Green Leaf Pickup

Picking up the leaves 

3 flower layout

Here is the color layout for the 3 flower paperweight 

How To

After trying Gnat's bowl (first one broke, second two did not get the lines deep enough) and the Paperweight described by the Sac Man I thought I would post one of my new favoriates.
Three Flower Paperweight.
Layout
Green on marver laid out with three spokes
Three circles of color. #1 or #0 frit seems good but most of what we have is #2 so that is good too. Circles are about the size of a nickel. push open the centers with a small pick or tweezers. Fill center with another color. (to fill get a small piece of paper with color on it and make into a tube like the Buddhist monks who make the sand paintings.)
1. Small gather on 3/4 inch punty
2. . pick up green on tip, melt in.
3. tweeze green sideways to make leaves. Cool
4. Gather
5. pick up circles of color. 1 - third turn between each pick up. Try to line up with or between leaves.
6. Melt - marver punty end to straiten up piece
7. At the bench take thin ice pick. Poke into the circles. Aim for the middle. Go in strait and then push down to the punty.
8. Melt to shape but not to seal the hole made by the ice pick because you want a bubble there.
9. Marver or block to shape
10. Gather and let excess drip off.
11. Marver or block, cool.
12. Gather, this one is important to get enough distance between the surface and the flower. It is not necessary but really seems of benefit. If size is too large just don't worry about this fourth gather.
13. Shape. Round is okay, Egg shape is nice if you have an egg block. Or maver and hand shape.
14. Jack. Heat. jack, Shape. heat, jack cool.....
15. knock off.

Let me know what you think.
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aboatman - Shows

aboatman - Shows
Here is a listing of art festivals I have found on the net. Some good stuff. Some not.
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The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Check out this great site. All about the basics of the glassblowing process.
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Opening a piece

Working at the bench. Jacking open a piece. Good stuff.
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Do Not Procrastinate Happiness

Do Not Procrastinate Happiness
Check out the Sky Chair. I just ordered one for the studio to see how it will work for people coming in to watch. One good thing is there is nothing touching the floor. I do hate to move chairs to sweep.

Image Search

Can you find the blown glass heart in the image below? This is a great photo by Mary. I love the composition. Everyone needs a heart for their garden.
We had a great show in Edmond. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the arts this weekend. Without you all what we do would not be possible. Thank you for all the help in the booth too.
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Coupon! Save Ten Percent!

 

MAY FAIR

MAY FAIR
Out and about this weekend? Check out the Norman MAy Fair. This is an event not to be missed. Great Art, Great Music, Great Weather. We will be exhibiting at Norman and at the Downtown Edmond Arts Festival this weekend. Visit Brent in Norman and Andy in Edmond. I hope to see everyone there!

Blowing

Brent is blowing a vase. Standing on the bench so the piece will strech a bit as he blows. He heats. Strech. Heat. Blow.
Notice he does keep it centered. 

Google Calendar

Google Calendar
I created a google calendar. This should allow anyone on the net to see our schedules for upcoming shows. Try it out.
Thanks
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Calley at Work

Our friend Mary Hines came out and got some great photos of Calley at work and made this awesome collage.
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Purple Shell

The opaque cover was great. A smooth strait line all the way around. The transparent did have some stray bubbles come through tho. I am not sure where they came from, perhaps the pickup for the color bar had some small bubbles in it.  

The bucket of broken dreams

This is the item that most glassblowers do you want you to see. The tragic and untimely demise of perhaps the most beautifully colored shell I have made. Alas. Some things are just to perfect for this world it seems.  

Classes

I just finished up the intermediate level class offered at Blue Sage Studios through the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It was a great session. Five weeks for five hours on Saturdays. They did great. It is really something to see the progress being made. Good stuff.
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Answers to Questions

The Enclamo piece is just the way you described on the comments Gnat. It makes it very easy to creat the look of the enclamo without having to go through the knock of the the pieces. You get a good result.
Th Gott Shelf liner is great. the Graphite is a good quality and it works well. If you have pieces with jagged bottoms it can tear but with care it lasts a good long time. I have been very pleased. You can get it at Alan's site www.northernheat.ca or Hub consolidated glass stuff. If you call Alan tell him I said hello and I do recommend the 10" x10" pieces instead of the large piece of graphite. This is also a bit better on shipping.
On the new blocks. I have not yet made an order. Guy is making a trough style. I think this looks really good if you were making tumblers. I plan on ordering and trying one out soon.
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Peek a Boo

Opening the lehr (this is like a kiln) to get the first glance at the mug and a cool twisty spiral vase. Notice the little bits of color we heat up for lip wraps or things of that nature.  

When in Rome

This is a roman foot in the process of being formed. It creates a special foot on the piece. It involves really tapering the bubble and thinning the glass at the base and then jacking while blowing and then sucking out the bubble to get the foot to seal against the base of the vessel body.
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Enclamo Mugs

Here are a couple of Enclamo style mugs we made with Bruce. Very cool indeed. This is really a neat way to get some cool effects. Just blow a tube. Blow out the tip. Drop a solid piece of color on top. blow it out. Add a clear top. Transfer. Close the bottom. Encase in clear. Blow to size. Transfer to open the lip. Add a handle. Easy Peazy. 

Crafts : Wood / Glass : Glass Blown Flowers : Home & Garden Television

Crafts : Wood / Glass : Glass Blown Flowers : Home & Garden TelevisionNice Flower creation tutorial but HGTV no less.

Blue Sage Studios - Art Festivals on the Schedule

Blue Sage Studios - Art Festivals on the Schedule This is what our summer show schedule looks like thus far. It may be a very busy summer.

Jack in the Pulpit

Bruce made a Jack in the Pulpit today. It is areally wicked cool. We had a great glass session. I made a great mug. I hope to get a photo of it tomorrow when it comes out of the lehr.
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The Glory Hole

This is our Glory Hole. It is really very nice. Liz D. drew the Squid on the rolling yoke heat shield. Helps us to remember to go into the heat. 

Stadelman Furnace

We charged Spruce Pine Batch on Thursday night. Thanks for all the help fellows in getting the furnace ready for the charge. It was beutiful and ready for Saturday class. Great glass! Great Furnace.  

Kristine at the bench Jacking

One of our students from the Saturday Intermediate Glassblowing Class offered through the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is at the bench with her piece jacking in the neck line.  

TravelOK.com: Discover Oklahoma Travel Show

TravelOK.com: Discover Oklahoma Travel Show
Jenifer Reynolds came to the studio a few weeks ago to try her hand at glass blowing. Now if you don't know Jenifer Reynolds she is like the queen of Oklahoma televisioin. The Discover Oklahoma show on location at Blue Sage Studios airs on Saturday! Thank you Oklahoma!
Oh yes, be sure to Keep it Centered.

Hot Block Tools

Hot Block Tools
There is a new block maker in town. Looks like Gary has a good product line going. Anyone trying them yet? Drop us a line.
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Art of Fire - Our Emerging Artists

Art of Fire - Our Emerging Artists
Many thanks to our friend Bruce. He has been most gracious in his teaching and grace at the studio over the past week. It is indeed a pleasure. We will be working on Thursday evening if anyone is interested in dropping by the studio and watching us work. Last week 12 folks showed up to watch and participate in a marathon glass blowing session that went until midnight. Great fun is to be had by all and as Bruce says, "Find yourself some fun!"
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Chris

Here is Chris standing next to the newly poured pad for the addition on the studio. It is great work. Three Cheers to Chris. Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray! 

Hanging Vase Part Duex

Here are two. I can really picture this on the front porch of a house with columns or with a third one as a wall grouping. Thanks to everyone for the help on these vases.  

hanging vase

This is the vase for the stand I was needing. This is a pipe ring with a flat decroative metal thing to attach it to the wall. I am happy with the result.  

First Melt of Spruce Pine

I charged with Spruce Pine Batch last night. It looks good. I am not sure if I got a good squeeze as I started too late last night but it is be good for a first night run.
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The Stemwall

Here is a photo of the south side of the barn. The stemwall is up and Chris is coming tomorrow to fill the space with dirt and then top it with cement. Looking Good! 

Family Truckster

The 1986 Coachmen, this baby is wonderous. 

Working and Playing

Brent made it off to Tuscon yesterday. He took his truck. I hope he has a good journey and a good show. I also hope I can keep up on everything that needs to be done around this place.
Chris Camden came in and is pour us a pad for a major expansion. It is going to add about 1000 square feet to the building. Huge. I am very excited and give Chris many thanks. Pictures to follow.
All is well.
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aboatman - aboatman's Google Page

aboatman - aboatman's Google Page
Google is expanding and allowing for easy website creation. Blogger is great. This new web creation service is really cool.
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Stand Needed

I am working on this vase shape that is amphoric. There is no flat spot on the bottom or a foot to stand upon. I need a little stand for this, either a circle or a U shaped hook to hold the glass. It is a nice shape and fun to make. I will post a photo sometime, along with all the other photos I have promised.
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C- Town

Chicago, Chicago your my kind of town. Buck Rogers sang that upon reentry to the earth. Odd what we remember.
I went to Chicago Hot Glass yesterday. I hit it at a down time around noon. I got pretty much lost in the city and did not make it back for the 6:00 blowing session. I hope I can make it today but I planned on this being Museum day. We shall see when it is I need to hit the road. They are making some great glass here. Ian is making these huge fishing lures. He was going to do one last night so I am really bummed I missed it.
I am staying in Bucktown at Ray's B&B. I highly recommend it if you are passing through Chicago and need a place to stay.

Furnace heating UP

This is the opening of the door on the new furnace. It is about 900 degrees in this photo maybe even cooler. The glass furnace is now sitting at 2100 degrees. It produces a very nice glass indeed.
You remember how Ferris spoke of the car they took out for a spin around Chicago. If you have the means I would highly recommend getting one.
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Uncle Denny's Platter

Brent made this platter for his Uncle Denny. 

chicago hot glass

chicago hot glass
I am heading to Chicago next week for a couple of days. It should be a hoot. There is more to do in Chicago then I ever imagined. I would like to spend a day at the Museums and walking around and then a day at the Chicago Hot Glass studio. Best laid plans.
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going and blowing

We are busy busy. Brent is heading to Tucson at the end of this month, then to San Antinio, and on then to Deep Ellum in Dallas. We have a lot of glass to make between now and then. We created some wedding glasses for a couple. They have turned out nicely thus far. They have been interesting to make. Good progress. Not one to huirry the wedding is next weekend.
We are teaching a group of girl scouts glassblowing over the next couple of days.
I have been thinking of glass as a team building excersize. What fun it would be to have a office of folks come out and work together. Create. Are you interested in having a unique experience for your team members or office? Think about scheduling a glass blowing session. Good stuff.
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Glass Artists - Group Map by Frappr!

Glass Artists - Group Map by Frappr!
This is a pretty neat website using the Google Earth Interface and along the lines of a MySpace site folks can put pins where they are located and more. Check it out. Put in a pin if you are a glass artist.

We have the new Steve Stadelman Glassworks furnace. Turned it on last night. It was at 400 degrees this morning. We should be blowing glass on Sunday afternoon. This is a thing of beauty to be sure. I will have photos soon and a webpage with details about the furnace.

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Art House Salon and Gallery

Check it out if you get the chance. I really dig Josh Heilaman's work too.  

New Furnace

The new furnace should be arriving and installed any day now. The snow and ice slowed down the shipment. I hope it comes in Tuesday. Getting ready. Woo Hoo!
Drop by sometime if you get the chance. Check out our progress.
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Pricing

Pricing
We filled up with propane on 2/13 for 380 gallons of fuel and paying $1.60 a gallon. That is about good for a month or so.
Same day we got the electric bill OG&E. We had 9103 kilowatt hours for a total of $748.10 for the month.
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Spirit Echoes

Spirit Echoes
We will be attending the Spirit Echoes Fine Art Festival this Spring. If you are in Texas this is an art show that is not to be missed.

bluesagestudios's Etsy Shop - Blue Sage Studios - Glassworks and Gallery

bluesagestudios's Etsy Shop - Blue Sage Studios - Glassworks and Gallery
I have set up a shop at Etsy. It looks like a really good site for listing handmade items for sale. I hope it becomes a good venue to getting the word out about our studio. Check out Etsy when you get the chance.
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Google Local - art house salon and gallery loc: Oklahoma City, OK

Google Local - art house salon and gallery loc: Oklahoma City, OK
We will be having an opening at the Art House Salon and Gallery at 80th and Western on the 24th. It should be a hoot. Drop by and check it out if you can.
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The Beef Jerky Emporium

The Beef Jerky Emporium
I post this link for the Gnat. I read about the passion for beef jerky and felt this may be another enticement in order to get him to come visit us here in Oklahoma.

Scottsdale

Brent is heading to Scottsdale for a show this week. It should be a good one. If you are a reading in Arizona or the surrounds drop by the ArtsFest in Scottsdale and check out our booth.
Things in the studio are going well. Ray made a great vase tonight. I will try to get a photo of it before he picks it up.
We will be getting a new furnace sometime in the next two weeks. I can hardly wait. We will have a new furnace party and everyone will be welcome to come out and take a dip.
Also on the up and coming scene we will be showing at the Art House Salon and Gallery around the 24th of this month. Drop by and check it out I will post more information on the opening as I know more. It is always a happening event to be sure.
Keep it Centered.