Be Inspired!

So I’ve been keeping this a bit of a secret, but now’s the time to share this interesting tidbit: some of the hottest items in my studio right now are these simple little glass crosses. Well, they LOOK simple, but actually, there’s a whole lot of magic that goes into creating each and every one!

Since they’re the perfect gift for almost any occasion, I just can’t keep them on the shelves.

 

 

Use them as party favors, send one along with a bouquet of flowers, have one monogrammed with the initials of your favorite newlyweds, commemorate a baby’s birth, or just add some sparkle and glamour to your everyday life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can create any of the looks you see here, and I also do custom and bulk orders. Look here for pricing and more information, and get in touch to take home a piece of Lee Taylor Design today!

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Custom lighted logo piece

Have you heard about the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando? It’s going to be a world-class center for AMAZING art, music, dance and theatre. You know how much I love my hometown – and the arts! – so I just couldn’t resist making this piece as a gift for the Dr. Phillips Center. I used backlit fused glass to recreate the logo, and then set the whole thing in carved black marble (how luxurious!). Then the whole thing is encased in a custom stainless steel box.

Dr. Phillips Center - Logo Gift

Dr. Phillips Center - Logo Gift

You know, sometime you’ll see me at the Center watching a ballet, wearing my heels and pearls – just don’t tell anybody that I’m usually in coveralls and boots!

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Hot Glass Demo at the Morse Museum

Today is the day!

If you’ve ever wanted to see what glass work is really like, then today is your big chance! Come by the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum today at 6 PM to see me working with hot glass. I’ll be there in my coveralls, hot pink boots, and pearls, ready to open the kiln so you can see what molten glass looks like behind closed doors. I’ll be working on a few of my signature tiles so you can see the process of creating these colorful, mysterious bits of eye candy.

Check my facebook page to get a sneak peek of the tiles in progress, and come on out tonight for what will be a truly fabulous show!

The Morse Museum is located at 445 North Park Avenue, Winter Park, FL 32789.

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It’s love at first sight.

My trunk show at Bella’s was a sparkling success, and just in time for the holidays.  Now, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to show you some of my most loved pieces.

What better way to say I Love You! than to give the gift of shimmering designer glass?

Brighten up your mid-winter evenings with the shine of some of these serving dishes and vases from Lee Taylor Design. These pieces are romantic, elegant, and dramatic, and perfect for the season of love.  Looking to make a purchase? Get in touch and we’ll make it happen!

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Trunk Show at Bella’s!

I can’t wait to show you the latest and greatest glass pieces fresh from my oven! I will be show-casing this year’s Christmas ornaments and unique holiday gifts. Plus, you will be the very first to feast your eyes on my exclusive winter ’11 collection. Want a hint? okay. All I’m going to say to you is that these killer dish-accents are a must-have.  This collection will add a fabulous touch of wild to spice up your holiday table for your guests and you can enjoy them year round!  Dying to see a picture? Sorry. It will have to wait until after the show. So stop by Bella’s on Park Ave, anytime between 10-6, next Friday, December 9th, and see how some Lee Taylor glass can liven up  your holiday entertaining. Let’s just say after this, your table will never be the same.

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Announcing: Musuem demonstration!

Remember what I said last week about how I adore the Morse Museum, and go there whenever I need inspiration? And when I need a quick escape from the mean reds?

Well, I guess all those trips to the museum paid off, because I’ve been asked to do a demonstration there in February of next year! The Morse Museum periodically invites glass artists to give an exhibition of their creative processes, and I’m so excited to be included in this project. I’ll let you know more details as they come up – but I’m already thinking of a lot of cool things to show.

The curator and I have decided that my demonstration will tie in with the new wing of the museum, Laurelton Hall.  I’ll be demonstrating techniques and methods that I use daily in my studio, but that were also used in the creation of some of Tiffany’s most loved pieces. So I’m going to stand, in my heels and pearls, on the shoulders of greatness and come up with something fabulous!

I’m so honored to be invited to work with the Morse Museum. As always, big thanks to all my fans for being a part of this adventure in glass. I hope to see you there!

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Lee Taylor style

So this week I made a visit to Central Florida’s own Morse Museum, in Winterpark. This is the home of the largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s work! If you didn’t know already, he was the son of the founder of Tiffany & Company (which is the famous and fabulous jeweler in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, my favorite movie, by the way).

Pumpkin and Beets window, leaded glass, from Laurelton Hall Exhibited: Expostition Universelle, Paris 1900.

Pumpkin and Beets window, leaded glass, from Laurelton Hall Exhibited: Expostition Universelle, Paris 1900.

I think it’s important to look back at the history of your art form. It’s really inspiring to understand what great artists have done in the past, to get connected to their creativity and curiosity. And it gets me motivated when I’m feeling like I’ve got the mean reds!

Here are a few of my favorite pieces by Tiffany, and if you want to learn more about his work, read this short bio at the Morse Museum website.

Winter, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Winter, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Summer, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Summer, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Spring, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Spring, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Autumn, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

Autumn, from the Four Seasons window, leaded glass, 1899-1900

And don’t forget – I want to hear your thoughts on Holly Golightly, staying inspired, or Louis Comfort Tiffany. Comment away!

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Bookkeeping for inspiration?

I spent the morning doing book work — SNOOZE! So boring. I admit that I have very little patience with this kind of stuff. But what’s an artist / businessgirl to do?

While I was working in my accounting program, I started entertaining myself by noticing the interesting fonts in the program. Letter after letter, number after number,  all in different shades, shapes and colors – I became mesmerized. The smallest details, down to a single curve or a minuscule mark can change the entire feel of the symbol. Each font is a piece of art in its own right, with designers spending their whole careers developing new, useful, beautiful sets of letters, numbers, and symbols.

Do you feel the same way I do about bookkeeping? Check out this site and keep yourself entertained during long hours of boring, boring book work.

So, later on, I had a meeting with my friend and technology consultant, Victor Boyer. Victor has been my superhero many many times – we worked on projects together throughout highschool, and now, anytime I need help building a machine or incorporating a motor into my work, he’s the genius who makes it happen! So anyway, we were riding in his superheromobile, a Volvo, and I noticed the lettering on the climate controls.

“That’s a nice font,” I said.

“You know that’s custom, right?” said Victor.

Custom fonts? This opened up a whole new world for me. Yes, Victor said, Volvo created (and carefully guards!) the font used throughout their cars. “It’s called ‘Volvo Broad,'” he said. “The font is ubiquitous and gives the car a premium feel since it’s consistent, unlike some other manufacturers’ font choices.” So here are some pictures from his car.

 

Victor also told me that the lettering used on highway signs is custom! The original one, “Highway Gothic” was introduced in the 1950’s. This is a sample of Highway Gothic:

And just a couple of years ago, a new font was introduced for interstate signage. This one is called “Clearview.”

As I continued noticing fonts everywhere, all around me, I started getting really excited, and suddenly a lightbulb came on. Product idea! Fonts in glass! The artistry in fonts can be recognized and used to create really unique accents in the home. That’s it! That’s my newest product. I’m so excited as I write about it now, I’m throwing on my hot pink boots and coveralls and heading to work. This is going to be fabulous!

Moral of the story?  Inspiration can come from anywhere, even while you’re doing bookwork!

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Take a tour of the studio!

Welcome to my studio! Step into my deliciously hot-pink workboots and take a photo tour.

Always wear an apron with ribbons and flowers. And, don’t forget your dusk mask.

I love repurposed, reclaimed pieces. My studio is full of them – I find things old things that have lost their place in modern life, and find a new (and probably more fashionable!) use for them.

Corner of my light table

For example, I hate the flimsiness of the fixtures you can pick up from big box retailers. You can get a cheap plastic hook for hanging tools at your choice of chain store, and it will break within the year. And it will be so tacky in the meantime. But you can go to an architectural salvage store and buy a rusted french glass doorknob for about the same price. Buff it up with some good wax, and it will probably outlast your tools, while being so very vintage chic.

French doorknob, used as a hook

I do the same thing in my work. And I love combining heritage pieces with the glitz and glam of glass. There’s something in rust, metal, and wood that creates a grounding balance for the delicate fluidity of my glass.

This is exactly the inspiration I’ll be drawing on for my fall collection. I’m hitting up the salvage store and dropping in on my friends the glass wholesalers. And I’ll introduce you to them too – and give you sneak peeks on my work as it develops. So stay tuned for more adventures with Lee Taylor.

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Picture-perfect wedding creations

When planning a big event, haven’t you imagined the perfect finishing touch? But you didn’t even know where to start or who to call to make it happen?

One of my happiest clients, Melissa, wanted that fairy-tale perfect Florida wedding. And she wanted to have custom artwork in her wedding, and an extra special gift for her guests to take home. So that’s when she called Lee Taylor Design!

The wedding was going to be on the water in Fort Lauderdale, and the color scheme for her wedding would be aquatic. Her dream was to have glass crosses as favors for guests, one at each place setting. It was the perfect job for Lee Taylor Design.

Melissa commissioned 200 fusion glass crosses, and I created 3 unique designs for her in colors that matched her wedding. She loved the concepts I developed, and we worked together all along the way to create something beautiful for her special day.

The finished product: in the end, I used a diamond drill bit to hand-etch the date of the wedding on the back of each and every cross.  So that each guest – and the bride and groom – would have a remembrance of that day for years to come. Marilyn says it best – diamonds really are a girl’s best friend, and I love a good excuse to use them in my work. We used satin ribbon hangers at the top of the crosses, and attached a card with the bride and groom’s names and the wedding date.

I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but it’s so funny I’ll tell you anyway — those crosses were such a hit that wedding guests were swiping them off place settings left and right. When I came back from dancing, mine was gone. I guess somebody was working on a collection… Now the bride and groom have several of the crosses hanging in their apartment in NYC, and many of their guests also display them in their homes.

So what’s the moral of the story? Don’t steal wedding favors – and DO call Lee Taylor Design for your next custom art gift(s). I can do any shape or size, any color scheme; any quantity from 1 to as many as you want; and any format from crosses to platters to centerpieces to wall art. So email me at lee@leetaylordesign.com for a custom artwork quote – because I can help make your special day unforgettable, beautiful, and a just little bit more fun.

All photos in this post courtesy of Stephanie Sokol.

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