cynthia

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So far cynthia has created 602 blog entries.
28 03, 2012

The Admiral

2016-05-16T00:07:24-07:00

"My wife's Vietnamese, but I love her anyway," he said, so seriously that I couldn't tell if he was joking. The old guy had jogged up to my new house in gymshorts, Nikes and a tank top, skinny as a rail with a shock of white hair that flew anywhere but down. I'd seen him before. "Let me be the first to welcome you to our neighborhood!" he bellowed, so loud that the movers stopped to watch. He said he was an ex-Navy officer--I think an admiral but (as my military relatives will confirm) I can't distinguish admirals from airmen so who knows? He'd retired into a couple of successful businesses, and he and his wife had been two of the original settlers in the neighborhood. He was friendly...but the Vietnamese crack bothered me, even when I saw the twinkle in his eye.

The Admiral2016-05-16T00:07:24-07:00
15 03, 2012

Boothmaker, boothmaker, make me a booth (kinda)

2017-10-07T18:05:38-07:00

One nice thing about a glass art blog is that it's read by...(drumroll) ...artists. Especially artists who sell their work at artfairs and such. And that's just who I want to talk to now. If you've designed a good booth for selling arts and crafts: I need your advice. Please?

Boothmaker, boothmaker, make me a booth (kinda)2017-10-07T18:05:38-07:00
22 02, 2012

Coldworking small castings

2020-11-26T12:52:23-08:00

Q: Is there a better (faster, cheaper) way to coldwork small glass sculptures? A: Yep A BeCon or two ago, Richard Whiteley, head of the Canberra glass school, said that glasswork fresh from the kiln was only half finished; coldwork was necessary to take it the rest of the way. Ouch. I happen to agree with him, but as much as I love HAVING coldworked, I hate DOING coldwork and seem to be on a neverending quest to avoid it. Right now I'm testing a bunch of machines to see if they can automate the finishing process for small cast glass sculptures, like pendants.

Coldworking small castings2020-11-26T12:52:23-08:00
13 02, 2012

Cutting remarks (cutting glass with a tile saw)

2021-05-27T13:38:25-07:00

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?

Cutting remarks (cutting glass with a tile saw)2021-05-27T13:38:25-07:00
9 12, 2011

Towels on the floor

2020-05-05T13:40:19-07:00

OK, I'm beginning to look like a doting mamma with home videos, but...I kept finding towels on the floor in the guest bath. Wasn't difficult to figure out who was doing it--not with The Princess Lola and Nikki the Tikkimaus around--but all the other towel racks in the house were safe from their depredations. So I hung the towel back on the rack, grabbed Izzy the 'Pad (that iMovie feature is really killer), and settled into the bathtub to wait. It didn't take long:

Towels on the floor2020-05-05T13:40:19-07:00
5 12, 2011

Locasnob

2020-05-05T13:42:12-07:00

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.

Locasnob2020-05-05T13:42:12-07:00
28 11, 2011

Making a cat gym (AKA “less ugly cat tree”)

2021-06-15T14:12:39-07:00

Savannah kittens make wonderful housemates...if you stay two steps ahead of their inventive little minds. Give them enough "legal" stuff to do, the theory goes, and they won't edit your art collection (i.e., break stuff). I gave them a "highly difficult" puzzle, guaranteed to keep dogs occupied for weeks, with small wooden cups that move along a track. The animal is supposed to slide the cups until they can be upended, to reveal treat. The kittens liberated all the treats in about 15 minutes and then, bored, headed for the bathroom to play toilet bowl jacuzzi (they LIKE water). So I made them a cat gym.

Making a cat gym (AKA “less ugly cat tree”)2021-06-15T14:12:39-07:00
22 11, 2011

Favorable (glass) reactions

2017-10-07T18:05:27-07:00

If you mix frit colors--as all pate de verre and frit painting artists do with abandon--you quickly learn about reactivity between colored glasses. Try warming up the chill BE Salmon Pink with a little BE Medium Amber, and the resulting sludgy grey-brown will stick in your mind forever. Or so I thought. At a beginning casting workshop recently, one of my students complained that it was tough to simply remember what reacted with which. Or worse, when they combined glasses from two manufacturers, they couldn't find any reactivity info at all, which apparently resulted in some unpleasant surprises.

Favorable (glass) reactions2017-10-07T18:05:27-07:00
15 11, 2011

Cynthia, cat trainer

2014-12-24T11:11:46-08:00

OK, just had to brag a bit, although I'm not sure if I'm bragging about what a great cat trainer I am (frankly, if I were, I wouldn't be sweeping up broken sculptures), or the unusually large brains of my cats.

Cynthia, cat trainer2014-12-24T11:11:46-08:00
29 10, 2011

Pate de verre in a hurry

2016-03-19T21:39:19-07:00

How do you give non-casters a taste of pate de verre making..in less than four hours? That was the assignment, anyway. It was the Portland chapter's turn to host the Oregon Glass Guild's annual state meeting, and we wanted to do something a bit special. We decided on a theme of Stretch Your Wings, and gave it multiple meanings. First, we meant "stretch your wings by reaching out to the community." Instead of focusing on personal enrichment, this time we'd make art for the community, a glass quilt to be installed in a local hospital. Everyone who came would make at least one 6x6 inch tile for the quilt.

Pate de verre in a hurry2016-03-19T21:39:19-07:00
Copyright © 2024 Cynthia Morgan | All Rights Reserved
No part of this website may be copied, borrowed, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the author (me).

Or, to put it in plain English, folks: Ask first. This blog is first and foremost a personal journal, a chronicle of my work with a fairly difficult technical medium. I'm happy (thrilled, even) to share what I know, and I'll help you with your own journey all I can... as long as you respect my groundrules.

I don't sell ads, products or services, and unless disclosed I buy all products/services mentioned in this blog, with my own money. I don't claim to have invented processes, tools, new artforms, or techniques (unless I specifically say so). HOWEVER, my writing and art (and any errors of fact or fiction) are my very own, original work. Don't blame anyone but me if I get it wrong.
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