It's amazing to believe that it's been almost 5 months since the last post.   It makes me sad as it means
that I haven't been at the bench that long also.  

2009 was an AMAZING  year.   I had a great run in the glass studio but alas it will still be a few months
before I can return to glass blowing.   Understand that I would love to blow glass over many other tasks
of life but alas some things must come first (for now). 

I have been lucky to be spending time with a research group that has managed to 3D print in glass.  3D
printing involves creating 3D objects by printing binder onto thin layers of glass.   Really interesting, it
may be the single newest change in glass in over 600 years.    I feel lucky to be able to play with this
new process.    Check them out:

open3dp.me.washington.edu />
To all of you that have found this blog, thanks for your support and comments.   .....M

Again, sorry it has been a while from the last post BUT after calling and calling (and getting no answer),
I finally went over to the studio.   Everyone look quite fit and well.    However, I found out that this
studio will never go hot in this location again (as it is moving).   It has been a great four years!

I will now need to find a new location to blow glass (this is a little bit of a challenge as while there are
a few glass studios, it's not like 7/11 stores).    I guess it is a little bit like finding a new dance partner.

Again, I looked around in my photo files and found something interesting.



If you check back in this blog, you will find several green pieces made from recycled glass shards.
Today's piece is a continuation of that tradition.   Recall that I have run out of this green mix several
times and luckily have managed to find more, this time I could not find the green mix.   The very
helpful staff pointed me toward several bins of greens (and wished me good luck) to make my own
green color mix.      The resulting mix is a little bit too blue for my tastes.

Shown in the photo is a mixed greens footed plated with two 40 mm  (1.5 inches in diameter) marbles.
Plates (and marbles) are truly some of my favorite pieces to make...  

Off to search for a new glass studio.

I saw a bumper sticker on a car over the weekend which read "Art is basic!"

Dear Subscribers and Other Readers,

I am sorry that I have not been posting but it is because the studio where I rent is still cold.  The
owner took the studio down for some repairs.   One repair lead to the next, and the next, and the
next!  Then it turned into a remodel.  Wow.  The good news is that it is coming to a close.   We
hope to be up in the next couple of weeks (depending on construction).

I looked around my computer and found a few more pictures of objects made during one of my
previous sessions. 



Here's a quirky piece along with one of the marbles from a previous post.   The vase is a first real
attempt at trying to produce necked or shoulder form with a flaired lip.    The shape of this piece
happened in a matter of seconds.   The vase has a clear lip wrap.   Overall, this seems like a form
to practice when the studio returns.    ....Mark

I have been quiet on the blog front as I was quite bummed out by the lack of success with
the fish at the auction.   Also, our studio is currently down again.  However during the two weeks
when it was alive and functioning, I managed to get in a couple of sessions.

Since, it had been a few weeks since I had been on the bench, I thought that I would
stick with something simple --- but what to make?    Marbles are always safe.

We present three quite striking blue, white and silver dichroic glass marbles.   They are all suppose
to be about 40 mm (although one can see the variation).   In the lower left marble, you can see
the sparkles of the dichroic glass.
After good success with the first couple of marbles, I felt a little more daring.   A few weeks ago, I
purchased some pre-made cane.  Cane is simply glass that is pulled into a thin cylinder maybe
1/4 of an inch (4-6 mm).  Sometimes cane is composed of multiple layers (as is the case for the
lime green cane shown above). If you look closely, you will see that the lime green cane has a
lighter colored center.  Actually, it is a white center encased in green.   It is a really nice effect.

I cut some pieces of cane about marble size and gave it a try.   The first attempt is shown on the right --
Okay but not too crazy.   The second attempt was just two bars of cane (one on each side of a blob
of clear) -- Much better.

Overall, the session when by too quickly.   Our work produced about 8 marbles -- not too bad..... M
 

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks.   Work has been very busy (it's a result of me asking
for it).  Well, I had this auction that wanted a piece that was interesting and fun.   The weather is
starting to get a little nicer (which means garden glass should be starting).


We have some more blown glass fish and some seaweed.   The big problem that I was facing
was trying to get the auction visitors to understand (without reading) that this was a garden display.

I spent a couple of weeks working over that issue over in my mind.  Ah!  An idea....



I would fabricate a desktop sculpture/display.   I poured concrete into some quick formwork and
inserted some rebar to hold the fish and the seaweed.  I painted it flat black.  Next, I added some
blue glass M&M's that normally sit inside a vase to hold flower in place.   These glass M&M's had
a couple of sets of blinking LED lights.  The whole thing really gave the feeling of ocean/water.

I thought that it looked great.   The auction staff seemed to like it! 

The guests just didn't get the idea!  It sold for about 1/4 of what I was hoping for.   Alas, this idea did
not work.    I'm quite bummed about it.   ....M

Dear Readers,  We have no glass this week as the studio is down for repairs.  March/April are
traditionally slow months in the glassblowing business, therefore studios often go down to
take care of repairs.

As such, I have been working behind the scenes on this blog (and the ISP, etc).   I am now
running of a paid blog (rather than free).   One thing that you will notice is the lack of ads -
yeah.  Also, I put up a picture and a short bio. 

I am working on getting this web/blog out to more readers (if you read this, share with your
friends).   There are several great articles on line about "how to increase your web traffic".  
I have been working through many of the common ideas presented.    Since, my blog has a
rather large picture content, it is somewhat unique as most blogs have mostly words.   

As a result of all of this work behind the scenes, I learned the pictures MUST have what is know
as "ALT TAGS".    ALT TAGS are short descriptions of what is in the picture.   As I have over 300+
pictures, I must add them manually - Yikes.    I am working on it but it is NOT AS MUCH FUN AS
BLOWING GLASS!

Lastly, I found a MUST HAVE web browser add-on called "Cool Iris".    {It's also an Iphone app}



You can down load it free but you must install it.   CoolIris turns your web browser into a visual
web browser.   If you type in a search phrase "glassblowing", it produces a wall of images to explore.  
All I can say is WOW, I believe it will change the way many people explore the web.   Check it out...M

I took some time this week to play with the carnival colored frit mix.  I made a couple of different
pieces using it including a couple of marbles.

We present a swirled ruffle bowl.   The carnival colored frit is swirled together with white frit near the
beginning of the process to create the blown shape.  It happens fast and it must happen in a single
continous motion with one heat in the glory hole (reheat furnace).  The look is almost ghost-like.
This is the same bowl using a slightly different lighting setup and a different camera angle to allow
you to see into the bowl.   Notice how the colors somewhat run together.  Even though in glass the
colors really don't mix as happens in painting, we see an effect caused by the transparent colors
that looks very close.   

Also, I put a 40 mm marble in the image to provide a scale reference and provide a look at one of my
carnival marbles.    Hope you have a great week.   ....M

I went to the glass supply store often called the "Glass Drug Store" or the "Drug Store" by folks. You
get tools, blocks, and most importantly COLOR.  The store always has the scrap pile (mentioned in
several earlier post).  On this day, they had a couple of boxes of scrap "cane".   Cane is a term for
glass that is pulled out into thin cylinders about the size of a soda straw or candy cane.   You got
so much cane if you purchased so much.    Needless to say, I got some free.   I picked out some
cane to make marbles.

Shown in the picture is a blue and white vase (4.5 inches {115 mm} diameter and 5.5 inches {145
mm} tall) with a roman foot and a cane marble {40 mm}.  This photo is taken in the light tent with
a matte finish background.
Same two items on the black mirrored photo setup.  I managed to get the white edge to work on the
marble and the vase top.  What do you think?   Which photo setup do you like best?   ....M

{I am reposting this article.   Since I moved URL's, it seems that this article is difficult to
find.  As it was THE most visited article, I thought I would repost it -- M}

I got started with marbles for a project associated with a charity golf event.   I chose marbles
which are about 40mm (~ 1.5 inches) about the size of a golf ball.   Really marbles are small
paperweights and are not blown but rather sculpted.

The very first things that I ever made in glass were paperweights.   The studio were I rent had
a drop-in program - make a paperweight for $25 each.   From the very first time I experienced
glass, I knew I was hooked.   It seems the experience carried forward, as making marbles is
quite fun and not too demanding - just fun!

Marbles are formed on a straight pipe - called a bit rod.   A bit rods come in various sizes from
about 25 mm (~ 1 inch) to 6 mm (~ 1/4 inch).  I use the smallest about 6 mm (~1/4 inch).   The
glass is formed into a sphere using one of two tools:

This tool is called a marble block.  It is made out of graphite.   One can purchase these on Ebay or
from your local glass store.   Their lifespan may be an issue.

This tool is called a marble ring.  It is made out of tool steel .   One can purchase these on Ebay
or from your local glass store.   You keep it from sticking to the glass with large amounts of bee's
wax.   It is harder to use than a marble block but it is my tool of choice.

This picture shows the marble ring in use.  I am making some blue and white marbles.  This is a
wonderful picture as you can see the bee's wax vaporizing and the vapor is rising around the
body of the marble.   I really like the smell of bee's wax.

After being down with that flu or cold that has been going around much of the country, I missed a
couple of weeks at the studio.    When you return to the studio, there is ALWAYS a period of time
(minutes to hours) just to get almost back to where you were when you left (this is a little bit like two
paces forwards and three steps back).

Another of my favorite color mixes, I call the "Carnival" mix.   It has many of the colors made famous
by Carnival or Mardi Gras -- purple, cranberry, green, yellow-yellow green.
We present a footed bowl and 40 mm marble based on this color mix.   There is something about this
mix of colors says spring (or PARTY!!!).    I am running low on this mix.   I will need to try to re-create it.  

As one of my last pieces (of my session), I had a vision of a flower with a green mix base and a Carnival
colored top.  
The ruffle worked great.   I wish there was more separation of the color mixes (perhaps this is a
difficulty in using mixes with overlapping color sets).

We also present this ruffle bowl on the mirrored lighting stage.    This color mix has really grown on me.
Let's hope I can figure out a way to obtain more....M