I’m posting this one as a response to some folks on warmglass asking about kilncarving, so please bear with me. I’ve experimented with the level of detail possible in a kilncarving, and been pretty pleased with the results. At some point I’ll go back and mess with this some more, see what I can do. (And apologies for the crummy [...]
I suffer from studio envy. Visited Chuck Franklin's 13,000-square-foot studio in glassland last night and immediately added it to my studio envy list. I think that makes six glassland studios that I'd like to live in some day: Doug Randall's new studio-slash-home that is as beautiful as it is functional Bullseye Glass' R&D center (especially the great big honking kilns [...]
I’m back in Castuary (my term for that anxious period when the mold is in the kiln and you’re waiting to find out if you’ve just made heaven or hell in glass). As usual, it’s sending me into all kinds of odd musings. For example, I’ve run across two different perception phenomena during this Castuary. First is what’s called the [...]
The Bombay Sapphire folks are back with the finalists in this year’s international glass competition, asking designers and artists from around the world to come up with the best martini glass. Even if you’re not a martini fan, you’ve gotta see some of the designs. They make me want to head to the kitchen and throw out the Baccarat. (Yeah, [...]
Why is it that the simplest projects have the biggest potential to drive you up a tree? If you're a regular reader of this blog you might recall me mentioning talented sculptor Maria Wickwire Palensky. She approached me last spring about casting a transparent foot and ankle for one of her sculptures. Among other things, Maria interprets ancient mythologies surrounding [...]
'Nuf said. (from Shopping.com's ad on TurkishPress.com)
First of all, I’ve never really thought of myself as sentimentalist. Sure, I sometimes sob at tearjerker chickflicks. And a cracking good animation or a sublimely elegant algorithm or hardware that really IS “plug and play” or somebody just being nice for no good reason or truly amazing or content-rich art invariably results in leaky optics. And maybe I get a little misty [...]
The elevator took a very long time. I debated taking the stairs instead, but the conversation behind me was too fascinating. (And yes, I’m a shameless eavesdropper. Ex-journalist; what do you expect?) […]
(Warning: Squeamish waters ahead if you're the type who avoids intimate girl gabs) They say a skillful beater can pound and pound on an ounce of pure gold until it's so thin that it can cover an entire church dome. Obviously, they borrowed that concept for mammograms. "Are you trying to cover the whole damn cathedral?" I gasped, through gritted [...]
The old man opened the trunk, and hauled out what looked like a lawn mower chassis. He set it on the ground, reached into the trunk again, and pulled out a padded seat. He attached it to the chassis and one of those powered chair scooter things began to take shape. He was dressed in a starched white shirt and [...]
