G.L.A.S.S. 2011 in the books! review

[B.C. Creations]

first off i would like to thank all the chill ass people that showed up. it was an awesome group of level headed hard working artists. so THANK YOU! you guys and girls really represent the great lakes area well. you should all be very proud of yourselfs. the communication and cooperation between everyone was top notch and really what made the pieces possible. any and all of you are welcome in my shop anytime. now for the pieces..........


so after two very very long and very very hot days (110 degrees at times) in the shop and billions of dead skeeters later we have 4 amazing pieces done.

first the bad then the good

the fall one has a small punty mark left on it. im going to file it off the best i can. its nothing major and overall turned out damn good! it was amazing to watch coyle and budman work hand in hand together on the lathe to finish up the team piece. first watching the team work together to get the tree part ready and then the scare crow part ready. then watching coyle make the base and attaching the tree and scare crow. then the finishing....man id say im speachless but im not. it was fucking awesome! big ups to the fall team...coyle jeremy katie jrod sam and john....you guys are insane in your membranes.

the winter one has also has a small punty mark left on it and a small circle crack on the wheel. im thinking maybe it was touched or it touched a piece of glass in the kiln that was either way hotter or way colder. i think both should be easy fixes. the piece turned out great overall! i gotta give lupe all the credit for taking over as team leader and deligating tasks to everyone. you are the man! it was nice to get the ball rolling for the weekend and be the first ones working. learning that vac stack was sick. im gonna run with that. our team worked good together for sure. i was kinda running around watching everyone else and taking care of shit so all the credit goes to the rest of the team. lupe fizzle derek brad and eric...you guys killed it. the snowblower is ready to rumble.

the spring team has a few cracks in the base and one in the bowl and i think the carb wasnt popped. im not going to mess with those. i feel like if i do i will risk losing the entire piece. overall the piece is large and in charge! i gotta say if i was to give an award for the hardest working team it would be you guys. ed and alex and jake you guys sweat alot but i guess thats what you get for working your asses off. you guys had a crazy concept but pulled it off well. the glass gods were not pleasant with you guys but there was no quit in any of you. hats off to you for that. it was awesome to see the team work and skill level of all of you. you guys really brought out the inspiration and creativity in ian. he is excited to get back to work. hats off to all of you. ed jake alex jerry john and ian.......the national weather service has confirmed an f4 tornado touched down in bc around 557pm central standard time.

the summer team has a crack scar and a new crack in the fish and all the gong bowls are the wrong size. :depressed again i dont think im going to mess with it. overall the piece is very detailed and aside from the cracks is pimp. seemed like the summer team had the most issues with the glass gods but they still beat the gods down the best they could. the team work was top notch. cole was rocking his ipod most of the time dancing as he was throwing down. that was good shit for sure. julian it was cool watching you inspire luke to get out of his comfort zone. henrys dea hat was freaking me out all weekend. jk julian luke beau zach henry and cole.....all of you guys are off the hook. fish on!!!

two pieces will be stricktly display and two will be fully functional. i gotta say that everyone sure beat my expectations. thank you all for showing up and throwing down. i will be doing this again. i will have extra fans next time but maybe do it in june so we dont have to deal with the skeeters and the high temps.

i gotta thank lupe and coyle directly for showing me how to use my lathe and what its capable of. i always thought it was a beater. guess its not? it was very cool to see and learn the vac stack on it and i gotta say it was cool watching coyle do his thing. after 13 plus years of glass blowing fulltime i never thought i could learn so much in 2 days. hats off to the two of you.

now for the orphaned objects left by the barn saftey break dilenquents........
1 pair of glasses........those are lupes
1 brass reamer............also lupes
1 blow hose assembly......i think they belong to iccarus
1 bag of national parts......they belong to kairos
1 thin yellow glove........no clue
2 cases of sick glass pieces.......coyle you didnt have to donate all that. jk hit me up so i can get it back to you.

thats it i think? i gota resize some photos and then ill post a few pics.

id like to thank all the sponsors.....abr imagery, aim kilns, bc creations, glass alchemy, glasscraft winship and weld specialty. you helped make this possible so thank you.

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED AND ALL WHO SPONSORED!!!! WHAT A STAND UP GROUP OF PEOPLE SUPPORTING AND CREATING FOR A GREAT CAUSE!! GLASS BLOWING RULES!!!!!


cannon fire gun blasts and great people couldnt ask for much more

danny and the bc creations crew

[ALIEN!]

need pics and specs bro (size/weight)

And yeah, TOTALLY forgot to pop the snorkel carb:o: but I know that I blew a thin spot out for it, would maybe be an easy fix w/ tungsten in the kiln? You got my permission, long as no one else minds.

PS June sounds like a much better plan, maybe even April or May, but Id do it all over again in the July Heat again if it comes down to it.

Got pics up yet?

[Icarus]

Thanks again for putting this on Zoar. I'm absolutely useless today, but man, it was worth it for the best weekend I've had in quite some time. Y'all are awesome for putting us up and putting up with us and getting together a fucking cool group of people to make some amazing glass. I'l be talking about this one for a while.

Blowhose isn't mine, and I don't think the glove is eiter, but I labeled the inside of mine with "Icky" on the tag and on the wrist, so if you flip it inside out and see that, hang onto it for me.

Once again, thanks for putting this all together. Can't wait to see the pictures.

[budman8778]

I think the blowhose is mine, Nd I think I left a 9x9 black kevlar heat pad...

[B.C. Creations]

i will think about fixing it jake. im kinda scared to tell you the truth. id hate to have it break and be junk. no specs yet. was too busy cleaning up the mess from the weekend. im still working on going thru the almost 700 pics i have. maybe half are good. ill post a few

[Hazeey]

KILLER time, thanx again Danny. Sooo inspiring to see everyone's ideas workin side by side for 2 days and coming together. Can't wait til next time!

[B.C. Creations]

heres some more

[B.C. Creations]

and some more

[FizZle]

sweeet thanks for the pics....did all the winter teams sliders/extras make it out good?

[B.C. Creations]

budman i think i saw that on the bench. i hope it didnt get tossed in the trash. ill get those back to you tho.

thanks for the props all. i had blast

[B.C. Creations]

i believe so fizzle. i love the snowman hitter.

[FizZle]

goood deal hope that the fixes to the blower go well....glad u like frosty the dro-man, he doesnt look at all worried that there is a giant snowblower behind him :)

[B.C. Creations]

more

[OracleGlassArts]

thanks to all the illmatic BC peeps for having this, seriously best vacation ever. so much fun to work with and shoot ideas and argue about glass with everyone.

cracks suck fix what you can, maybe in the kiln to be safe. glass gods def didnt smile, regardless im stoked to have been involved. lets do this a few times a year :)

[Julian]

Thanks for posting photos, looking forward to seeing everyone's plus the videos! I have 50-60 stills that came out well and will post soon.

That's too bad about the cracked fish, I'm not too surprised I'm afraid. The Summer team would have been best off redoing both of those parts, and I would have pulled for that if we had another day. I was concerned about the fish's history of cracking as well as the base's history (the base has healed split or three). The rock devitted a bit, but that actually works great for a rock! We weren't sure which downstem was going to be on there until Sunday afternoon sometime, so we did end up with all of 14mm slides. There wasn't a 14mm downstem of the type we wanted to use, unfortunately... the one that ended up in there is a really nice style, the recessed 19mm. Maybe one of you at BC can do a 19mm to male to 14mm female adaptor? I think that would make those pieces work.

I would love a chance for us to do it all over with what we learned from that one. For my part, I learned a lot about planning the logistics for a large scale piece, plus working with and trying to organize a team. More organization and planning would have paid off, esp. with the limited time, as far as getting everything done as well as making sure everyone on the team had a good amount of input.

The best part about the event is how every team was pushing the limits of abilities, concepts, shop chaos and time to get these pieces made and done. Even the shop was pushed to the limits with 10-12 torches running at once. The heat, mosquitoes and noise were a challenge but by far a good vibe prevailed and everyone pulled through for the pieces. It's an honor to have been part of the fun, thanks again to everyone who took part!

[B.C. Creations]

heres some more.

[B.C. Creations]

fixed the tree and the snowblower. im going to attempt to take better photos of the twister then im going to try to fix it. i personally dont think it will survive but im still going to try. if the base cracks then ill salvage what i can and make new replacement parts with the guys in the shop. still not sure what to do about the fish? more pics.........anyone else got some from sunday?

[B.C. Creations]

more pics

[B.C. Creations]

more pics

[B.C. Creations]

more

[B.C. Creations]

more

[B.C. Creations]

more

[B.C. Creations]

couple more

[smolder holder]

Looks like everyone had a great time. Nice work guys and gals

[GrindrodGlass]

Hell Yeah what a great weekend! Thanks again danny, ian, luke, and johnbill, I had a hell of a time working and chilling with you guys, and it was so nice of yall to open up your studio doors and workspots to us. I also would like to give major fuckin props to supervisor kyle for all that intense supervising. The poor guy was working harder then anybody making sure everything went smoothly and keeping us all safe on our breaks haha. Midwest glassblowers, keep keeping it real!

Peace Henry G

P.S sorry about the hat danny, I came straight from my other job, didn't have time to change. haha me and officer Alien carpooled.

PPS You can just take a low profile 19 to 14 downstem and chop of right under the male 19 to make an adapter for our fish. otherwise Lupe sells the adapters for real cheap ill talk to him about getting a few

[Julian]

http://vimeo.com/26383791

[B.C. Creations]

ya i made a conversion for em. i fixed the snowblower and upon further inspection i found that it had one other small crack. i fixed that today so we will see how it went tomorrow.

didnt get to try and fix the tornado. the tall kiln was already on when i got in this morning. if the bottom breaks off i will remake the parts and fix it later this week or next.

luke and i discussed the route we wanna go fixing the fish piece as its cracked in alot of places. i think i will have luke remake the fish and i will redo the base. then we will use all the other parts from the current fish and put it back together. that job makes me feel way more nervous than fixn the tornado but i think we have to try.

any ideas?

[Coal]

How about we all just get back together next weekend and do it all over again!!

[OracleGlassArts]

How about we all just get back together next weekend and do it all over again!!

for shizzle

[B.C. Creations]

hahahah. ya? bear hunting/dog training and fam time are my weekends. i think i can handle fixn em.

did i forget anyone in the pics? besides the supe? aka kyle. tried to make sure i had aleast one pic of each of us working.

still gota upload pics to facebook and go thru and erase all the blurry pics. might be a while?

i like the new screen name coal! that fits way better

[Julian]

I would have liked to replace the fish, and actually started - that was the cobalt tubing with the frit over by the three kilns.

If you replace the fish, and the base that's like 60% of the piece. All that's left is a devitrified gray bowl with a nice downstem and a couple plant sculptures. I'm not sure those elements are worth risking the original one... pretty much might as well make another.

To do a base like that, I'd suggest skipping the frit to avoid stress. You'll need at least a Delta, but that wasn't even quite enough once it got flattened.

Also, I suggest 14-16-19 mm rod. Holding that piece with 12mm was a bit sketchy.

If you really feel like disassembling it, I'd do the assembly in reverse if this helps:

- split the rock from the base
- remove the fish from the rock, leaving the rock on a punty from the bottom
- remove the sculptures from the base
- put new fish on the rock
- put sculptures onto new base
- seal fish/rock to the new base

Which really sounds less reliable and about as much trouble as making a new one from scratch.

[OracleGlassArts]

on to the next one id say...what's the theme next year?

[ALIEN!]

do smaller teams (2-3)-

Seven Deadly Sins would be cool

[OracleGlassArts]

nice jake, and id say 3-4 per team assuming at least 1 person has significantly less skill or experience.

if we do 4 teams again the elements theme works...wind water fire earth...perhaps time as a 5th

[ALIEN!]

Yeah, elements would be a good theme, for sure. I still think smaller teams would help, working as a team is a challenge to begin with, adding cramped conditions adds to that.

I'd also like to recommend doing non-pipe pieces and finding a high end art gallery to help sell the pieces. Might be easier to get the work sold for a higher price. Rich artsy folk are all about spending especially if charity is involved. This doesn't mean, of course, the safety break barn will have to be shut down:).

[OracleGlassArts]

as long as i can sculpt hollow im down with whatever, but i like making functional stuff.

pipes are easy to collab on in my opinion, and the extra challenge of designing and making sure something works is fun

[B.C. Creations]

all good i ideas. i just really like the donating funds brought in by the sales of pipes. helps shed a better light on lampers.

we still have lots of time to figure out what to do for the next one.

[GrindrodGlass]

I did not know there was a functionality requirement, I thought that we all just made them pipes by choice, but I also like the idea of making pipes for a charity. glassblowers making pipes for the children. haha that sounds bad.

[B.C. Creations]

so after many trips in and out of the kiln, i do believe it is safe to say that the tornado is fixed. has a scar on the bottom but not bad. im going to check it over one more time tomorrow and see if its good to go.

after one trip to the kiln and many problems tended to and almost blowing myself up in the process, i think the fish piece is going to survive. it has a scar around the body but all things considered on the amount of fixing i did, i think its good to go.

i fixed many things with the hand torch all while it was sitting in the kiln. after the 4th or 5th time in the kiln with the torch and the temp in the shop i didnt notice the hose was coming loose on the hand toch. then all the sudden i had a ball of fire in front of me about the size of an umbrella. good thing i was quick on my feet. the little pinch clip on the propane line didnt like the heat. granted the torch is about 12 years or so old. i clamped the lines back on and finished up fixing the fish.

im going to put all the pieces on display at my store tomorrow or friday. i still have to make a nice light box for taking some quality photos. got most of the supplies i need but still have to get a couple small things and build it. i will be doing that within a week or two. i also still need day 2 pics sent to me. i got most of day one shots from everyone but not day 2. i also have to send out the belongings left afterwards. i will be doing so within a week or so.

thanks again

dp

[mer]

great pics! looks like everybody had fun!!! are the pics up on facebook with tags? i'd love to know who was who.

[B.C. Creations]

they are on facebook but not sure about tags. ill get on that.

[Coal]

great pics! looks like everybody had fun!!! are the pics up on facebook with tags? i'd love to know who was who.

:D yeah for sure, I dont even remember

[ALIEN!]

Dont be taggin me on facebook now galldangit

[B.C. Creations]

DOH!! havent done it yet. dont think i will?

[Coal]

Dont be taggin me on facebook now galldangit

I know your not from this world, but dont be paranoid galldangit dude..... well i guess if people want there face named there is a pyro mugs thread

[Icarus]

Yeah, I'm not wild about the face to name thing either. I have managed to keep my name off of facebook so far, and would love to keep it that way.

[Coal]

Ok, I respect yall boys so, I third it.... or should I say THRICE!
No tagging I guess

[B.C. Creations]

paranoid much? i hear ya. i only put 1st names on the pics when i was going thru them. thats about all i am going to do. still trying to find time to work on the article and light box for photos. i am a slacker! kinda.....

dp

[ALIEN!]

you do realize Facebook uses facial recognition software right? I don't EVER tag my face on the Book. If people tag me, I get ornerier than a bear with a coat full of fireants. I've got a facebook page, but I kinda hate facebook. I think alot of shit they get away with should be illegal if not eligible for the death penalty.

[Julian]

Upload a bunch of pictures of random people from the street, tag them as you! They won't know what to do.

I could see why people don't want to be on there (or here?) with their real names or faces. I avoided Facebook for a long time just because it's total shit, but at this point I'm not 'underground' or anything and am fine with whatever.

[jes]

WOW ! did this look like a fun event & in our area of the world too :D

[Icarus]

paranoid much? i hear ya. i only put 1st names on the pics when i was going thru them. thats about all i am going to do. still trying to find time to work on the article and light box for photos. i am a slacker! kinda.....

dp

No, there are just a lot of broken hearts and fatherless children out there that I don't want to find me.

I jest, of course. It is actually just paranoia. THEY may not be out to get me, but well, in case they are, whats the hurt in making it harder for them?