SWK seeking contract killer?

So now some poor soul in Hillsboro thinks I’m trying to off somebody.

Headed over to the Cornelius Roadhouse tonight to meet Steve-the-kilngod and kick off the Intelligent Kiln Project (more about that later). Arriving, I realized that (a) I had no idea what Steve-the-kilngod looked like and (b) Cornelius Roadhouse is a big place full of guys waiting for the rest of their party.

My search algorithm consisted of walking up to solitary dudes who seemed to be waiting and saying, “Hi, are you Steve-who-does-kilns?” The first 11 said no, clearly relieved NOT to be the blind date I was apparently seeking. (Humpfh)

The 12th was about as far from the Roadhouse’s usual Intel pocket-protector crowd as you can get: White guy with Rastafarian hair, long beard, grubby fingernails, torn jeans, worn-out biker boots and a bright yellow T-shirt with the “Have a nice day” smiley face on front. Of course, this smiley face had a bullet wound between the eyes with blood gushing out…

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Creative process, part I

Spent hours at GAS (the Glass Art Society conference) last month asking glass artists how they create–not the technical part so much as the inspiration and content part–and was kind of surprised at what came out of my very unscientific survey.

Most appeared rather surprised by the question, clearly hadn’t considered WHY they do what they do, and had a lot of trouble separating creative process from technical production details. A few had absolutely pat answers that sounded like well-rehearsed artist statements. 

What I most liked, though, was talking with people who hadn’t thought about it before. It was fun to listen as they verbally ran through the creation of their work, looking for patterns. I got a lot of “Hmmmmmm….how DO I create?” murmurs, which tells me this may not be something the average artist thinks about. [Read more]