Because of the Governor's that they won't pay out my over time I ended up with a bunch of use or loose time so I'm using some of it here in the studio this week.  We will see what I get done.

Day 1

Just getting going today.  The first thing I did was get some frit cookie trees going in the little kiln.  This is for a forest piece that I am thinking about.  To make a tree you spread a thin layer of frit on shelf (abut 1/8th inch) in the shape of a tree the fire it so that it and as the glass attempts to reach stasis it will create holes in it.	Frit cookie schedule
Once I got a couple of these in the next thing I did was make some damns.  The beginning of the month was the annual Bullseye sale.  I always like to go to the first day. So anyway I went to a Georgies to pick up a big 20 x20 shelf for the kiln and then picked up some scrape shelves which ran through the tile saw.
	Once I had the damns made I started on a scrap project.  The base project came in through my email from fusedglass.org.  While the cookies were baking I chopped up a bunch of glass with the mosaic cutters.  Once done I started this cooking along with some eyeballs for an X-games plate I'm working on.  It's just finishing the first ramp.  I did find an article about kiln pressed glass while I as out there that looks really interesting.  I do want to get X-games done this week but I've really got to try the pressed glass

Day 2

Frist thing I did was run around and do some shopping, first stop was Harbor Freight to pick up a new blade for the table saw. Which I returned the next day for one with a bigger arbor (whole in the center). I had a 50/50 chance and guessed wrong. Harbor Freight is one of those places that you will see a lot of if you attempt to do this. I've gotten all kinds of things there, from diamond sanding pads to a sand blaster.
The time for the scrap plate cook is pretty long and it still cooling so while that is going on I can resist starting on the pressed glass trial. This is just a teckta circle with some blue, green and purple.
	And then all those extra scraps from the shelves I cut up for damns came in handy. I used 2 - 4mm pieces of fiber paper which when fired, compresses to about 5 mm. This is one thing the article doesn't talk about.

Day 3

Like I said as part of day 2 that I was catching up on I started my morning off with a quick run to see the local medical profession, a stop by Best Buy to pre-order my Xoom. Then back to Harbor Freight to swap out the blade.
So I got a look at the scrap plate Sunday afternoon but it was to hot to work with. So far so good.
_	This I then took, after replacing the blade, and cut into strips. Easier said than done with this saw. I had lent it out with the expectation of never seeing it again. Well no such luck so I replaced the blade. It worked but some strips broke and there was a lot of chipping. The motor is also a bit off center and wobbles since I got it back. It wouldn't be a problem with tile but with glass this causes lot of chipping.
Next I reset it into the kiln for the next firing, turning each of the strips by a 1/4 turn, mixing the order and putting some up and some down.	_
One more thing to do today. Strip and prime some shelves, Oh what fun.

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

It is not so much inspiration that drives my work but the influences that have shaped my world view. Inspiration to create is easy, any stray thought can be seen as an inspiration to create, ask God about the duck billed platypus. For me inspiration can come from anywhere, a walk in the park, a story, song, dream or nightmare, a few minutes with a doctor or lawyer but that's just a different kind of nightmare or just a random thought. “Everyone in this wired world, is influenced, rapidly, and even instantaneously, by works from other areas, countries and continents.”³ Within the last week I have seen hundreds of images and thoughts that influence my work. Influences creep into your dreams, invade your privacy, tickle the back of your consciousness without your knowledge until you look at something a different way and go “If I used this glass and did this with it and then ”. My more recent endeavors are inspired by the ability of outside pressures of society and work to torment my life. This tends for my art be dark and forbidding as represented in Menace, Malice and Doom.

Since I began this treatise of Art and Inspiration, I have found inspiration in new places that will continue to influence me long after there momentary significance has passed. One new piece I am contemplating is called “Betrayal”. It has a large screw, a Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass, a stethoscope and a dollar sign all backed on a legal writ. At the center is a small figure at a computer desk or maybe just a thumb, based upon my recent adventures with the worker compensation board ^x. In fact the 2007 recall of the Easy Bake Oven ^{TM 6} is additional fodder for the grist mill. Something about a child's toy oven attacking has such a Grimm's fairy tale feeling. I know I can use this just not how yet.