Around the Corner

You know when you move into a new neighborhood how much fun it is to explore what is there?
This week I took a look around my "new" neighborhood where Dream Fire Glass studio is located

I have lived in San Antonio 30 years and I have driven down West Avenue too many time to count. This time I was looking at it with new eyes. I wasn't just going from point A to point B. I was really looking at what was there.

I was happy to find a Fire Station just a few blocks from the studio.

Why so Happy? Well beside the obvious reason. I have always had a good working relationship with the fire inspectors. I aways get a "gold star" for the proper storage of my O2 tanks and the correct amount and placement of fire extinguishers etc. Knowing they are right around the corner makes me feel safe.

Another welcome neighbor is Jeff's Backyard this is where I get my propane refilled. I love this place they are so nice and have a rewards program for filling you tanks! I also got an awesome tray to cook my veggies on the grill there.

Everyone needs place to buy grocery. Now there are plenty of grocery stores in San Antonio but knowing where the closest one is helps. Good to know there is a great grocery store just up the street.

Then if I just need to grab a soda there is a great little convenience store across the street.
Need a breakfast taco (yes we eat tacos for breakfast here in the land of the pinata) all I have to do is walk across the street to La Cocinita (little kitchen) the bacon and egg tacos are to die for! yum

Speaking of across the street there is a chocolate shop. YES a chocolate shop and you can walk there too.

Here is other place to get into food trouble.......One of my naughty fast food treats is thankfully not in walking distance but close enough to get me in trouble! I found out that lots of people have cravings for this fried treat!

Last but not least an old favorite Panchito's.
Many a happy evenings have been spent here with friends and family.
There will be many more to come. Maybe to many for my waistline.

Remember what happens at Panchito's Stays at Panchito's

After a long day at the torch where else would you want to be?

I say on the patio with a refreshing beverage.

Dream Fire Glass Studio's location is convenient to so many different place to get food and refreshment, you will have a hard time deciding where to have lunch or dinner after class.
We will never run out of propane and if you need to catch a plane it is less than 10 minutes from the airport.

Hope you enjoyed the neighborhood tour.
Now I had better get busy getting the torch room up and running!

Inertia of Motion?

Do you ever feel like you are not getting anywhere?
Even though I know I have accomplished a lot this week I feel like I'm not moving.  I have to wait before I can start getting the big things done. Right now the table, the hood and the gas lines are on hold while I get bids and work on code requirements. I feel like I'm not moving fast enough not getting enough done. I want to have the studio finished and be sitting at the torch. I want Fiery Fridays I want it all now!
I'm sure my students feel the same way.

So what did I get done?

Chairs Yes more chairs.
If the table is going to accommodate 8-10 people then I needed more chairs. I did a little running around town looking for tall bar stools. I didn't find anything so I went to the place should have gone first. I knew Home and Patio had the best selection and yes the best prices. I was in luck 6 very nice sturdy quality chairs on sale! They are really comfortable and they swivel. Now they will need a change in color (going to have them sprayed black) and replace the seat covers with non flammable material. So think black chairs not this crazy "wood" tone and pretty bright colors for the seat covers.



Put together chair

As you can see only one chair is all put together. I was thrilled to find out the rest of the chairs were not put together yet. That way I don't have to take them apart to have them painted they can go strait into the spray booth!
I measured out the 5 foot by 10 foot table on the floor and outlined it's footprint in blue painters tape. That way I can walk around the imaginary table with the "chairs" and see if it is going to work before we build the actual table. So far so good. I can walk around with room to spare.

OK! it's clear:
An object in motion stays in motion...........even if the motion is not fast enough for me!
The studio is still moving forward.

Got it done!

Today I worked on and submitted a proposal to teach at the 2012 Gathering.
I was thinking I had everything ready to go and it would be a simple matter of cutting pasting a little tweaking and hit send. I was having dinner at a friends house and thought I'll double check everything and send it from her house. All this before midnight today piece of cake. Yeah right.................I forgot about the thwart factor.
Renaming and tweaking takes way longer than you would think.
Got that done with time to spare. Hit send..... ERROR .. that's not good

Well my email is set up in some sort of strange configuration. Sometimes when I move from one hot spot to another my email will receive but not send. You will not thwart my efforts computer!
I can fix this hurry and go to another email system I use with my computer. Cut and paste the email, re-attach all the photos and applications etc. Ok how did it get to be 10:45 PM ?
Crossed my finger hit send and yes off it went,
So we shall see if I am a good fit or not for 2012.
Here is a sneak peek

Tiny Worlds: Creating a scene with small murrini

This 2-day workshop explores the miniature world of murrini. Students will learn to create murinni that represent components of a predetermined scene. Students will be ask to bring color photos of a scene they would to recreate inside a bead. This could be nature, a painting or anything that has small components in it.

We will be using COE 90 glass to create these tiny worlds in the beads. All skill learned can be used will any soft glass.

What do you think sound interesting?

Here are some examples

 

Pull up a Chair

Today I took two tall swivel "bar stools" to the studio. Now I have 3 chairs a phone and Internet. No table yet, we are going to build that, but I think I have decided how big the table will be. Having the chairs there really helped see how much room everything will take up. The table is now a outline of blue painters tape on the floor.
I recently covered these chairs for the studio. The material that came on the chairs was not  pretty and it was a synthetic which would have melted if hot glass landed on it. The replacement material is a thick 100% cotton - Like bluejeans if you get the hot glass off it quickly it is OK and much less likely to melt the chair to your leg.

I thought I'd share how I did it - Here is a "tutorial" in  recovering a simple chair.
First you have to remove the old material some people like to just cover it but for these swivel chairs it would have been to bulky.


Before OK but meltable and boring

 First you have to find the screws that hold the bottom to the swivel mechanism and remove them. Then the chair bottom will come right off

Remove the old material I cut it off with an exacto knife. Save the underneath covering (black) if it has one

You will need a staple gun and the new material

Staple the new material on and make sure it is pulled tight! Then I duct tape down the raw edges

Staple that bottom cover you saved    
Looking good now align the screws and put it back together.

All finished! Pull up a chair and torch a while!

Busy Day

Today was a busy day.
The movers came early in the morning and really got things done quickly.
I am sharing the building with Dos Mimi's Studio. They have been in this building for several years and their work area/studio was one of the rooms flooded. The room that will be the torch room which has a concrete floor was fill to the brim with everything from the rest of the studio. The movers moved and the Mimi's had things in order in no time. They cleared the space that will be mine and it was so nice to see the floor and have space to walk around in.

Now I can start getting quotes on the hood and the gas lines!
I have to make a decision on the size of the torch table. I'm thinking 5 ft by 10 ft maybe even 12 ft but that may be too much for the space. I say the more the merrier and the bigger the table the more people can sit comfortably at the torch.

Today I also figured out how to set up my wireless Internet and got it up and going.
Now that may not seem all that hard but I've never done it before so I was a little proud of myself when everything worked.

I am already missing being at the torch. One reason my business is called Dream Fire is when I'm not torching I actually dream about melting glass. Last night in my dreams I made a beautiful clear glass vessel with transparent aqua petals on it with a stopper that had an aqua flower winding out of it. Yes a vivid dream. I'll have to sketch that one and try making it when I'm really torching.

Now for some beads. Because this blog is useless with out pictures!

Flowers

Staying Connected

There are so may ways to stay connected now.
The Internet and cell phones are part of every ones life.
We can't imagine our lives without them.

Yesterday I spent the day waiting for the phone to be connected.
Yes and old fashion land line.
The technician was right on time and really nice. He got me fixed up in no time.
Dream Fire Glass Studio now has a phone!

210-342-FIRE (3473)
Lets stay connected!

This blog needs some beads!
How about some pinata donkeys.




Still on the mandrels

            

The Perfect Storm

You know how the world seems scrubbed clean after a storm?

The air is fresh and invigorating the leaves seem greener and the sky bluer.

The new studio is almost to the fresh and clean stage.

A perfect storm is a confluence of events that drastically aggravates a situation.

This is the confluence of events that are drastically aggravating me!

A few weeks ago the space next door had a toilet "malfunction" which caused clean water to flow through my new studio space. I understand it was almost ankle high.

Good News: I have all new carpet and a fresh coat of paint throughout the whole space. I have plenty of time to think and plan.

I was planning to paint the walls in my office/break room and was going to live with the carpet it was not my favorite color. The flood damaged the carpet beyond just drying it out and putting it back in. The walls were soaked and needed to have holes drilled into them all around the bottom. This is to let air in to dry out the sheet rock under the panelling. For a week and a half  fans were blowing like crazy and the air-conditioning set really low to dry out  the walls. Finally the repair crew  painted and put in the new carpet. They are working on the bathroom flooring as I type.

Bad News: I can't get started as soon as I want in the torch room.

I am sharing the new studio space with two lovely ladies who fuse.They have been in this space for a few years and have a complete fusing studio. Everything was moved into the warehouse space so the crew could  paint and put in carpet. We can barely move through the warehouse/torch room right now. To add to this

 my main movers are not going to be available for 3 weeks due to a much deserved vacation. So I'm waiting doing small but productive things. I want to be getting big things done.

Here is a corner of my office space

Before : Old wood panelling and bare floor not pretty 

    

After: New paint, carpet and molding- pretty

                                                        
Tomorrow we celebrate the working phone line!

New Beginnings

Dream Fire Glass Studio is about to become more than a dream.
I finally made the decision to open my own brick and mortar flameworking studio.
 All good things take time.
There are so many things to do, build, buy and install before I can open the doors and light the torches. So for myself and all my students I'm hoping this blog will fill the days until we can all torch again.




My new beginning has a great address! Yes it is on the corrner of Persuasion and Rhapsody..... So many jokes there.







 
Stay tuned for the daily progess.