Showing posts with label Florida Lampwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida Lampwork. Show all posts

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Pied Piper of Leftover Candy: The Halloween/Day of the Dead Blog Hop

You've all heard of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a 13th century exterminator who rid the town of its rats by playing his pipe and leading them into the river.  (No.  This isn't him.)




When the mayor stiffed the Pied Piper for the job, the Pied Piper also relieved the town of all its children.




This is the Pied Piper of leftover Halloween candy.



Due to the lack of prehensile thumbs (and the fact that he is tone deaf), he doesn't play a pipe to lead the leftover candy away.  He uses his charms and some signals he picked up when he learned to ride a bicycle.




After all the "good" candy in the Halloween sack has been gobbled down, there always remain some less tempting treats.




Many of those are still consumed in the post Halloween days, and might be thought of as training for Thanksgiving gluttony.

But inevitably, there are pieces that are never eaten.  The bag is stuffed in some cupboard, perhaps behind the half-finished bottle of Peppermint Schnapps, where it gathers dust and ants and other creatures for which a Pied Piper might be useful.


The Pied Piper of Leftover Candy arrives by night and gives a secret signal to the once-licked lollipops and hardened bubble gum.


Then the leftover candy rises up and follows him.  



He works through the night, much like Santa Claus, collecting the uneaten, the unwanted, the untasty, the simply forgotten.


And where do you think he takes them?


Nope.  Not Candyland.  That's a game, not a destination.






He takes them to a long-ago faraway abandoned old candy factory...


 ...where they enter rehab and discuss abandonment issues with other leftover candy.


The reminisce about the old sugar cane plantation where they were born.



The Pied Piper of Leftover Candy doesn't just appear after Halloween.  He has been known to lead other leftover candy to to sanctuary and a place to renew sugar content.



The rest of the year he likes to put his feet up...



...or just relax.



The Pied Piper of Leftover Candy can be a Halloween ornament or a seasonal pendant.  Or you might just need a Pied Piper after the holiday.  He was made with lampwork glass beads created by Gus of Florida Lampwork, wire wrapped with sterling silver, and set off with Czech seed beads, cat's eye beads,  and a Swarovski crystal.


He will be available at the EHAG Emporium on October 31st, at 9 PM EST.

He is part of the Suburban Girl Halloween/Day of the Dead Jewelry Blog Hop.

He can lead you to the other exciting entries in the blog hop.  Follow him:




Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com



Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com


Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com


Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com





Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog







Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com





Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com




Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com








You are here: Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com


Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com



Monday, March 11, 2013

Og the Leprechaun's Happily Ever After Story

Remember the story of Og the Leprechaun, in Finian's Rainbow?   Did you miss him?  Here he is... along with Susan.







Finian McLonergan emigrated from Ireland to the town of Rainbow Valley in Missitucky with his daughter Sharon, intent on burying a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, believing that it will grow and multiply. Hot on their heels is Og, a leprechaun intent on recovering his treasure, before the loss of it turns him permanently human. 



In the ultimate happy ending, Sharon marries the handsome, cocky young Woody Mahoney; and Woody's mute sister, "Susan the Silent", acquires the power of speech and falls in love with Og, who decides that being human is not so bad after all.



This is Og and Susan, who is silent once more.  Hard as I tried, I could not make her earring speak.  Og, as you see, has not totally abandoned his leprechaun roots, and sometimes he still croons:


When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love 
(E.Y. "Yip" Harburg / Burton Lane)
(Og's Song... Before Committing to Susan)




Oh my heart is beating wildly
And it's all because you're here.
When I'm not near the girl I love,
I love the girl I'm near.

Ev'ry femme that flutters by me
Is a flame that must be fanned.
When I can't fondle the hand I'm fond of,
I fondle the hand at hand.

My heart's in a pickle,
It's constantly fickle
And not too partickle, I fear.
When I'm not near the girl I love,
I love the girl I'm near.

What if they're tall and tender?
What if they're small and slender?
Long as they've got that gender
I surrender!

Always I can't refuse 'em
Always my feet pursues 'em
Long as they've got a bosom
I woos 'em!

I'm confessing a confession
And I hope I'm not verbose
When I'm not close to the kiss that I cling to,
I cling to the kiss that's close
As I'm more and more a mortal
I am more and more a case.
When I'm not facing the face that I fancy.
I fancy the face I face.

For Sharon I'm carin',
But Susan I'm choosin'
I'm faithful to whos'n is here.
When I'm not near the girl I love,
I love the girl I'm near.




Og and Susan were hand-crafted by Gus of Florida Lampwork.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Screamin'

Edvard Munch, a Norwegian expressionist painter who lived from 1893–1910, created a series of artworks called "The Scream."

The Munch Museum holds one of two painted versions, including this one from 1910...

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and one pastel.


The National Gallery of Norway holds the other painted version from 1893.

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A fourth version, in pastel, is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen.

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Munch also created a lithograph of the image in 1895.

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The Scream has been the target of several high-profile art thefts.  In 1994, the painting in the National Gallery was stolen, but was recovered several months later. Then, in 2004, The Scream was stolen from the Munch Museum and was not recovered until  2006.

But there is another Scream ~ a lesser-known ghostly version, created from this artwork

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but done in lampwork glass.

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The lampwork glass Scream, created by Gus at Florida Lampwork, has never been stolen

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because it's the ghost version.  You'd have to be a psycho art thief to try to pilfer a ghost.

In lieu of security guards who spend their days reminding visitors to stay behind the line on the floor and not breathe on the artwork, the Ghost Scream is guarded day and night, 24/7, 365-1/4 days a year, by these guards.



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Don't let their expressions fool you.  They are armed and dangerous, especially if you're an insect.

And rather than keep the work hidden away in a Norwegian museum, it is worn on a necklace...

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... and shown as a traveling art exhibit.

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...which can be viewed up close.

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But watch out for the bats.


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The Scream and other works of beaded art can be found here.