"Olitsky Revelation in Glass"

12x12 fused glass 

Hi Everyone, I bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth and quit painting altogether!  Actually, I'm still a little behind and not painting as much as I'd like but I'm getting back in the swing.  I had a commission for another sailor painting immediately after the first one sold so I took care of that, and there is an upcoming show for Findlay Area Artists at the prestigious Toledo Museum of Art that coincides with a Jules Olitsky exhibit and also is held during the international Glass Art Society conference.  Basically what it means is there will be a lot of visibility for the art in that show.  There is one caveat however, and that is that one of the 3 pieces we create for the show must be inspired by Jules Olitsky...Now he's an interesting guy, but not my style at all, so I kind of struggled with this one.  But then my glass friend Kelly reminded me that thousands of glass artists would be milling about so I decided to do my piece in glass......It has taken me over a week and 6 "firings" so far.  Each firing is about 24 hours from start to finish.....mostly just lots of waiting time....I'm not entirely happy with it, and I think I'll do one more tiny adjustment, but here it is.  Olitsky was inspired in his later years by the landscapes around his home very near where I grew up in New Hampshire.  I chose a sunset of Lake Winnepesaukee as my inspiration for this piece, where Olitsky created many of his works.