New Work

Here are some photos of the new work I've done. Krista has helped me do some of the lip wraps and wraps around the body of some of the pieces.

Note the matching gumballs with the colors on the vase.

I plan on posting again later this week with an offer for PHARMACEUTICAL REPS and DOCTOR'S OFFICE PERSON. Stay tuned!
CM

Still Going!

Wow time flies! I have been so busy with catering @ the restaurant and blowing glass a little here and there, plus working out a little more trying to keep that extra weight from finding it's way back. 2 or 3 nights a week for the last 2 or 3 weeks I have been only getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Other nights, 4 - 6 hours. Also, I'm trying to tweak my studio a little bit. The interior and the outside has still just a little bit to do, and I have been working on that in addition to trying to find a place to go with a decent amount of clutter(restaurant equipment, tools, construction supplies, & junk) that has found it's way into the studio. It's sometimes difficult to find that balance between doing everything in the correct proportion.

Also, Andy Boatman has offered me to participate in Blue Sage Studio's Home Show Dec. 2 and 3rd. I will post more info and a map later. Andy, Brent and the fine folks at Blue Sage Studios do really good work! You would enjoy seeing their stuff.

See ya for now!

pharmaceutical Reps and Doctors office staff pay attention. Another free glass offer will find it's way to this website in the not too distant future.

Thanks,
CM

My First Show!

I got a call from Andy Boatman this afternoon(Wednesday) and received an invitation to participate in the show @ the State Fair Grounds in the International Building. That's the building that used to have the inflatable roof on it but now just has a conventional roof. I have my stuff in the Blue Sage Studio Booth about halfway down the building on the South(I think) side. (It's the side by the big aircraft outside). Andy, Brent, Callie, and Drew will also have their stuff there. The show starts Thursday night @ 5:00 pm for a special Corporate showing and then Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm and Sunday, 10:00am-5:00pm.

Come down and buy lots of stuff!

New Pictures & New Stuff

We enjoyed having my dad and his wife over to watch glass blowing for the first time. I can't believe he took me serious! He got 3rd degree burns on his hands. After getting out of the emergency room he said. . . (Never mind what he said)

My dad likes John Deere tractors. I blew him a oil lamp complete with refigerator magnets to complement the John Deere green and yellow color scheme.

On a more uplifting note, I like the system 96 nuggets better. It seems like the glass comes out more clear than the spruce pine batch. Krista helped me lip wrap the purple pieces with the green lip wrap. That was only our second time. We will get better with more practice. I really like the purple with the green lip wrap combination. I am going to expand on that series. I also blew some purple and black and really like that color combination.

I also added some more pieces to the Tiger Stripe Series. If you see something you like and you want to buy, let me know what piece you are interested in and I will price it for you. Also, many are on display at Italian Jim's Pizzeria @ 342 S. Mustang Rd in the Yukon area. I now have so much glass that I bought another display case. I need to tweak it a little bit with some track lighting and should have it installed @ Italian Jim's PIzzeria in a couple of weeks.

Just wanted to use this last paragraph to say hi to my #1 boy! Hello Micah! Look forward to seeing you this weekend at your homecoming game!

A Few Changes - Comments Settings - Email - Lucia

Friday night I blew glass until a little after 1:00 am because I am switching glass batch from "Spruce Pine Batch" to "System 96 Nuggets". I wanted to get all the spruce pine batch cleaned out so I wouldn't contaminate the new System 96. The reason why I am switching is because when I "charged" the furnace (That's glass blowerese for putting more glass batch in the furnace) with the Spruce Pine Batch it would take about 2 1/2 days to get to temperature, 1 day to cook, a night to squeeze, and 1/2 day to get up to temp again. That means when I ran out of glass, it would take 4 days before I was going again. With System 96 I put glass in tonight and tomorrow afternoon I am ready to go. It's more expensive, but easier. Beside that the resident glass blowing god, Andy Boatman recommended it. Good enough for me. Plus it saves on the gas bill. Speaking of such, I got my first gas bill for a full month with the furnace running 24 - 7 @ 2100 - 2200 degrees. Ouch! My glass pieces that used to sell for $2,000.00 now have to sell for $2,500.00 And that's all I'm gonna say about that!

My dad is coming up from Ardmore Ok tomorrow and watch me blow glass for the first time. I'm gonna hand him the piece of the end of the punty and say, "Here dad, hold this". He's never seen anybody blow glass before.

Greg and Patricia got their oil lamps on Friday. They liked them. Phil hasn't gotten his yet. I'm making him wait and see how much patience he has. If Phil reads this I may not get anymore catering jobs from him. Just joking Phil.

I now have 200 lbs of System 96 in the furnace waiting for tomorrow. I'm trying to streamline Bella Forte Glass Studio a little bit. It has a tendency to get cluttered. I'm sure it's Bush's fault (I said that for Andy Pappas' benefit)

COMMENTS SETTING CHANGED
YOU CAN NOW LEAVE COMMENTS WITHOUT BEING REGISTERED AND GIVING THREE BANK REFERENCES

Thanks to Andy P., Jim(who I see at Norman on regular basis), and 2 or 3 others I found out that you can't leave comments on my website unless you're registered with Blogger. Sorry about that. I spent some time tonight and FIXED THE FREAKING PROBLEM. (you should know by now that I have a sense of humor). I didn't realize that a setting had gotten changed. It's fixed now. Thanks again for letting me know.

EMAIL
Thanks to the great and magnificent Andy Boatman for showing me how to do the html code thang so I could add a link for emailing me. A few folks mentioned that also.

LUCIA!
Many thanks to Lucia for the nice comments on the vaze(that's the way you pronouce a vase that costs over $500.00) and all the promotion she did with it for me.

3 Winners!

Congrats to Patricia, Greg & Phil on claiming the oil lamps. They will be in your possession shortly.

New Color Series & PHARMACEUTICAL REPS Notice (2 Winners So Far)

The second photo shows the new color series that I am working to develop. I call it the "Tiger Stripe Series". The inside color in the vessel looks similar to what I think the yellowish orange on a tiger looks like. I am going to make an "Artifacts Series" in the Tiger Stripe and also matching bowls and platters. The other photos show some different things I have made.

TWO OF THREE DRUG REP WINNERS!!
Congratulations to Patrica & Greg! Patricia & Greg are pharmaceutical reps whho saw the website and mentioned the offer. We have had over 25 caterings booked this past week and Patricia is the only one who mentioned the free oil lamp offer in the first week. Greg started this week off by mentioning it. I now have 1 (ONE) free blown glass oil lamp that I will make for you if you are the next drug rep to call and book a catering of 20 or more and mention the FREE OIL LAMP OFFER! I've got a number of colors you can choose from for me to incorporate into your oil lamp. (only 1 lamp per person)

To book your catering and claim your oil lamp, call:

ITALIAN JIM'S PIZZERIA
405-265-0919
MENTION THE OIL LAMP OFFER TO THE PERSON TAKING THE CATERING INFO!!!

When the catering is completed, I will then within a relatively short amount of time blow you a lamp with the colors you desire from the colors that I have in stock (which are considerable).

Over time I have had a number of people at the restaurant (Italian Jim's Pizzeria @ 342 S. Mustang Rd in the Yukon, OK area) ask about prices for the items that I have blown and put on display. Until now, I have been reluctant to sell any because I wanted to get my studio up and running first. Now that I am up and running, I am selling my glass. It is now priced in the front counter at the restaurant. I invite you come in and take a look at the glass and purchase if you wish. I also take special orders for certain colors you want incorporated into the glass. Also, if you had a question about pricing for something that I have put on this website, just let me know.

THANKS TO ANDY PAPPAS!
Andy brought by a small square of granite that he had left over from a house for me to display some items on. It looks classy! Thanks!

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT ABOUT GLASS BLOWING
On Tuesday evening, Oct. 18th I am speaking to Kappa Kappa Ota Club (An organization for teachers or spouses and others involved in education) in Weatherford Ok about glassblowing @ The Mark Restaurant @ 6:00 pm. Just thought I would mention it.


Thanks,
Chris

Photo groupings & PHARMACEUTICAL REPS Notice

I am posting some photos of some of the glass that I have blown recently. A couple of pieces I blew @ Blue Sage Studios under the tutelage of the great and magnificent Andy Boatman.

I have been trying to blow "sets" of things. Things that go together based on color or type or both.

Here they are. I have them on display and for sale at our restaurant, Italian Jim's Pizzeria @ 342 S. Mustang Road in the the Yukon area. We are located just south of the intersection of Reno and Mustang Road on the south side of I-40. Be sure and click on each picture so you can get a better look at it. It's kind've hard to get a sense of scale for some of the pieces. In the one with the blue and green pieces, the tallest one in the back is about 16 or 17 inches tall. To me, they look smaller in the photos than what they really are.

ATTENTION!!
ATTENTION!!
PHARMACEUTICAL REPS READ THIS. THIS IS FOR YOU!

If you are a pharmaceutical Rep and you read this and if you book a catering for at least 20 people and mention this offer and are 1 of the first 3 to mention this I will blow you a hand blown oil lamp with a couple of colors of your choosing out of the colors I have in stock. I'll give it to you within a few days after the catering is completed. There is a picture of a green and orange oil lamp in front of the pieces in the top photo. Again, be sure and click on each photo for a better look.

Productive day

Hello everybody!

I started blowing glass today @ about 1:30 pm or so. It's a challenge to blow by yourself when you're not any better than I am. However, blowing without an assistant is certainly making me get better. Everything I blew today, I boxed! (That means it didn't fall off or break during the process and it made it into the annealer) However, one piece had a small hole in it where the punty was and I knocked a piece over in the annealer while I was putting another piece up and chipped the top. It was a $2000 piece too! That's my story and I'm sticking with it! (For a while at least) Anyway I blew for about 5 - 6 hours. I will post pictures of a couple of the things if they turn out. I won't know until after noon tomorrow.

See ya!

New Stuff!

Been extremely busy last week and already this week. Last week, we had 37 caterings at the restaurant. Here's some stuff I blew. Thanks to Brent for the assist.

Blowing and Going!

I've appreciated the calls and notes from friends that have congratulated me on the opening of the studio. I blew last night until midnight. Krista and I "pulled cane" last night. That was our first experience pulling cane. The experts make it look easy but it's not that easy. However we did great for our first time. As a matter of fact we did great even if we had done it a few times.

For the benefit of you folks who don't know what "pulling cane" is; "Cane" is colored glass encased in clear in a cylinder shape about the size of a 12oz coke can. You have a punty rod on each end and when the cylinder is good and hot, one person is stationary while the other person "pulls". You pull the cane and it stretches and stretches and stretches until it becomes about the size of a pencil (give or take). You then break it into manageable lengths and use it to put stripes in the glass work. If I make a good looking piece, I will take a picture and put it on the website.

I made a color bar chopper on Tuesday. I am posting a photo of it today. I am also posting some of the things we blew on that first day. I also am posting a picture of the color bars I have on hand at this time.

Micah is coming home today for the first time since August 10th! Looking forward to having "boy" around again for a little while.

We are going to be going to the OCCC art show and see Andy Boatman, Brent, and Drew at that show and their work. I encourage everyone to stop by "Blue Sage Studios' " booth there.

More Pics

Here's some pictures from the Day of Christening at Bella Forte.

Christening For Bella Forte

It is done! Bella Forte is now a fully functioning hot glass studio.

Heap big thanks to Andy and Angela Boatman and Brent Hickenbotham of Blue Sage Studios for coming down to the Christening of Bella Forte! Andy programmed my annealer. We made 4 or 5 pieces and "boxed" them (that's glass blowing talk for sticking your glasswork in the annealer) and finished at about 1 am Sunday morning. Andy even brought us a "studio warming" gift (a big jar of powdered frit) I don't care what everybody else says, I think he's a very thoughtfuland nice guy. (just kidding about the part of what everybody else says)

Linda and I also had our I two daughters, Kim and Krista, Krista's boyfriend, Carson, Kim's friend Crystal, Micah's girlfriend and pretty much member of the family, Anna - Micah couldn't make it in person because he was on his way back to NEO (after which he played in his first college game and did well - and NEO beat UCO) but he was there in spirit and on the phone.

I put 25 pounds of glass in the furnace about 1:30am, 9:00 am, 1:00pm, & 3:00 pm Sunday for a total of 100 pounds and am cooking it and will probably be able to blow on Wednesday.

Looking forward to many flawless excursions into glassblowing excellence.

Look Ma! Hot Glass!

The glass in the furnace finally got hot enough. However, there were very small micro-bubbles in the glass. Brent @ Blue Sage Studios said that comes from some of the fine grains of sand holding on to a tiny bubble. He said that's normal, just turn the furnace down about 200 - 300 degrees for about 12 hours and it would squeeze the bubbles out. I did, it did. The glass is awesome. Andy, Angela, Brent, and Drew from Blue Sage Studio are going to come out on Saturday after Micah's first college football game (N.E.O. @ U.C.O. in Edmond), and program my annealer and blow the first glass @ Bella Forte. That means next week I should be blowing consistently and get my touch back. I have really only blown once (I think) since last Christmas. My how time flies! Today's the 25th, it's only 4 months until Christmas. WOW!

Following are pictures of the furnace and glory hole set-up showing the rolling heat shield I made and also the propane hand torch cart I made. I have a picture of the pipe hanger also, but it's so thin that it's hard to see really good with everything else in the back ground. More pictures inside the studio coming later.

Also. . . Special thanks to Dr. Siler, Michelle, Kelley and Tammy for all your kindness today.

Hotter Than H. . .

Or at least it seems that way. I'm talking about the furnace. I don't have a temp gauge yet. I am trying to procure one from Federal Corp. I threw some glass canning jars I had asked my mom to save for me in the furnace so I could get an idea of hot it was getting in my furnace. After the third day, they had melted but upon trying to get a gather it became apparent that something was different than what I was used to. They glass wasn't nearly "liquid" enough. So I took the glob of glass on my blowpipe and stuck in my glory hole for what seemed like a long time and it never got dripping hot. My glory hole seemed as hot as I was used to a glory hole being but the glass didn't respond. I then theorized that the glass jars might be made out of different kind of glass that responds differently than what I was used to. So I cleaned out the glass of the furnace and dumped about 25 pounds of my "batch" glass in and am now waiting the 2 or so days for it to heat up. If that doesn't do the trick, then I my have to search for another blower that blows at a higher velocity than what I have. Still waiting for that elusive "hot glass"!

"...And On The Third Day. . . "

3 Days and about 2 hours and the furnace is still heating up slowly. Cheri said it could take about 4 days to get it hot enough. Looking forward to hot glass.

Today I fabricated some more small but handy equipment. I made a blowpipe holder. A blowpipe holder is what you use when you are blowing glass solo. After you have blown the piece and you are ready to "transfer" it, you hang the piece in the blowpipe holder while you grab a "punty" (it's like a blowpipe except it doesn't have a mouth piece and the hole running all the way through the length of the pipe) and get a "gather" of fresh glass out of the furnace (that's so the punty will stick to the other end of the piece you are working on). You then grab the blowpipe, lay it on your glass blowers bench across the supports and stick the punty to the other end of the piece and knock off the blowpipe. The piece is then "Transfered". If you are familar with the process, you probably understand what I just said, if not, it may not make sense to you yet. Maybe later I can take pictures and explain each step a little better.

I also finished fabricating my hand torch caddy and my glory hole door opener rod and the place to hang it. Small, time consuming stuff, but kinda needful.

Now all I have to do while I'm waiting for the heat to come up is:
• Get rid of the the construction clutter that has accumulated in and around the studio. (It's hard to imagine that I'm so messy.)
• Hang some more sheetrock
• Hang some more slat wall paneling
• Hang some shelves
• Get everything organized

Then I will be ready for Andy Boatman and his crew to come and blow the first offical pieces @ Bella Forte. Once again, Andy and the folks at Blue Sage Studios have been really good to me. I am blessed to have them as friends.

Micah, if your reading this we miss you alot. You're where you are supposed to be, so stay dedicated and work hard and put those running backs and quaterbacks on their A's in a fierce and sudden manner.

Remember the Four C's of Leadership:
• Competence
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.

• Commitment
The only real measure of commitment is test by action. Commitment is the enemy of resistance, for it is the serous promise to press on, to get up, no matter how many times you are knocked down.

• Character
Action is the real indicator of character.
We DO choose our character.
We create it every time we make a choice.

• Courage
“When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are
stiffened.” Billy Graham.
“The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” Roman historian Tacitus
“A ship in the harbor is safe,
but that’s not what ships are built for.”

Looking forward to Hot Glass!

Getting Hotter!

It's Tuesday night and the glass jars I threw in the furnace yesterday are now slumped together. Good sign! Even though they were soft enough to slump, when I tapped them with the blow pipe they were still solid. Not hot enough yet, but for sure still moving in the right direction. Hopefully it will continue to get hot enough. I will keep you posted.

Tuesday Morning And All's Well

The furnace stayed lit all night. A good sign. Seems to be headed in the right direction.

Hopefully . . .

After talking with Cheri up in Wichita Kansas, I went back out to the furnace, did what she suggested and it seems to be working. According to Cheri it might take 4 days to heat up. I will be checking it every couple hours throughout the night. Hopefully it is now doing what it's supposed to be doing.
Hopefully . . .

Furnace problems

I spent about 4 hours trying to tweak the furnace. No Good. I called the lady I bought it from and she encouraged me that it was possible to make it work. They used it everyday in Colorado. She seems to think I'm trying to have too big a fire. Hope still springs eternal and hopefully I will get it tomorrow. Getting anxious to blow glass.