Friday

Today was a day of experiments. We are still sand casting glass only now we are pushing the limits. Today I learned that casting over wet wood can make a huge worm like bubble, and yes its in the annealing process so hopefully I will get a wicked picture for all of yall to see. I can't believe its only been three days of class! Things are moving incredibly fast. I see mark mostly during meals and have heard nothing but good things from his class experience as well. The most amazing thing I have seen since I have arrived is the telepathy between glass workers. There is no such thing as a glass piece made alone. Just to cast one of my pieces I have two other people helping me to cut and open furnace doors. Watching the classes blowing glass is even more amazing because they work in groups of up to 5 for really intense pieces. I have gained alot of respect and trust for my class mates here after only 4 days. But the best part is how silent everything is, all of the workers just seem to know where to go and how to help each other. I have finally started planning my environmental installation piece and look forward to posting picture of the final product.

Photo comments

I just wanted to give some information about the pictures. Sorry the first one is sideways that is the lodge where the library is and where we eat our meals. the second is one of the teachers here working on a solid glass sculpture, and the third is the hot shop from the top of the freakishly steep hill up to our dorms haha, and yes! that is a deer standing in the clearing. There is a mom and a baby and they will let you get like 10 feet from them, its rather epic.

Thursday the 29th

Hey yall,
I'm finally able to get some pictures off the camera and onto the web. Today was wonderful we spent most of the day in the casting shop playing with mold and seeing just what this new material can do. We had some time off after casting today so I did what comes naturally and headed to the nearest body of water to reboot. Tonight we are searching for inspiration in a full studio.

Good Morning! It feels great to finally be on pacific time over here. Last night we did our first pours. we learned proper scooping techniques for ladling hot glass from the furnace as well as how to set up a sand mold, and leave natural impressions in the glass. So far its a great experience. We also got a treat in the middle of the day my class went on a hay ride.... Well we put some matresses in the back of a flat bed. One of the maintinince men took us around the tree farm explaining the history, and showed us one of the best spots around, "inspiration point." It has one of the most beautiful views of the bay. It is very exciting to meet all of the people of this school its truly international. Sorry I have not posted pictures yet, They keep us running and I have not had enough time to upload them on the computer. This place is like a bee hive with the hot shop at the center. People work at the hot shop literally through the night and if you want a good show everyone just sits and watches the venitian glass class. More updates and hopefully pictures tomorrow.

2nd day

Hello everyone! Mark and I have arrived at pilchuck and are half way through the 2nd day. Our trip across the country was a long 22 hour day by the time the demos ended on the first night, but they were amazing! The scenery is fantastic who knew there were actually snow topped mountains hahaha. We are nessled in the middle of a 15,000 acre tree farm and the silence and beauty is nothing but inspiring.
Today we began our demos of the different studios around campus and our classes officially start today. My class has a casting demonstration today around 3:00 and I'm thuroughly looking forward to that. Everything about this place is amazing, can't want for what lies ahead.

The First Leg of the Journey

Hello everyone!

The trip to the Pilchuck School of Glass is merely one week away. Thanks to everyone who made this possible from the Southwest Florida Glass Art Alliance. My classes at Pilchuck start on July 27th 2010 and will run for three weeks. I am currently enrolled in the nature within sculpture class during session four with teachers James Harmon, and Brynhildur Thorgeirsdottir. In this class we will be studying our environment and drawing from it to create nature inspired works of art. This class will be studying the techniques of hot casting and mold blowing from technical planning all the way through to installation. I will be updating my blog as often as possible through this experience and welcome any to follow along. The Learning begins!