I don't get to blow glass very often, so when I do, it's a real treat.
But wait, if I like it so much, why don't I do it more often? Well, if I ONLY blew glass, I'd do it every day (or most days...). BJ and I are very diversified though. Along with the glass, we paint, build sculptures (out of the glass we blow), build furniture, websites, 3D modeling and animations, plus lots of other things.
Probably tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll have to spend a large chunk of the day printing, matting and then framing one of our artworks. Plus I do a lot of marketing and all the office work (bills, invoices, mailing lists, yadda...). On the days I blow glass, it pretty much takes up the entire day. If I have to do anything over a couple of hours (framing, errands, meeting, sick cat....) I can't blow that day.
A Day of Blowing:
11PM the night before: I fill the furnace with batch (crushed clear crystal) and start the firing. It takes 15 hours and heats up the glass to a molten 2175 degrees!
1AM: Go to bed!
9AM: I get up, infuse myself with tea and wake up with email and cnn.
10 or 11: Get to do a little work on other projects - maybe do a print, glue up some wood, a little carving, get shipments ready, etc.
1PM: My partner, BJ Johnson, arrives at the studio. He fires the Glory, which takes about an hour to get to 2000 degrees.
2PM: We go out to start. BJ cranks up the lights, the pipe warmer and gets the tools waxed and ready. I fire up the annealer. It heats up to 975 degrees in about 20 minutes. I also crank up the tunes on my ipod through the speakers. And we're ready to blow!!!
8PM!! We finally call it a day, ready to go in, make dinner and vegetate a bit. The glory is turned to low and the furnace allowed to cool to about 1200 degrees, so that I can fill it back up at 11 and start again!!
It's a full day, exhausting, exciting.
Comment, please, ask questions.
Peace,
Joy
