You gotta have heART

Art. You gotta love it. But, hand in hand with art comes something that gives me cold shivers: creativity. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by so many creative people: my father sculpts, my mother bakes, Steve draws (even Ben draws), one of my best friends is a master florist, many of our friends are professional photographers, art teachers... got the picture yet? They are uber CREATIVE. I, am not.


It's not something that sits easily with me. I have dabbled in all sorts but never found anything that I really enjoyed. I always found this frustrating, especially seeing the satisfaction those around me get from their creative passions.  My job does have creative aspects, but I wanted something that would offer escapism from the daily grind. 


 Luckily for me, I found it this year:

Stained glass always fascinated me and drew me in, but it didn't occur to me it was something I could do. I was unsure how you would go about learning and whether I had the 'creativity' to do it. But, determined to find a creative outlet, I persevered. 


The above is my first attempt at fusing glass. Luckily, I found a local artist who also offered tuition at a really reasonable price. I did enjoy the fusing of the glass and it was certainly easy in fact, the hardest part was thinking of the design. There are changes I would make if doing it again: the harsh, abstract nature of the branches doesn't sit well with the gentle, mellow green of the leaves. If I was repeating it, I would keep the trunk short and stop it where it meets the greenery of the tree. I did love the glass powder which creates the lovely affect of the setting sun. I wanted to try both fused glass and stained to see which I enjoyed the most; there was no competition. This truly fed my soul:

My first attempt at stained glass. I loved it. The end product may be simple but it was the whole process that was wonderful. I'm one of those rubbish people who can't clear my mind during yoga or massage, this though, required you to be absorbed in every moment and I found this truly relaxing. So now it hangs proudly in my kitchen over the window. Can't wait to get started on my next design, after all, I am a creative person.