Flying Colors

IF • Swarm

In talking about flocks of bird and schools of fish… The swarm ...moments when creatures lock themselves into a group "soul" letting go of their particular desires and needs as individual creatures and becoming one body with a transcendent intelligence directing them, creating patterns of motion so complex that they seem to have been choreographed from above.
~ (p. 90) The Creative Life, by Eric Butterworth

"SWARM"  e-Stamp
• fused glass - illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

Infinite Mind —everywhere present–is the highest frequency of energy, in which all things exist as complete. When you see the creative process clearly, your ideas will get synchronized with energy of the same frequency, multiplying in like kind. This is the swarming process. (pp. 88-89) The Creative Life, by Eric Butterworth

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In life, the issue is not control, but dynamic connectedness. ~Erich Jantsche

Metamorphous...

The tile to the right was created by drawing onto a glass surface that had been coated with very thin layer of colored glass powder. I drew the image by scratching into the surface with a sharp tool, I also used 2 different colors of powder glass and drew again. Once the drawing was finished it was annealed / fused in a kiln. This glass piece measures 6" x 6".

I then scanned the tile and changed the colors and texture digitally.
Next will be to print this and then do a photo transfer onto another surface.
More to come...

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We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.  ~Maya Angelou

Living Bridges

Ants comprise one of
“the most cohesive societies on earth"
because of their incredible
cooperative behavior!

Like this remarkable feat where
a group of ants build "themselves" into
a living bridge
so other ants can pass and cross over!

I found this photo coincidentally of
Ant Bridge by Jacinda Brown upon
searching for images & info of cacti.

It inspired me to create the following piece,
for Cactus Monday...

fused glass with copper shavings • 4" x 4" • 2008 © Lisa Rivas • "The Living Bridge"

A wonderful example of survival of group interests above individual interests.

He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself;
for every man has the need to be forgiven. Thomas Fuller

Fleeting time,

How temporal
your life is
little May Fly...

Today here and
gone tomorrow...

For this you are
called éphémère!

"Éphémère" e-Stamp
• fused "glass - illustration" printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

The lifespan of an adult mayfly can vary from just 30 minutes to one day depending on the species.
It belongs to the group 1 taxa of pollution–sensitive animals, this means if mayflies are in or around water. it is good quality water. They are the oldest of the extant (still living) winged insects. Due to their short lifespan they are also called the "day fly"  or the "ephemeral fly" in some languages.

On a wing!

May the wings of the butterfly
kiss the sun,
then find your shoulder to light on.
To bring you luck,
happiness and riches.

Today, tomorrow and beyond.
Irish Blessing

"Winging it..." e-Stamp
• fused glass - illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

Love is like a butterfly:  It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes.
Author Unknown

Around & around...

You live on the surface of the water,
if surprised you swim in circles around and around...

You can see with those strange divided eyes,
above and below! Whirling around and around...

You can dive  deep down and stay for a long time,
due to all your bubbles around and around...

You swim in large groups and never do you
bump into each other! Whirling around and around...

This is why you are called a Whirligig,
around and around and around again!

"Whirligig Beetle" e-Stamp
• fused glass - illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

The Glasswing Satyr

Another fused "glass-art" insect, well a Satyrid Butterfly.

"Glasswing Satyrid"
• fused glass illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

Satyrid, also called satyr butterfly, any of several butterflies of the family Satyridae,
having gray or brown wings marked with "eye-spots."

This group contains nearly half of the known diversity of brush-footed butterflies.
It is estimated that the true number of Satyrinae species may exceed 2,400.
They are generally weak fliers and often shun bright sunlight.

A class of art...

I made this small "glass-art" by
fusing different pieces of colored glass.
Now I have used it for
an illustrative image in my artwork.
This glass art has now transcended
even further by being implemented
into another form of art!

"Under The Glass"
• fused glass illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper

Glass art is the use of glass as an artistic medium.
Specific approaches include stained glass, working glass in a torch flame (lampworking),
glass beadmaking, glass casting, glass fusing and most notably, glass blowing.

Glass e-Stamp...

This summer I took the "Fused Glass" workshop at the Sarratt Studio Arts / Vanderbilt University. Our instructor was Nancie Roark, an artist that combines fused glass with silver jewelry techniques to create wonderful wearable art.
It was a fabulous class and I made all kinds of things from pendants, earrings, glass frames, a slumped bowl to a whole new little art-series of "BUGS"!

Here is one of the "bugs" I made, used as an illustration for a web-e'Stamp!
More of these will be coming up...

"The Glasshopper"
• fused glass illustration printed as an archival pigment print, 100% rag paper
Grasshoppers have two pairs of wings, five eyes and no ears.
They hear with an auditory structure called "tympanum",
that is located on their two front legs near the "knee" joint!