Glass Blowing!!!

On Saturday, I tried glass blowing for the first time ever.  It was a bit of a challenge, but I really enjoyed doing it.  The workshop was at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, and I was working with instructor Anne.  She's been doing glass works for many years, and she is now in her third year as a resident artist at the Centre.  

The hot, fiery furnace looking thing above is actually called a Glory Hole.  Yes, really. 
The process begins with a scoop of molten glass (from the boxy looking furnace in the right hand side of the photo).  The glass is stuck on the end of the metal rod.  

The temperature of the Glory Hole is about 2250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Holy shit that's hot!  So, you stick the rod into the Glory Hole and keep rotating it to get some shape.

Then, you dip the mushy lump of molten glass into trays with bits of coloured glass.  You then stick it back in the heat so that the added colour melts in.  The process is repeated a couple of times (as more colours are added). 

  

Then, Anne used tongs to shape the top a bit and to smooth out any stray pieceds around the neck (of the metal rod).  

Then it was time to blow, blow, blow.  The harder you blow, the bigger (and thinner) the ornament becomes.  Throughout the process, the rod must continually spin, or the glass will droop and sag (and your sphere will become a deformed oblong or some other odd shape). 

Because the glass is so darn hot, it needs a day or so to cool down, so I picked it up today (Monday).  

Voila!  

My three ornaments!  The small, turquoise one was a deliberate SNAFU - I just wanted to see how it would look without being forced into shape.  Kinda cool...

Ed and Aurora - two other instructors/resident artists - stood at the ready to add the stem (so the ornament can be hung on a Xmas tree).  It's juts done with more molten glass and a pair of pliers to twist it into shape.  

Glass Fusing - WOW! So Cool!

I keep finding so many fun things to do!  

On August 17th I attended a GLASS FUSING class at The Devil's Workshop taught by multi-talented artist (and ad-hoc photographer!) Melissa - check her out on Twitter @ladywildebeest .


I've never tried anything like this before - and it was so cool!  It's much easier to do than you'd guess.  Basically, you use a miniature pizza cutter thingamajiggy to score where you want to cut.  Then you use some kind of pliers more or less to snap off the piece you're working with.  You can add layers, paint them, add more layers, and use different colours, shapes and sizes.  These four pictures are from Aug. 17th.  You can see my six pieces (pendants) in their pre-kiln stage.

Today, August 29th, I finally got around to picking up my pieces after being fired.  The firing takes several hours, and then of course the glass needs a lot of time to cool down.  So cool to see how they all turned out!!!  

I like some of the pieces more than the others, but since the whole endeavour was a new thing - an experiment - I've got to say I am quite pleased with the results!  And keep in mind, I was winging it - I had no clear plan or idea of what I wanted to make.  I just wanted to do something creative.  The three blue ones in the centre are my faves.  I really enjoyed doing this and cannot wait to give it another whirl!

I ain't no Picasso!

The latest trend around Toronto seems to be drop-in art studios, painting workshops and themed "Cocktails and Canvas" events at bars/pubs around the Greater Toronto Area.  (Painting as a social thing, in a bar doesn't appeal to me at all - I prefer a quieter environment when it comes to being creative).  

Now, like so many other things, I quite enjoy painting (with acrylics)  despite my obvious lack of talent.  Years ago, a roommate and I used to work on canvases together whenever we were bored.  Every picture we made was awful and sooner or later they all ended up in the garbage.

I realized that lately I've missed painting, missed getting in touch with that type of creativity.  So, when I discovered PAINTLOUNGE, I immediately signed up for a couple of workshops.

Now, PAINTLOUNGE is not quite "Paint By Number" for grown-ups...  They give you a sample picture (rated by skill level as "easy", "moderate" or "challenge") and suggest colours and approaches, but you can put your own spin on it.  (You can also go in for solo work and do your own thing.)  They supply all materials, and it's no big deal if you spill some paint here or splash a few drops there - BONUS!

Using a blow dryer to get the background to dry more quickly.

This was Monday night's masterpiece (my picture is on the left).  I wish I had done the background stripes differently - fewer colours and wider bands.  Also my birds look fat, especially the one on the far right!

Again with the blow dryer (but this is from Tuesday night's session).

My painting is on the left - I rather like this one!  I like the colours I used instead of the 

purples and pinks.

I plan to keep up with this whenever I have time (PAINTLOUNGE is not too far from where I live).  I find it totally relaxing and the time just flies by.  I doubt that I'll ever paint anything worthy of framing (never say never), but prowess isn't the point - having fun and zoning out for a few hours is.

* * *

UPDATE - August 22nd:  I had so much fun the first couple of times I went to Paintlounge that I returned today and brought my friend Katrin with me.

Before changing into painting T-shirts and smocks.

Getting started...

Yeah, we totally rocked it!

I'm Bored... So...

You may have noticed that I haven't done very much blogging in the last little while, and perhaps you're wondering why that is.  The short answer is that I'm bored.

I'm not exactly bored with stories and ideas, but I do feel a bit of ennui with some of what comes as part and parcel of writing: being sedentary, being solitary, being silent.

Don't get me wrong: I do have several works-in-progress, and I will indeed finish them sooner or later, but for now I need a break.  The break isn't just from writing, but also from the auxiliary tasks that writers must attend to, such as tweeting, promoting, etc.  In short, I've been spending  too much time chained to my desk/smartphone.

So, what I plan to do over the next while is try a whole bunch of stuff/do a number of things that are new to me, or that are different from my usual routines and milieux.  

A few years ago, when I was going through some big changes in my life, I decided to try something new.  I took Fencing lessons, Belly Dancing classes, and I did several courses in Improvisation.  I had a lot of fun doing them all, but what I particularly liked was waking up a different part of my brain, tapping into different talents and skills (or lack thereof.)  I may do them all again someday, or not - who knows?  And maybe some of the things I try out over this summer will eventually work their way into the next Sasha Jackson Mystery, or will provide inspiration for a short story.  

* Apropos the above: Two weeks ago, I broke my foot and sprained my ankle, so methinks Fencing is not in the cards for the time being.