Nothing new to report.

Christmas went well. Walkerton, Waterloo, and Toronto were all visited.

Work is busy, which is good. Glass class just started again, which is good.

Tommy’s paw is finally healing properly, which is good.

Overall, not much to complain about.

Have fun…

His name has changed. At least in this house it has.

The two Toronto shows were incredible – especially the second one. Lots of great songs. Lots of great people. Lots of great Matthew Great.

He’s already working on the next album, so if you want to go to the next set of concerts with me, let me know.

1. Chipmunk cheeks and breathing when blowing.  When the pressure releases in the cheeks, you know that the bubble has started forming
2. Want a bowl or plate to open out unevenly?  Cool an area or two before going in for the final heat and spin.
3. Blown overlay - remember the “bowl” forms for the outside piece – slant shoulders 1st, straight sides 2nd, spin out and marver down 3rd, trying to not capture bubbles.  Be aware that bubbles can be trapped when the two pieces are first introduced together.
4. Ergonomics!
5. Work HOTTER!
6. Opening a bowl – can support the lip with the paper and “spin” it out in your hand
7. Bigger pieces need bigger pipes and punties – just how big are the bigger pipes and punties?
8. One gather, one heat cups – or two gather cups like Gudenrath
9. Look into classes at other studios – Sheila and Terry were talking about Haystack, Pilchuk, Corning, and one other that I can’t remember.
10. Lip wrap – touch down when it’s turning – don’t get “dollop” that way.
11. Fin mold – good lord, think of all the options
12. Wood molds – design and build
13. More designing and planning before going to the blow slot – have a plan for what you want to get done
14. Rewatch the videos – look for the stuff that Terry was talking about.

Just got back from a vacation.  Did some glass blowing at the Haliburton School of the Arts.  It was a pretty free form class.  I think that if I go back next year I’ll go with a better plan in place as to what I’d like to learn.  Here’s the best piece I made.

Both the instructor in the class at Haliburton and one of the teaching assistants independently asked me if I was renting time anywhere yet and told me that I should be.  That’s a good sign that I’m getting better.  And I’ve already started buying my own tools with the intention of renting time at a studio.  We’ll see how that goes…

This is an old piece that I made for my sister.  It’s supposed to look like a daisy.

That’s all for now.  I’ll have to take photos of all the work that I don’t have documented yet and see if I can get it up on the site.

Here’s the last of the pieces from the Fall glass session.  I had a cold for a few weeks in the middle of the session and it’s not nice to pass my kooties around to the other people so I did more solid work than I had planned to do.  And I felt crappy, so I wasn’t feeling particularly ambitious.  Hence the paperweights. But check out the yellow vase – it’s one of my best pieces and more like what I had planned to do this session.  I’m back to glass blowing at LAC in April, I’m planning on going to Haliburton this summer to do some, and might take a class at Harbourfront this winter.

Lobster Claw

Swirl Paperweight

Two Paperweights

Blue-gold Paperweight

Yellow Vase

Anyone want to buy me one of these?

I’d let you drive it once in a while.  Honest.  I would.

Well…not much going on lately.  Here’s the summary:

1. Work made me the IT Manager.  More cash and more responsibility.  Fun!
2. Glass is about to start again.  Fun!
3. Social season is upon us.  Schmidtfest and Shaw.  Fun!
4. My right eye is fucked.  I’ve been referred to a specialist.  Fun!
5. The old IT Manager has a new blog – go read SocialFries.com.  Fun!
6. That is all for now.  Fun fun FUN!