MARCH 29th
I don't know what day into isolation today is but we are healthy and following orders to not venture out. The fact that here in NM no one is open, it is not hard to stay at home. We do venture out for groceries but I am getting low on the goldfish food so may have to go on-line and order more since the goldfish are again active. The fruit trees are blossoming and there's no sign at the moment of a freeze so I have my fingers crossed.
I don't know what the country will look like on the other side of this pandemic but I believe that it is Mother Nature's wakeup call. When I was young and child bearing, I believed in one child theory to keep our world from becoming overcrowded and I only have one child. The theory is both good and bad like everything does. This time I think will make us realize that we need to reconnect with the world and respect everything on it.
I just finished my 23 violin that is on the smaller size with a touch of Magnolias with artistic leaves. The magnolia tree has leaves that are dark green on one side and a soft brown underneath. I made the leaves with brown and purple much like a painting would be. I tend to use accurate flowers on the violins but I am thinking I need to do one that is totally artistic. When I first started making glass flower beads, I settled on two things. First, was the flowers had 3 petals which is the easiest way to create a flower on the mandrel. Second, was the color. It was years before I started to re-create accurate flowers. When I am making beads, I still revert back to the 3 petal/colorful flowers. I do not use boro for the violins because the colors are not as varied and you cannot use wires with boro without melting through the wires.
The other thing is the difference in boro flowers and soft-glass flowers. The soft-glass flowers I make on the mandrel or wire. I do not make components and then put them together. In boro, I make components and assemble them because boro allows that. Lewis has a small hand torch that he uses when working and it is something I haven't tried yet but it would make it easier in my work. I look back on the journey of torching and realize that I have been doing it for seventeen years. I now go through phases of not torching and then spending hours looking for new flowers to make.
At the moment, a Wildlife Ranger is out front photographing the hawk in our tree. We had a long conversation about their trying to band them and keep track of their nests and hatchlings. Life is cool.
So, don't go stir-crazy and enjoy the quiet. Barb
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