Anyone else ever consider getting a "real job"?

[somewhere]

That isn't a forum trait. That is a trait of humans.

Sad that it's true

[Shattered Dreams]

so, im still learning how to make stuff and dont feel my work quality is up to the same level as a lot of people on here.
im happy if i make a $30-40 dollar item in an hour or two. i just need to spend more time making them.
after summercamp, ive been out of spoons. need to make more.
but for the summer, with my wife at art shows selling wire wrap jewelry, i try to spend most of my time making marbles and pendants.

i met another glassblower who makes marbles. his prices are like 3x what i would guess by looking at the work.
and he seemed to do pretty well at the shows.

The point is, some people are able to do it.
gives me hope that i can continue to try.

The only reason i see that distributors can pay such low prices, is because some people, like nomad, are willing to sell at those low prices.
These are businesses that require your product to sell, thats how they make their money.
if they dont have product to sell, they will not make money.
I guarantee you they will get product to sell one of two ways.
they will either get it from someone else who will give them the low price they want,
or,
they will pay more than they would like to, in order to have product to sell.
we know which way the industry needs to go...

also, anyone that says stoners want cheap crap is wrong.
where did this whole art glass movement develop from?
stoners wanting nicer and nicer pipes.

[Nomad]

My glass isn’t cheap. I resent that. Some people sell $1 pipes. I’m charging like $7 here. Cheap glass is $2.50 a spoon. But my attitude just sold 250 spoons plus 15 bubblers to a distributor, a store and a chain store. I will take the summer spoon sales for sure. Too hot to make other stuff anyway.

[dplaza]

I'm stoked I got a job at a scientific glass company. I was working for this metal company and the hours were so gnarly I had no time to work in my shop. This job is way less physically demanding and I get to work with glass, although I am the shipping and receiving guy so I haven't got a chance to torch anything yet. I do get to do some cold working.
Really I'm just glad I found a job that pays the bills and allows me to focus 100 percent on glass. Also it's cool to see glass blowing from a different perspective than pipes and art. It's been a rough year or so being away from the torch but I'm excited to jump back in full force.
When I saw the ad on Craigslist I nearly fainted I couldn't believe it.

I wasn't able to make piping full time work for me financially maybe I'll try again in the future but I'm also thinking of trying to make non pipe functional glass more.

[harpentuan]

Regarding Nomad:
Maybe until he comes correct we should all refer to him as Damon.

[Nomad]

I am very confused what people are upset about here. I was trying to encourage someone to not quit and it became all about other things.
I am not out to undersell the market. I don't even usually make spoons. I am going to for the next month make a lot of them though.
But I have to say my side jobs are paying me just as much as glassblowing right now. I just have been working 10-12 hours a day.

[MUPH]

You can see I obviously could care less. My infraction about Trump was real and he got elected afterwards. My infractions about weed are real and it is going to be legal very soon. This is rediculous to me.

Your infractions are for your racial slurs and your overall opinion of others you view as beneath you. You don't try to help people here, you talk about yourself and how great a life you have because you still feed from a silver spoon. I doubt you truly relate to anyone here.

You're busy though, go be busy and leave the forum alone.

[Nomad]

Racial slurs? I don’t think so. I live in a diverse area not like Colorado.
You must have missed the point. I have seen successful business owners use the N word at champs Las Vegas and no one cared. Even though I was the only person to get upset that happened.
It’s not about where you are from anymore but where you are going.

[Swim]

I personally see nothing wrong with it, but fully worked all color sherlock bubs cost more than 12.50 , my work is super cheap too though, if there were no imports I would be really fucking shit up though, what year did the imports really hit the market and make hings difficult?

[Nomad]

When I turned 30 about 11 years ago.
Dude those guys who sell glass are tough. I’m trying to make a sale now. They want everything thicker too.

[labrie]

Keeping it on focus first, Congratulations to you DPLAZA I started the same way back in the late 70's (so long ago) Was in the shipping dept and worked my way into the glass shop. I learned proper welds, structural integrity, repeatability, hard work, and the desire to work on my own glass while was there. I have made a decent living off glass for 40 odd years, with an occasional foray into a "real job" ( no pipes) so it is possible. There has always been ups and downs in the art glass industry, you have to focus and be willing to change and go where the market is. Persistence, patients,integrity in your work,and focus can go a long way. learn all you can from this Company while making a "living" and you will be able to translate that later into you own beautiful art glass. Good luck

PS I think in a former post I mentioned that people who say it must be nice to make glass and not have to go to a real job have no clue, and are just ignorant of the difficulties most glass artist must endure as an artist. I can say from experience this is the most difficult job, but also much more rewarding than a "real Job". That why 99.999% don't do it. Paul

labrieglass.com

[Mr.P0rn]

I've been watching this thread for a bit, but haven't had time to come in here and participate.
@Misha: Congrats on going back to school! I hated school as a kid, but seriously loved it as an adult. If you need any held with academic advising (planning classes) or have any trouble with the college, hit me up. I'm quite good at college, and have held 6 different jobs at different colleges (not including teaching). Let me know if you have trouble!

Misha posted the job site and it's numbers for glass employment...it's important to understand that that website probably doesn't reflect our industry well because there is probably nowhere to source the data for our industry. $15 an hour is a reasonable rate for a fresh salem student with fairly low expierence. Lots of them are making 15-20/hr starting. A talented scientific glassblower will probably make 25-35+. It may say 0 jobs listed, but there are COUNTLESS scientific jobs in the north eastern part of the country, and lots of them spread out all over the rest of the country. Also, every scientific place i know is offering limitless overtime, so that can be figured in to total bring home pay.


@KT - you mention at one point that because you have been blowing glass for so long you would have to go into any job at entry level. I'm not sure I agree. A massive amount can be acheived by nailing an interview. If you go in, and as they ask you questions, you are able to relate the things you have done to generalized raw skills you have gained, they will see that as valuable. Most employers value "off the beaten path" expierence more than they value academic acheivements, especially if you know how to sell it to them.

@OceanMelt - If you work for a scientific glass house, you are hourly (or maybe salary if you are management.) Generally scientific is only piecemeal if you are an individual taking scientific contracts yourself. A scientific job operates like any other job. One good thing is that they are all understaffed these days, and orders are higher than ever. If you get a scientific job, you are more than welcome to do 20+ hours of overtime a week, at least around here.

As far as my own experience....I have never really made a living from lampworking. I was a computer scientist, and i left that career to pursue scientific glass because I was tired of sitting around dreaming about glass all day. I did the Salem thing, and landed an awesome scientific job. the pay was decent, the people were so nice it was like being in the twilight zone......it wasn't horrible. The thing is, most of the scientific glass industry are people in their 60s-80s, who have little concept of what we do (I'm talking about anything artistic, not necessarily functional). The work is super simple, and repetitive. I was spending 13 hours a day in a concrete room with shitty ventilation, 150 degrees, and I was barely doing anything. No hand skills necessary, my job was to read the fires, and adjust them on the fly as needed. Once they had me do a job that required hand skills and i got SUPER excited, and it confused all the other workers. I wasn't even able to explain to them why i enjoyed the job that actually required me to blow glass over the one that doesn't require handskills. They literally could not comprehend what I was trying to explain.

when i was hired, they agreed to give me a specific raise after a specific amount of time. Because I wasn't actually using hand skills, I found myself dreaming about my torch all day like I had in the computer science field. On top of that, the job ate all my time and energy so I wasn't able to actually blow glass often. After 6 months my hand skills had regressed some. A month after i was supposed to get my raise, I quit because they wouldn't give it to me. They seemed shocked, and gave me retroactive back pay after the fact, but I had trouble seeing it as a worth while endeavor. So in short..if you love working on your torch in your garage, realize that a scientific job is going to be less fun than mass producing one hitters, and that you will miss what you are doing now. You may even lose your hand skills. There is health insurance, overtime, and at least 15/hr though.

[Nomad]

I love you guys but I will admit that right now its about 50% of my day at work which was 10 hours today. Plus I am a sketchy ass dude and that is about another 50% of my money.
I don't know what to say really. but make hay while the sun is shinning.

[Mr.P0rn]

@Nomad - My reading comprehension isn't always the best, but I can't tell where any % of your money comes from, based on what you typed.

[Nomad]

this month I had to do a lot of odd jobs and stuff. I am still making glass. But things are not as usual because of CHAMPS. Once that is over things should go back to normal.

[labrie]

Here is something for all of you looking for fame and fortune in the glass business. Good luck

http://blownaway.castingcrane.com/

[KT-Old School Glass]

Here is something for all of you looking for fame and fortune in the glass business. Good luck

http://blownaway.castingcrane.com/

I'm not looking for fame and fortune. I just want to be able to pay my bills, take care of my family, and eventually retire without having to worry about finances.

[glassdocnc]

With all the pressure society tries to place on us to spend and considering the uncertainties of inflation and life expectancy, how is one to determine when you have "enough" to retire without having to worry about finances? I pretty much expect to work until I can't work any longer.

[Nomad]

In Italy they blow glass until they die in there 80’s.
I’m actually house painting today and tomorrow. Then I am done.
I might work on the windows next. But that is extra.

I’m afraid of heights but I’m not having a problem on the 17 foot.

[KT-Old School Glass]

With all the pressure society tries to place on us to spend and considering the uncertainties of inflation and life expectancy, how is one to determine when you have "enough" to retire without having to worry about finances? I pretty much expect to work until I can't work any longer.

Well one issue I have is that I have NO savings for retirement. And the current trend with our situation (stagnant selling prices vs. supplies/cost of living increases) I have no chances of saving any money.

I have no problems with working, I was raised to work (and work hard), but I don't want to work until the day that I die.

When I first started working with glass, I was able to support a family of 3, by myself. Now, I can barely support 1 person.