Hello, Folks,

Welcome to Taqwa Glassworks Blog.

I hope this will be a blog that will be an exciting place for friends

and customers to visit. I will be posting News From the Studio,

along with project movies and photos of new works. Customers

will be invited, via email and Twitter, to follow the creation of works

in progress, along their own personal custom orders. Please view

my profile to get a feel for who I am and what I do here at

Taqwa Glassworks Studio.

Welcome again, and here we go!

Some general information:

• Please consider this Blog as my interactive Website.
• This blog is also an interactive project site.

If you are a customer, or would like to view the progress of a particular project, please use the search box at the right and type in the name of the customer/project and you can view posts from beginning to end.

• My Twitter name is: DuneGlassGirl

Thank you so much for joining me, and please let me know how I can make this blog better. I am always open to suggestions. Warm regards to all who visit here. Christie.

• P.S. Please review this top post for info on other blogs I have and permanent news updates.

Hello Barbara, here are the photos of the two pieces shown at Edel's (The Glass Gazebo) and at Cortile Gallery (one of which sold...?).
The top one is called "Wake" and is 6x13, the second one is called "Wood End" and is 16x19. I hope this helps, thank you for taking the time to wander through this...

Great BNI meeting today, was so excited that Tony (from Lower Cape Cod Construction) brought the panel in for display...I need to do a quick video on my process, and having the finished piece to show at the end of the video is a big help. Sometimes (well, always, actually) I get so excited at the end of a project that I just send it off or deliver it and then wish I had s l o w e d d o w n and taken a photo!!! I'll post the fuzzy visual video here and do another video of the process. This video is really the video I sent Jay to give him an update on the layout and how the various processes were working.

New Work hanging in the New Shop, Photos of custom panels

Proud of myself today, contacted old customers about pending work projects that have languished not only from lack of response, but also from lack of initiative from me...and all the responses were favourable!!! Everyone has expressed interest in continuing on with the projects this year, and I have a whole new roster of custom work to look forward to!! Picked up my work from Cortile Gallery, and am in the process of getting my kiln hooked up, specifically to get them new and exciting work for the summer. I have all new molds, and I'm really looking forwarding to working with a new red antique this year...test firing on the way. in the mean time, here are a couple of new photos Marsha sent me of the repaired panel hanging on the wall...it looks great.

Beautiful sunny and 25 degrees today with wind, cold and brisk. Have great news on a custom order, and finishing up a blind I am making. Hope to get the kiln hooked up this week. I really want to get started on the tile portion of my business. I made some great tiles for Frank and Denise for their house in Nevis. Well on to phone calls and here is a quick initial video of the blind process.

Panels Newly Hung By Joe and Marsha Williamson

These are panels are hung in my dear friends Joe and Marsha Williamson's house in Pensicola. Some of the panels I created specially for them, others they fell in love with in my old studio in Provincetown. It is nice to see them hung in toto, and they have found just the right places for all of them.

Evolution: Art, Space, Artspace

Second day of the new year: new years resolutions kept and broken; promised to blog every day...missed yesterday...but there is always room to re-resolve. So here I go.

As I reflect on the last 4 years of my life, it is a study in contrasts: knowing what I have to do, and ignoring the fact. Emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, financial exhaustion...but here I am. Set up and running again. One final push? Or the beginning of a new and vital part of my life and career? I think the latter. I'll start from the beginning: Taqwa Glass Studio and Gallery. Small small small, vibrant and alive. Ah, another reflection of me!!! Now, there is revelation! Here are a few of my photos.

Finished!!! Photos of Amy and Nancy's Still Life Corner Pieces!!

Hello Fran,

Thank you so much for getting in touch with me, I have been so busy creating new fused candleholders and tiles for Edel at the Glass Gazebo, and time has run away from me.

The video in this post is the final photo of Amy and Nancy's pieces, and you can go to Amy and Nancy's video #4 (scroll down in this blog) to see the end result of the corner pieces with the elements you mentioned might works in your palladian piece. I am enclosing here a photo (clip) of the corner pieces hung in the door the night I finished them. I am also sending you a photo of the "rose passementerie" I have here in the shop, which also has the leaves. I want to give you enough ideas to help you start creating the center piece you would like.

I love doing work like this, and this is a great way to stay in touch with you and have you be a part of this process.

I will look forward to receiving photos from you of the area, and measurements will help me get started on the layout.

Please let me know how I can be of further help.

Warm regards, Christie

Hello Joe,

Here is the photo I use on my fB page, and this "Chimera" I did for my friend Ellie Kelly. This one happens to have a 1" mirrored bevel inside border and came out beautifully. I would love to have a photo of yours (since I can't seem to find my own reference photo). Send photos of your empty area and I will get to work with you on making something beautiful!! Regards, Christie

50th Wedding Anniversary Carnation Pin for Frank

Hello Frank,

Here is my funny little one man video (I crack myself up) and all in all, with zooming and un-zooming it came out well. I didn't edit one thing out!!! Let me know what you think, and we will talk tomorrow. I hope your memorial celebration went well, and brought out the heart and spirit of your friend. Remembering and speaking their names frequently is the best tribute to someone's life. Talk to you soon, Christie.

AMY and NANCY'S Still Life Corner Panels: FINISHED!!!

VIDEO #4

Well, here are the finished Corner Still Life panels, and they turned out beautifully...However, in my excitement and haste to get these off to Amy and Nancy I FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OF THEM HANGING!!! YIKES!! However, I have asked for a photo, and I know that with the proper help from friends and lots of burning of incense and strange prayers they will send me one or two..I can't wait to see them hung in their new home. And to Amy and Nancy: I loved making these and had such fun with both of you...what a great introduction to blogging for me..thank you so much.

AMY and NANCYS custom Corner Still Life panels (with video! Taa Taa!)

VIDEO #1

Hello Folks (Nancy and Amy in particular),

This video is all about the steps Nancy, Amy and I have taken so far in their custom order corner pieces.

From colour choice to final layout before soldering, this is also a tutorial for artists and clients about working closely with the customer and using the tools we have at hand to enhance our communication.

Working collaboratively with the clients is a joy for me. Also, it is always good to remember that forwarding the clients ideas, listening and providing my technical expertise to realize their vision is a craft that can be finely tuned and is well worth the effort. I have had clients come up with ideas I wouldn't have dreamed of; a good example here is Nancy and Amy wanting vine leaves instead of the leaves I usually use (please see the first part of the video). This idea has turned out beautifully, and I can't believe the beautiful softness these leaves give to the panels. What a treat. This is also an example of remaining open to suggestions (regardless of my own stubborn "ideals" of how something should be.

This is art! All art is influenced! And I have had the opportunity to be influenced by absolutely the best clients. And I can say that without reservation after being in this business for 25 years and thousands of custom orders. So, I hope you enjoy this video. Just remember it is my first one, and I will become more proficient as time goes on.

And thank you Amy and Nancy for this opportunity to work with you. It has been a joy, and to have this project in particular be my inspiration to go web wide with this I will never forget. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

AMY and NANCYS custom Corner Still Life panels

VIDEO #2

Hi Amy and Nancy,

Here is the video about soldering the corner bevels as the base of your Still Life Corner Pieces. It turned out to be a bit long, but there is a lot that goes on even at this early stage. These videos are also part of a larger idea; teaching and helping other glass artists to refine their work.

This has been such a great experience documenting how all this works. And to have such a great pair of corners to work on, these have always been my pride and joy in the shop. I love the idea of making the base structure, and then proceeding on to creating the artwork with the client. So after this, these corner pieces are your expression, your vision realized to fit in your home. So here is how it works, next step is "putting it all together". Thank you again for this opportunity. I can't wait to see these done.

AMY and NANCYS custom Corner Still Life panels

VIDEO #3

Hello, Nancy and Amy,

Here is the "putting it together" video. The next step is the bent wire and framing in the Nickel Silver and we will be able to hang them to see what they are like. I think the next video will just be pictures of the corners done, and I might wait to post the video of the pieces hanging until after you receive them. I'm slowly getting better at this and I will have to work on the sound (keeping it uniform) but I am having so much fun with these!!! I would have liked to have had these off before Christmas (as was my plan) but let it snow let it snow let it snow seems to be the theme song for my deadlines this year. Talk to you soon, Christie

I have just purchased a Sony Webbie HD video camera which also takes nice still photos (yeah). This item was suggested by Kim Komando for quality and price.

I found the best price at Amazon.com $168.00. With a co order on the 4 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (bringing the cost of that down to $1400 or so) I was able to get free shipping on the cam, with a sign up for a free shipping plan (I will cancel in 30 days). The shipping on the mem stick was expedited (so it was about 7.00) bringing my total to about $189.00. All in all I am a very happy camper.

I will be making my first video of a custom order pair of corner pieces for Amy and Nancy. This video will include some still shots, as at the start of the project I only had my cybershot to record the progress. So, wish me luck. Look for the video within the next week.

About the artwork:

I thought about my work the other day. Or "the work". I am trying to reconcile the notion of my work being about me, or am I just doing what I am supposed to do: gather my materials, think about them, and then create what they are supposed to become? Am I just an interpreter, and is my artwork the translation. Just thinking, I guess I will hash this out later.