” OFF, CONTACT ME.) 

TWICE A YEAR, I RECOMMEND YOU RE-SEAL THE PIECE SO THAT IT’S PROTECTED FROM “WHITEN”. GLASS SEALER IS AVAILABLE AT ART HAPPENS ON TARBOR. I SPRAY THE SEALER ON A SOFT RAG AND THEN POLISH THE METAL AND GLASS SURFACES FOLLOWED BY A SOFT DRY RAG TO BUFF IT.​

TOUCHING YOUR GLASS PIECE:  STAINED GLASS PIECES ARE PUT TOGETHER WITH SOLDER THAT CONTAINS LEAD. EVEN THOUGH EACH PIECE IS SEALED WHEN IT’S FINISHED, I ALWAYS SUGGEST THAT YOU DO WHAT I DO AND WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WARM WATER AFTER CLEANING/ HANDLING ANY STAINED GLASS PIECE. LEAD IS A HEALTH ISSUE WHEN INHALED OR INGESTED. WASHING YOUR HANDS AFTER HANDLING IT IS CONSIDERED SUFFICIENT PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT UNWANTED EXPOSURE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL ME 252-650-2530 OR EMAIL ME kim@Arthappensontarboro.com or kim@kimsjoy.com.










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