2011 Show Schedule

Larkspur Party

June 11th and 12th

Raleigh, NC

Cary Lazy Daze

August 27th

Cary, NC

Art in the Gardens

September 23rd and 24th

Raleigh, NC

Pottery and Glass Festival

Cedar Creek Gallery

October 1st and 2nd, 8th and 9th

Glass blowing demonstrations daily in my studio

Creedmoor, NC

Carolina Designer Craftsmen Fine Craft + Design Show

November 25th, 26th and 27th

Raleigh, NC

Conference Room Installation

This winter I was approached by Laura Hoke who requested that I design a grouping of my glass pieces to go into the conference room of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Raleigh, NC. I was given the dimensions and photos of the recessed and lighted space created for a piece of art. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to assist with the installation and this space is what I saw. Getting off the elevators on the 12th floor there was nothing but glass between me and where my glass would be! What a tremendous conference room high above Midtown Raleigh, filled with technology and art - a great combination. Thanks Laura for the opportunity!

Lisa's Pumpkin Patch

Glass pumpkins are here - just in time for Halloween decorating. You can find them today at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, and at the Mint Museum Shop in Charlotte by October 11th. Just like in a real pumpkin patch, they are all different sizes, colors, and orientations. All signed and dated, they range from 2" to 4" and sell for $29.

These were inspired by my kids, who want to decorate the whole house for Halloween. Now they want big ones.... maybe next year!

Glass Blowing Demonstrations October 2nd and 3rd, 9th and 10th

Please join me as I open my studio for glass blowing demonstrations the next two weekends, October 2nd and 3rd, 9th and 10th from 11am to 5pm each day in conjunction with Cedar Creek Gallery's 43rd Annual Fall Pottery and Glass Festival. I will be rotating with two other glass blowers in my studio so you will get to see a fairly continuous glass demonstration all day. In addition there will be glass demonstrations in the Four Winds Glass Studio, pottery demonstrations, wood turning demonstrations, live music and more. Click here to see the entire schedule of events.

Also, Friday, October 1st 6 – 10pm will be the opening and Artist Reception for Cedar Creek Gallery's newest show, Carolina Designer Craftsmen Guild: A Tradition of Excellence. It will feature the work of sixty-five of the guild’s premier artists, many of whom will be on hand for the opening. Harrison Harper will be blowing glass from 5:30 - 7:30pm in my studio as well (this isn't on the schedule of events).

Studio Visitor

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Replacing the Crucible

Summertime is way too hot to blow glass. So usually glass blowers sit back in the air conditioning with our feet up, sipping cold beverages. Okay, that was really a joke.

When the furnace is down our minds turn to studio maintenance. It's certainly not my favorite thing to do, but it's necessary. I have to admit with all the help I had pulling the pot this year it was actually fun (I really didn't do any of the work). John Martin, Harrison Harper, Elijah Leed and Nate Halsey all helped make it happen with lightening speed. Thanks guys!!

Why does the pot (or crucible) have to be removed from the furnace? The crucible is made of a high temperature ceramic, made to withstand temperatures in excess of 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. The glass is corrosive to the crucible so over time little pits develop. If left too long these pits could actually grow large enough to be a hole all the way through the pot - and the molten glass would run out into the bottom of the furnace. And that means unplanned down time and LOTS more equipment maintenance.

Usually I take the furnace apart and proactively replace the crucible once a year. Prior to doing that I can melt colored glass. Residue of color added to the crucible will tint future glass, so if you melt clear glass you really can only melt clear glass... until you are ready to replace the pot.

It's quite an exciting time! This year we melted turquoise, cobalt and black glass. I will admit I let a little glass drip over the side of the pot thinking that might look good. And it is quite beautiful.

Once the furnace was all put back together we started "firing up". The process of heating up to 2300 degrees and melting a pot of glass takes about a week, since we don't want to crack the new crucible. Now we are back blowing glass - the glass is hot and we're sweaty!

Larkspur Party, Raleigh, NC

Join me in the gardens of Frances and Holly Alvarino on Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th. I'll be there with over thirty wonderful regional artists.

I'll have lots of garden ornaments in all colors, big and small. Right now I'm working day and night to have bright new colors and styles of jewelry just in time for summer.

Bring your friends. It's a laid back group of talented artists in a fabulous garden right in the heart of Raleigh. You're sure to enjoy yourselves!

6401 Litchford Road, Raleigh

Saturday, June 5th 10am - 6pm

Sunday, June 6th 10am - 4pm

For more info visit www.larkspurparty.com

The End of the Line is coming to Cedar Creek Gallery!

No it's not what you think, Cedar Creek is alive, well and thriving. June 26th, in conjunction with Alan and Rosemary Bennett's show Beneath the Surface, we are screening the documentary The End of the Line narrated by Ted Danson. It's about the current state of our oceans and how we are harvesting fish at a rate that isn't sustainable. It's not all gloom and doom and don't eat fish - I wouldn't bring that to Cedar Creek. What it does impress though, is that we need to be selective, to question where and how fish are harvested before we eat them, and to eat fish that aren't about to be fished out of existence.

Alan will be sculpting fish and doing raku demos the day of the screening as well. I've set my sights to make it an even bigger affair by having a sustainable fish fry too. Is there anybody out there who knows how to pull that off? I could use some help!

It's exciting to put together a show that isn't just about art. This show is much more. And if we can raise awareness about the plight of our oceans, then we have made our own small step in helping change the course of our world in a positive way.

Throw and Blow

Collaboration with another artist is always exciting - mixing two medium even more so. The past two weekends Alan Bennett and I joined forces to further an exploration of glass and clay. For the past year we have periodically worked on this idea, but this weekend I started to get really excited about it. Here's how it works... Alan throws a pot with really thick walls and exaggerated throw rings. While it's still wet I blow glass into it, using the clay as a blow mold. Alan holds the sides of the clay giving it another dimension and also keeping it from blowing out the mold. An episiotomy is performed on the clay and the glass comes out with the markings and texture from the inside of the pot.

It's like someone writing half a story and handing it off to you to finish. You have to take what they have written and make it all sum up and make sense. I really got into how to make the foot and lip relate to the body, adding extra glass bits and capturing the liquidity of the glass. I never knew what was I was going to have to work with until it came out of the clay. The real fun then was thinking fast about how to finish the design. There's no time to sketch and plan - it's all very heat of the moment (please forgive the pun).

Not every piece came out. A couple landed on the floor (as usually happens when trying to figure out a new technique) and some weren't exactly what I wanted. But now I've gotten Alan's bug and can't wait for him to come back this way so we can do some more.

A couple are still in the annealer, too hot when I left the studio today to even sneak a peek. The one I liked the best from the whole weekend is in there. As soon as I open the annealer I will take some pictures and post them.

Cedar Creek Gallery 42nd Annual Spring Pottery and Glass Festival - April 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 10th and 11th

Come see me blowing glass! My studio will be open the first two weekends of April for glass blowing demonstrations in conjunction with the Cedar Creek Gallery 42nd Annual Spring Pottery and Glass Festival. From 11am to 1pm and 3pm to 5pm each Saturday and Sunday, Harrison Harper and I will alternate between making furnace pulled glass beads, vases and bowls. I will make the beads I pull during demonstrations the first weekend into jewelry which will be available in the gallery the second weekend.

For all the great pottery, wood and glass demonstrations that will be happening check out the complete schedule of events at: http://www.cedarcreekgallery.com/events/festival/spring10/Schedule.html

And for the kid in all of us - be sure to join us for the Adult Egg Scramble. It's an egg hunt for adults where instead of eggs you may take home one of over 35 great pieces of pottery, glass or more. That's at 2pm Easter Sunday.

Dale Chihuly Visits Cedar Creek

In early November, Dale Chihuly came to visit Cedar Creek and check out our glass blowing studios. A friend of his called ahead to let us know they were coming, but I didn't really believe it was true until they called to say they were leaving Durham in fifteen minutes. Somehow I thought it might be somebody playing a good prank.

I was blowing a bowl when they arrived. Chihuly and his friend Bob came in, said hello and found comfortable seats from which to watch. I kept on working, hoping all hopes that this piece wasn't the one to fall on the floor. The punty held well (a little too well actually) and the piece was successful. Chihuly actually clapped and said "Bravo!" when I was done. We had a chance to talk for a while. Then they visited the Four Winds Glass Studio and looked around the gallery.

Amazingly I wasn't too nervous about working in front of perhaps the most famous glass blower in the world. I was proud to have him visit my studio. I am the lucky person who had a moment of his time to tell him how his path in glass has inspired me and made my journey in glass easier. Without Dale Chihuly much of what is being done in American studio glass would not be happening. He has simply inspired the world. I can't count the times that people have asked me if I knew his work, perhaps they had seen a video or book about him or one of his numerous installations. There is always a sparkle in their eye when they talk about his work. And then they have a new appreciation for glass as a medium and they look harder to see and appreciate what is around them. Last Tuesday Dale Chihuly had a sparkle in his eye as he watched the glass. After all these years and access to the best studios and most talented artists, it seems the glass itself is his real passion. Rock on Dale!

Carolina Designer Craftsmen Fine Craft + Design Show - Thanksgiving Weekend

If you are in the Triangle this Thanksgiving weekend, plan to visit the Carolina Designer Craftsmen Fine Craft + Design Show - the area's highest quality, longest running, juried fine craft show. You can find me in booth J-6. I will be exhibiting my latest work - both blown vases and bowls as well as jewelry.

The show is open at the Exposition Center, North Carolina State Fairgrounds

Friday, November 27th 6 - 9pm

Saturday, November 28th 10am - 6pm

Sunday, November 29th 11am - 5pm

For more information about the guild, the show location and times visit www.carolinadesignercraftsmen.com

I have been a member of the guild for ten years and also sit on the board of directors. It is an amazing group of talented artists.

Glass blowing on a cruise ship?!

Matt Decker, who has been working with me for almost seven years is about to embark on an exciting new journey. He interviewed with the Corning Museum of Glass to blow glass on a cruise ship and leaves later this month for an intensive three weeks of training. He will be living and working in Corning, New York while he trains with some of the most talented glass blowers in the country. At this time we don't know the exact schedule, but expect him to return to Cedar Creek after the training for a few months until the ship departs (I'm hoping he goes while it is hot here so I can take a break from the heat). His tour of duty on the ship will last at least three months. Although I will really miss Matt's assistance and companionship, I'm really excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity for him. Before I had kids I would have been right there in line to board the ship myself!

I can't wait to open the annealer

Today was an awesome day of blowing glass! I hope I still feel that way when I open the annealers on Monday. A big part of me wants to find a reason to go to the studio over the weekend so I can get a look earlier, but our weekend is packed with kids activities and one last long training walk before the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer next weekend. The first piece set the tone for the day and reminded me how much I love to blow glass. Maybe I'll take a picture and post it when I open the annealer. I'm not even really sure what they look like because I layered a lot of colors and used combinations I haven't put together before. I'm crossing my fingers that they look as good as I am imagining them!

Thanks for your support

We had a wonderful two weekends at the Fall Pottery and Glass Festival at Cedar Creek. It was great to see so many familiar faces and lots of new ones too. It was nonstop glass blowing for us in the studio.

Seeing all the people in the studio, around the grounds and in the gallery really made me realize how much support we have had over the years. I wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who buys American craft, mine or otherwise. I feel so privileged to be able to blow glass for a living and I know that I wouldn't be able to do it without all the people who buy my work. So thank you, from me and all craftspeople. It's a hard, but very rewarding way to make a living, and you help make that possible. Thanks.

Join us for the Pottery and Glass Festival this weekend at Cedar Creek Gallery

Join me in my studio for glass blowing demonstrations this Saturday and Sunday, October 10th and 11th. I will show how I make my beads, pulling a hot glass "taffy" more than thirty feet long down the porch. As well we will make vases and bowls. In all there will be seven glass blowers working in two studios so you will have the opportunity to see different styles and pieces made. Also there will be pottery demonstrations, live music, kiln openings and more. Check the schedule of events for specific days and times. http://www.cedarcreekgallery.com/events/festival/fall09/Schedule.html

For directions to the Cedar Creek Gallery and my studio: http://www.cedarcreekgallery.com/directions.html

Who knew it would only take ten minutes?

I've resisted as long as I possibly can. Now I am officially a member of the blogging world. At one time I thought I would be the last person who didn't have email - a sort of historian who could explain how to cope if it all crashed. Now I don't know what I would do if I couldn't communicate via email.

The requests kept coming from people who wanted to know what I was working on, what was new, what I was excited about. So here it is. Once I figure out how to post some pictures we will be in business. Now if I don't answer my emails be patient, I'm using my emailing time to figure all this out!