They were wonderful hosts and we were able to enjoy tulip time in Ottawa together, take an interesting historical walk highlighting the history of trains from the late 1800's until now sponsored by the Jane's Walk organization, enjoy a concert by Rose Cousins at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec, and savour a very memorable vegan meal at the Zen Kitchen.
Another reason for travelling to Ottawa last weekend was to take a course from a fused glass jewelry artisan, Tanya Veit, owner of AAE Glass in Florida, who was a guest instructor at Stained Glass Stuff in Ottawa.
Tanya's work is truly beautiful and it was a joy to learn new glass fusing techniques from her.
I particularly love her etching techniques...
And her amazing landscape work...
I still have to finish the pieces I created in her class and hope that I'll have some "show and tell" soon!
As soon as we got back from Ottawa, it was time to prepare for a workshop we offered to members of the Waterloo Potters' Workshop. We really enjoyed teaching this talented and creative group of women this weekend. It was interesting to learn about the similarities and differences between working with traditional pottery clay and silver metal clay! Here's part of the group working on their jewelry creations!
Now we will have a few studio days and then it's time to travel again to the Washington D.C. area to take a course from the very talented fused glass artisan, Kari Minnick. I have dreamed of learning from her for years now and since this may be the only course available to us in 2012, we have decided to jump on it. Her work literally takes my breath away. She does the type of collage work that I love and I can hardly wait to learn more about her techniques. Here is an example of one of her fused glass art pieces.
Our lives have been so rich with adventure, new experiences, and learning in the past few months. It continues to be quite a ride! We'll keep you posted!