The Oregon coast was a perfect place to complete three days of glass classes with Deb Crowley. She's a wonderful teacher and gave me a ton of practical knowledge but I may be an "old dog"...new tricks and all that. I came home with a couple of great sushi plates and four coasters that showed a myriad of inclusions. She gave me the information to jump in and begin some projects.
My friends Chuck and Kris joined me for a day playing with glass. Chuck jumpes in feet first with a three opening condiment dish, Kris did a small plate with enameled grapes and I did two plates. When it came time to fire them I chickened out on writing my own recipe and chose the slow full fuse on my Skutt GM1414. They all came out great. The next day we set out to slump them. The plates were perfect but the condiment dish didn't quite slump enough. It was jump in and alter the Slump program or let Chuck take home a very shallow condiment dish! I added a little on the temp and a little on the anneal and popped the dish back into the kiln. Slump it did. I'll post some pics when I get them and would welcome comments to assit a newbie.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Into the unknown
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks yet here I am, at 52, jumping into the unknown and opening a business I know nothing about yet know I will love. Great timing! The worst week in economic history since the great depression.
Who would have thought that a small sign in a Sebastopol window announcing "fused glass" would send me in a new direction in my life? Friends and husband in tow I went in to that little shop. The concept excited me but our vacation time was short so spending that time cutting and creating was not to be. It was our next trip to the Sonoma Valley, different friends, same husband, when I found, no insisted I spend, a free day away from the wineries I love creating a sconce for my home. My husband and friend made sushi plates. They, too, were hooked. We all decided it was a perfect add to the picture framing stores my husband started back in 1972.
Next week I'll try to remember what it was like to sit in a classroom and force useful knowledge into this brain filled with so much unnecessary minutia. Next week I'll start something new. Will people be interested? Will the business be successful? Will every piece of glass I touch fly to pieces or become an art piece? I'm excited. I'm scared. I'm beginning.
Who would have thought that a small sign in a Sebastopol window announcing "fused glass" would send me in a new direction in my life? Friends and husband in tow I went in to that little shop. The concept excited me but our vacation time was short so spending that time cutting and creating was not to be. It was our next trip to the Sonoma Valley, different friends, same husband, when I found, no insisted I spend, a free day away from the wineries I love creating a sconce for my home. My husband and friend made sushi plates. They, too, were hooked. We all decided it was a perfect add to the picture framing stores my husband started back in 1972.
Next week I'll try to remember what it was like to sit in a classroom and force useful knowledge into this brain filled with so much unnecessary minutia. Next week I'll start something new. Will people be interested? Will the business be successful? Will every piece of glass I touch fly to pieces or become an art piece? I'm excited. I'm scared. I'm beginning.
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