branscome glass

so there’s this guy

My studio sits right by a bridge, so I get to look out my window and see the over and under activity. The over is the walkers who pass there and back again and the cars that swish past and sound like ocean waves. The under is mostly cars that park there in the daytime and go home at night. When they go, sometimes there's this guy who comes and plays his sax. The sound is straight out of an old black-and-white movie, and the way the notes lift and float on the air is nothing short of magical. The echoes that bounce off the bridge's belly are amazing. The sax's voice speaks in so many ways: contemplative, strong, mournful, confident — love it.

people want to give

A great thing about working with recycled glass is that people want to get involved in all aspects of the process — not just buying the finished work, but making it possible in the first place! Members of my art co-op bring me bottles that they have kept due to their pretty colors. A couple in town who love to entertain with Bombay Sapphire Gin save me the gorgeous turquoise bottles. One client had gone on holiday to *Spain* and brought back three cobalt glass water bottles all the way across the Atlantic as gifts for the studio. Even my UPS lady said that she and her sister were at the store recently, and she suggested a certain type of wine due to the bottle's color. And we can never forget the restaurants and bar people who separate the glowing colors for me, as they are the mainstay of my sourcing. Thanks be to all my helpers!

ramp up the lamps!

Today was really fun for a variety of reasons, but a standout was that I sold my first pendant lamp at Shades of Light! You can see the colors at their website, which has an exclusive on this size and style: 

http://www.shadesoflight.com/lacey-handcrafted-glass_pendant-shade.html

connections

One of the cool things about doing what I do is that I get to meet people and learn little bits about them and about their worlds. Many times, the interaction is more on a surface level, like a person would like to get a gift for a niece. Sometimes, there's a quicksilver turn in the conversation, and we end up talking about our studies, families, art — subjects that yield that deeper glimpse and touching of a chord. Occasionally someone writes something that is like food for the soul: "The work you are doing is not only beautiful, but it has such meaning and is counter-cultural in the best of ways. It's inspiring to meet artists like you who pursue your passion and do it with such an eye to creating connections to others." We makers can't connect with everyone this way, but it is both humbling and gratifying when it happens at all.

good night, irene

There's a peachy-pink glow in the clouds behind the black silhouettes of the trees, after this day of being on the borders of the hurricane. Still raining a little, just enough to remind us that there's a lot more where that came from, but east of here and headin' north. Not the worst thing to have to skip the outdoor market and take an unexpected studio day instead.

a brave new website

Like many people who make stuff, I have had a bias toward my own medium. This leaning has yielded a lot of colorful glass pieces that have found homes everywhere from Virginia to California, Canada to Germany, and just now, an order from Australia! It has also left me with a website that is not as current as it ought to be. But today is the first day of the new deal — new products, photos, rearranging, more computer memory behind the scenes, other stuff that my web guy will patiently explain to me… Watch this space!