Black Friday

The bombardment of commercialism is here once again as Black Friday has arrived. And while we are also in the business of selling our art work to the Public, we choose to go about this "black" day differently. We settle in the Studio and light up the torches and kilns, while avoiding the crowds and madness that ensues with this hyped up event at the big box stores. You know, it just doesn't do it for us, fighting the crowds to save a buck or two. Never understood the hype, and never want to. Instead, we prefer intimate settings for the holidays. Such as the annual tradition we have of opening our Studio to the Public the first weekend in December. Customers can come and browse around, while watching us at work behind the torches, and enjoy some holiday treats and hot cider and cocoa. It just seems to go with the flow and the Spirit of the Season, and we like to keep it that way.

We wanted to give an update of our latest pieces we've created, and continue to create, as sort of a preview of what you'll find in our Studio next weekend. Below are some samples for your viewing pleasure.

This glass floral wall art has a lot of movement to it

We came up with the above piece for our third son's home, as a show of appreciation for helping us with our website and graphic design work. The matching decorative plate below was fused and slumped to match this unique glass wall art.

A matching fused decorative plate to match the wall art

Below are a couple of new colorful slumped and fused plates we've been working on. We're excited about these new colors. 

A colorful gradient slumped and fused creation

A flowing plate has lots of layers to it

And we still have a lot to get done in time for the Open House next weekend, but we enjoy the thought of thinking of our studio as kind of a Santa's workshop. Busy little elves are working hard at this moment, to make sure someone on your Christmas list has a unique gift or piece of art work that will make their holiday all the more special. Come by and see us next weekend if you have the time.

Working on another piece of original wall art

Blown glass preparations or our Open House

Fused, engraved and sandblasted bottles need some finishing touches before our Open House

Ornamental by Design

Fused glass snowman

I absolutely love this time of year - cheerful greetings, yuletide gatherings, pretty packaging, bells ringing, assortments of baked goodies, secret Santa's, children's choirs singing, and the list goes on and on. More than any other time of the year, we feel a sense of  "Peace on Earth" and an optimism of "Good Will towards Men," looking forward to what the coming new year will bring. Of course, it may have to do with the area we live in, being as we are so connected with Nature and don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle of a large Metropolis. That in itself brings on a sense of peace. But I have to admit, a green lawn with no snow seems a little off kilter for my personal taste. I'd feel slightly more cheerful with at least a bit of the white flakes falling from the Idaho skies. Yes, a blanket of snow would make for a heavenly night, just like the good old days of past Idaho winters.

But when the cold grey skies of December come calling, snow or not, it's time to cozy up to our warm torch fires and start making our own little cheerful creations out of shimmering glass rod and tubing. Seems to add to the already festive spirit in our small city. It's almost as if we were happy little elves working for the big guy up North!

We seem to come up with a new design every year for our glass ornaments. This year we created happy little snowmen using fusing techniques. We also made an assortment of fused Christmas trees. I'd have to say they really stand out nestled in the tree we put up in our studio, and compliment the blown glass ornaments nicely.

We also just wrapped up our Christmas Open House, which by the way, is a sure bet to become a yearly tradition the first weekend in December. Our choice of profession is certainly validated as patrons frequent the studio all weekend long, usually leaving with several of our own pretty glass creations for gift giving. Many of them choose a new ornament every year to keep up their tradition of ornament gifting. Our assortment makes it easy to keep this type of tradition up.

Glass Ornaments

Yes, I believe there is just the right amount of magic in the air for old and young alike this time of year. And just because the world seems to be spinning faster and faster in this age of technology, doesn't mean we can't take the time to slow down and enjoy the season of giving. Now I'm going to take my own advice and slow down and enjoy. Well, that is after I've made a few more ornaments with my guy, shopped, baked, wrapped, mailed packages, sang some carols alongside some old time crooners, decorated with tinsel, helped out a few less fortunate souls, and watched our first grandson enjoy the magic of Christmas with wonder in his eyes. This year I'm feeling blessed indeed! Personally, this year has been a good one to a couple of old school glassblowers and we are full of thanks. I hope that you, dear reader, will also take time to feel the magic and enjoy your friends and family. Let's all hope for Peace on Earth. Blessings to all and to all a good night.

Glowing basket of Blown glass balls

Blown Christmas Ball Ornament

And the Award goes to....

Wow! Almost two months has gone by since we last talked. What a busy time in the studio! This time of year, we're lucky to take those pups of ours on their daily walks. And boy, do they let us know it! Well, sorry furry friends, it's only gonna get worse. Or better, depends on the perspective.

It seems lately this year, that one thing has led to another, and we are now so inundated with new projects we can't see straight. Better adjust those rose colored glasses, and get focused on the new venture at hand.

But first, I think our readers (if there are any out there in the blog-o-sphere) would like to see just what it is that's kept us so busy. Since we last talked, besides training for a 1/2 marathon, (a personal goal of mine for turning the big 50 this year. And yes, I ran the whole way and completed it. Just don't ask how I felt the next day. :) ) we had another opportunity to create some unique awards for our local art museum's 10th anniversary celebration. We just wrapped that project up, and then loaded up the rest of our glass for a 3 day Beaux Cadeux event at their lovely facility. We enjoyed packaging up a variety of our ornaments and glass gifts for several art patrons during this show.

Funny how things work, their director had heard we created the VIP gifts for the King Tut exhibit, and asked us to do something along similar lines. This time the task was to create a unique award for all the patrons and volunteers that helped make the museum what it is today. It's had 10 years of success as The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, thanks in part to the support of many in our community. So a brief description will offer you the inside look at how we came about with another unique glass project, thinking outside the box.

We've attached pictures of the different phases of the award. First, we cut float glass two layers thick, then cleaned them up and came up with 4 different colors of glass frit that we sandwiched between the two layers. Then we fused them in the kiln. The process took 12 hours for two awards. We created a total of 30 awards.

Cutting float glass

Glass frit colors

Fusing glass awards

Fused glass

Next, we used a mold to slump the pieces into a beautiful  curved shape, and again for every two pieces, the slumping process took close to 12 hours. Below is an example of the finished piece. It has an organic feel, as the back of the award has a great texture to it, and we were happy with the end result. A unique award going out to some well deserving folk in our community. We were glad to be a part of this venture.

Unique glass award

And now, another local business has caught wind of our ability to think outside the box, and they want us to create 650 hand sculpted glass rocks! Oh my, looks like the torches will be roaring full time from here on out.  And our Open House is two weeks away. So much to do, so little time! We could use an extra pair of hands about right now. I've learned a great lesson here, "Be careful what you wish for"! 

Going with the Flow

Ahh, Summertime. Nothing like waking up in the morning to a day of sunshine and bird songs by the flowing water cascading at our back yard pond. Gets the cobwebs cleared from the mind and helps reinvigorate the soul.

As I enjoyed the subtle sounds of our waterfall on this beautiful summer solstice morning, I reflected on how Nature seems to just go with the flow. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two from our Mother Earth. Take time from our busy schedules and just "Go with the Flow".

So, let's see if that works in the the glass shop this summer. Now that we have pushed past our deadline with the King Tut project, there are endless possibilities to be explored. It's how we explore them that counts.

King Tut Project

As an Artist you have to set goals on what you would like to accomplish with your medium, so we started using a vision board for the endless ideas that seem to roam around in our brains. They seem to sprout from many encounters we have in our daily lives. For instance, walking the greenbelt in our lovely city inspired this one-of-a-kind ornament of the waterfalls in downtown I.F.

Fused Ornament of the "Falls" in Idaho Falls

Russ and I feed off of each other's creative thoughts and combine our ideas. When we work together, our minds seem to meld into one (They say that happens when you have a partner of longevity, you start thinking each other's thoughts, and it definitely happens with us quite often.) We discuss and formulate new ways to express the beauty we encounter through our glass works. So, when we slow down and ponder and put our thoughts together, that seems to be where the best inspiration comes from.

Of course, sometimes other individuals jostle our creativity. Our sons were the source of inspiration of the piece below. They asked if we could come up with an unusual award for the owner of the company they work for, Papa Murphy's Pizza. At first, we didn't slow down and think about this, didn't "Go with the Flow". But once we did, it all seemed to fall into place, the way it should have. It taught us patience is indeed a virtue.  

Glass Pizza Slice Award

When we stop and listen to our artistic instincts, they are usually right. It got us thinking how fun it would be to create unusual glass awards for various companies and larger corporations in the future. Why stick with the ordinary when you can have extraordinary glass awards? I can tell we're going to use that vision board a lot this summer. When we stop and just go with the flow, that's when the best ideas hit the surface. Next blog will highlight some of those ideas and what we've got planned for some local art shows this summer. Until next time, just go with the flow. Works for us.