What’s on Mikey’s Mind?

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7.19.09

I think this time I’ve mostly lost my mind.  Lot’s of random things bouncing around, some of them actually making some sense.

The Connecticut River Valley is absolutely breathtaking in late May.  Lots of hostas and rhododendrons getting ready to bloom. Graduation at U Mass was interesting and Becca is now gratefully employed as the full time nanny for her new niece, who I get to wink at every morning on the way to work. I had the chance to see some wonderful examples of Tiffany’s and LaFarge’s work while in Amherst. They are actually in the same building, at opposite ends of the meeting hall of the Unitarian Church.  Truly amazing work.

Make plans to attend the Beadmaker’s Tea this fall. A talented young flame-worker who just moved to the area has agreed to head up the organizational aspects, so expect things to really happen this year. I’m also working on a large window for the front of the store, something that really says Charleston.

It’s hard to believe the solstice has already passed. The days are getting shorter.  As expected, foot traffic is sporadic, but encouraging.  If we could only get folks to quit watching Fox News and start doing some glass. Greg is up to some new tricks, fusing face down for definition. I have some smaller platters at Carolina Clay Galleries down near Kiawah in Freshfields. 

Linda is playing with some angels, having just finished a really neat piece commemorating the 1904 World’s Fair. Trica, the bead mistress, has changed jobs and is only with us on Wednesdays for awhile. Rosemary is still fighting boredom in Aiken, but has put together some interesting dichroic sculpture. Look for a class/workshop this fall.

I’m looking forward to an exciting fall season. We are coming up on our tenth anniversary, that should be fun. Stop by to say hello and remember, It’s only glass!

3.19.09

Why in this economic climate, would any company or institution be as difficult to work with as American Express?  Not only do they wrongfully categorize Blue Heron Glass as a mail order/ Internet business (anybody who has talked with me about the Internet knows that’s a pile of rubbish), but they have the brass to offer a discount of 0.18% on the ridiculous rate they are charging if I am willing to wait thirty days for them to post a charge to my account.  I would have posted this earlier, but I’ve been busy scraping their damn decals off the windows.

If you haven’t gathered, we will no longer accept American Express.  Next time you send in a payment you might want to suggest they get with the program.

Joanna is a bit over a month old now, doing well and starting to develop a personality.  This is going to be fun.  Once we get past tax season I expect things to pick up a bit, at least until we hit the summer months.  I’m hoping to get out on the water at least once a week this year.  Circe will be thirty years old and I plan to spruce her up and spend some serious harbor time.  I don’t think that new set of sails I had in mind is going to happen this year, but she still has plenty of spark and can turn an eye or two.

Rosemary has been in working on some really neat picture frames.  She has a wonderful sense of festive which comes alive in the frames and leans in a direction I’d like the store to go.  I think everyone is about over hearing how bad things are so why not look at the brighter side and at least smile a bit.  I think you will agree that her frames are a great step in the wow direction, which isn’t bad for a Yankee from Syracuse.

Deenie was by the other day selecting glass for a couple of panels she has drawn up.  I sure hope we can get some of them in the shop.  She has a really nice spot-tail bass and a panel with a trio of pelicans that just screams low-country.

I probably won’t get a chance to write before Art’s Alive in Florence, so if you are in the area on April 4^th, stop by and say hello.  It’s on the campus of Francis Marion University and should prove to be lots of fun.  Take care. 

Remember, it’s only glass!

2.20.09

Well the big news here at Blue Heron is the arrival of Joanna Kay Foster back on February 12. She’s my first grandchild, cute as a button, and ready to take the glass world by storm in a couple of years. Julie and Nathan are both doing fine (as fine as new parents normally do) and I’m hanging in there.

Good news on the economic front is that lead prices are beginning to fall. It hasn’t shown up in solder prices, but the last box of lead came we got in was quite a bit lower in price than the one before that. Interestingly the quality seems better so I’m going to really have to stay on top of the supply thing and watch our vendors more closely.  My hat’s off to our sales rep over at Ed Hoy’s who actually refused my offer to send her all the chocolate left from Valentine’s Day. Claims she’s on a diet, but I think she just saw through my attempts at bribery.

We’re getting in some of the new Bullseye colors with our next order, which should be here towards the end of the month. I’ve also purchased some of the B grade glass, which should allow us to get the price down a bit. Those of you who have read your new catalog know the B grade is fully compatible, but slightly off as far as target color.  Those of you, who haven’t read your catalog, should, and those who don’t have a new catalog should stop by and get one. There is lots of product information about Bullseye’s line of glass and you can save yourself some heartache if you take the time to see what’s not going to work.

I’m taking Tricia’s garden party on the road this spring.  I’ll be teaching a class at the Aiken Center for the Arts the first weekend in May.  That should be a real hoot. I’m also trying to do the Art’s Alive show at Francis Marion University April 4th, so stop by and say hello. Blue Heron Glass will not be at Piccolo Spoleto this year. Becca is graduating from U Mass with her Master’s in Art History that weekend and I’m planning on taking the scenic route back so I won’t get here in time to set up the second weekend, but I do plan to stop in and see all the great crafts. You should too.

12.2.08

Well, here we are in the holiday season. Black Friday has come and gone, not as black as I would have liked, but not bad. Things at Blue Heron are moving along.  The Holiday ornament workshops are going very well, and we are getting some interest in the garden parties.  If you are thinking about reserving some shop time, call way in advance.

Bullseye is introducing some new color mixes next year, which should prove interesting when working deep.  Most of them are blue/clear/white mixes and look like they would give some interesting movement when layered with themselves or others in the family.  Since there is no way we can expect our normal suppliers to have this stuff we probably won’t get any until our next shipment from Bullseye. Look for these in late January. Periwinkle is now part of the tested compatible line, which adds a nice medium blue to the pallet.

I’m still working on stocking the largest selection of special production rods in this part of the world. Some of my favorites are no longer available (like Glacier, Serena’s Blend, and Antique White), but that’s what make ‘em special.

On a personal note, I’ve become quite enamored with gingers (Zingiberaceae) and Oncidium. It really is a natural progression if you take into account my relatively recent fascination with  red-heads. Be that as it may, if I can locate a couple of thousand spare foot-candles I should be able to have some great fun in the garden next summer.

If I don’t get back before the end of the year, my sincerest wishes to all of you for the best the season has to offer. It really is a magical time of year.  It’s too bad we sometimes get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the wrong things and miss what’s really important. 

Happy holidays. 

10.21.08

Wow!  What a summer. My tenure as Commodore of the James Island Yacht Club is over and I have to admit it took a bit more of my time and energy than I had anticipated. And although I’m still active with the Board of Directors (comes with the territory) I should have more time for the important things in life, like glass.

Back in May we were blessed with a group of ladies from Messer Construction in southern Ohio, who stopped in for a morning Garden Party. That was a blast!  Twenty-one folks in to do some fusing and chomp down on a spiffy little continental breakfast we put together. Tricia’s garden panels are the perfect size for a make and take get together and I hope we can put some more of these together. Call and check for availability.

In a similar vein, the Holiday Ornament Workshop is back, this time with extended hours and a couple of neat new designs. I have to give credit where it is due, so thanks to Kim Wood for the blue palmetto tree and Robin Cullum for the créche idea. The elves in the back room are busy making ball frit, candy cane came, and the ever popular Kwanza-cane. Sounds a lot like a drug doesn’t it? The practical stuff like hours and cost are elsewhere on the site.

The cost of glass is going up, tied primarily to the cost of raw materials and energy. I suppose you should throw in the cost of shipping, which is getting ridiculous.  The interesting thing is gasoline is coming down (something all those folks who supposedly know more that we do said was never going to happen) and is now around $2.70 a gallon here in Charleston. Hey, time for a road trip to Blue Heron Glass.

Actually the economic down-turn might be a bit of a good thing if it gets people to stop and consider what’s really important: family, friends and quality in hand-crafted work.  For too long we have accepted the crap that comes from offshore because it “looked” good (veneer usually does) and was cheap.  Sometimes it was inexpensive as well. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate quality craft.

Blue Heron was founded with the intention of offering the highest quality materials available to the glass hobbyist and the instruction necessary to produce top notch work. We will continue to do so. As people begin to more fully appreciate the value of fine craft, we the crafters can truly indulge our imagination. Stop by sometime and indulge yours. After all, it’s only glass.v

5.15.08

Always more glass and not enough time.  We have now been in the new location for six months (still unpacking and trying to find everything) and things are beginning to look up.  I promised I’d talk a little bit about glass this time and that’s what we’re going to do.

There is currently a lot of well deserved concern about the overall economy and the economic health of the country.  Couple that with the cost of gas and folks tend to think they can’t afford to play with glass any more.  Well there are a couple of ways to cut costs and still enjoy the obsession.  The one I’d like to address today is transitional glass.

We occasionally get “Transition glass” from Spectrum through our supplier, Ed Hoy’s International.  Laurie Novotny, our sales rep up there, does a super job keeping things in line for us so all you ever see is a smoothly operating glass store supreme.  She is also finely tuned to my requests for current stock of transition glass.  Transition glass is basically glass that fails to meet the manufacturer’s standards of quality, either in clarity or trueness of color, density, surface imperfections, or whatever.  What this means to you is a buck or so less per square foot for glass with which you are already familiar.  Who hasn’t played with a nice Spectrum 329.6?  Reminiscent of malachite in the moonlight wouldn’t you say?

The downside to transition is lack of consistency.  In my experience, it usually manifests itself in uneven mixing of the colors so that nice even mix that Spectrum is known for is lacking.  But remember, they don’t claim this is first quality stuff (and neither do we).  Every once in awhile you find mixes that are beyond normal ranges, like the deep golden red/amber waterglass® that is a transitional form of 451.20w.  We’ve used this very successfully as a border in transoms.

A while back I got hold of some Youghiogheny uncats (uncategorized, basically transition).  These were sold as Uncat Blue Stipple at a bargain basement price.  The colors were blues I’d never seen before and the stipple was pretty much lacking (they were fairly dense), but you couldn’t beat the price. 

I can here the fusers now, “well that’s just great for the regular stained glass people and the mosaic artist’s, but Bullseye is so expensive.”  Actually it’s not and since you all have read and studied your catalog I’m sure you are all aware the Bullseye makes a “B” grade glass.  Fully compatible, but outside target appearances (page 5).  Hey, if you don’t have a catalog stop by and I’ll give you one or call Bullseye and they will send you one.

The really neat thing about the “B” grade list is that it also contains experimentals!  What a great way to get some colors that nobody else has.  Of course most of the time you’ll never be able to get them again either, but remember, with transition you are not getting consistency.

The Demon piece that finally came together was made in part with an experimental orange/yellow that fell between 001125 and 001321.  When fused to French vanilla, 000137, it produced a really interesting background.  The beasts themselves were also made with a limited edition glass, stingers pulled from orange lollipop rods.

 So there’s lots out there and many ways to cut a few bucks off the tab, but you have to be willing to take a few risks.  Most of the time they work, sometimes they don’t.  Next time I want to talk about the ladies of Ohio and the upcoming Blue Heron Crab Fest, which is about to morph into some type of Blue Heron Feast.

Remember, It’s only glass!  v

2.25.08

Well, I missed the deadline for submitting a piece of work for Bullseye’s E-merge.

It was a great piece too.  The basic problem was that when it came to the final draping part of the process I somehow managed to put the piece in the kiln upside down which resulted in an inside out final product.  You can’t turn a pickle back into a cucumber and you can’t unslump your glass.

I should have realized this project was going in a weird direction when the first piece came out of the kiln with the demons upside down.  I’ve been wrestling with several of my personal demons recently and I was sort of hoping to lay them to rest by working through an interesting glass project.  As I said, the first one was upside down, the second didn’t quite have the color I was looking for, but the shape was promising, and then to really screw up the third piece on the last firing.  Oh well.

On the brighter side, things are looking up with the weather.  I’m sure both Becca and Susanne will be happy to hear that.  Here at BHG I’m trying to firm up my show schedule for the summer.  I’m not doing Spoleto this year.  Planning on spending at least one of those weekends with my mom at a plant propagation workshop in North Carolina.  If you get a chance, take a look at the Plant Delights Nursery Web site and you’ll see why I’m excited at this prospect.  I am planning on the one day show in Bluffton in mid May and the Art Festival in Weaverville.

 I was hoping to get to Ed Hoy’s up near Chicago for the open house next week, but that’s not happening.  I was planning on snagging a couple of sheets of Freemont since we haven’t had any for awhile.  I also need to get to a supplier and restock the Youghiogheny.  That stuff is tricky to order sight unseen.  So next time I’ll have more on the new glasses, the new classes, and just general stuff. 

 Hey, it’s only glass!   v

2.05.08

So here we are in February and I’ve been a bit remiss at keeping up with my mind.  I think the move affected me more emotionally and mentally than I would like to admit, but the shop is coming along and beginning to look like the Blue Heron Glass I always pictured.  If you haven’t been by, please do so.  I think you will find the expanded gallery and classroom quite exciting. 

Becca is back in the frozen North and has been hounding me for a continuation of my art and craft babble so we will ramble on (even though at least one of you think the whole experience was derived from an altered, drug induced funk).  Next time we’re back to glass.

Having reached a point in the discussion where art is merely an attempt to bring some kind of meaning to an experience through translation, we must consider the avenues open to us.  Once a medium is selected (in my case kiln-worked glass) one can begin assembling the skills necessary to successful manipulate the medium. The development of the craftsman is not a sidebar.  It is fundamentally essential to any successful translation of experience.

The time required to acquire the skill necessary to perform any craft with a degree of proficiency varies widely.  I can easily teach you everything you need to produce a wonderful sushi dish with Spectrum Opal Art® in an afternoon.  It’s great craft, but it’s not art.  One needs to develop a level of competency with the chosen medium to the level that any manipulation required by the intended translation can be easily and effortlessly accomplished.  Only then can one begin to create art.  Too often can one find poorly executed pieces touted as ‘art’ at some craft fair.  Calling it art does not excuse a lack of discipline, talent, and skill.

Folks visiting the gallery at Blue Heron will sometimes ask if I consider myself an artist or a craftsman.  It really depends on the piece.  Much of the work at Blue Heron represents what I consider to be excellent craftsmanship.  It’s been a long road and over the years I've probably thrown away as much glass as there is now on display.  Each disaster was a learning experience. Occasionally, however, I have something to say.  This is when I can bring together what I’ve learned about color, form, texture and even size and manipulate the glass within the limitations of my skill as a craftsman to create a meaningful work.  People talk about pushing the envelope. That’s nothing but art-speak gibberish.  The first time you go beyond your skill level it breaks.  You take what you’ve learned and try again.  By the time you succeed with whatever technique you have been attempting is has become part of your repertory (it is now inside your envelope).  It’s called growth.

 Hey, it’s only glass!   v

10.21.07

Well of course the move is demanding lots of attention, I’ve given up trying to get it all done before I forget something, so those things that get missed will just get taken care of later.  Rather than bore everyone with details of construction and nit picky logistics I thought I’d ramble a bit about the difference between art and craft, at least the way I see it.  This will probably take a couple of sessions.

What is art?  In a way that is like asking what is love or the meaning of life, topics that usually get discussed over a couple of beers or coffees during the late hours of the evening.  To me, art is just a part of the great trinity of understanding.  We humans have tried to figure things out for a long time.  Really basic things, like why is the sky blue?  Why does the sun seem to come up in the East?  Why does the moon wax and wane?  Or the really tricky one, why does my heart go bumpity-bump when that certain someone walks by? 

These are really basic questions.  I like to think they are best approached by what I think of as the trinity of understanding.  First we have religion.  Things are that way because.  The key to this approach is faith.  We believe things to be the way they are because we are told that’s the way it is.  This is a perfectly valid approach.  Faith is, however, not an easy thing to acquire and many times I find myself wishing I had a bit more.  But that is much more of a personal journey.

Next we have science.  The key here is repeatable, observable phenomena.  If you do this exactly the way I did, you will get the same result.  This is a wonderfully valid approach to answering all those nagging little questions about the human experience.  Science is neither better nor worse than religion, just different.  Either one will give you an answer.  Both answers are correct as long as you remember how you approached the question.  Which brings us to that third part of the trinity: art.

To me, art is nothing more than an attempt to make sense of the world around us.  Religion is about faith, science is based on observation in a cause and effect situation and art says, “I don’t know.  But I can translate this experience into something I can share.”

I doubt that it is possible to listen to Shostakovich’s 5^th symphony and not feel the pain and suffering of the Russian people.  To the question “why?” the artist replies, “perhaps this will help explain.”

Next time I ramble on about craft and it’s relation ship to art and the artist.

Hey, It’s only glass. v

09.11.07

Wow. Here it is the middle of September, the sailing season is pretty much over for the summer, all the biopsies came back with clear margins, we’re back on regular hours on Thursday and BHG is going to move.

   Next week I’ll be going to Weaverville, North Carolina, for a quick one-day show, the first annual Art in Autumn. I guess this is just the first and it won’t really be annual until next year. Early October sees Blue Heron Glass once again at Art on the Porches down at Palm Key and Oct 20–21 we’ll be doing the Folly Beach Art and Craft Guild show at Folly. Somehow in the middle of all this we are going to be packing up for a move during the week of Halloween.

   So make your plans now and be sure to pick up any supplies you need. Our best guess at this time is to close here at 3:00 on Saturday, October 27, and reopen in the new space ten days later, November 6.

The new location is 1714 Old Towne Road. That puts us right next to Kim’s Steak House in Northbridge Terrace. It’s over near Charlestowne Landing, same side of the road, just closer to the North Bridge. The space is a bit larger, with better visibility and should afford the opportunity for some neat expansion, especially in the classes offered and studio time areas.

   Anyway, there is a lot going on and just to make sure I don’t get into any trouble from having too much free time on my hands, I’m planning on attending a seminar on garden soils up in Raleigh, November 3. At least the yard will be in good shape. Next time I’ll have some thoughts on glass, but now the concerns are coordinating water, power, phone, security, insurance and all that stuff.  What the hell, its only glass. v

06.30.07

July already ?

Never having been one who was quite as well organized as I always wanted to be, once again I’m behind on sharing what’s on my mind so we’ll get caught up on what has happened and move forward from there.

   Early June was a zoo. Spoleto came and went. I opted out the second weekend of the Charleston Crafts show so as to minimize risks of infection to some exploratory dermatological incisions, and watched Tropical Storm Barry pound the peninsula from the comfort of the back porch.

   The following weekend was the Special Olympics Open Regatta, hosted by the James Island Yacht Club. BHG donated pendants to the athletes and their unified partners. These were fun—etched dichro of the Special Olympics logo fused to a double layer of black and fitted with an Annraku bail. Lots of fun, but gluing the clasps on the ribbons was an exercise in frustration. If you ever get a chance to work with Special Olympics, go for it. Heartstrings need to be pulled every now and then.

   Father’s Day weekend was the James Island Yacht Club Regatta. I wish I could say I was out sailing around, but this year I had double duty as Regatta Chairman and Principal Race Officer. This is very enjoyable work even though it requires an almost a full-time commitment. Julie and Becca were both out on the water with the race committees, so we left the store to Linda and Chèrie, who both do excellent work.

Crab Fest 2007 is on schedule so be sure to stop by and pick up an entry form. Actually it’s more of just a description of the event with rules and guidelines. You can also download one from the website. The search for new space is continuing, so Crab Fest may be somewhere else (physically; it will always be at BHG).

   We have a few leads on some spaces over on Johns Island, (I can hear the groans from Mt. Pleasant already), but a large space would allow us to expand in the educational direction as well as give us some much-needed space for more equipment.

   Along the equipment lines, Michael Barnett has opened a hot glass studio over on James Island. He’s just getting up and running. I was over the other day to help him program his kilns. His plans include classes at the beginner level of glass blowing at both the furnace and torch. We should be able to funnel folks his way once he’s ready.

I’ve been accepted for an autumn show up in Weaverville, North Carolina, and plan on returning to Art on the Porches down at Palm Key, so the kilns will be smokin’ starting next week. Speaking of kilns always leads to glass, compatibility of glass and lack of glass. I’ve started rethinking the compatibility issues, primarily in response to some research on the warm glass website. It won’t change a lot of what we are doing here in the shop, but I will restructure the fusing class a bit.

   I’ve started ordering all my Bullseye directly from the factory for a couple of reasons: they know how to pack glass so it gets here in one piece, they usually have what you need in stock and our sales rep, Sarah, is a sweetheart. She knows her products and is always available to answer questions. Buying directly slows things down a bit, but in the long run will probably be quicker. As I mentioned, the glass isn’t broken when it gets here and it is usually not on back-order.

   So, it’s been busy. We have a really interesting door insert on the table—mostly clear textures with a couple of fused elements that promises to be lots of fun. The cookie jar is full and we still have coffee, so stop by.

 Remember, it’s only glass. v

04.28.07

Another birthday has come and gone, the weather is really getting nice and warm and sailing season is just beginning. We could use some rain—I don’t think we’ve had really measurable precipitation over at the Hiester household for a couple of weeks. Makes it interesting trying to keep all those transplants from Lowes and Hyams happy and thriving.

   Greg and I are taking a welding class over at Garrett Academy on Tuesdays. This should allow us to fabricate some interesting stands for some of the more architectural glass that is coming out of the kilns. It also means Linda will be teaching the May fusing and slumping/warm glass basics class. We’re thinking of renaming it Glass Confusion for this session, with appropriate apologies to Teresa Camiln.

Spoleto is rapidly approaching. Those of you not from the area, or unfamiliar with the hoopla, may want to check their site www.spoletousa.org. Blue Heron Glass will be down at Wragg Square for the Charleston Crafts Juried Craft Fair. This event is part of Piccolo Spoleto, which is a lot more fun (not to mention affordable) than the international festival. You can check their schedule at www.piccolospoleto.com.

We now have an extensive collection of Bullseye rods for beadmaking and general torch work. I’ve been lucky enough to score a couple of the new limited-edition, experimental blue-green algae series. Think of transparent greens with a deep blue aventurine thrown in and you’ve got it. They are a bit on the dark side so I’m playing with stretching them out with a bit of clear or white. Stop by and we’ll see what’s happening.

   The search for new space continues. Somewhere is the perfect spot and we will find it. I’m not expecting an immediate move so there will be plenty of notice and we will probably stay in the same area. I’m still not ready to go to Mt. Pleasant or Goose Creek.

   Summer hours are now in effect. We close at 3:00 on Saturdays, and beginning late May I will not be in the store after 3:00 on Thursdays. Not sure yet whether we’ll close then or if Tricia is planning to stay open for shop time—more on that as it develops.

You can work on glass at night—get out and smell the roses, but remember your sunscreen! Those bi-weekly visits to the dermatologist get old fast.  v

03.10.07

The search for a new space for the shop continues. At least we’re not looking in Batavia where Tina is fighting three inches of water in the basement. We don’t even have basements here in Charleston, which is a blessing I guess—of course sometimes the thought of all that extra storage space seems intoxicating.

   The search is not going particularly well, as everyone wants to be a millionaire, especially landowners. My real estate agent was actually embarrassed to tell me the latest asking price for a triangular-shaped piece of land over on James Island—two million dollars an acre! The guy is out of his mind.

   We will keep looking.

I got in a bunch of new Bullseye rods the other day. In addition to the tints everyone was asking about, we have a couple of experimental limited-edition colors that promise to be interesting. Speaking of rods for beadmaking, the bead-maker’s tea was great fun. If you missed this one, make plans to come to the next in late September or early October. We will probably coordinate this one with the awards party for Crab Fest.

   Surely everyone remembers last year’s success and is planning for Crab Fest ’07! I plan to get the official entry forms and information out the first of June, but there is no reason not to start planning your designs now. Remember, crabs of any interpretation, created with any technique of glasswork, peoples’ choice, and lots of great prizes!

The Spirit of South Carolina was launched last week to much local fanfare. The main reason I bring it up was the pivotal role I got to play in the proceedings. Actually all I did was score the bottle of sparkling cider that was used to christen the boat. It broke beautifully and BHG was up there, front and center.

   I’m working on a new palette for Spoleto, something that will brighten up the store and the booth so stop in and say hi.

Remember, it’s only glass. v

01.20.07

Having made it through the December holidays, a head cold and one of the quickest, slam yo’ down intestinal virus that I’ve ever had the pleasure of hosting, it’s time to think GLASS.

   Bullseye is continuing with their introduction of new color rods. The complete line now contains about 108 styles (and this doesn’t include the experimental and limited edition guys). We have a wonderful, knowledgeable sales rep, Sarah, over at Bullseye so expect to see an expansion of the line here at Blue Heron. Shipping is expensive and the lead times are a bit longer than I’d like, but it is so refreshing to work with someone who knows the product.

   Also from the West Coast is the new Skutt Firebox 8. This is a sweetheart of a small counter-top kiln. Runs on 110 with an infinite switch (non-programable), which means you have to watch it, but the digital pyrometer is quite sensitive and easy to read. This should be the perfect kiln for pendants, small bowls and annealing previously made beads.  It may be possible to modify the lid allowing you to SAFELY insert beads still on the mandrels, but we’re still looking at that.

We are continuing with the search for new space. The time line is up in the air as we have not heard anything official from the landlord——mushroom management at its finest.

   I’d like to wish everyone a very prosperous new year, filled with health and happiness!

Remember, it’s only glass!  v

12.12.06

The holidays are upon us and Blue Heron Glass is winding down for the year. That’s not to say things aren’t hopping at the shop. Ornament workshops, lots of folks signed up for studio time, and a rush to get those last minute commissions finished! We are still open regular hours (10–6 Tuesday through Saturday) until the December. We will be closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day for inventory and general housekeeping.

   The new year will bring some serious looking for new space, with efforts centered on West Ashley and James Island. Actually, I’d like to find a larger space so that we could expand both our class offerings and studio space rentals. With enough space we could bring some talent from the west coast for special workshops and symposiums. Give a shout if you know of anything available!

Bruce Larion stopped by the other day. He’s off to work as a TA for Avery Anderson next spring so we can expect some interesting things from him early next fall. Lots of multiple firings, micas and screen resists. 

   We’ve put together another pattern bar class for late January and Greg has offered to help. I’ll try to get Bruce down from Columbia, but chances are slim until they finish the expansion at his day job.

Look for a Beadmaker’s Tea in late January. We will try to coordinate something with a Valentine theme. For those of you party-starved souls, the Blue Heron Glass drop-in is Saturday, December 23,  3–5.  It’s a great way to relax during the last weekend before Christmas.  Hope to see you there!

Remember, it’s only glass!  v

11.21.06

Last week when I was writing about glass and my frustration with my suppliers, I may have given the impression we don’t have much glass here at Blue Heron. We have lots of glass! We have one of the best selections in the Carolinas, but we’re having problems getting specific glass. It’s aggravating and I’m trying to work through it, and, hey, I managed to land fifteen sheets of 3mm Tekta this afternoon so things are looking up.

   I’ve been working with Sarah Givens over at Bullseye and we are starting to get in some of the experimental and limited-edition rods. All you soft glass lampworkers that haven’t tried Bullseye might want to give it a shot. The pinks are magnificent and there is all that wonderful frit. I’ve ordered some cobalt blue 32mm tubing with a 4mm wall for you hard glass folks, but it probably won’t be in until the end of next week (say around the first).

The snow this morning was something else. The weather is holding up the installation of the windows over at Mt. Olivet, although it is a great reminder of the change of seasons. Classes are done for the year, but Tricia is offering a Holiday Ornament Workshop on Thursdays and Alice is doing a drop-in Saturday, December 2.

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. BHG will be open Friday and Saturday 10–6.  If you’re out and the rush is getting to you stop by for a cup of coffee.

Remember, it’s only glass!  v

11.15.06

Glass. More properly, the lack of it. We are still having problems getting the glass we want to have in stock from the suppliers in the southeast. Although we may be able to circumvent the problem by going to a West Coast supplier, shipping costs make that idea unrealistic.

   I have begun to think that I am being too demanding, as I’ve drifted toward more unusual textures and color mixes, which are actually more difficult to obtain. But then again, why can’t we get Spectrum 308 (white wispy) and why are we continually sent the wrong glass? Every studio I’ve talked with recently has had the same problem. That's not to say we don't have plenty of glass in stock...it's just not always the exact glass we want.

   Hal Mayfield, formerly of Mt. Airy Glass, has opened a dealership up near Gaffney and promises to fill the gaping hole in customer service. I wish him well, and will do what we can to help his business succeed.

Speaking of customer service, those of you who come by the shop are sure to have run into Cherie and Linda. They are there to help with glass selection and pesky production problems. They also screen the phone calls (and they are very good at it). My hearing loss has gotten to the point where phone conversations are very difficult. So when the girls won’t let you talk to me, it’s because we want to be sure you get the correct information, not an answer to the question I think you asked.

 Julie, the web mistress, has indicated that I will have the opportunity to ramble on weekly (some might say weakly), so keep an eye out for the next What’s on Mikey’s Mind.

 Remember, it’s only glass!  v

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