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Cutting remarks (cutting glass with a tile saw)

February 13, 2012 · 2 Comments 

It’s all in the way you slice it. And the way you slice it is, apparently, profoundly affected by a good blade.

Check any glassmaker’s forum and you’ll probably find someone with glass cutting issues, usually stemming from a tile saw that’s more like a Cuisinart than a slicer. I don’t claim any special expertise at this stuff, but I do have a decades-old, cheap, badly made, out-of-true tilesaw that reliably cuts amazingly thin murrini cane* slices.

I do this a lot. So I must be doing something right…right?

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Glass

Influentiality

February 4, 2012 · 4 Comments 

“WOW!” we said, almost simultaneously, “I didn’t know he had work in Traver Gallery!”

My friend Becky and I were up in Tacoma, visiting the (what else) glass museum and as usual stopped into Traver for a peek. We saw the work of a good friend in the window and, tickled, went inside to check it out.

Surprise! It was actually the work of another respected glass artist.

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TechBiz

My dozen best iPad business apps

December 30, 2011 · 3 Comments 

Izzy the ‘Pad is the first computing device I’ve ever slept with.

Literally. I hate to say it, but she’s pretty much changed the way I do stuff. That red leather thing growing out of my left arm? That’s Izzy, in her snazzy red case. Apple’s made an excellent chameleon out of the iPad 2; find the right app(s), download them for a nominal fee, and Izzy changes roles in a heartbeat.

So…let’s start with business, i.e., USEFUL iPad apps. These are my favorites right now, not necessarily in order of importance, and they’re all available in the iPad App Store.

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Food

Locasnob

December 5, 2011 · 8 Comments 

Strolling the Pearl (a favorite occupation I hardly ever get to do these days), I spied a big cast glass sculpture in the window and stopped in to see who made it.

“He’s from Israel, really talented artist,” said the clerk.

“Ahh…and that one?” I pointed to a big blown dinosaur-like piece, reminiscent of Tagliapietra.

“Celotto, from Italy.”

Hmmm. “How about that one?” and I indicated a series of flat, fused (ooops, sorry, Lani) kilnformed panels on the usual powder-coated steel stands.

Swedish.

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Art

Influentiality

February 4, 2012 · 4 Comments 

“WOW!” we said, almost simultaneously, “I didn’t know he had work in Traver Gallery!”

My friend Becky and I were up in Tacoma, visiting the (what else) glass museum and as usual stopped into Traver for a peek. We saw the work of a good friend in the window and, tickled, went inside to check it out.

Surprise! It was actually the work of another respected glass artist.

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Photography

Byron Dazey, people photographer

November 30, 2010 · 2 Comments 

OK, this is a man whose work I need to sculpt. I purely love this guy’s photography.

I don’t know much about Byron Dazey, but I do know that–like me–he treasures strangers. I write about them, Byron photographs them. His ability to capture personality with a lens is remarkable; I find myself telling the stories behind his candids and portraits without ever meeting the subjects.

That’s pretty powerful skill.

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