Crawling Around the Interwebs on this Dreary Wednesday

A few interesting things to check out:

• My new website, as mentioned yesterday. I feel pretty good about it so far, but I'm still not sure if it is accessible to everyone. I know my dad's computer probably can't handle it because it is way too slow, but I like to think most people have reasonably fast computers these days.

• The AMAZING stained glass work of Judith Schaechter, who I have only recently discovered. She is now among my favorite artists. If I worked with stained glass, this is the kind of thing I would go for - creepy and simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful. The colors she uses are just amazing, and I love the illustration-y feel. I think she definitely chose the most effective medium for her images - they would not be even close to as stunning if they were done on paper or digital. Soak this stuff up!

• And I'm probably the last one to hop on this bandwagon, but Boing Boing certainly lives up to its subtitle - "A Directory of Wonderful Things." It's just fun to read.
  

Website

I finally have something like a website to show off my work! It is brand new, and I've never had a website like this before, so any feedback would be appreciated, especially about the portfolio section. As it is, some of my photos get cropped weirdly, such as the tree goblets, "Rooted" 1 and 2 - you can't see the base! This would be unacceptable if the website didn't look soooo clean. I mean for making that on a free website editor, can I really complain?

I have never paid for website hosting before, and if I can keep it that way I'd like to, as long as I'm unemployed and all. So tell me what you think. Is this an okay website, pseudo-sophisticated and professional-looking? Will it do for now?

http://www.wix.com/ruthhill/glass

Does it load in Internet Explorer or Safari okay? I use Firefox, and it works pretty well for me. Also, do the images come into focus immediately for anyone? Because there's a bit of a delay for me, but maybe that's just my connection being difficult.

Some interesting thoughts from "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. Go read it!

"There are mighty few people who think what they think they think." p. 89


"Today must not be a souvenir of yesterday, and so the struggle is everlasting. Who am I today? What do I see today? How shall I use what I know, and how shall I avoid being victim of what I know? Life is not repetition." p. 115


"Appreciation of life is not easy. One says he must earn a living - but why? Why live? It seems as though a great many who do earn the living or have it given them do not get much out of it. A sort of aimless racing up and down in automobiles, an aimless satisfaction in amassing money, an aimless pursuit of 'pleasure,' nothing personal, all external.... It takes wit, and interest and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish, and spirits must flow. There must be courage. There are no easy ruts to get into which lead to happiness. A man must become interesting to himself and must become actually expressive before he can be happy." p. 141

Visiting Artist

Thursday and Friday evening of last week were occupied, respectively, by an artist talk and a hot glass demo by Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen at More Fire.

These were awesome.

Karen was warm and affable, very pleasant and compelling to listen to. During her talk she showed images of her alternately quirky and lifelike glass dogs, tree branches, flowers and owls. The owls and birds were of particular interest to one of the More Fire girls, who brought in three live ones to spread awareness about the not-for-profit Wild Wings program, which I believe she co-directs. From their website: "Wild Wings is a not-for-profit educational organization that houses and cares for permanently injured birds of prey (raptors) which are unable to survive on their own in the wild any more."

I really wanted to take the class that was being offered with Karen over the weekend, but unfortunately there was no way I could afford it. I did return the following night to watch Karen's two-hour demo, during which she went the route of gaudy and vibrant as opposed to realistic and lifelike, which makes sense since the realistic things she makes take way longer. In two hours she cranked out a surfboard, a bulldog, a poodle, and a wave, and put the surfboard on the wave, the bulldog on the surfboard, and the poodle on the bulldog dominatrix-style. It was amazing how well she got the proportions down! She made the head of the poodle first (and probably the bulldog, but I missed that one), kept it warm in the garage, and then made the body without having any size reference other than straight-up memory. And when she put them together, they were perfect. Crazy. I didn't get very good photos, but maybe if you look closely you can get some idea of what this thing looked like. (Click to see full-size)

The Help

I just got back from a five(ish)-hour stint lending an extra pair of hands at More Fire Glass Studio in Rochester (off of East Ave). After meeting and speaking with its owner Elizabeth Lyons just a couple weeks ago, I was very excited to have the opportunity to help out occasionally on an as-needed basis. While it might not sound like much - and perhaps not actually be much - I am a bit bemused at just how excited I am about this. I am SO happy to be doing things in a hot shop again. The two women I worked with today are so friendly and super chill. Reminds me why I love glass folks. You'll occasionally run into a "glasshole," but most glassblowers I've met and worked with are particularly wonderful, laid back, good-natured and welcoming people.

And hey, I might not actually get to be the gaffer for free for a while - probably not while I'm in Rochester; not until I find someplace where I can exchange shop assistance for blow time (Philly? Portland?) - but ya gotta start somewhere. And as long as I'm using this summer to do whatever I want while I still can, I might as well milk the hell out of it.

Which reminds me, again, how much I want to create a setup for my torch in the garage. It's just so full of stuff. Even when my room gets messy and I don't know where to start cleaning it, I just sort of start moving things. The space in the garage though... I literally do not know how to begin. There is no place to put anything. When I pick something up I just end up putting it back in the same spot I got it from. I think I need help - it's a big job for just one person. Once it's all set up though, it's gonna be good. Let's disregard for now the fact that I don't have an annealer.