B101 (MARMALADE/CLEAR/SKY BLUE) (2001), BY SONJA BLOMDAHL
ACQUIRED FROM WILLIAM TRAVER GALLERY, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 2001
HND-BLOWN GLASS, 13 1/2" HIGH BY 9 1/2" IN DIAMETER, SIGNATURE ENGRAVED ON THE BASE BY THE ARTIST


B100 in July 2000, it established a tradition of sorts... at that point, my collection included both Sonja's first work of 1999 (B199) and her first work of 2000 (B100). When I spoke with Sonja in August 2000, I told her that I wanted to continue to expand my "Collection of Firsts" by acquiring her first work each year from that point on. Since I would be relying on her judgment to decide what colors and form to use, I gave her only one criterion: try to create a work that complements the works I already have... a work that would help create an ideal collection of her works.

So, here's Sonja's first work of 2001, B101. Sonja got off to a late start in 2001, due in part to working on other projects and in part to the earthquake that hit the Seattle area in early 2001. As a result, this work was not completed until late June, and I didn't receive it until early October.

As you can see from these pictures, B101 is more similar to B199, with its use of opaque colors, than it is to B100, which uses translucent colors. In this case, the base is a very nice orange-red color on the outside with yellow on the inside, the neck is clear glass (the usual color for necks in Sonja's work), and the top is a combination of greyish-blue glass on the outside and darker blue on the inside. The top is a bit "flatter" than in B199 or B100, but the base is taller.

Sonja definitely succeeded in creating another excellent "First" for my collection... when I first saw this work, I didn't doubt for a second that it was exactly what I was hoping she'd create. I think the coloring in this work is awesome.

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