Santa's Coming Back To My House Tonight

The birth of my first two grandchildren was the inspiration for this song. As the Christmas season approached I realized that Santa would be coming back.


Click here to play Santa's Coming Back To My House Tonight


Performed and written by Barb Cheney
Copyrighted 1996

Painting of Brooke with "Ice".

Shhhh! Don't tell my Grand-daughter. Brooke recently had a birthday. I gave her part of her present on her birthday and this painting to her is the other part. We were invited to her Grand-parents on her Dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving and that is when I plan to give it to her. She is very attached to her leased horse "Ice". Ice is albino with one brown eye and one blue eye.

It was painted in acrylics also used fabric paint on her hair.

Those Are The Feelings I Have For You

Click here to play Those Are The Feelings I Have For You

I wrote this song for my husband. The painting is a callase of visual phrases expressing the words.
Written and performed by Barb Cheney
Recorded in Walt Mills Studios.
Copyrighted in 2008.

Eugene and Lillian are my husband's parents. The painting was inspired by an old photo. I loved how they were sitting in what might have been a diner or a bar. With their drinks and cigarettes and note pad on the table it makes me wonder what was on the list. I love the mirror behind them reflecting the back of their heads. I also wonder who took the picture. So many unexplained questions.

Eugene and Lillian

Another decorative melted glass painting with an Italian flair. The bottles melted are an olive oil bottle, a tomato sauce bottle and a decorative bottle. The decorative bottle has a piece of fused glass added and the spaghetti is real wheat spaghetti then varnished for protection. It is painted in acrylics, and fabric paint. The bread crust is plaster. The top of the olive oil bottle also has a piece of fused glass. The sides of the canvas are painted.

Something Italian

The painting below is done in acrylics, glass and plaster. The grape and peach jam bottles are melted mason jars. The grapes are glass and the peach is made with plaster. It is on a one and a half inch thick canvas. It can be displayed on a stand or hung on the wall without a frame.

Peach and Grape Jam

Below are a few more fused glass necklaces modeled by my daughter that I plan to put in my Etsy store. They all have a leather color co-ordinated cord. They are all one of a kind.

The medium for this piece was done on a wooden platter. The wine bottle is melted. The bottle is topped with fused glass. The glasses are first applied with plaster then painted with acrylics and fabric paint. The grapes are also glass. It looks very nice on a stand. The platter is 24" by 14".

Glass art on Wooden Platter

Below is a surreal painting of flowers on a pedestal with a rod iron fence in front. It was first plastered in some areas then painted with acrylics and fabric paint. Hanging low and close to the floor gives the appearance of a real pedestal standing there without taking up space. It is nice to place in a hall way. This is in my house and although it's quirky I placed a sun mirror above the painting to provide some sunshine.

Grant Park is in Chicago IL. The scene below is coming from the back part of the stage with the musicians facing the crowd and behind the crowd is the city.

It was painted with acrylics and fabric paints. The iridescent paint in the windows give it a true light effect.

Music in Grant Park

Addicted

I am addicted to melting glass. I have an artist friend who is also addicted to melting glass. She specializes in tile art but like me her real love is melting glass. We sometimes do glass jewelry shows together. We converse by phone any new discoveries as every time something goes in the kiln something new and different appears. We feed our addiction by first having Tex-Mex for lunch a couple of times a month. After lunch we usually go to Hobby Lobby for art supplies and then venture to various stores looking for that special glass bottle to melt or glass in various forms to break and make jewelry. Since I started doing this everyone saves their wine bottles for me to recycle. Recently I started receiving all kinds of bottles and glass from my family and friends. I can't melt fast enough. I lay awake dreaming of what I am going to do with everything once it is melted. Now I am constantly on the lookout for different mediums to place the glass on to create beautiful mixed media art.

In the photo below a glass globe that was originally a shade for a chandelier magically became a candle holder. After it was melted the frost settled in just the right places for me to paint a candle that can be seen through parts of the glass. Acrylic paints were used. The flame is fabric paint and the upper part of the candle is wall plaster.

Tender Moments

This was a commissioned painting I did for a lady a few years ago. It was painted in acrylics. My pictures flash one at a time over my computer and this one comes up every once in a while. For some reason it warms my heart. It is a surreal painting which was my interpretation of the photograph.

Grape Jam on a Cutting Board

Painted and mounted on a cutting board this has a similar theme as the photo of the painting below. It has a heated and melted jar with glass for grapes. The painting is small and cute and most everyone can find a spot for this in their kitchen.

Glass Bottle Painting

A mixed media painting especially designed for kitchens. Acrylics painted on canvas with glass for the grapes. The bottles are glass bottles, heated and flattened. This looks fabulous placed on the wall behind the stove or above the kitchen sick.

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Diana

This is a painting I did for my son-in-law. It is of his mother when she was a little girl. My inspiration was from an old photo. It reminded me of the banana curls and bows that were so popular in those days. His mother has since passed away.

It was painted in acrylics.

Cheers Again

Acrylic on canvas with melted wine bottle, glass grapes and joint compound for the glass. The bottle stopper is fused glass.

A few years ago we visited Australia and spent the night at a boat like station sixty miles out in the ocean at the Great Barrier Reef. I was so inspired by the coral reef that I went home and painted my interpretation of the reef. Then when we moved to this house which is on the lake and I painted the bathroom as if you were in a coral reef. This past spring my husband was in Romania on business and I went with him. While we were there our kitchen, butler's pantry, dining room, a downstairs bedroom and bath was flooded. It was not flooded from the lake but from accumulated water that rushed from our driveway. We had a restoration company tear out a couple of feet of the dry walls in all of the rooms to rid the mold. Since then we have been doing a lot of the taping and bedding,painting and repairs ourselves. We are also adding new flooring. My bathroom looked very similar to the picture with the exception of the water painted at the bottom. By adding the water it really seemed to make the room more stunning and accented the reef. Sometimes bad things turn out to be not so bad after all.

Our bathroom is finished!

Cheers Again

The party is over, the toast was made and the memory lies in this mixed media painting which will remain for decades of enjoyment.
The bottle was melted. The grapes are glass and the bottle stopper is fused glass. The painting is done in acrylics with joint compound under the leaves and vines.

Below are a few necklaces I finished today. I took them to my neck model for some photo shoots. (my daughter)

I specialize in fused glass pendants but I usually include a leather cord of a complementary color. They can be removed and placed on other chains if desired. Some have dichroic glass in them and that will appear shinny.

Red Peppers

I painted this for my daughter's birthday. The peppers are fused cut glass and it is painted with acrylics. I used joint compound for the leaves. She liked it a lot. Her kitchen has hand painted red pepper valences along with many other items themed "red peppers." As you enter the room there is just something about it that cheers you up and makes you feel happy.

After: The glass is melted to 1500 degrees and placed on the canvas. This is painted with acrylics and I used joint compound for texture. A helpful hint: when removing a label from a bottle I put a very wet cloth over the label for a while to soak the glue loose then use a razor blade and it comes off easy.

Before

I don't have any problems finding a bottle to recycle because my husband loves his beer. Shinner is one of his favorites.

Glass People

Quirky but fun! What do you do with them? I'm not sure. Dangle them from somewhere? They are made from fused glass and different yarns.

"Cheers again" is a series of melted wine and beer bottles that are placed on a canvas then made into a mixed media painting. This is a nice way to recycle. I plan to exhibit many different pieces on my blog. You could actually do the same thing as I did below and come up with something refreshing every time. It is very exciting just to see how different each one turns out. The vase below found its' way into a home in Arizona yesterday. The vines are made of joint compound and the flowers are fused glass. It is painted with acrylics.

Cheers Again

Walkin' After Midnight

This is what I imagine when I hear the song "Walkin' After Midnight." The painting is done with acrylics and fabric paint.

I Fall to Pieces

This original painting was inspired by the song "I Fall to Pieces." It was painted with acrylics and I have digital prints available.

Cold, Cold Heart

This painting was inspired by the song "Cold, Cold Heart." It is original and painted with acrylics, joint compound, and the ice cubes on top of the bowl are fused glass. The flames behind the heart is done with fabric paint.

Ironically I painted this a few months before I had open heart surgery getting an aortic valve replacement. Since my surgery the painting took on a new meaning for me. I gave a print to my Surgeon and to the Rehab center that I attended.

Butterfly

The butterfly painting is mixed media with acrylic paint, joint compound, and fused glass.