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It is not unusual for an artist to incorporate things, experiences, people & animals that exist in his/her life, & I am no different. My “dog art” sort of evolved from my interest in my own dogs....& desiring to capture what I felt were their personalities. I was going lure coursing with my oldest Ibizan hound, Zymbo. I also loved going to dog shows to spectate & take photos when I was showing Vinnie. I used the subject matter of dogs to experiment with high fired enamels painted on glass. Enamel, in terms of metal jewelry andglass, is basically ground glass. What attracted me to glass enamel was that I had painted with glass enamels before, but they were leaded enamels and low fire. So I searched for a lead free alternative and came upon using high fire glass fusing enamels. At the time I started these pieces, I was pregnant and using lead based enamels was basically out (and still is, since they can damage small children.) With subject matter already determined, I was free to concentrate on perfecting my “technique”.
I work wet, drawing the dog, scratching fine details into the thicker lines after they have dried. Usually I do the painting on a clear piece of glass. Then the painting is faced into another piece of glass, usually white and then I put the accents of different dichroic glass around them. Then the piece is fired in a kiln at 1600 or 1650 degrees F. The gold and copper accents are painted mica that is fused into the glass too. In the store, I have pendants as well. If you don’t see your breed, please contact me, because currently I’m more interested in doing individual commissioned animal/dog portraits in painted glass as well as oil on canvas, since I’m painting in oils again, and my time is limited.
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