It has been a very rough two weeks. Hurricane Sandy hit us hard. We were without power for a week with fallen trees and power lines everywhere. Shops closed and gas rationing made it difficult just to stay warm, fed and dry. Finally yesterday, we were reconnected to the internet and for the first time were able to see some of the devastation in other parts of our area even harder hit. There is still a lot of cleanup to be done, but are hearts go out to those who have lost homes or are still without basic services.
Every Cloud has silver lining. Or in my case a shimmering smatz lining. Our sign out front was damaged when the hanging sign with our internet address came loose on one side in Hurricane Sandy's 80 mph winds. As a result the main sign was dented and scratched and the hanging signs below were scratched beyond repair. Rather than just repair the sign we have decided to give it an upgrade with a technique I saw widely used in Colorado during a recent workshop I attended there. Smatz or Osmalto is an old world technique for decorating the background of signs using crashed glass. it is not only beautiful and shimmering but was used by our predecessors to extend the life of a sign and cover some of the imperfections normally found in sign panels before the age of power tools.