Reading Material

Last week, this little gem arrived:I am slowly accumulating more coffee table books, and figured I should have at least one about glass. The other two I have thus far are "Amphigorey" by Edward Gorey and, while it isn't precisely a coffee table book but actually a graphic novel that I'd like to show off to people, "Inland" by my friend Kate. Not that I have a coffee table to put these on at the moment, but when I do, they will have a home!

"1000 Glass Beads" is a book that I've been exposed to a lot ever since I was a senior in high school (almost five years ago) just beginning to learn about glass. Some of the beads seem fairly basic to me now, although there's no denying that all of them took extreme precision to create - I am often a bit impatient when it comes to spacing dots or shapes evenly, so I appreciate the effort that goes into making the pattern on a glass object consistent. At any rate, there are some lovely beads in this book.

Aaand, the other day this came in the mail:
My first issue of The Flow, a magazine about lampworking. It's only published quarterly, but we'll see whether the content is enough to persuade me to subscribe for another year. Milon Townsend is featured in this issue, and it's interesting to me that he lives so near me and is so well known, and I didn't realize who he was when I SAW him blowing glass at the Sterling Renaissance Festival a few years back. He makes some amazing things. I remember asking him whether he needed any help or an apprentice or anything, but he probably gets a lot of that. So I took his card, which surprised me years later when I dug it up in a pile of papers - Milon Townsend??! How did I get his card? Oooh yeeeah...

GAS Conference

The Glass Art Society is holding it's annual conference in Corning, NY this year. The conference will be going on all weekend, and even though I can in no way afford to become a member of GAS AND buy a conference pass without having the student discount (which I was silly not to take advantage of while I had the chance), I still managed to take in a whole afternoon/evening of conference events, which were spectacular! I went down with my friend Carolyn to help her set up her light pieces for the "Neon On The Bridge" show and was hoping to get some conference action in the process.

I ran into tons of friends and acquaintances from Alfred - most of the glass seniors of '09 were there (i.e. my classmates) along with graduates from the past few years, MFAs and professors. There were galleries and exhibitions along Market St (the main drag), lots of little shops that had a bunch of different wineries that set up inside for tasting, glassblowing demos next to a stage for live music, and of course the fabulous light show on the pedestrian bridge, coordinated by the one and only Angus Powers.

I even managed to unexpectedly get my dinner and drinks for free thanks to a nice guy working at the pizzeria we ate at. I wish I could go to the rest of the conference, but I suppose I'll just have to become a member of GAS and go to Louisville next year. I'm young yet.

Where I Left Off

Dreaming of a Furnace

I miss having the option of blowing glass pretty much whenever I want. Now I have to pay per hour to blow, and I've never used a public access hot shop before, not to mention there's only one in Rochester. I really wish there were somewhere around here where I could exchange shop assistance for blow time. I was just starting to make some interesting things, and I was really getting into these corset vases:

New Torch

As it turns out...

The day after I discovered the widespread lack of GTT torches for sale, someone on Lampwork Etc. (a handy little lampworking forum I've recently become a part of) sent me a message that she had a used Bobcat that she was going to put up for sale, and asked if I might be interested in buying it - to which I, of course, replied "yes please!" So with a torch on its way after all, I am concentrating on making my studio space ready and also compiling a nice mix of music to have on hand for whenever I can get blazin'.

In the past I've noted that Primus and Reel Big Fish are two excellent bands for accompanying lampworking. Ska and reggae in general are great. I find that energetic music is often optimal to lampwork to, but occasionally something more mellow does the trick - I think this time instead of just one giant random mix, I'll make a few different playlists to accommodate for mood swings. Some winners going on the "break in the torch" playlists so far, in no particular order:

(besides Primus & Reel Big Fish)

• AC/DC
  
• DeVotchKa
• The Clash
• Crystal Castles
• The Toasters
• The Black Keys
• Fugazi
• Gogol Bordello
• Chemical Brothers
  
• Django Reinhardt
• Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad
• Johnny Cash
• Portishead
• Santogold
• Pixies
• Red Elvises
• Peter, Bjorn and John
  
• Thievery Corporation
• Bloc Party
• Gorillaz
  

and yeeeah maybe a little Snoop Dogg... :)

Backorder

I guess I wouldn't have had any way of knowing this without ordering one first, but apparently at this point in time GTT torches, GTT being a very small company, are in short supply. The lovely folks at Mountain Glass Arts, whom I ordered through, gave me a call to break the news - on a related note, they are very good about taking care of their customers!

So, unfortunately, it might be a bit of a wait until I get my hands on glass again. In the mean time, perhaps I'll busy myself with drawing...

Torch

I ordered my first torch today! I am super excited and I hope it arrives this week, although it probably won't come until next week. It is called the Bobcat and it is by GTT (Glass Torch Technologies), a very popular brand of lampworking torch that is widely claimed to be very well made and excellent all around:


I figure I can't go wrong with GTT, and the price was right - for a starter torch anyway, I think it was a good choice.