GLASS TOUR

Today Marty and I worked a tour of spinal surgeon's wives at R. Strong Glass. Marty was assisting Randy and I worked in the gallery. I used Marty's camera, so do click on the pictures for details. They are way better than when I use my Palm.

Below is part of the glass gallery. We use lots of mirrors and glass shelving to show off the beauty of the glass.

When I win the lottery, this is the piece I want: The Guardian It is cast glass and took weeks to cool down. A companion piece is in the Louvre. I will never have the $1000s and $1000s needed to buy this. At least I get to work where it lives.
More gorgeous glass. The left display case has some of Marty's work. The huge piece on the right is Randy's. Click on the pix and see close up Marty's work.

See, I really was there, even if it is a mirror image. Lady in red, Susan, Randy's wife. Other mirror image is Flo, Randy's apprentice. Marty's work also shown,

Marty and Randy making a test piece. They are testing colors.

Marty is torching diachronic glass that Randy will pick up with the hot glass he is working with.

Randy at the glory hole, Marty still torching.

Randy reheating at the glory hole, Marty watching.

Marty is torching the picked up diachronic glass while Randy"paints" the vase with it.

Randy still painting and Marty torching.

Randy is using a steam stick to enlarge the vase. Marty is using a wooden paddle to prevent Randy burning his arm.

Randy is twirling the glass to stretch it. Marty has re-dipped the steam stick in water and has it ready for use.

Randy is jacking preparing to knock the piece off and place in the annealing oven.

Marty is torching the bottom of the vase after it was knocked off the pipe. This will smooth the rough parts and give it a polished look.

And that is how we spent Wednesday.

The next few weeks. . .

The Christmas season officially begins for us on Friday after Thanksgiving. We love the season, and we decorate every room in the house and the outside as well. It is a busy time and we have lots of fun.

Today the tree is done. I hung ornaments most of the day. We put more ornaments on than most people. We hang about 10 dozen glass icicles and have several hundred other ornaments. This is a major project. I hate it and love it at the same time. Every ornament is a memory. There are three I love the most. Marty and I bought them shortly after we married: a crown, a treasure chest, and a silver elf. They cost us a fortune, in 1967 we paid close to $20 for the three. And I love them. I have a bell made of aluminum foil and a paper cup that Erik made for us in Kindergarten. We have some we bought on trips, some from past students, and some we bought every year as a family. It takes a full day to finish the tree. I now have the rest of the house to decorate. That will be done over the next week.

Saturday we begin Open Studios http://www.berkeleyartisans.com/ The artists in Berkeley and Oakland do demonstrations and have their art for sale. Marty is a hot glass artist and will work every Saturday and Sunday through December 21. I work in the gallery. We are number one on the list/map: R. Strong Glass at Fourth and Gilman. I hope you will drop by. Marty will assist on Saturdays and will do demos on Sundays.

Of course our normal life will continue, I will marry couples and work at school and Marty will do his day job. So we are a little busy doing all the above and the Christmas gatherings also. But we seem to get it all done.

I trust everything is spelled correctly in this post. For some reason the spell check isn't working. I have used the dictionary to check some things. But sometimes you can't proof read your own work.

THOUGHTS OF WIND

The wind: do you like it, hate it, are you scared of it?

I am sometimes just a little afraid of the wind. We live in the Oakland Hills, wind is not our friend. Especially when it is the Diablo winds coming from inland and not from the sea. This wind is strong, hot, and dry. You can feel your skin drying out, your mouth is dry, and you feel anxious. And this is when we get the raging fires. So we are all a little nervous with the winds. The last two nights I have often waked up from the noise of the wind and from the sounds of the house. Things pop that don't usually, branches hit the house, and the security light keeps coming on. Is someone on the driveway, is it an animal, or did the wind blow things in front of the security beam?

Sometimes the wind is great. At night when the house is warm and we have the windows open, a gentle breeze will fill the house with cool fresh air. Even though it is summer time, we sleep under a down comforter, the breeze blowing over the bed.

The wind blowing long grass on a hillside looks like the sea. Petals blowing from fruit trees in a gentle wind looks like a snow storm. But it is spring in California.

The wind blowing leaves in the fall is good. The sounds of the dry leaves, the leaves swirling in the air, the color of the leaves piled against the fence, that is fall.

My favorite wind, Randy Strong's glass art. http://www.rstrong.com/ Check out the gallery and look at the Wind series and the Sonoma Breeze art.

Wind is usually good. Wind is scary right now. We are the lucky ones this time in Northern California, no fires, yet. Southern California has the fires this time. Our crews are there fighting fires.

The wind is calm right now. Hopefully the front has moved through and we will go back to off shore breezes. Keep your fingers crossed.