Perhaps this little critter lives on the sea floor. A rare fusion of plant and crustacean. With this piece I continue my practice in making 3 dimensional forms out of glass rods. It’s a process much like drawing in three dimensions. One challenge is creating smooth, even contours. On a small piece such as this one, that’s not too difficult to accomplish. On larger pieces though, I am still challenged by that. Some artists have mastered this challenge - see Robert Mickelsen’s work at www.mickelsenstudios.com. This lavender is also a new color for me, and I discovered that it is a very bubbly glass. As it is heated, bubbles form within the glass. In this case I like it - it adds to the sense that this is an underwater creature. Dimensions: 4.5\"h x 8\"w x 3.5\"d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

This piece has now sold. The tricycle is finished! The pedals spin the front wheel, the handlebars turn the front wheel, and the back wheels spin. For such a simple mechanical object, this was hard to make! My first mistake was making the front wheel with a hole to spin on an axle - I forgot that the pedals turn the front wheel so they need to be solidly connected. After fixing that and making the rest of the tricycle, I sat it down and it flopped completely over. The \"ring\" that the handlebar post goes through was too big and there was nothing to stop the entire handlebar post from slipping through the ring. Also, the rings on the fork were too large. The tricycle just flopped. Now the difficulty began ... how to make those rings large enough to allow the other parts to move through them, yet small enough to contain the tricycle in its shape. None of these parts alone are hard to make or to make small. The trouble is that they have to be completed with at least a spot hot and molten. For example, I went back and made the rings on the fork smaller, but had to close the rings with the wheel and pedals in place. This means I had to get the ring molten enough to close around the post, yet avoid heating the post and avoid touching the ring to the post. These are very small parts, so the working area is incredibly small. As I\'ve said before though, I love experimenting, I love trying new ideas, I love pushing my skills, and so, although at times frustrating, this was a fun project. The tricycle is still loose. The handlebar/fork piece and the front wheel wobble a bit. But who cares! It\'s a fun little tricycle. Dimensions: 5\"h x 5.25\" x 3\"w. Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here's another piece in my toys series, a funny little futuristic car. It has two wheels in back and one in front, a seat and steering wheel. The wheels spin so you can take it for a drive around your desk or table. Dimensions: 2h x 2.5d x 8.75w inches. Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here's another piece in my toys series - a glass marble pouch with six hand made marbles. I've always loved marbles. They are such pleasing objects with their smooth surfaces, their clicking when I roll them in my hand, some opaque and some transparent. Sixth grade was my big marble year. My best friend, Sally Keller, and I played marbles every recess and lunch, challenging each other with our so-so marbles while saving our treasured favorites, and carrying them around in our little pouches. Every time I make a marble, my son Reilly is delighted. He's disappointed I'm selling this little pouch and marbles, so I will make him a set for Christmas. Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches. Please add $25 for packing and shipping.

This piece has sold. Scouting grocery store produce aisles and nurseries is a favorite activity. Lately I am enamored with acorn squash and their fluted shapes. Goldenrod is also one of my favorite glass colors, and I like to make the acorn squash in goldenrod with a bit of forest green and orange crayon. My first acorn squash went into a big wall piece titled “Bouquet”. This miniature piece has a goldenrod acorn squash and matching little blue feet. Dimensions: 7.5”h x 3.5”w x 4.5”d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here is a strange, intriguing creature. It reminds me of a waterbug. I made this lantern pod when I first began making botanical sculptures. In my mom's neighborhood, people have trees with these pods in their front yards. The trees grow giant sprays of these beautiful pods that I call lantern pods because they remind me of Chinese lanterns. The entire trees become entirely covered in the lantern pods. It's gorgeous! So I tried making them in glass and this is one of my first pods. It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years. I noticed it the other day and thought it would make a good "critter" body, so here it is. Dimensions: 6"h x 5"w x 6"d. Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here is the second in my series of toys. When I was a girl my family often went to Alum Rock Park, a big, rustic park in the hills bordering San Jose. There were a couple old, giant swing sets that my brother and I played on. They were so big that we could swing in giant arcs so high I had to manage my fear. I felt like I was flying so high in the air I lost track of the ground. I used to grip that chain so tightly my little hands went white, but I had to keep up with my brother Bob. So scared or not, there I was pushing that swing up until I bounced back at the top of each arc. This little swing doesn't go that high, but it does swing on its chain. The chain was interesting to make - shaping and closing the links in the torch flame. I couldn't make them any smaller, and the chain alone took quite a long time to complete. As with my other pieces, you will notice that straight lines, symmetry and perfect angles are not my focus. I'm more interested in the fun of the little swing.

Part of my family and I are at Bodega Bay, a small community along the coast of California, about one hour north of San Francisco. We are staying with friends at a beach house overlooking the ocean, spending our days relaxing, playing on the beach and playing games with our children. We just have our youngest son Reilly with us, as our older children wanted to stay home together. We miss them yet understand their desire for independence. So here we are, Brent and I with Reilly, and here is a view off the back deck of the beach house. We just walk down a little path, perhaps a minute and a half, and we are at the beach. I hope you all are having a happy summer! I will post an auction when I return. In the meantime, you can see all my previous auctions by clicking on the Past Auctions tab.

For some time I have had in mind making a series of toys in glass. The windmills, with their moving parts, inspired me to start the toys. My first is a little wagon. I don\'t know if children today still play with wagons, but my brother and I sure played with ours - a red Radio Flyer. This little wagon has working wheels. As with my windmills, I am not concerned with perfect right angles or perfect symmetry, and in spite of that, this little wagon has a lot of charm! Dimensions: 3.75h x 9.5w (including handle) x 3.5d inches. Please include $25 to price for packing and shipping.

Back to a botanical piece this week. This fun little guy makes me think of a cross between a nut and a space ship. Something from Star Wars perhaps. Dimensions: 3.75"h x 9.5"w x 3.5"d. Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

This piece has been sold. Thank you. With thanks to my son Reilly for his inspiration, here is the second in my new series of windmills. It's my first experiment combining the windmill with my botanical elements. I will continue to play with this, as I have some ideas for some crazy, whimsical styles. On this model, the leaf blades turn, although not by the wind. Dimensions: 10"h x 6"w x 5"d. Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

This is my first piece with moving parts, and I had quite a bit of fun figuring out how to make it. I call this piece "Red Tip Windmill." The blades actually turn, although not by the wind. Read my blog entry about my inspiration for this piece. If you are the type of person who enjoys true right angles, straight lines and symmetry, this is not the piece for you. My skills and my aspirations do not include the ability to create perfect geometric aspects. Hopefully what this piece lacks in its engineering it makes up for in charm. Dimensions: 10"h x 5.75"w x 6.5"d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here is a little companion for the Pear on Leaf Legs - a tangerine with a jaunty leaf "scarf". Dimensions: 4.5"h x 3"w x 3"d Please add $25.00 to final price for packing and shipping.

This piece started from my initial idea to make a glass bow for a gift I was wrapping. I had some beautiful handmade Japanese paper in a cobalt blue with tiny white flowers and thought a blue glass bow would be an elegant and artful finish. I liked it so much though, that I decided to give it life as a miniature botanical. My photographer, Keay Edwards, captures my work beautifully - I love the reflection of the piece on its graceful tiptoes. Dimensions: 6 1/2"h x 3 1/2"w x 3 1/2"d. Please add $25 to final sale price for shipping.

Here's one of my Pears on Leaf Legs. A few years back I began making these fruits on leaf legs for fun. They have comical, whimsical personalities and look great in groupings. I make the pears with layers and layers of colors built up to achieve the color and the look of pear skin. This guy even has little knees. Dimensions: 8"h x 3"w x 3"d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here's another "trellis" piece, this time in a book format, and with little unripe plums on a twig. Dimensions: 4.5"h x 4.5"w x 5"d Please add $25.00 to final price for packing and shipping.

No rhyme or reason for this little piece. Having fun with a small pyramid on leaf tiptoes. Dimensions 5" x 3" x 3" Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

With this piece I was experimenting with making a ball of vines. The idea arose from a recent call for entries for an upcoming exhibition titled "Control". The gallery invited women artists to make works of art depicting notions of control. Although I didn't end up having time to submit an entry, the idea stuck with me. My vision was of a glass box made in the lattice style of the little trellis in the April 16 piece, made so we can see into the box. Inside would be a jumble of vines grown much like this little ball of vines - forced to grow round and round themselves by the constraints of the box. Then perhaps just peeking out, as if having filled the space of the box with its growth, would be little tendrils of vine with tiny new growth leaves and buds. My thought was that even when constrained, we can continue growing ourselves until we find our way out of the "box". Perhaps I will still make that piece, as it seems to persist in my thoughts. Dimensions: 5" x 3.5" x 3.5" Please add $25 to the final price for packing and shipping.

Scouting grocery store produce aisles and nurseries is a favorite activity. Lately I am enamored with acorn squash and their fluted shapes. Goldenrod is also one of my favorite glass colors, and I like to make the acorn squash in goldenrod with a bit of forest green and orange crayon. My first acorn squash went into a big wall piece titled “Bouquet”. This miniature piece has a goldenrod acorn squash and matching little blue feet. Dimensions: 7.5”h x 3.5”w x 4.5”d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

With this piece I am playing with how to present a small sprig of buds without making a separate display apparatus, as many of my larger pieces have. I am also practicing my skill of attaching rods of glass together into larger objects. The “trellis” in this piece is made of glass rods that I have built into this form. Every connection, every spot on the trellis where one line meets another, must be completely melded together without any creases or sharp angles. My aim is to hone my skill such that I do not create thicker globs of glass at these connection points. I have been attempting to make some larger and much more complex pieces using this technique, yet the thicker globs at my connection points are causing cracking during the process. To keep practicing this skill, I will make more miniature pieces in this technique, but in different forms. Stay tuned. Dimensions: 6 1/4\\\"h x 6 1/4\\\"w x 4 1/2\\\"d Please add $25 to auction price for shipping.

Perhaps this little critter lives on the sea floor. A rare fusion of plant and crustacean. With this piece I continue my practice in making 3 dimensional forms out of glass rods. It’s a process much like drawing in three dimensions. One challenge is creating smooth, even contours. On a small piece such as this one, that’s not too difficult to accomplish. On larger pieces though, I am still challenged by that. Some artists have mastered this challenge - see Robert Mickelsen’s work at www.mickelsenstudios.com. This lavender is also a new color for me, and I discovered that it is a very bubbly glass. As it is heated, bubbles form within the glass. In this case I like it - it adds to the sense that this is an underwater creature. Dimensions: 4.5"h x 8"w x 3.5"d Please add $25 to final price for packing and shipping.

Here's another experiment in building 3 dimensional forms from glass rods, while avoiding large blobs of glass where the lines connect. I'm learning that the size of the form and the distance between the connections make a difference, as well as the size of the flame I use. To produce even, small connections, I must leave ample space between the connections and use a smaller flame in order to melt just the connection point. This piece is also an experiment in making bowls or baskets with leaves around the top, as if the bowl or basket is still growing. On a piece this small, the leaves become the prominent feature, and I imagine on a large piece, the balance between leaves and basket would dramatically change. I will make a large, "growing basket" soon. Dimensions: 3.5"h x 3.5"d Please add $25 to the final price for packing and shipping.

This piece is derived from a larger one I made titled “Whispering Vine.” I love that piece and plan to make similar ones in different colors, with other types of leaves and fruit feet. This week’s auction piece is the first of that type in vibrant colors. In this smaller scale, the vine section took on a more geometric pattern, which I will continue to experiment with. I left the fruit feet shiny for as they look snappy and fun. Dimensions: 9"h x 3 1/2"d Please add $25 to final price for shipping.