Critters

Lots of big, strange scary critters here.  I've learned never to say things like "that spider was huge" because there is always one that will prove to you that the prior was not all that big at all. 

While doing a little random cleaning the other day I discovered this guy.  Thankfully he had already met his demise by the time we encountered each other, that is one big ol' stinger he's got there.  I thought it was a bee, you know, black/yellow and a stinger?  But apparently this a fly.  Now, that's just gross.

Funny story while taking the following photo.  I propped the guy up (with a pliers of course!) and got veeerrrry close up with the camera trying to capture him in all his glory.  Just as my camera lense got right up in his pointer, he fell over, scaring me half to death.  

Vastu - Recycled Lighting

I love finding unique little stores full of funky handmade items.  Not too long ago, during a little trip to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua (ok ok ok, it was like 6 month ago and I've just been slacking on posting!) we stumbled upon a little recycled lighting store named Vastu.

Vastu is full of lighting fixtures, table lamps and hanging lighting all made from recycled plastic bottles, bottle caps, driftwood and newspaper.  The artist is a soft spoken, slight Italian transplant named Massimo Argnani, who seemed more than happy to let me turn on and off almost every light in the store to see the colors :)  I'm like a small child in places like this.  I've gotta touch e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. 

I love the way he uses all the different color bottles, cutting them and forming them into all kinds of great shapes and patterns.

This past weekend I visited San Juan again and was sad to see that Vastu wasn't there anymore.  But, when I looked him up on FB, I saw he had moved to Managua.  Glad to see he's still making all this wonderful lamps and goodies.  To see more of Massimo's amazing creations, visit him on Facebook.

Spooky

I was working a wedding recently and the hotel room we were in had lots of very old B&W Costa Rican photos hanging on the walls.  It's normal that people in old photos look somber and emotionless, however, this guy really freaked me out.  This is his wedding day photo for God's sakes!  He looks like an axe murderer!!

On a cuter note, I love the barefoot little kids. 

Artist Interview: Kool Kat Art Glass

I got to know Kathy, the talented glass artist and owner of Kool Kat Art Glass, during two of her family vacations here in Costa Rica.  She and her twin boys did pottery with the hubby and her daughter Syd and her did a couple of jewelry classes with me.  She showed up for one of the classes with a baggie filled with beautiful glass pendants, which I was surprised to learn she made!

She said this bag full of colorful beauties were the castoffs, but to me they were stunning.  I had no idea she worked with glass, or that she was an artist -- dabbling in a little of this and a little of that. 

I'm fascinated by glass making.  As much as I try to understand it, the process of making something liquidity hot into something as solid yet fragile as glass mystifies me.  I wanted to know a bit more about the process and Kathy so I decided to do a little interview of her to find out more.

Tell me a little about your art background and how you got started in glass making.  Did you go to school to learn this or was it something you picked up on your own?

I have always been interested in all forms of art.  I really got into art and drawing in High School.  High school is such a hard time, as far as emotional development, so art was a release and a form of expression for me.  

At 17, I taught myself about stained glass.  My boyfriend's mother showed me the basics and I took it from there. I loved the different textures, the vibrant colors, and the 2 and 3 dimensions that I could create.  I taught myself by trial and error.  I started my own business and traveled around to art/craft shows and did some commissioned pieces.  I really got burned out on the monotony, so I left Virginia and headed south.

I went to the University of Georgia and started out in the art department as a Drawing and Painting major but slid over to Furnishings and Interiors.  I was afraid I'd be a starving artist.  I continued with glass making through school and until I had kids, then I stopped for about 15 years.  At 40, I felt the need to rekindle my artistic side.  I felt a large void for sometime!  My husband bought me a kiln and I jumped into making fused glass.  I have made some disastrous mistakes and apparently, this is how I learn. :)

I have a very hard time understanding how glass is made.  I've seen artists making blown glass pieces, but I really can't wrap my mind around the process.  Can you describe how your pieces are made, the materials used and how long each of the processes take?

I buy colored glass in 8x10 sheets.  It all has to be compatible with the same coefficient of expansion.  It's how glass expands and contracts when heated and cooled.  After I plan a design, I pick out the colors of glass I want to use.  I score the glass with a scoring tool and then break it along the score line with grozier pliers.

I cut out all the pieces for my design and then I take it to grind down all the sharp edges of the glass.  I also get a more precise shape with a diamond bit grinder.  After I rinse the glass and dry it, I tack glue my pieces together.  There needs to be two layers of glass for a strong piece.  The bottom layer is usually a clear piece and I put the design with the colored glass on top.

After assembled, I place the piece (or pieces) in the kiln.  There are different effects, different fusing techniques, achieved by varying the levels of heating and holding at certain temperatures.  The higher the temps and longer the hold, the more fused, or melted together the glass becomes.  On the other hand the lower the temps,  the less molten and it's more of a tack fuse.  I like this look because it gives a piece more texture.

Generally, a full fuse, tack, or slump takes about 12 hours in the kiln.  This includes the heat up and then cool down to room temperature.

 

 This plate is amazing! How long does it take to make a detailed piece like this?

This one takes awhile!  Each piece is cut out individually and smoothed with a diamond bit grinder.  Then glued and placed in the kiln to tack fuse.  Once cooled, it's placed in a mold and fired again at different temps called slumping.  Each fuse is 12 hours.  The cutting and assembling is probably 2 1/2 hours.

When designing a creation, is there anything that influences the shapes, colors and designs that you combine?  

I love nature, so many of my pieces are reflective of that.  I do a lot of organic shapes with vibrant sunset colors.  I also gravitate towards ocean creatures so I think I am predisposed to use a lot of blues, greens, and purples.

Do you sketch them prior to making them or do you prefer to work in a free-form fashion?

I do both.  Sometimes I have a real picture in my mind and need to put in on paper so I can get the dimensions just right.  Other times,  I just let it fly....especially when I create a jewelry piece.

 

 Describe your studio and the equipment you use.

My studio is in my basement and I have almost outgrown it.  I have glass everywhere and tools everywhere!  There is a 3x5 cutting table where I cut the sheets into pieces.  I have a table with a diamond bit grinder that smoothes the edges of the cut pieces and an Olympic kiln that fuses the pieces together.

 

What do you feel are the biggest challenges that you encounter in your art?

I get glass everywhere -- my feet, my fingers, and even glass dust in my face!  I get that when I grind glass.  It equates to fiberglass burn.  I could probably avoid all if I practiced safety measures like I should by wearing protective glasses and masks etc.  Another challenge is that most people don't want to pay what I think it's worth.  I think they don't understand how labor intensive making a fused piece is and that the materials are expensive.

Is glass making your only art form or do you create other lovely things?

I love to draw and paint with acrylic and water colors.  My favorite medium is charcoal.

 Is there anything you haven't made yet that you'd like to master?

I really got into pottery on the wheel a couple of years ago.  I'd like to continue but I tend to dabble everywhere and never really get anywhere. So, for now , I'll focus on fusing.

To view more of Kathy's beautiful glass work, visit Kool Kat Art Glass on Facebook

Garden Pests

If you've been following my gardening adventures, you may have noticed that I've been using the word was (as in past tense) in describing how things were going with it.  There's a really good reason for this.  You see, as I was experiencing the excitement that I was growing all kinds of yummy stuff, unbeknown to me, critters were plotting the demise of my garden.

I definitely anticipated that the garden would be visited by some sort of worm or other leaf eating insect.  I was mentally prepared for that.  What I was not prepared for was this.

Carmen next to the RE-planted garden.

Yup, that is what a dog (Carmen) looks like after she's spent the afternoon destroying three months of my hard work and anticipation.  She's lucky I love her so much or she may have been homeless after this.  I came home one afternoon and happened to glance over at the garden.  I noticed that one of the tomato plants seemed to be dangling horizontally, and the tall basil plants were no where to be seen.  I stepped closer and peered over the little fence and almost fainted!  The garden was about 85% d-e-s-t-r-o-y-e-d.  My first thought was raccoons or squirrels, of which there are plenty.  But when I noticed the ripped out fencing in the corner of the garden and paw prints all over the place, and it quickly became very clear what happened.  Damn dogs!!

I stomped over to the patio, glaring at them and pointing at the garden demanding, "WHO did this?  Huh? Who did this?"  They laid there lazily pretending they had nooooo idea who this crazy lady losing her mind was.  Well, all of them except Ms. Carmen who happened to have an awful lot of dried dirt all over her front paws and nose.  And she wouldn't even turn her head in my direction.  She stared far into the distance in the opposite direction blinking 100 times a minute (dog body language for "I know I'm in big trouble").  "The very least you could have done was clean off your paws and try to look innocent!" I scolded.  All Carmen could respond was "blink-blink-blink-blink-blink-blink."

So frustrating considering we have this ginormous yard for them to dig and do what they want with, but NO, they had to take my one little corner of the yard and obliterate it!  My theory is that nearly every morning I spend at least half an hour in the garden.  I'm always really happy and peaceful there (as my friend Miranda says "Gardening is the best therapy") and so I think they can sense that and they wanted to be in the peaceful place too.  Ok, maybe a lame theory but it at least helps me make some sense of things :)

I replanted what I could but I lost quite a bit and my tomato plants were pretty traumatized.  I put another layer of chicken wire around the entire garden , but needless to say, over the next 3 weeks, not only her, but the rest of the pack starting infiltrating the garden while we were gone.  I repaired, replanted and tried to patch up the fence but they just kept finding new ways to bust through 2 layers of chicken wire.  I even put barb wire around and when that didn't keep them out (these Costa Rican dogs are tough!!), I really started to lose hope that I could have dogs AND a garden.  Then the hubby came to save the day!!!  He purchased and wrapped the entire garden with this strong, thick metal trellis type stuff.  It's been a month and they have been unable to get back in so I feel confident that I can go ahead and try again.  

I'm kind of right back at the beginning as far as the garden bed goes.  I still have some jicama in the back and 5 very tall cherry tomato plants, but everything else that was planted in the bed is gone.

I still had seeds left for more basil, cilantro, broccoli, snap peas and 3 types of yellow tomatoes (hello salsa!!) so I started over from the seed trays. 

Sigh!!! 

Garden Update

Despite my best intentions at writing more consistently, nearly 3 months have passed since I've written any updates about my gardening endeavors.  Luckily, I'm diligent about taking photos of things to refer back to and recollect my thoughts.  If only I could get myself to be that diligent about the written word, eh?

Things were going really well with the garden.  By October, everything had been in the bed for about 2 months.  The arugula, Swiss chard, jicama, basil, jalapeno, and cherry tomato plants looked awesome!

cherry tomato (left), arugula (first row), Swiss chard (second row), marigold (center), basil (back left), jicama (last row)

The cherry tomato plants just kept getting taller and taller -- hitting the roof and flowering like crazy.    

This is definitely a good sign!

And within a week or so of the flowers appearing, all four plants were full of green tomatoes.  Yay!!

At this point I was patting myself on the back because I actually g-r-e-w something -- I really did it!  I thought this was all pretty exciting considering all of these grew from seeds I saved from table scraps. 

They changed from green to RIPE quickly which is good because I was way too excited to taste them.  I loooove tomatoes!! 

At the same time, the arugula and Swiss chard were really filling out.  I always buy arugula at the market and so I kept waiting for my leaves to grow as large as the store bought version.  But they'd get to a certain size and then wither within a week or so.  In a moment of sheer **ahem** brilliance, it occurred to me that perhaps the type of arugula I'm growing doesn't grow as large as the type that I buy.  So I decided to harvest it as it was and see what happened.

 

YUM!

Apparently I was right.  They were not meant to be larger because after trimming all of the leaves off, they regrew.  Makes me wonder how many harvests I missed by waiting for them to get bigger.  Oh well, I'm learning.

I also trimmed up all the Swiss chard and to be honest, it tasted like earth.  I'm all for healthy greens, but they gotta taste good -- and my Swiss chard did not.  

Of course the next logical step was to combine the arugula and tomatoes (and lots of other yummy stuff) and make salad!  My favorite salad is a fine chopped mixture of arugula (check!), tomatoes (check!), raw broccoli, raw carrot, bell pepper, fresh made garbanzo and white beans, avocado, Swiss chard (that doesn't taste like dirt!), shredded red/green cabbage, and hemp seeds tossed with my homemade balsamic vinegar pear dressing.  Oh and I'm really treating myself right, it even has some goat's milk feta cheese from Rancho Avellanas.  DELISH!!

Oh. My. Gosh.  People, seriously, I cannot tell you how tasty these tomatoes were!  Sometimes cherry tomatoes can be on the sweet side, which is not my favorite, but these were just the right mix of sweet and tangy (more on the tangy side).  And the arugula (mouth is watering!) was so crisp, nutty and with just the right amount of that peppery taste.  The end result was definitely super encouraging!  Putting lots of love and energy into something and then having it give back to you in such a tasty way!  

At the same time, the rest of the garden was definitely on it's way to producing other goodies for us to eat.  The jicama leaves were creeping up the trellis reassuring me that somewhere deep below the soil a yummy, crispy root was forming.  The basil was getting larger and taller and was so fragrant you could smell it from outside the gated garden area.  The peppers were producing more leaves and tiny flowers.  I was feeling pretty optimistic about the whole garden thing and looking forward to planting my next batch of seeds.

But that's whole other post which I p-r-o-m-i-s-e to write in the next few days.  Promise.

Parking Attendants

Out in the country and at the beaches, if there are places to park, there is also a man  wearing some sort of fluorescent safety  vest, strap, tape, etc., who is the “Parking Attendant.”   Considering the auto break-in rate in most areas, paying someone to watch your car while you’re away, in theory, is an excellent idea.

The problem I have with this is that these **ahem** “Parking Attendants” always seem to look an awful lot like the person I think I want my car guarded from.   Your nice and friendly crack addict with rotted front teeth.   The eerie looking man who plucks his beard hairs in a broken piece of mirror and that all of my dogs seem to want to kill??  The drunken sailor who I think may be an American who I believe has the beginning stages of gangrene in his feet due to diabetes angry because of years of alcohol ingestion. 

It’s a strange lil’ business.  They don’t work for anyone, no one hires them.  They just show up and charge what they think they can get.  This is a pretty good deal because in reality, they do watch your car and it is how they buy their drugs and alcohol….so…that’s sort of an honest living…at least from one perspective.  And really, if you think about it, you have to appreciate the honesty in it all.  “Look, I could just break in your car and steal your crap, but why don’t you pay me not to.”

Usually they’re harmless but there have been a few strange ones.  There was the ridiculously unconvincing 50'ish transvestite that liked to wear cut off t-shirts that showed his (eerrr..) her pot potbelly.  Or the super eerie, deep set eyed, red faced man who turned out to be the world’s best mariachi singer.  Who knew!?!?  And my personal favorite, the 12 year old juvenile hall escapee that kept saying  “Mmmmm mamacita” every time I walked by.

Yeah, thanks kid.  I’m flattered.  Really.

While walking around a local city this week doing some errands, I noticed a very intoxicated Parking Attendant teetering, loudly negotiating a “surveillance” deal with a European looking man.  I came across the same Parking Attendant about 20 minutes later on the way back…executing an excellent visual of himself hard at work.