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"Baby Fred's Blog"

I get asked by my friends and customers how I come up with my designs, how I get them so lifelike and how I get so much detail.  RESPECT, Research, Education, Studying, Practice, more Education, Curiosity, and great Teachers.  Plus an overall respect for nature and all of gods creatures.  So this blog will detail the process of turning plain glass into a gift of love.  The process can be used for any medium of course, and this is just my way it isn't the only way or even the right way but it works for me.

So for Becky and Jeff they will get to see how Fred is born, and hopefully love him even more once he comes to live with them.  (Read from the bottom up if this is your first visit.)

Will Baby Fred has a place to hide.  The bowl on the left is full of handmade Frit. 10 different colors of glass broken up into very small pieces.  The "rock" on the right is the plain piece from yesterday (below picture on left).  It has been rolled in the frit and a little enamel applied to add some "algae", you can see some of it on the left side in the middle. 

The studio is all clean and ready to start work.

So now there is a beginning, signs of life are slowing cooling in the kiln.

Of course you have to start with raw material before any creation can be born.

The puck on the left is Schott glass and was pulled into rods to use where perfectly clear glass is needed.  Like on an Anemone, so that you can see inside or on a tree worm so that the feathers look real.  All these things have been learned with lots of education and great teachers.  Ah two more points of Respect.  The piece to the right is Morretti, Soda Glass, and is for the reef base.   It is currently in the kiln and ramping down.  It has completely changed space and color with a little magic and a little Auntie Charlotte & Cousin Lee's help!  You will get to see it tomorrow.

On the right are the rods that will create Baby Fred. 

On the bottom are enamels that will be used in varies places on the reef and the different animals. 

The rods on the top left are all of the animals and plants.  Soon they will be all sorts of shapes and sizes and even different colors, as some of the rods  change colors when introduced to the flame.

Well Baby Fred has been identified.  From what I can find he is a Coconut Octopi also called a Viened Octopi.  His "formal" name is Octopus marginatus.  He lives in the Western Indio Pacific, and likes to hide in coconut shells (hence the name).  He likes to also curl up into a tight ball and walk on two legs.  This is a great way to escape danger.  See this link to watch a video, it is amazing.  Walking Octopi.  His mantle (body) is 3" long and his legs are 8" to 9".  He eats shrimp, crabs and clams.  He has a vast ecosystem for a neighborhood, and so many friends to play with, he is one lucky little guy.

So know that we know who Baby Fred is, what friends from his neighborhood want to come to his party?   Being an octopi that likes the sandy bottoms of the ocean floor, and one that likes to hide in coconut shells, it makes a design in glass a little difficult.  So when would this little fellow be away from those not so artistic areas?  Ah, time to apply another element of the design philosophy.  Studying. The research told us who he was, studying him and his behavior allows you to define the details.  The answer to the question, when he is being chased or chasing dinner!  A diver could be chasing him into a reef where he could temporary hide among the coral.  As I stated below Octopi change colors to fit their surrounding, so at that point you would find friends to match his color.  The overall design would need to silently speak to his desire to escape his need to hide.  If he is chasing food or having captured it, adds two other design ideas. 

I have chosen to go with the escaping a diver design.  This means I am looking for animals and plant life that will blend and camouflage this scared little fellow.  A break in the rocks to climb into would be good or a cliff to hide under.  The list of friends that will help in this "Great Escape" are, I'll use the common names and not bore you with Latin:

Well all of the invited guest make it to the party.  We will have to see.

Could there be a better day to start a blog then this, (well, maybe Mother's Day!)  Months ago, well maybe closer to a year ago, I asked Becky and Jeff to pick out an Octopus that they wanted Baby Fred to look like.  I searched the internet and found thousands and thousands of pictures (641,000 when I re-searched today), what did we do before the internet?!  That was the beginning.

Becky and Jeff chose this little guy.  These are two pictures of the same species.  Possible even the same one.  Octopi change colors to blend in with their surrounding, especially when scared or hunting.  They like the one with the darker colors, so that is what my aim is!

Reference Resources:

debi@torchdancerstudio.com

Last updated:  Saturday March 01, 2008