Happy Mother's Day

Today, in honor of Mother's Day, my boys are doing the laundry and tidying the house while I play in the studio. We've got dinner reservations at a favorite restaurant so I've had the entire day to do a few experiments and make some custom glass with powders. What bliss.

My mom was a mosaic artist. Actually, she was very good at every art form I remember her tackling but I think she was at her best during her mosaic phase. When I was a kid she began and made a few basic bowls and platters and tables.

I owe my glass art skills to my mom, who taught me leaded glass in the 70s when I was a teen. We’d work late on the kitchen table making suncatchers and inventory for hippy-dippy craft shows and then work even later filling the numerous orders we’d receive.

Years later, in retirement, she happened upon a garage sale where she purchased a huge inventory of Italian vitreous mosaic tiles. She leapt back in with both feet and transformed her side yard garden into an outdoor mosaic studio, making incredible stepping stones, planters and side tables. I'm lucky enough to have two of those tables on my deck.

My mom passed away last year and I miss her every day. In her garden there are quite a few of the intricate stepping stones she loved making. They’re a bit grown over and look so comfortable being part of the landscape. She placed them with care and every time I see them they remind me of her talent. 

I have the first bowl she made; it's on my kitchen counter holding fruit. Every day when I pack my son’s lunch I touch that bowl. I treasure it more than most anything she had and so appreciate that it’s something she made with her own hands.

Most of the glass art I make goes into inventory for sales or is delivered to galleries. I’m thinking it might be nice to save back a few of my favorite pieces, just in case my boys might like to have something their mom made someday.

It’s pretty cool when a customer tells me they collect glass and want to add one of my pieces. I love the idea that something I’ve made will be displayed among things they enjoy. The thought of my children as adults someday and having a few of my pieces is very comforting today, as I miss my mom.