Wanted to invite anyone in the PDX area (or anyone willing to brave the airlines and come out for a visit) to stop off and see the Oregon Glass Guild's exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. I helped organize the show, and it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The guild is also doing demos for the next five Saturday afternoons, including one on pate de verre by yours truly. Here's the schedule:
After living with Gigi-the-iPhone for about 18 months, my app fervor has diminished. I've six pages (100 apps) sitting on Gigi, but mostly, I use the ones that came with the phone. Of the ones I've installed, only five see regular use. I've taken at least 20 more off just to relieve some of the clutter. Apple's basic apps lineup includes phone tools, email, addressbook and calendaring, GPS mapping, financial reporting, entertainment and photo tools. For most people, and considering that you're talking about a screen the size of a playing card, that's more than enough. So what are my five?
Have a small mushy moment on me...and go clean out your email. It may do wonders for your soul. I'm not kidding--that's what I did this morning, feeling just a tad sorry for myself. I noticed that my email was a mess, thousands and thousands of messages just sitting there in my various inboxes, slowing everything down and making stuff very hard to find. Zipped up to organization mode, starting putting everything into subfolders, deleting the unnecessary...and discovered I have a helluva lot to be thankful for...
You know, people, I think we're missing a bet. Have you ever tried reading your spam? Somewhere inside me is this compulsion not to let anything go to waste (probably DNA inserted into my genes by my thrifty Scottish ancestors), so I do actually read the spam that's posted to this blog or my junk mail folders. Some of it, anyway; if I read it all I'd never get anything else done.
All Diogenes had to do was find an honest man. If he'd been told to squeeze an entire glass casting setup into an 8x8foot space, he'd have chucked the lantern and gone to Disneyland. I know how he feels. So I remodeled the garage and turned it into a working glass casting studio. In this part, I'll talk about why and what problems I needed to solve.
You know all those stupid, persnickety, idiotic, officious entry rules that show organizers dream up just to ruin an artist's day? And those smug, supercilious (and expensive) suggestions they make regarding your need for better photography, displays, artist statements, etc...? Uhm... They're pretty much on target. After pulling together a (very small) juried competition for a local exhibit, I take back everything I've ever, ever said about that stuff.
Catching up on the backlog of email, I found a note from Bullseye Glass announcing a new tipsheet on lost wax casting for glass. I gotta say it's one of the best process guides for glass casting that I've come across. Even if you don't use Bullseye glass, it's definitely one to have in your reference library.
I'm not often asked to be the muscle for somebody so when I am, it's kinda neat. And what could be more fun than hauling glass in Seattle? My friend Becky owns a gallery in downtown Portland (Fireborne, you should visit), which carries everything from little glass bugs to jewelry to big honkin' sculpture. She wanted to make some exchanges in Seattle. Somebody had to schlep boxes and hold doors for her... was I interested?
So a couple of days ago I promised a free drink to the first one to correctly identify the subject of this image. If you've been reading the blog you may have noted my recent forays in the rainy Portland Farmers' Market, which might have been a clue...
I don't know why I even bother, since somebody always gets it on the first or second try, but I suppose I'm the eternal photo-optimist. For a free drink of your choice next time you're in town, be the first one to correctly identify the subject of the following image: