(Topic ID: 280247)
Here's a fun one but it comes with a story. A lady came into the shop with a busted blown glass ship in a bottle. It was a sailing vessel with 9 sails and riggings and masts and there was truly nothing salvageable or so I thought. She asked me to do anything I could with the parts that I had. The only thing that I could reuse was the hull , and I built a Viking ship around it. The sail is a broken piece of the bottle. Wish I had a before picture but as I said it was just a pile of shards.
20201024_173445 (resized).jpg20201024_173538 (resized).jpgHere is one that was made this weekend , I just finished up the paint work today. The beauty of this one is, it's a trade with another shop owner . For payment I'm receiving a full size pan of homemade lasagna. I'm going to change the tagline on my sign from Renaissance Glass – gifts and more, to...Renaissance Glass – will work for food. What a sweet deal!
20201202_143205 (resized).jpg20201202_143242 (resized).jpgQuoted from undrdog:Homer Robot!
Funny you say that, I almost made that a Duff beer that Bender was holding.
I'd like to do a quick share of this piece. I received this from my secret Santa yesterday. I'm actually a little busy at work but I'll try to take some better photographs today in the shop with better lighting. This is an absolute stunner. Thank you ss for making this a truly out-of-this-world Christmas season.
20201203_150515 (resized).jpg20201202_224628 (resized).jpg20201202_224707 (resized).jpgLove these.
We used to go on vacation and hit this glass blowing shop. I could sit there for hours and watch them work.
Quoted from gliebig:Love these.
We used to go on vacation and hit this glass blowing shop. I could sit there for hours and watch them work.
The public demos are my favorite part of this job. being able to work on something in front of wieyed eyed children and adults alike has always been a thrill. To the Casual Observer we seem like Wizards but the truth of the the matter is ,were more like monkeys who get to play with fire.
Went to a local glass shop for a demo. The glass folks totally ignored the audience, who had come out and waited for the "demo". It was more like we were allowed to have the honor of watching, and that was it. Then again, I’ve seen some great demos where the artist answered all questions.
Quoted from Apinjunkie:I'm going to change the tagline on my sign from Renaissance Glass – gifts and more, to...Renaissance Glass – will work for food. What a sweet deal!
Oh wow, I've probably bumped into and chatted with you in the past -- I love watching the glass work at RenFest in MN! Small world (although not as small as the story you told about talking to the guy when you were 7 
).
You ever work with Malcom Potek? He's the one I've taken a few classes from. Fun hobby. Will never forget to always POOP -- Propane, Oxygen, Oxygen, Propane. https://potekglass.com/
I actually have a couple of icicles I made in one of the classes - when we put up our tree, I'll try to remember to take some pictures and post them. They're simple, but I like 'em. 
Quoted from Fezmid:Oh wow, I've probably bumped into and chatted with you in the past -- I love watching the glass work at RenFest in MN! Small world (although not as small as the story you told about talking to the guy when you were 7 ).
You ever work with Malcom Potek? He's the one I've taken a few classes from. Fun hobby. Will never forget to always POOP -- Propane, Oxygen, Oxygen, Propane. https://potekglass.com/
I actually have a couple of icicles I made in one of the classes - when we put up our tree, I'll try to remember to take some pictures and post them. They're simple, but I like 'em.
I've never heard the poop thing before, but I'm training one of the kids that has worked for me for years on the torch now and I'll definitely make sure he knows that. I've never worked with Malcolm, honestly living in southern Minnesota I don't get up to the cities as often as I'd like. Shakopee for the Renaissance Festival when we do that, and SS Billiards is about as far north from there as I ever seem to get.
Quoted from undrdog:Went to a local glass shop for a demo. The glass folks totally ignored the audience, who had come out and waited for the "demo". It was more like we were allowed to have the honor of watching, and that was it. Then again, I’ve seen some great demos where the artist answered all questions.
It's a shame about the bad demo experience, we are kind of like ambassadors 4r medium. At the malls it's always just casual demo and encouraging questions. When I do my demo at the Renaissance Festival it's more structured and has certain requirements, history and comedy are a must to make it entertaining.
Quoted from Puffdanny:POOP is literally the first thing I teach my students
It's a no-brainer I love it. The first thing I teach them is wear your leather, protect your jewels
I focus on not blowing up,catching on fire is encouraged. I have a shirt that says "safety third" Tim Fucking Drier.just one of the few amazing artists I've had the pleasure to collaborate with. I'll dig up some pics if the urn we worked on with some other friends for a glassblowing friend of ours and my student.
wow , it seems like every time you post an image of a something, if I want to respond I should start with the wide-eyed guy icon. What a truly beautiful Memorial. Seeing this just proves my point once again. That if an artist is passionate about the subject matter more of themselves is channeled into the piece. When doing a piece for the love of the Piece versus the love of the payoff, you tend to push yourself more ,artistically. Like Spider-Man.
Beautiful work!
Oh yeah, and where can I get a shirt that says safety third? Absolutely love that.
I wanted to take a few moments this morning and post a couple more pictures of the marble I received from my secret Santa. One of these days when I have a little more time I'd like to go into a full-blown marble rant as to why marbles are so cool. In the 25 years I've been blowing glass I've only made 100 marbles, Maybe. And although they've all sold over the years, when I look at them after they're finished even though I may be happy with the work ,all I ever see are the flaws. To receive a marble as a gift ,I can appreciate it so much more than my own work. What an artist may see as a flaw, the Casual Observer sees as a beautiful inclusion. A testament to the handcrafted nature of the work. I really love this piece, thanks again SS.
See more of this artist exceptional work here
https://ericmort.com/
20201203_152448 (resized).jpg20201203_152523 (resized).jpg20201203_153035 (resized).jpgPretty nice looking, you could be making unicorn horn pendants for me for the Renaissance Fair you know.
... and you're right about the frit, that is the crushed up glass.
Hopkins, MN
Quoted from Apinjunkie:Maybe this will jog some memories of our Minnesota residents. Some pics of my booth out at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Same location for 25 years
Too cool. I bought a piece or two from your shop in the mid to late 1990's. Sadly I'm not sure if I still have them or not. Damn fine work. One as I recall was a stag head with antlers holding up a heavy goblet.
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:Too cool. I bought a piece or two from your shop in the mid to late 1990's. Sadly I'm not sure if I still have them or not. Damn fine work. One as I recall was a stag head with antlers holding up a heavy goblet.
LTG : )
It's certainly possible Lloyd, we used to carry a line of goblets in the early days out there,although it probably would have been my ex-wife's work. Back then I was just a finish monkey ,doing the golding and painting and heavy lifting mostly. She was a person riddled with flaws (but then aren't we all) but an incredibly talented lamp worker. I wish I had known about SS Billiards back then ,you would have gotten a lot of my quarters over the years while we were living on the site. Give Prada a kiss for me.
That's a very nice galaxy marble and what a great gift your ss is a very thoughtful and generous person.
Quoted from Apinjunkie:wow , it seems like every time you post an image of a something, if I want to respond I should start with the wide-eyed guy icon. What a truly beautiful Memorial. Seeing this just proves my point once again. That if an artist is passionate about the subject matter more of themselves is channeled into the piece. When doing a piece for the love of the Piece versus the love of the payoff, you tend to push yourself more ,artistically. Like Spider-Man.
Beautiful work!
Oh yeah, and where can I get a shirt that says safety third? Absolutely love that.
I've had the honor of working with some of the best glass blowers in the world. I'm a very competent mediocre lampworker so that makes me an amazing shop bitch plus if they don't want to collaborate you just pull their work out of the kiln and add a penis on it.yes its been done lol lots of shenanigans in the pipe scene. Unfortunately the guy that had the shirts printed up is in the urn.
That mousetrap is a good idea. I've been making pens and yesterday I made my nicest ever now to find a high end pen collector. The Mickey milli I've had in my collection for over 20 years and I've had some milli collectors say that image is worth about $75 a chip.
20201210_114124 (resized).jpg20201210_114249 (resized).jpg20201210_114307 (resized).jpgHere's something a little different. If there any glass curious folks out there that would like to see some truly amazing imagery, Google the glass flowers of Harvard. These are incredible works of art that we're done over a hundred years ago, commissioned by Harvard University for their botany Department so that students could study flowers when they were blooming but needed realistic references as that's not always practical in real life. When looking at these you don't see any of the tells they're made from blown glass, they simply look like their subject matter. Even the insects they put on the flowers will often have little bits of pollen on the back of their legs, the detail is incredible. If you check them out post some pics of your favorite images, always inspiring.
holt_glass-flowers_05 (resized).jpgholt_glass-flowers_51-1024x768 (resized).jpg6LKPRW646VBWJCHNVRT6TMS3BU (resized).jpgQuoted from Puffdanny:That mousetrap is a good idea. I've been making pens and yesterday I made my nicest ever now to find a high end pen collector. The Mickey milli I've had in my collection for over 20 years and I've had some milli collectors say that image is worth about $75 a chip.
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That is a nice milli,any idea who did the original cane?
Quoted from Puffdanny:Amazing what some people can sculpt and all my sculpts come out looking like cartoon turds
I've literally made poop pendants and hang them on my rack and they sell, the trick is you have to add corn.
20201210_204320 (resized).jpg 1 week later
I didn't mean to abandon the thread, just been really busy at the mall shop this holiday season. And for what it's worth I sold the s*** pendant the day after I posted that picture. Here's a couple of pieces that came out over the last week or so. Happy holidays everybody.
20201219_202656 (resized).jpg20201218_232050 (resized).jpg20201218_231717 (resized).jpg20201217_234931 (resized).jpg20201217_235252 (resized).jpgThanks for sharing Mike ,that's an exceptional collection. I love the faces, and that piece of ravens is over the top. He's an incredibly talented lamp worker and I've watched his work get better every year in the last 10 years since I've met him.
Quoted from undrdog:Hope its ok to post this... a little bit of art I did a few years ago. It has pinballs.
That is awesome, curious, how much time do you have in a piece like that?
Quoted from Apinjunkie:That is awesome, curious, how much time do you have in a piece like that?
Many months, when I could find time evenings & weekends, but at the same time I was teaching myself how to do brazing with an oxy acetylene jeweler's torch. Each joint had to be set up with clips because brazing requires two hands. Now that I have a MIG when I go back to doing rolling ball sculptures it should be a whole lot easier because I can hold the piece in place with one hand and tack it with the other. Also, my next one will be a lot prettier.
Quoted from undrdog:A 2.2" Galaxy by Eric Mort. The picture cannot do it justice.
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Pictures can never do a galaxy marble justice bit if you've seen them in person you can tell thats a good one.
I’ve been following Eric for years. We hit all of the art festivals within driving distance. We really felt like we had nothing to do this spring, with no festivals to go to.
The two best in the region are Cottonwood and Ft Worth Main Street Art Festival. Eric usually has a booth at Cottonwood.
I've got to brag on this wonderful vortex marble that my staff just gave me for Christmas. 1.6" No idea who made it yet. I've asked them to see if they can find out who the artist is. They got it on Etsy, so it could be anyone.
The colors are fantastic and the depth seems 3x the marble size.
I guess I'm doing something right here at the office. They could have just gotten me a perfunctory boss gift like a mug.
IMG_7061 (resized).JPGIMG_7063 (resized).JPGQuoted from undrdog:I've got to brag on this wonderful vortex marble that my staff just gave me for Christmas. 1.6" No idea who made it yet. I've asked them to see if they can find out who the artist is. They got it on Etsy, so it could be anyone.
The colors are fantastic and the depth seems 3x the marble size.
I guess I'm doing something right here at the office. They could have just gotten me a perfunctory boss gift like a mug.
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Nice piece! Really love the depth and colors.
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