Showing posts with label Public Glass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public Glass. Show all posts
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, May 17, 2009
PUBLIC GLASS EVENT
Last night I wrote a little about the Public Glass event. The piece that Randy and crew made was wonderful. There is no finished product picture. After it comes off the pipe, the sculpture is placed in an annealing oven for a controlled cool down process. It the cool down isn't controlled, the piece will crack and or shatter.
Marty in black, Luka in green, Randy in red, and Guido by the glory hole. This one piece took at times six men doing different jobs. Six men working an hour and a half to produce one sculpture.
Marty is torching the leaf to keep it one temperature as Randy works with it.
Randy is shaping the leaf by hand, (yes those are special gloves he is wearing). The piece is around 2000 degrees. Marty is torching to keep the heat constant and Luka is holding the pipe with the piece. Notice that Luka is standing on a table. The piece is almost 5 feet long and the pipe is 4 feet long, so the worker must be elevated.
Marty is torching a piece that will be the base of the glass sculpture.
The glass sculpture on the end of the marver (table) is a miniature of what they are making. It is only about a foot and a half tall, and no ball in the twist. Marty is jacking the piece. That makes the break off point smaller.
Marty in black, Luka in green, Randy in red, and Guido by the glory hole. This one piece took at times six men doing different jobs. Six men working an hour and a half to produce one sculpture.
Marty is torching the leaf to keep it one temperature as Randy works with it.
Randy is shaping the leaf by hand, (yes those are special gloves he is wearing). The piece is around 2000 degrees. Marty is torching to keep the heat constant and Luka is holding the pipe with the piece. Notice that Luka is standing on a table. The piece is almost 5 feet long and the pipe is 4 feet long, so the worker must be elevated.
Guido is turning the pipe as Randy tells him to. Randy is shaping and twisting the leaf by hand. As he twisted it another piece was wrapped in the twist. Again, 2000 degrees of hot glass.
Marty is torching a piece that will be the base of the glass sculpture.
The glass sculpture on the end of the marver (table) is a miniature of what they are making. It is only about a foot and a half tall, and no ball in the twist. Marty is jacking the piece. That makes the break off point smaller.If you notice Randy's alter ego showed up. He wore a Groucho nose/glasses and a Happy New Year hat part of the evening.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
2000 DEGREES AND SWEATING
Today the San Francisco Bay Area is having a heat wave. Not record breaking but really hot. Oakland was 90, San Francisco was 90, and out on the inland side of the tunnel it was triple digits. HOT, HOT, HOT.
So what did we do tonight? We went to Public Glass for a fund raiser/demo of glass blowing/sculpturing. The glory hole is 2000 degrees, the pot furnace is 2000 degrees, it was hot. Lots of people, lots of furnaces on, and it was hot outside. I was wringing wet and I wasn't making glass. I was only taking pictures of the demos. Which I hope to post tomorrow.
Marty was the torch man, Randy Strong was the artist. At least 4 other glass workers took part in the demo. Randy made an incredible piece. He made a "leaf" that was stripped with another color. The leaf was stretched out to at least four feet. Randy hand sculptured the leaf and then by hand twisted it. Another glass artist formed a ball that was inserted into the twisted leaf. A base was then attached to it. No one in the crowd had seen anyone do this type of work done. That is because no one has ever done that.
After the demo was over, I told Randy I needed a lot of hours to work. I wanted that piece. I know what I want for my next salary.
So what did we do tonight? We went to Public Glass for a fund raiser/demo of glass blowing/sculpturing. The glory hole is 2000 degrees, the pot furnace is 2000 degrees, it was hot. Lots of people, lots of furnaces on, and it was hot outside. I was wringing wet and I wasn't making glass. I was only taking pictures of the demos. Which I hope to post tomorrow.
Marty was the torch man, Randy Strong was the artist. At least 4 other glass workers took part in the demo. Randy made an incredible piece. He made a "leaf" that was stripped with another color. The leaf was stretched out to at least four feet. Randy hand sculptured the leaf and then by hand twisted it. Another glass artist formed a ball that was inserted into the twisted leaf. A base was then attached to it. No one in the crowd had seen anyone do this type of work done. That is because no one has ever done that.
After the demo was over, I told Randy I needed a lot of hours to work. I wanted that piece. I know what I want for my next salary.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
If I had only known 20 minutes ago
Have you ever had something change your day? You plan your day and then the phone rings. And after the call you think, why didn't you call 20 minutes ago? Today I had such a call.
As I have said, on Saturdays I sleep late, putz around, and may or may not do some house work. And I don't dress until mid afternoon. Because I have been so sick, I am still dragging around everyday. Today I slept late, did some laundry, ran the sweeper and a dust mop. And I was exhausted. So I took a shower, I didn't wash my hair because we weren't going out tonight. And I just was too tired to fool with 30 minutes of hair care. I put on minimal makeup and had started to use the curling iron on the wayward bedhead. And then the phone rang.
Marty asked if I felt like going out to a fundraiser for a glass blowing non profit. It was in 5 hours. I of course said yes. I also told him, I wish you had called 20 minutes ago, before my shower. And then I went back into the bathroom, used the hand shower attachment and washed my hair bending over the tub. Of course the water messed up my makeup and I had to redo that. I looked presentable when he arrived home.
We went to Public Glass and saw demos by Paul DeSomma and another artist who did flame work. There was wine, beer, soft drinks and appetizers. For your entry fee you had your pick of blown glasses, goblets, pitchers, jars, or containers to drink out of. Many were really attractive, but some poorly made and dangerously sharp. Some were fairly well done. We took pictures, which may or may not be good. It is really hard to capture hot glass in a picture. Neither of us have downloaded our pix yet. Too late and too lazy. Tomorrow if they are any good I will post the pictures.
As I have said, on Saturdays I sleep late, putz around, and may or may not do some house work. And I don't dress until mid afternoon. Because I have been so sick, I am still dragging around everyday. Today I slept late, did some laundry, ran the sweeper and a dust mop. And I was exhausted. So I took a shower, I didn't wash my hair because we weren't going out tonight. And I just was too tired to fool with 30 minutes of hair care. I put on minimal makeup and had started to use the curling iron on the wayward bedhead. And then the phone rang.
Marty asked if I felt like going out to a fundraiser for a glass blowing non profit. It was in 5 hours. I of course said yes. I also told him, I wish you had called 20 minutes ago, before my shower. And then I went back into the bathroom, used the hand shower attachment and washed my hair bending over the tub. Of course the water messed up my makeup and I had to redo that. I looked presentable when he arrived home.
We went to Public Glass and saw demos by Paul DeSomma and another artist who did flame work. There was wine, beer, soft drinks and appetizers. For your entry fee you had your pick of blown glasses, goblets, pitchers, jars, or containers to drink out of. Many were really attractive, but some poorly made and dangerously sharp. Some were fairly well done. We took pictures, which may or may not be good. It is really hard to capture hot glass in a picture. Neither of us have downloaded our pix yet. Too late and too lazy. Tomorrow if they are any good I will post the pictures.
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