Sage House Glass

Tag: books

  • Audiobook Suggestions from a Full-Time Librarian, Part-Time Artist

    Audiobook Suggestions from a Full-Time Librarian, Part-Time Artist

    I’ve seen a lot of artists compile their favorite playlists for the workshop, so I wanted to take a crack at it. This is where my librarian roots really kick in though, because I love to listen to audiobooks! There are so many different steps to stained glass art and each one requires a certain amount of concentration, but grinding and taping is where I clock the most audiobook minutes.

    Grinding glass might be my least favorite part of the stained glass process, and any glass artist that tells you otherwise is a freakin’ liar. Anything that’ll keep me entertained while I’m making pass after pass against a grinding bit is a godsend. So for any patrons or artists who may be interested, below is a list of my absolute favorite thrillers I’ve listened to while making glass art.

    All of these were checked out on the Libby app through my local library system. If you’re paying for audiobooks..why? Borrow them from the library for free and support your community in the process!

    1. Freida McFadden, “The Coworker” – Such a quirky neurodivergent main character, and I LOVED the twist!
    2. Alice Feeney, “Beautiful Ugly” – l loved the narrator’s voice on this one and it kept me guessing. I remember washing plant stakes in the sink and my jaw dropping, I kept scrubbing just to finish the chapter. Those patinas came out great!
    3. Marisa Kashino, “Best Offer Wins” – Women justifying bad choices is probably my favorite modern literary trope.
    4. Virginia Feito, “Victorian Psycho” – Bret Easton Ellis’ Psycho but Victorian, just as the title suggests. Love an extremely unhinged revenge story.
    5. Lucy Foley, “The Guest List” – A big mix of interesting characters and multiple narrators, it was a very fun murder mystery.
    6. Alex Michaelides, “The Fury” – The unreliable narrator on this audiobook was so good, I’ll forever think about his voice! I must’ve cut a hundred more glass leaves than I needed, getting lost in the book.

    I hope this little list is satisfying, and if you ever need a book suggestion from your resident glass artist/librarian, I’m here for you! Just shoot me an e-mail through the contact form and I’ll make you a custom book recommendation list for any hobby.

    Made this pink plant arch while listening to “Hungerstone” by Kat Dunn!

  • June Commissions & Happy Pride!

    June Commissions & Happy Pride!

    I absolutely love the way that summer announces itself in a wash of rainbows.

    My first commission for June is a perfect Pride coincidence. My sister and I were working at a market back in March when the patron “C” and their partner approached my booth. They loved the sunshine arch panels I was selling, but gave me the best feedback in the world: “Where’s the purple in your rainbow arches? If there was purple in there, that would be Pride. I would’ve bought them in a snap.” It was a brilliant critique–I hadn’t even realized my sunshine panels didn’t include a crucial color of the rainbow–violet. As a supporter of the alphabet mafia, but not a card carrying member, feedback like that was so helpful.

    C reached out to me on Instagram to commission a pair of sunshine arch panels with all the colors of the pride flag. We went through several iterations where the sun was drawn with a half smile, but realized it was too busy. The simple lines of the original sunshine arch paid homage to the textured glass, so we kept it clean.

    After a few weeks of conversation, and a delayed start from me–life can really get in the way of art, right?–the rainbow panels are polished and ready to head home with C. Here comes the sun, just in time for Summer storms. Below are a few more images of the set before I wrap them up for the journey.

    As June winds down, I’ll be adding several pieces to a storefront in Asheboro, North Carolina, called Minkology. I’ve been working to create a Summer-inspired collection for the storefront, all butterflies and flowers in pastels. I’m very eager to do a write up about that process, so more to come about that. I’m so excited to one day walk down the street and see a piece of mine hanging in the windows of a store–that’s truly the dream!

    I’m also looking forward to July commissions–I’ll be designing some new pieces and working outside my comfort zone with new soldering techniques. I’m working on a pair of Romantasy-inspired bookends for a patron’s birthday. I’ll possibly be repairing a sentimental set of glass pieces for another lovely person I met at a market. More to come on those commissions! And if you’re interested in a commission from me, please reach out via the website or my Instagram and we’ll get it on the books.

    Happy Pride, everyone! And happy summer break, to those who have kids out of school. As a children’s librarian by day, this is our busy season, so please be kind to your local librarians–we’re in the trenches!