Glass Incarnate

Wee Small Hours, More Than Wee Anxiety

2012-01-26T06:29:00.000-05:00

The world is silent and dark at 5:00 am, with only a little orange light from the early morning fog-haloed street lights shining in the living room windows. Baxter and Ernie greet me drowsily from their beds next to each other on the floor, and, after I nestle into the recliner with an afghan to keep me warm against the winter morning chill, Ernie climbs into my lap (displacing my laptop as only a 20-lb cat can do). His purr and the refrigerator's intermittent rattling provide the music in the otherwise slumbering house. Why am I awake? Oh let me count the ways...

The Buyer's Market is three weeks away and I have not even begun the piece-list for the work I am taking for my primary booth. I say primary booth as, over-achiever that I am, I have two booths this year--a 10X10 and a 10X20. The 10X20 is for my current work in Morceaux de Verre, Todd's wire work with my glass, some small studio blown pieces, maybe the roll-ups, and my current line of pieces in steel stands from Black Cat (Bill and Elaine). I have been playing in my head with an idea for a new colorway, but I haven't progressed any further on it. The other 10X10 is a completely new direction in collaborative work with Black Cat: Kinetic glass and metal sculpture. The glass is a new thicker, cast design that is much more subtle and requires extensive cold-working (polishing, sandblast carving and etching). I have been working on those pieces, but am still (of course) behind.

Beyond creating the pieces for the Buyer's Market, I need to do all the marketing and support materials work. I still don't have the website for Siyeh Studio back up since it got hacked two (three?) years ago. I need a website for the new work (debuting under the name FeSiO--fay-zee-oh--a union of steel and glass) and I need photos and advertising (a pre-show mailing) for both. Need, need, need, it's all about need.

The manuscript for Book Deux is due May 1, though my editor has kindly offered me an extension to June 1. You might think the book could be finished any time, but as with other forms of entertainment, there are very precise seasons for new releases. Think of the summer block-buster movies. They aren't the March blockbusters. A studio saves the best of a certain genre of films (My Dinner With Andre would not be an example of such a film) for release starting Memorial Day weekend and going through the 4th of July. Likewise, spring is the best publishing season for how-to books, and, with a May release, I am already at the tail end of it. Note that I am talking about a May 2013 release if I turn in the completed manuscript by May 1, 2012.

Finally, I have a retail and teaching studio that continues expanding daily. Yesterday I officially hired two new staff members--Fawn Lowery and Linda Queen. Both have glass backgrounds, and both are uber-excited about working in a glass studio. Fawn will be teaching some of the Intro to Kiln-Forming classes on Sundays (expanded the hours again this year) and Linda is the second studio elf. Judy will be out for several weeks this spring, and Linda will be filling in for her. She will also take over management of the retail side of the house--cutting glass, managing inventory, supervising open studio, etc. Though I am *thrilled* to have new people long-term, short-term I have a whole lotta paperwork, electronic access and permissions to set-up.

Even with the new help there are responsibilities which are solely mine. The on-line class sign-up is not done. The new class descriptions are not on the website (for classes being offered February 4-5), I still don't have a retail POS system and the paper receipt books we have been using in lieu of computerized POS are just not adequate. If I didn't have enough to do, the February newsletter needs to go out by the end of the weekend.

The frosting on the cake of incompletes is tied, somewhat ironically, to Becky who does my books as best I let her (somewhat ironically as she makes incredible cakes too). I have 2011 business administration including W-2's, 1099's, sales tax, corporate tax annual filing, business license filing, income tax prep, and annual inventory all to get done by the end of the month--and I haven't even mailed in my payroll tax forms yet from earlier this month! I would also like a wee small idea of how I did last year that would come from up-to-date bookkeeping, but, honestly, who has time? Clearly not me as I haven't even been good at blogging recently!

More Website Development

2012-01-17T23:39:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's post was called Cheating Again as I discovered I had neither finished nor posted it when I logged in to Blogger tonight. However I did have the photo up and most of it done so I threw a quick ending on it, and, voila! Two posts in one day!

Today's post is going to be even quicker as most of my computer time since this morning has been spent honing my Joomla skills and putting up the Where We Got Our Name page on the Siyeh Glass website. There is a nice slideshow on the page, and I managed to figure out how to embed a scroll bar within an article. Now I just need my spouse to tell me if that is something I *can* do, but shouldn't, or if it is OK design. But he can tell me later. Now it's time to skitter off to bed to dream about a more productive day tomorrow!

Cheating Again

2012-01-16T23:32:00.000-05:00

Coffee in a white ceramic mug, the sound of lots and LOTS of noisy children and other people for my background music. I wait for my biscuits and gravy with over easy eggs and crispy bacon at Radial Cafe--it's a busy day today for a Monday. Guess it's because it's the MLK holiday. Jessie and her girl scout troop, along with several other local troops, are preparing sandwiches for 400 Decatur volunteers who are rehabbing residences for the elderly today. I am writing today, and doing a little bookkeeping (ugh).

Saturday morning was my first class of the new year in the new classroom space and it was AWESOME (to borrow J's favorite word). The participants all had a good time--and stayed an extra hour working on their pieces (very detailed first works). It was the first Intro to Kiln-forming 1 class and though I did end up talking a bit more about the science of the process than I had planned, it went well.

I am still putzing around with my cold so I am drinking lots of hot water and hot herb tea and getting plenty of rest. I have great hopes that it will be gone by the weekend if I continue to take care of myself. Once I am physically 100%, it's time to jump on the BMAC work. I have about 30 new pieces to do in the new style--kiln-cast, heavily cold-worked (ground, polished, sandblast etched, some pieces also carved and/or engraved. I designed these pieces under the assumption that there is truth in the title of Johnathon Schmuck's book "The Joy Of Coldworking". Now we shall see if I am right, or I am dead.

A Full Life

2012-01-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

Nothing to sip as I post, the sound of J taking a shower and the wind gusting outside for my nighttime music. The day started with a drive to Commerce to meet Bill and Elaine to finalize our new designs for the Buyer's Market show. I left at 7:40 this morning and got back just after 3:00 pm. The rest of the day in the studio was spent pulling, packing and shipping a supplies order for a new KGRC customer in Ohio, talking to Amy at Bullseye, and... And that's about it! It amazes me how little I can get done in so much time anymore.

Dave also left at dawn's first light this morning for a meeting in Alpharetta and he didn't get home till a little after 9:00--stopping at Publix to get fresh lettuce and carrots for the bunnies on his way home. I did the dinner, cello and homework thing. Mom took J to school and picked her up today and let the cleaning people in. Why, you might ask am I listing a whole bunch of non-glass things that made up today in my post on Glass Incarnate? I list them because more and more I am woven into the web of life and can no longer separate--not only the strands of work and home, but also the strands of me and the others in my household. We seem to be all becoming one entity with intertwining yet not necessarily complementary strands of needing and doing.

Right now I am having a hard time even remembering what it felt like before Dave and Jessie and a house and a business. Back then I had a job and a condo (with an on-property maintenance man). I ate whatever I ate wherever I was when I was ready to eat, and it was just me--or maybe me and my bird or me and my dog and my bird. When I had a project to do, I immersed myself for days on end during every non-working, waking hour. I could focus and power through massive projects in short amounts of time. Now it's seems to take all my time just to live a normal day. Face time with every member of my household on a daily basis is very important to everyone's (mine included) well-being and happiness. Time for hugs, time for snuggles, time to teach a little piano, play a little Race for the Galaxy, watch an old episode of The Greatest American Hero, play with the bunnies--all this time is no longer optional: It's life, it's now, it's every day, and it takes time--a surprising lot of time.

Am I whining? Complaining? Wishing things were different? Not a bit, well, not much. Sometimes I do look back on the Other Life with nostalgia, but it's nostalgia like you get for the 50's watching Happy Days (I think Dave just went "Nyah!" and stuck a fork in his eye--not a fan of Happy Days is our Dave.) The 50's weren't really like that--nor was high school (my turn for a Nyah! moment). Nor, if I am honest, was my earlier, simpler life. Simpler lives are for lesser women.*

(*Though I would like to end the post on that seemingly infinitely wise pronouncement, I have to give credit where credit is due: The original phrase is "Simpler wives are for lesser husbands", said by my spouse about me. :-)

Oh It's Time To Post

2012-01-10T22:09:00.001-05:00

A glass of some red wine in a stemless Riedel white wine glass (most of the red ones are broken), the sounds of Jessie practicing cello upstairs in her room with the door closed (she doesn't like anyone to hear her) for my background music. I allowed myself a glass of wine (or two) tonight as my cold is *finally* on the downswing. No, I didn't go to the doctor. It was a cold. Horrible, but a cold. No fever. I am done talking about the cold.

Today was the first day of my jewelry-making class and I was reminded both of why I like to take classes, and why I would rather learn from a book. I like taking classes in a well-equipped space because they have all the best tools. I like taking classes because the instructor always gives cool little tips that only come after a bezillion times of doing something. I like learning from books as the content covered in the first three-hour class is what I would do in the first 20 minutes on my own. Though I am very excited about my class, we spent today introducing ourselves, going over the syllabus, learning to light the torch, learning to move the torch back and forth with one hand while picking up small objects in tweezers with the other, and, finally, moving the flame back and forth over the metal at a consistent height for a minute and then quenching the metal in water at the end. Total time on torch/task: 10 minutes. I am not criticizing the instructor, the syllabus, ANYTHING. It is a reality of life that a class situation must move at the pace of the slowest possible participant, and, on the first day, the instructor has to assume we're ALL the slowest possible person.

What I most got out of the class--and it was so appropriate for my current overwhelming life topic of the book that it looks like I made it up--is the incredible, invisible potential overlap between disciplines in tools, materials and techniques. Because each discipline uses its own esoteric lexicon, the potential for cross-discipline usage is often overlooked. For example, my instructor in class today was surprised to hear that the company that makes chemicals for use on copper jewelry (JAX) also makes a copper patina for the stained glass industry. Is it usable on jewelry too? Interesting question. Maybe other jewelers are familiar with it, but she was not.

And speaking of the book, I stopped at Daven's today to pick up several ceramic tools and chemicals that I want to try using with glass. The experiments begin tomorrow! I might even get to making the traganth-gum pastels.... Oooh!!!!

Blogging is Useful

2012-01-07T09:25:00.001-05:00

India Spice Tea in the Pike's Place Seattle mug, the cozy cream-colored, knitted afghan that Dave started and his mother finished on my lap, Ernie cuddled by my side, and the sound of lots and LOTS of fire engines going down Memorial for my music. I start this post the old-fashioned way as I am posting today for the same reason I initially started blogging: I have writer's block. And it's not even writer's block for a big, daunting project like the book. Nope. I have writer's block on a 100-word description of Siyeh Glass for the Atlanta Art Craft Council (ACC) Show publicity materials. One hundred words... I should be able to whip that out in a matter of minutes. Heck, I've only been working on this post for as long as it took me to type the words (everything just flowed with essentially no pauses) and it's already 152 words. My brain is still woolly from my cold.

Yesterday I had to both cancel my meeting to go over new BMAC designs with Elaine and Bill in Commerce at 8:30 am and beg Lori to take my 4:30 glass date as I was just too sick. I've been up for half an hour now sitting on the couch with the aforementioned afghan and cat, and I'm just about ready to go back to bad to sleep some more. Thank heavens I don't have to teach today--nothing for me a kiln-forming glass date tomorrow afternoon.

But back to the writing thing. I keep going back and forth between first person plural (we) and third person singular (it and Brenda). Why, you might ask, if they're so short, don't I just write one of each and see which I like better? Because that's not the way writer's block works! There must be angst and a total inability to write anything. The words just don't flow beyond "Siyeh Glass is an intimate urban studio in the heart of the East Lake Neighborhood of Atlanta." That's 17 words. Hmmm. Maybe this isn't so hard after all. That one sentence is almost 20% of my text. And as easily as that, my block is broken!

Siyeh Glass is an intimate urban studio in the heart of theEast Lake neighborhood of Atlanta opened in 2008 by Brenda Griffith, glassartist and author of “A Beginner’s Guide to Kiln-formed Glass”. We offer smallclasses, private lessons, and “glass dates” in kiln-forming, glass blowing,glass casting, and torchwork. We also have a full range of equipment availablefor use on your own projects inOpen Studio. As a Bullseye Kiln Glass Resource Center, a Delphi Elite Dealer,and an Olympic Kilns authorized distributor, we carry all the tools andmaterials you need to work with hot glass.

I knew this blogging thing was good for something! Back to bed...

Studio Chicks, Buns, and a Cold

2012-01-06T11:41:00.000-05:00

For those who look at Glass Incarnate more or less daily, you will see that I have been cheating all year and slipping in backdated posts. The Year in Review and Upcoming Year posts always take a lot of time, but I want them to be linked to the day of Intent to Publish rather than the day of publication. I know it's confusing but try to keep up--and I hope to have the Upcoming Year post up tomorrow.

Yesterday it warmed up a little, and my cold seemed to be going away. The day started with getting Char off to the vet to be tutored, and then driving on down the road for the first KGRC meeting of the year with Lori and Judy. We reviewed the business process, partnership and class information Gail and Stacey at Wired Designs in San Antonio shared with us over three days in December. (I was only there for a short day, but Lori stayed at Gail's house, and Gail and Stacey both opened their brains and their business model to her.) We put together some classes, talked a bit about how we're going to work on the book (Lori has volunteered to work on the projects and techniques sections with me), and talked loosely of our goals for the upcoming year.

When we got back to the studio, I was overjoyed to find the first egg from one of our chickens--go Tuxedo! It was small and white (and looked a little pitiful nestled in among the big, brown organic ones we've been getting from Publix), but Jessie was happy to have it for breakfast this morning. Char finished surgery early and could come, and it looked like the day couldn't get better. I was right. It couldn't. (Though the first interactions of Char with his progeny were very cute--they went right up to him, groomed him, and snuggled in to take a nap!)

Round about 6:00 pm my cold swooped back with a vengeance, and it has been so bad--coughing, sore throat, congestion, head ache and fatigue--that I finally had to cancel my meeting in Commerce with Bill and Elaine set for this morning to go over the progress we've made on our new designs for the February BMAC. I rescheduled for Monday, which means I have to reschedule Dee from Monday to Wednesday--if she's available--to work on stenciling for her new show work and some book projects too. Tuesday is the first day of the jewelry-making class I'm taking up at Spruill.

This morning I finally dragged myself out of bed about 9:18 (really), and Mom (who is as sick as I am) and I toddled off to the studio to clean up after my Christmas project (a present for Mom) of a custom-stenciled-acid-etched-hand-dyed-velvet fabric sewn into a three-piece outfit. I am still in midst of the acid-etching part. Never one to try something for the first time in a reasonable size like, say, a SCARF, I seriously underestimated the amount of time it would take to stencil and acid-etch four yards of 45" wide fabric. Ah well, live and learn! I had hoped to finish the etching today so I could permanently remove it from the worktable in the classroom in order to be ready for my kiln-forming glass date this afternoon at 4:30. But given how I don't have the energy to be on my feet for more than 10 minutes at a time, I think I am going to have to just clean it up and put it back out another day. *sigh*

First Day In the Studio in 2012

2012-01-04T14:33:00.004-05:00

It's cold today, and I have one too--a lousy, crappy cold that has lasted all year! True, it's only been four days, but I have been drinking lots of hot tea, getting plenty of rest, taking supplements, yadda, yadda, yah. And I'm sicker today that I was yesterday. I'm about ready to go home and snuggle under the down comforter for a nap!
Okay, grumbling out of the way, on to GLASS. Today is the first day the studio is open this year, and the first week with our New Hours! On the one hand, I feel like we change our business hours like we change our shoes. On the other, I see it as flexible adaptation in the face of changing needs. The current change--opening Sundays again--is in response to the addition of better classroom/open studio space, Studio Elf availability, and hiring another kiln-forming instructor/open studio monitor.

We have several other changes taking effect today too, but I've decided not to re-list them here. You're going to have to check out the newsletter article on the front page of the website to see them.

My Civic Duty

2012-01-03T11:09:00.001-05:00

I have wi-fi! What a surprise as I am in thejurors’ room waiting to see if I am called for jury service.Dekalb county has a lovely room for their jurors to wait. The seats aremovie-theatre comfy, there are restrooms, vending machines, and frequentbreaks. After being processed in at 8:15 (it took about 10 minutes to getthrough security, register, and get my badge), we heard a nice little speech from one of the judges on the importance of performing one’s jury service. Thenwe settled in to watch a 30 minute movie of interviews of Georgia SuperiorCourt judges talking about what they do, what they like, don’t like, and want the public toknow about their jobs, and why they chose to become judges. It was well-done, thoughtful and interesting—anddefinitely livened up by the prospective jurors seated around me.

Before the movie we were told to turn our cell phonesoff, so of course the cell phone of the man sitting diagonally behind me rang a couple ofminutes into the movie. Not surprising, something so common—thoughimpolite—that I wouldn’t even mention it but for the fact that instead ofturning it off, he answered it! When everyone around him (including me) turnedand glared at him in astonishment, he said helplessly that he didn’t know how to turn it off.The woman next to him took it from him, passed it to the man behind him, and thatman supposedly turned it off. Then we all went back to the movie.

Not too muchlater the man seated next to the man with cell phone—directly behind me—startedto snore. At first it was just little snortles—and we all turned to look at himand then at each other, eyebrows raised and bemused grins on our faces—but then he really began to rumble long andloud. Finally when others in the room of 390 people started moving restlessly in protest, the man with the cell phone and the woman who grabbed his phonesimultaneously jabbed the snoring man to wakefulness. He grumbled at them to "get off of me",and settled back into his seat. I grinned and whispered to him that he had beensnoring, and he replied that he’d had to get up at 4:00 am to make it in forhis service. I commiserated, and we all settled back in to watch the movie. Notfive minutes passed before the man next to him’s phone rang again! I couldn’thelp but laugh at this real slice of jury duty.

After the movie a few people were called to go up to thecourtrooms, and the rest of us were given a 20-minute break—and encouragedmore than once to go to Chick-Fil-A across the street (but not McDonald’s asthey are really slow there and we would surely be late getting back). I usedthe opportunity to move from my comfy/funny place to a one of the fourworkstations with little desks and power strips in the room and now I amsettled in till I get called or go to lunch. We get lunch for two hours from12:00-2:00 and I am going to try to meet up with Dave. Then we are back in the room waiting to be called for selection pool until 4:00. If I getpicked for a jury, I will be on jury duty till then end of thetrial—surprisingly, not an unwelcome prospect. I am actually quite looking forward to theexperience. If I don’t get picked today, my service ends today.

Deciding who gets called up to a courtroom as one of the 20-50people in the pool for a single trial is done by randomly drawing the juror’snames—it isn’t linked to your juror number. I was kind of hoping it was, as I amjuror #1 and would have been sent up to be chosen early. The group that was justcalled was called for a trial starting at 1:00 and they were told that theycould leave and go home till then if they wanted, but they were abjured not tofall asleep as the court would then have to send the deputy to get them, andeveryone else would have to wait, and it “it would just be a big ‘ole mess”. Oooh, this is so much fun!

The End...

2011-12-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

It's time for the year in review at Siyeh Glass. What were the highlights and lowlights of 2011? In preparation for writing about what we did do, I thought I'd start by looking at what I hoped/planned to do to see what was accomplished and what fell by the wayside. The post from 1/1/11 was very helpful for prodding my memory. Following its format, here is a brief summary of 2011:

I wanted a new glass furnace, and we got one in January giving us a full-time and a back-up furnace for blowing. Even with the back-up we still had a few down times in the hotshop, but I feel that we ended 2011 *much* more reliably than we did 2010. Didn't get any new electrical service--nor did we add casting kilns, another annealer, or another gloryhole. Guess I was a bit too enthusiastic about equipment last year.

2) Facilities: On the other hand, we did really well facilities-wise. I had hoped to add 1-3 more spaces, and we hit that one out of the park--we even have a new space that we aren't using yet! I had thought to screen in the back deck and put the kilns out there, instead, I got a whole new finished room there. We also built the second large outdoor facility--280 sq feet like the hotshop with its own little back deck. Right now it's being used for extra storage, but someday--maybe this year--it'll be a new classroom. We also bumped out the coldworking room and added enough room to it to comfortably house Licha's lathe--on long-term loan to us right now. And the front classroom became a full-time torchwork classroom with a built-in ventilation hood and fan. Never did do anything with the front porch, and don't think I will this year either.

3) Techniques: Casting, moldmaking and lost wax techniques have all been on the studio schedule since the 2009 BeCon when I took Linda Ethier's wonderful week-long workshop out in Portland. Unfortunately, adding this piece to the studio has been my biggest unfulfilled wish/failed endeavor.

4) Professional Development/Personal Work: At the end of 2010, I pinned a lot of personal growth on my time at BeCon and doing pre- and post-conference workshops there. Life intruded, and I was only able to do the conference and the pre-conference workshop with Steve Brown on manual 3-D printing--and that time was squeezed between other professional and personal demands. It, however, was a phenomenal workshop and I left extremely inspired to continue work in that technique. I haven't managed yet, but I have high hopes that progress will not go the way of the do-do bird and casting.

5) Process Development: I hang my head in shame. I took baby steps on the Siyeh Glass website, didn't get anywhere on the Siyeh Studio website OR a POS system for the retail business OR on an accounting workflow that works. My books are almost as bad now as they were at the end of 2009--in spite of Becky's best efforts to whip me into shape.

6) Staff: It was a bittersweet year for studio staff. We were successful in recruiting two more glassblowers--Tadashi Torii and Domenick Peronti--onto our staff, and we are thrilled to have them. They bring new skills and energy to our program, and we were able--with their help--to refine our blowing schedule to be more efficient and economical. At the end of the summer, we also said goodbye to our founding glass blowing instructor, Lee Ritchie. Lee built our program to where its popularity necessitated the changes in its structure, and we thank him for two years of hard work and devotion to our studio.

7) Book 2: Ah, Book 2. I signed a contract with the publisher at the end of October for a 240-page tradepaper book of advanced techniques and studio best practices. The publisher is very excited about the book. I am very excited about the book, and the manuscript is due May 1. Wheeeee!

So that's what we planned to do and did or did not. What came up during the year that was unexpected? I look back on 2011 as the year of personal adversity and eventual personal triumph. My father died last January, my mother moved in with us, and I spent a lot of the rest of the year rebuilding connections with and making time for members of my extended family. Family and a healthy balance between family and work are crucial to my happiness. I am glad that, at then end of a difficult year, I have a better feel for what I need to do and how I need to integrate it all together. More about what that means in the next post on 2012.

Following the theme of Life, we added a chicken coop, bunny hutch and a chicken/bunny play yard connecting them behind the new outdoor classroom. Initial population was one rabbit (Jasmine). Then she was joined by another Montana bunny, Charcoal. Then seven chickens, then two more chickens. We ended the year with five baby bunnies joining the family as (oops) our second rabbit was NOT a girl.

We also added to our vendor relationships during the year by becoming a Delphi Elite Dealer and and Olympic Kilns dealer. We look forward to growing all of our vendor relationships more in the coming year.

Socializin' and a Scattered Post

2011-12-29T12:03:00.002-05:00

Sitting at Kavarna sipping a medium Dancing Goats coffee with 1/2 'n' 1/2, and can't hear the music because the place is packed with chattering people. So far I have not even read my email as I keep seeing and stopping to catch up with so many friends I haven't seen in awhile. On this Thursday of the winter break (I am totally driven by the school and holiday schedule), it seems the most natural thing in the world to make time to look friends in the eye and casually chat with them--work be damned. But, finally, the tide of friends has rolled out the door, and I'm ready to buckle down (knuckle down?) and work on The Book. I never did get the huge surge of energy I was expecting to offset the extreme lethargy of the week's beginning, but at least I'm on keel again and moving forward more than sluggishly.

So it's December 29th. There are only two more days left in this month and this year. Why does that fact carry so much weight? I understand the hard stop in time for the fiscal year end, but there's more to it than merely a money break (after all, it's not like I could go out and buy something, give something, do something that would make an appreciable difference in my bottom line at this point). I feel a need to either get a whole bunch of stuff done (not too likely) or wipe off the to-do list and start fresh next week/next year with nothing carried over. Sadly that last option is not too likely either. I guess I need to resign myself to seeing time as a flowing constant without the human-imposed, non-real-deadline-oriented/purely temporal breaks.

But we're programmed to see these invisible breaks! We eat and drink to excess at the end of *every* year, and we commence dieting and exercising at the beginning of every one. Sure, we sometimes start the diet and exercise thingies at other times of the year, but they are usually more event-driven--need to wear a swimsuit in public, attend a wedding, go on vacation, whatever. I can't think of a single other time of the year where we do something solely because it's a certain day of a certain month, and the time of year has no connection to the earth or seasons or anything else. Some people do things on certain days for religious reasons, but that seems more proscribed than ingrained in any case. But enough about why I am compelled to break time into these completely unnatural segments. Why ever I do it, I do it. Time to move on.

What did I really do this past year, and what am I hoping to accomplish next year? Those are both questions big enough to deserve their own posts, so I have broken them out and will publish them tomorrow and Saturday. The rest of this post will zoom back in on the little things that any normal, not-the-end-of-the-year week would bring.

When you get going in ninety different directions (as I am occasionally wont to do), things will inevitably fall through the cracks. Two weeks ago, the day after I got back from my trip to Austin, what fell through the cracks was remembering I had been called for jury duty. The State of Georgia Superior Court of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit was NOT amused. I got a letter last week that included the words "contempt", "fine" and "jail sentence". I called them today abjectly sorry and am rescheduled for January 3. Dekalb county has a system whereby you can call the night before you are scheduled to appear to see if your block of juror numbers is needed. Given that I am juror #1 for my day, I am pretty sure I will be called. They probably save the first block of numbers for people who previously didn't show up--the way an airline will save the first block of seats on the plane for special people. It's good to be special. :-)

I was hoping to have the monthly KGRC meeting on Wednesday January 4th to finalize plans for our next quarter, but I have a strong, sneaking suspicion that I am going to be chosen for jury duty, and it is going to tie me up for awhile. I hope not more than a week as I start a jewelry-making class on January 10th at 10:00 am for which the first class is mandatory... Nope. Not going to borrow trouble. Things will unfold as they are meant to do.

And that's enough of a post for today. Happy Merry everyone!

Work?

2011-12-27T11:52:00.001-05:00

I need to be back to work today, but I am suffering a particularly bad bout of post-Christmas vacation syndrome. I have been sleeping-in late, reading trashy novels, munching on snack food, cuddling with my family, playing games, visiting with friends, and watching movies--ignoring everything I still have piling up on my plate to do. There are Christmas presents to finish and ship, orders to do and ship, a book to get cracking on, and all the other studio year-end cleaning/organizing/inventory/marketing tasks to complete. I thought I would start the new year fresh and ready, but right now it looks like I will ring it in with a bunch of last year's baggage still attached. I WANT A FRESH SLATE, but I seem unable to compile the energy necessary to make it happen. *sigh*

It's almost noon on Tuesday and I have yet to do anything this week but whinge and apathetically think about doing something. Yesterday I told myself that you have to listen to your body and honor the message it sends to you. If it says really loudly that you have to take A DAY OFF, you should do it. I consoled myself with the conviction that today would bring renewed energy and focus, and I would work better for the break. Nope, not happening. I have read and written email (one message), listened to and answered voicemail (one message), begun this post, and sighed a lot. What will the afternoon bring, I lethargically wonder? Maybe a nap...

Welcome to the Future

2011-12-23T23:10:00.000-05:00

Today I installed and configured a new software application called “Dragon Dictate” to help me work hands-free. This post is my first attempt at using it, and I think I'm going to like being able to write while drinking my coffee and holding the mug with both hands. Not that I'm holding a coffee mug right now as it's after 10:00 in the evening, but it's the thought that counts. Ahhhh, no more hunting and pecking at the keyboard, all I have to do is think it, say it and, voilà! (Wow Dragon Dictate even put in the accent correctly!) If I can't get the book done by May 1st with all this technology at my fingertips, I'm completely hopeless.

I've never dictated to anyone before, so it's very odd to have to say the words for punctuation. But this program seems to be remarkably accurate at processing what I'm saying and turning it into words, sentences, and paragraphs. One thing I don't have to worry about anymore is spell check! I don't even need to say a sentence smoothly and elegantly. It can come out jerky and hesitant, and, by the time it's translated into text, it flows beautifully. Of course without looking at the words as I type them--and being limited by the speed at which I type--I have a feeling it will be much easier to come across as a blithering idiot when my posts can come out of my mouth and onto the paper without being checked by my fingers. Clearly I will still need to review what I've written and edit it for clarity and meaning. (I wonder if I can get it to attach photos for me without having to use my hands?)

Tomorrow is the last day the studio is open in 2011. If I weren't rushing so much to get ready for Christmas, I would think it a good time to do a Year in Review. However, I still have look worse to decant and process… Oh dear, not “look worse” but “liqueurs”. And there is a big project on the loom, another on the knitting needles, and yet a third textile project on the classroom table in the studio. All are Christmas presents, and none will be ready for Christmas Day. Good thing my family knows me! (Jessie said “wow” as she watched me finish up this post verbally.)

Next week, Dragon Dictate firmly mastered, the book begins in earnest.

Somewhat Derailed

2011-12-19T10:02:00.002-05:00

Coffee in the New Orleans mug, Rolling In the Deep by Adele on iTunes, Brian on the phone giving me the information on the stencil material for the vinyl plotter the studio is leasing starting today. I love me more equipment! Brian is also bringing an old Windows computer to run the plotter software (and it will also print to the old laser printer Dee lent me to do the fusible photo paper designs). With this bonanza of really old equipment, we will be able to create computer-generated/plotter-cut stencils for sandblasting, airbrushing and silk screening AND we can make our own fusible decals for glass. Wheee! New classes ahoy.
I missed posting a couple of days last week due to complete and utter studio chaos and madness. Never being one to let grass grow beneath my feet, I scheduled the swapping out of the kiln-forming classroom with my workroom for Friday--knowing that I had two full classes to teach on Saturday (over full--12 in one, 6 in the other) so it would have to be done. Dan the Wunder Carpenter came and moved the frit-storage wall units and cut them down to fit their new location. Dee and hubby Arno came to play Igor and schlep stuff from room to room. Even Becky the Bookkeeper pitched in and moved things after my books fried her brain. We didn't get everything moved on Friday--there is still 2800 lbs of frit and the three steel racks that holds it all to go. However the classes went great on Saturday, and I have to admit that the big yellow room is a *much* better classroom. Thanks to Lori for prodding me into finally giving it up.
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I wrote the preceding text yesterday and got completely derailed before I could finish it. This morning it's coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, the happy sounds of Baxter munching on a squeaky toy for background music. The new old equipment is installed and working (modulo the last driver for the printer). Dee, Arno and Brian are all coming back to the studio today to work on various pieces, and I may also put through a vitrigraph run. Brian is coming to work on the large-scale design we started yesterday--for a Christmas present for my Mom, not for new work. Dee is coming to learn that technique, help with printing the decal again so I can fire that new work for the Buyer's Market (and for a book project), continue moving the remaining 1800 lbs of frit and powder to my new workroom, and maybe pull some vitrigraph. Arno is coming to play Igor again.

So how did I get derailed yesterday, you might ask. Well first it was everyone showing up to work, then it was the arrival of baby bunnies! Dee, Brian and I were heading out for a quick lunch and as we passed the chicken/bunny play yard, we noticed Jasmine with a a small pink/grey object. Sadly it was a dead baby and I was afraid we were having a repeat of the last bunny birth (two dead, no living). However it seems that that one was stillborn, and there were five squirming, snuffling ones in the nest Jasmine lined with chicken feathers and rabbit fur (mother rabbits pull out their own fur to make a nest). I relocated mother and babies to a smaller rabbit cage in the house, and the babies into a cardboard box lined with a towel and Jasmine's next for a nest box. It's December and though some days are warm, some days are really cold and hard on naked little bunnies. Everyone seems to be doing fine today.

Now I'm going to get this post up before anything else happens to delay me yet again...

Studio Reorg

2011-12-16T09:13:00.000-05:00

I've been awake since 5:00 am and up since 6:30. Was at the studio by 7:00. Today is the day of the big studio room swap--my workroom for the teaching classroom--and it's also Jessie's last day of school before the winter break. There is a school assembly at 11:30--which I must attend--and I have scheduled two people and a volunteer in the studio to help with the move this morning starting at 9:30. Somehow I don't think we're going to get everything done by 11:30, and I am going to have to leave them for a bit while I run to school. I hate dividing my energy, and I feel guilty leaving others working while I am gone. Unfortunately, my schedule for the next four and a half months doesn't really have any holes in it. In addition, tomorrow I teach two over-full classes and so need to have the move completed before then.

On a more-glass-less-business topic, I have been working on a new series this week and the final step--which came out of the kiln this morning--failed. *sigh* Back to the drawing board. I am trying to use the photo fusing paper to make my own laser-printed image to fuse on one of my pieces, and for whatever reason, the image burned off completely in the firing. There are many ways I deviated from the instructions so it might be to be difficult to isolate the cause of the failure. I am not sure if the toner my laser cartridge uses has enough iron in it. I didn't put the transfer on a flat piece of glass so I wasn't able to squeegee it down as much as is called for in the instructions. I didn't dry the transfer over night on the glass--I fired it for an hour at 100 degrees before ramping the rest of the way up.

I hope the problem was low iron as Dee brought down her laser printer that she has successfully used with this technique and transfer material, and we are going to try it today.

Social Media

2011-12-15T23:06:00.002-05:00

Though it took me till now to post, I spent the first several hours of the day on the computer working on integrating social media into Siyeh Glass. I have finally succumbed to Twitter (Really, you say? Sadly, yes.) I have finally determined an honest-to-biscuit use for it (for me). You see, first thing this morning I thought it would be good to put out into the world a reminder that there is still time to create a blown glass ornament at the studio before Christmas. I thought of putting it on Facebook, and while that would work, it doesn't seem the most elegant and appropriate use of the magical Internet. I almost like having Facebook as more of a place for images, lead paragraphs for the blog (go there and read it), and a place for other people to leave comments. The blog, this thing I do here, is obviously much more verbose than anything I can (or should) do in either Facebook or Twitter. I didn't even realize until today that I had a need for a different place for quick little pushes of data. And yet...

I can see really having some fun with Twitter if I can get some local followers. It would be cool to use it for little teasers like: 50% off ALL glass and supplies today from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm--reference TWIT1 (76 characters), and New class schedule up, register for a class today, and get another class (same or lesser value) FOR FREE!--reference TWIT2 (122 characters).

But of course getting to the point where it will be fun is like going from being pregnant to having a 10 year-old. Ten is a great age, but it's preceded by morning sickness, waddling like a manatee on legs, childbirth, night feedings/no sleep, potty training, the terrible 2's (and 3's), etc. Today it took what felt like forever to get a "follow us on Twitter" link up on the website, and a link to our Facebook page. I wanted a Like button for Facebook that would link to Siyeh Glass, but I was never able to get one working so I settled with a Facebook "badge" and if people click on it they can "like" us from there.

Now I need to get some followers for Twitter. I can see ways of speeding that up, but they require yet more effort (effort already allocated to The Book Deux). But if I WERE to try to get followers, I might put something like the following here (on the blog), on the website, and on Facebook: First 20 people to follow us on Twitter automatically signed up for a drawing for a free class, first 50 people to follow us automatically in a drawing for 50% off total purchase, first 100 people in a drawing for one of ten 25% off total purchase coupons. Or would it be better to save the big things (like a free class) for the masses and give it after the first 100 people have signed up. Maybe giving away something guaranteed but small to the first five, something a little bigger but not guaranteed--but still with good odds--to the first 15, etc. Here is where the small business owner needs a degree in marketing (or maybe statistics would help--though Dave laughed when I said that to him and assured me I needed marketing).

And Twitter and Facebook are just the start. Now there's also Google + and who knows what else--all of which have to be integrated into Joomla and each other. *Groan*. As if being a small business owner wasn't complicated enough already!

Austin Day 2

2011-12-09T13:17:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I blogged a bit, got an idea and worked on it, blogged a bit more, worked a bit more, and generally jumped from task to idea and back again. Today I am much more focused. This morning I was ON VACATION and finished a book, and now I am going to write the new class description. I will blog until I am done blogging, and then move on with 100% focus to another task.

Coming to Austin with Dave while he works is the best thing for professional me. Austin removes me completely from all of the other things and people at home who would distract me during the day. Here I have nothing but the laptop in front of me to demand my attention--until I read my email. Gah. I should have avoided email for the day. Nothing sucks one in like eDrama. But back to being AWAY from it all...

Unlike when I am on vacation, here I have no guilt when I want to get spend the entire day on focused work because Dave is also off at work. Here there are no children with playdates or cello lessons, no chickens, no dogs, no cat, no pond, no rabbits, no studio, no classes, no dates, no house (with all of it's daily maintenance issues) to distract me and pull me off task. There's just me and my laptop. One focus, one mission. "On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" (Really, it's not a non-sequitur.)

Live From Austin!

2011-12-08T11:34:00.001-05:00

Sipping a mocha at my window table in The Hideout Coffeehouse looking out on the Arthouse on Congress Ave, downtown Austin. It's a chilly day in Austin. It's bright and clear--a perfect day for reflecting and planning the coming year (and the book--I have lots to plan right now).

Lori and I were privileged to spend the day with Gail Stouffer at Wired Designs Studios yesterday. Wired Designs is one of (if not the) first Bullseye Kiln Glass Resource Centers, and Gail and her partner Stacey Campbell are consummate businesswomen who have weathered the current economic downturn with poise and aplomb. As I prepare for the next stage of my business, I am very grateful for the insights Gail provided me into their business and what works/doesn't work for them, and I am looking forward to incorporating some of them into my plans for next year. I will have the perfect opportunity to work on them while the studio is closed (from the day before Christmas through the first of the year--need to get that info prominently up on the website).
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And time has passed. It's now after lunch (wonderful bun at Mekong River), and I have parked myself at BD Riley's to work the afternoon away. I have a shot of Knob Creek, a pint of Woodchuck cider, and the lovely guitar strummings of Josh Allen as my background music. Oh I miss Austin! Dave's office is around the corner, the Hideout is a block away and Mekong River is across the street--a greater sensory work/playground could not be found.

I finished the morning at the Hideout by registering for Beginning Jewelry and Metalsmithing at Spruill Center for the Arts starting January 10 (and then getting Lori to join me). Then I talked to Dee about helping me put together some classes in copper and bronze clay. I've dabbled in silver clay, but never went farther than that. Dee has worked with the copper clay (and has all the tools necessary for firing it--steel tray, charcoal to prevent firescale, etc.,). When we first started offering beadmaking I had the idea that it would be nice to also sell findings so that the class participants could take their beads and turn them into jewelry when they picked up their beads, but it was the discussion with Gail yesterday that really has me ready to expand our class and materials offerings to include metals and jewelry too. So I updated the studio website today promising new classes, and... wheeeeee!

Lori also gave me a suggestion yesterday that I'm going to have to put my big girl panties on and do--even though it's going to break my heart. The nicest room in the studio--by far--is my workroom. The kiln-forming classroom is the newest, smallest, and most... challenged room. For a variety of reasons, it only makes sense that I swap out those rooms. The benefits for me will be that I will be next to the kilnroom and I can close the door to the rest of the studio. The downsides are the sloping floor, the extreme temperature fluctuations and the noisy ceiling fan (all things I should have to put up with rather than the students in any case). I also *love* my workroom with it's west-facing windows, varnished southern pine floor, and beautiful Tuscan yellow walls. The kiln-forming classroom was originally the kilnroom and it was the last one I got around to painting so it was a bit rushed and not as well done as my workroom. But if I am going to focus on classes, I need an appropriate space for them, and the workroom is as close as my studio gets. *sigh*

Okay, the day is over, the spouse will be here any second to collect me, and I have made great strides in a direction for next year (even if it did take me eight hours to write this post!)

Business and Finance

2011-12-06T09:32:00.001-05:00

The year is winding to a close, and I look at my receivables and my payables (mostly payroll through the end of the year), and it looks like I'll be able to cover everything. Whew! Of course my books are in a total state of disarray as I neither let go of my laptop long enough for Becky to sort them out, nor do I keep them up myself. New Year's resolution: find an easier--i.e., more maintainable--accounting solution and process for me than ditzing around with Quickbooks. This will be (at least) the third year in a row where I have just thrown up my hands and said, "I'll gather more useful sales and expense data next year to use in analyzing the profitability of the various parts of my business", and I end up winging it again.

I have heard that Mint is a good solution for personal finances. I need to find something similar for business. What makes Mint so powerful is that it automatically downloads your data--you don't have to remember to do it before it's been archived by your bank's server. Yes, the data is usually available for download for at least three months--some would say more than enough time to download it into the appropriate financial management software--but if you happen to miss those three months then you have a very painful manual add and reconcile task on your hands. When that happens to me (as it usually does by June) I just give up till December when I spend two weeks manually inputting and balancing everything--or I beg Becky to mash it all together as best she can.

Of course the big downside to Mint is that it's made by Intuit--NOT my favorite company!

Art

2011-12-05T12:08:00.001-05:00

Is XKCD art? When you put your cursor in the last frame on the original page, the Alt tag (that extra little bit of text that pulls it all together) comes up. For this cartoon it says: "The moment their arms spun freely in our air they were doomed -- for Man has earned is right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane." Yes. Do we really care if it is fine art or applied/decorative art? Um, no.

This past Saturday was the kick-off of Taylor Kinzel's 8th annual glass show, and all the artists represented were there schmoozing. At the end we all stood with Mary and Patrick (the gallery owners) in front of a white Christmas tree and people, lots of people, snapped pictures of us. I kid you not--the flashes were popping all around us for several minutes (as we waited for Mary to take her place) and more than one comment was made that it felt like being rock stars at an event with the paparazzi.

We were all there to talk about our work. For me that means the technique that goes into it, the play of color and light that come out of it, and how it feels in my hands. It's all about the sensuality of glass and the need to possess it and live with it. There isn't a "meaning" to individual pieces--a life outside of me--and I found myself explaining this concept on Saturday. I somehow found myself sucked back into the "is it art" mentality--i.e., is my work "art" and therefore "worth" as much as something that is a "fine art" (i.e., more than something simply "decorative")? Yes. Yes it is.

Wikipedia has a very nice article about the historic and cultural distinctions between the fine and the decorative arts, and even before reading it I had realized that I am not meant to be a "fine" artist: All my heroes are cowboys, or, rather, architects and decorative artists. Antoni Gaudi, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hector Guimard, Victor Horta, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. The Art Nouveau ideals of harmony with the natural environment, design according to the whole space and integration into ordinary life resonate with me in a way that the impact of an individual piece of fine art in isolation does not--especially if the fine art in question is all about the "meaning" of the piece.

I often see colleagues struggling with being taken seriously as artists, developing their voices and realizing their visions under the perceived cloud of working in a "minor" art, and I am struck by the appropriateness of the use of the word "fine" in the phrase fine art. I cannot help but think of the song by Aerosmith (whose acronym also became popular with the self-aware set who don't believe "fine" is a good response to the question, "How are you doing?"). F.I.N.E. art. F*cked-up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. I think I'll stick to the decorative arts--thank you very much.

Value

2011-12-03T09:10:00.001-05:00

I spent a good amount of time yesterday working on the kiln, glass and tools package that I want to offer through the studio before the holidays, and I think my approach so far has been flawed. The goal should not be to put *everything* I would use in it, the goal should be to include what's truly necessary to start, and let the recipients build from there. I feel an analogy with the Intro to Kiln-forming class coming on: Break up what I see as the essentials into manageable stages. The kit I initially put together with help from Lori retailed at... Oh I am such an idiot.

I just pulled up the spreadsheet that I so diligently compiled and discovered I had fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. No, I hadn't become involved in a land war in Asia, nor had I gone in against a Sicilian when death was on the line. Nonetheless, Bill Gates is turning away while shaking his head sadly at me. I wanted to offer two kiln options--a square and an octagon--and instead of giving a choice, I had included both in the total cost. It was such a Homer Simpson moment I have to say it... Doh!

Okay, so the kit really retails at $1,787 (instead of the $2,596 I originally totaled). Unfortunately, I do not have a keystone markup on almost anything that goes into it, so my cost--without shipping--is still over $1,000. I want it to sell it for under $1,000, and I can't lose money on it. I don't have to make money on it--Ow! Lori just slapped me in the head from all the way up in Dunwoody. Okay, I *do* have to make *some* money on it as I reconcile myself to the fact that I am running an ostensibly for-profit business, not a 501 (c) for other people with a glass habit. So I go back to the drawing board and I start winnowing items off and putting them into the for-later bucket. I already have the strip and circle cutters in there, guess I need to add more so they won't be lonely.

Later today I'll be heading up to Taylor Kinzel in Roswell where I have over $8,000 in new work for the 8th Annual Glass Show. It's my favorite time of the year to get gussied up, drink champagne with other artists, and talk to people about glass.

A Need to Post

2011-12-02T10:43:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning certain that it was already December 4th and I had missed three days of posting after being so good in November... Guilt much? But it's only December 2, and I only missed yesterday because the wireless at Highland Bakery, where we had our first ever monthly KGRC meeting yesterday morning, was out. Highland Bakery, let me rhapsodize for a moment... It's more than just a bakery, it may be the best breakfast place I have ever frequented *anywhere*. *Ever*.

I had the Cilantro Corn Pancakes which were served over black beans and topped with 2 eggs over-easy, sour cream, salsa, shredded cheese, and cilantro (not necessarily in that order). Judy had the French Toast (I think it's a house specialty). My comment was "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head"--good advice from my youth that I keep to today (the slices were easily almost 3" thick). But back to the menu; where else can you get Country Fried Steak Benedict, Fried Chicken Benedict, Ricotta Pancakes, AND Sweet Potato Pancakes (lightly sweet southern style pancakes served with a warm caramelized brown sugar syrup and toasted pecans)? Oh I feel the fat flying to my hips--and the food wasn't just perfectly conceptualized, it was was also perfectly executed. How rare is that?

Enough about food. The glass business conversation was just as good as the food, and I left energized, motivated, and full of ideas for incremental changes to the studio classes, communication, open studio, etc., that will improve the studio experience and keep me happy. Today's newsletter (yes, you read right, TODAY's) will expound on some of them--as will the website. If you're not already getting our newsletter, it's time to sign-up (on the right side of this page works just fine).

Time to put together the kiln-forming starter package now so I can include it. It will be a deal to end all deals...

Last Day Of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo)

2011-11-30T10:23:00.001-05:00

Got to get to the studio and the desk before Judy gets in at 11:00! Some days you just get a wild hair that can't be denied or plucked so you just go with it. Yesterday I had plenty of more pressing issues on my plate, but I found myself at the studio, sitting at my desk, surrounded by ancient piles of crumbling papers (truly) and who-knows-what in bins on the floor shoved under the desk from three years ago, and I just said what the heck. And I started to sort, and file, and organize and CLEAN. Dave came over about 3:00 and asked if I wanted him to pick up the Sprout from school--I had no idea it was so late. Then he came over again about 6:00 (I had said I would be home at 5:00 so we could go out on a date) and I remembered with a start that it was Date Night and I was still cleaning! I rushed off and left everything as was, but I would like to get it finished so I can see the proud look in Judy's eyes when she gets in this morning and sees that I am not a total slacker.

Other interesting things happened yesterday--as they often will when I answer the phone on days the studio is closed. I got a call from one of the organizers of the ACC Show in Atlanta following up on an email he had sent a week or so ago about demoing glass during the show (March 9-11, 2012). The upshot of our conversation is that we at the studio are going to try to put together a full slate--three days worth--of demos of fusing, slumping, casting, torchworking, blowing, maybe rolling up glass, and moldmaking for casting. We'll have class lists and sign-ups, I think it will be pretty great. And we'll be the only ones there demoing hot glass.

Now off to finish the desk, finish wiring the glass furnace back up after changing out the relays (it was too cold and wet last night to do it), and go to the next items on my never-ending to-do list. For all those in the area, don't forget that the Sleigh Ride continues through 12/24 (Jessie and Olivia's beaded animal ornaments shown on the tree above).

I Love Me Some November!

2011-11-29T09:16:00.001-05:00

Though I spent the entire day on-line and working yesterday, I missed posting. NaBloPoMo winds to a close and I am so far 21 for 29. Not 100%, but a heck of a lot better than I've been doing in recent months.

Yesterday, in addition to not posting, I also ended the day with a big goose-egg in accomplishments. I moved lots of data around and around the Internet, and I still can't get my website working in its new location. All I want to do is move up one directory! It's not like I want to move servers or providers or something BIG. *sigh* For the time being I have two complete copies of my site in two different parent directories and a redirect sending everyone who goes to siyehglass.com to siyeh.net (which is how it's been since I put this site up a year or more ago). It's just going to have to sit and stew like that as the official kick-off of Book Deux is today (and I have no more hair to pull out trying to fix it). I have a conference call with my editor at 10:30, and we'll be putting together interim deadlines from now till May 1 when all 240+ pages are due. (eep)

Today, though the studio is officially closed, is also a shipping day, a firing day, and a clean-up day to get the studio back in shape after the Sleigh Ride. On second thought, I think I'll leave clean-up for tomorrow when Judy is in as I have to swap out the relays in the second furnace today and get it firing back up so we can have glass blowing at the end of the week. No rest for the wickedly weary (wearily wicked?).

Saturday is Taylor Kinzel's annual glass show, and, as one of the original artists, I'll be there all day. They already have all my work, but I need to send the list of pieces and pricing today too--through email, of course. What was it like to run a business before computers and the Internet? Not only no websites causing one to defoliate one's own head by tearing out tufts in frustration, but no email, no electronic bookkeeping, no on-line banking... The mind boggles.

Now it's back to my breakfast (Dave and I started the day at Radial Cafe), and then on with the day!

It's Not Just Me

2011-11-25T09:15:00.001-05:00

The other morning Dave made some slightly patronizing remark about my not having an automated blog aggregator, aka as an RSS reader so that I can follow blogs easily. Hah. Much he knows. It turns out that Blogger provides me with a very nice reader on my dashboard screen--where I go to write my posts. Out of curiosity--curiosity because it has been awhile since I read through any of the blogs I ostensibly follow (blush)--I read through the first long page of posts and then went searching for some old favorites that didn't show up on the RSS feed. Turns out that several of the people who wrote regularly back when I started up Glass Incarnate have tapered off or stopped writing altogether in recent years. Ren, Jodi, Chris, and Barbara have all been taken by life, and Sue has apparently reset the permissions on her blog as I got the message "It doesn't look like you have been invited to read this blog. If you think this is a mistake, you might want to contact the blog author and request an invitation." when I tried to read it. Thank heaven for Cynthia, Bill, and Bridget who keep my world constant!

The full-on Siyeh Sleigh Ride is over for another year (though we'll still have goodies to make and buy for those who were too busy stuffing themselves with left-over turkey in some other part of the country to make it on Saturday). Even though I was successful in replacing the relays in one of the glass furnaces on Friday, it's still only pulling 3/4 of the power it should if everything was working correctly, and the thermocouple failed yesterday morning (causing us to limp through the ornament-blowing and dates during the Sleigh Ride). We shut it off at the end of the night yesterday and tomorrow I'll replace the relays in the other furnace and swap them out so we'll be up again by the time Tadashi gets in for the upcoming weekend's scheduled dates and lessons (and ornament blowing! Can't forget the ornament blowing!)

Today, however, is a day of REST. It is a day of posting, reflecting, reading, weaving, knitting, getting the Christmas tree and carrying all the decorations down from the attic. It's a day of Christmas carols, butternut squash (or whatever variety of squash I grew that took over the weeping cherry tree in the backyard this year) soup, and board games with the family. Ahh, life is GOOD!

I'm Thankful

2011-11-25T09:03:00.001-05:00

It's a beautiful, slightly chilly morning after Thanksgiving and I am still giving thanks. Yesterday was a perfect blend of family, studio and friends that left me energized, empowered, and ready to take on today (the last day of set-up for the Sleigh Ride) and tomorrow, The Third Annual Siyeh Sleigh Ride! There is nothing like wrestling to the ground something that makes you feel stupid, powerless and at the whim of fate, and making it cry for its mommy. The thing I stomped all over (with a lot of help and encouragement) was the instability of our glass furnace.

I started the day by meeting Sara from Olympic Kilns up in the parking lot of a BP station off I-85 in Suwanee--half-way between here house and mine. She wonderfully brought me eight relays that I purchased from Olympic on Wednesday but didn't have time to get up to pick up before they closed for the weekend. Without those relays we would not have been able to blow glass ornaments for the Sleigh Ride tomorrow, and we would have also had to cancel today's and tomorrow's dates.

I left Dave baking the Thanksgiving pies with Jessie (she made all of the pumpkin but for the crust), got the relays, met Sara's Dad--who will be blowing glass in the studio this afternoon--and headed home. My one regret was that I had not yet purchased Dragon Dictate or any other means of dictating for automatic transcription so I couldn't start the intro to the kiln maintenance chapter of the book as I was driving back home. When the spirit moves you really need to be able to write--no matter where you are or what else you're doing.

Back at the studio, I rolled up my sleeves, turned off the glass furnace (which was barely holding at 1975 degrees and pulling just over 12 amps of power--the amount it it uses to run one of the four pairs of elements), unplugged it, and started the Great Relay Swap. Brian the electrician was in Wednesday and, after a lot of metering and tinkering and checking, determined that the cause of the furnace not holding power was that the relays were not reliably closing and completing the circuit when they were activated. The elements were fine, as were the controller (a relief), the small 12 V master relay, and the thermocouple, and all the wires were solidly attached.

So I took the controller box off the side of the furnace (carefully as it was HOT), removed the thermocouple from the furnace (slowly as it was even HOTTER), and detached all 16 wires connecting the elements to the relays. Once it was disconnected, I was able to remove the insulation and the steel cover inside the box to expose the relays. Lots more wires there to disconnect, and then nuts and bolts to unscrew to release the old relays. But with patience and fortitude--and by only disconnecting one relay at a time and swapping it out--I was able to get them all done and get the box back on the furnace and the furnace firing in just over an hour. I now feel confident that I can identify and repair (*myself*) 90-95% of what could go wrong with it.

Bad news now is that either one set of elements has gone down or there is another problem as it's still only pulling 38-40 amps with all the relays and elements switched on and it should be using 50-52. But 38-40 is more than enough for our needs and Brian is coming back on Monday night to do a little more trouble-shooting and I'll get him to teach me to check the resistance on the elements so I can be even more proactive in my furnace and kiln troubleshooting and maintenance (and I'll really have a leg up on the material for that chapter of the book).

Now off to put together more deals and give-aways for tomorrow and to post to Facebook about Small Business Saturday again.

Getting Ready For the Sleigh Ride

2011-11-22T22:48:00.001-05:00

Quick post and then off to bed. Got the glass furnace working again last night. Changed out one element, fired it up and we were good to go. I wish that were good news... I still have no idea what caused it to go down in the first place. One pair of elements out is not enough to keep it from holding temp, and yet it wouldn't hold temp on Saturday with only one pair of elements out. Today it's holding just fine with only two pairs of elements working. Brian the electrician is coming tomorrow at 10:00 am with his probes and clamps and meters. I hope he can get to the root cause of our problems. It's not elements. It's not relays. What's left? Controller? Thermocouple? The ones in the know (the electrician types) seem to think them unlikely at this point. But what else is there?!?

Though we were closed today, I taught a class for a group of Living Social folk. They were nice, but remind me NOT to do anything like Living Social or Groupon again--it really doesn't make sense for a small business that cares about it reputation and customer satisfaction to do this kind of bargain-basement-shopper program.

Tomorrow is the set-up day for the Siyeh Sleigh Ride. Am I a lesser person for wishing we weren't doing it after all? I have a horrible fear that no one will come even though I sent out the invitation to over 900 people and AmEx has been advertising it through their site (though I'm not exactly sure how... they just said it was part of the package if I registered, which I did). Today I also cut and shipped a glass order to another artist/friend/customer. After I spent the time cutting the glass, wrapping it for shipping, boxing it up and putting it out, I wonder if I even broke even on the transaction... I have GOT to get better (i.e., more realistic) about my pricing--even for friends.

Okay, that's about it. Sad news on the studio chicks and buns front: Looks like Char is a boy bunny, and he and Jasmine had two little babies that didn't make it. I found them in the hutch today, tiny, cold, and eyes still closed. I don't know what happened, but I have closed down the doorway of the hutch so the chickens can't get in it anymore (they were kind of making themselves at home there in the day) and cleaned and spruced it back up for the bunnies. I am sad for Jasmine. I hope she is and will be okay. Char is getting tutored, er, neutered as soon as I can get an appointment with the vet.

Sleigh Ride

2011-11-21T09:03:00.001-05:00

I didn't post yesterday. Twenty days into NaBloPoMo, and I didn't get one out. I *did* get the email invitation to the Sleigh Ride out, but that was the extent of glass yesterday. I played Dominion for the first time with Dave. I took Jessie to Michael's crafts so she could use her birthday gift certificate to buy more beads and wire. She's going to be one of the artists at the sleigh ride this year and sell beaded animal Christmas ornaments. She makes platypuses, bees, lizards, dragonflies, and butterflies so far. I think frogs are on the slate too.

Why the sudden interst in selling her work? J spent the latter half of the weekend trying to figure out all the ways she could earn money to buy an iPad. If she saves half, I told her we'd pay the other half. So far she has her allowance which is $10 a week. For it she must feed and water the dogs and cat twice a day; take care of the chickens and bunnies: letting them out in the morning, filling food and water, putting them [the chickens] back in the coop at night and gathering the theoretical eggs [again, from the chickens only]; clean her room, and set and clear the table at meal times). She has taken on scooping the cat box; helping Grandma with the laundry, and loading and unloading the dishwasher; and chopping vegetables for her father for additional small fees. She charges $2-$4 for an incredible massage (back, hands and/or feet)--I take advantage of this one. She's also opening a "store" in her room selling beaded animals and duct-tape objects. Should I tell her the City of Atlanta will want her to have a business license? I don't want to scar her...

The day ended with a viewing of Hubble at the IMAX and dinner at Sushi Avenue for the whole family. Then home to a shower, two chapters of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (she is *finally* letting me read it to her after three years of my begging), and bed for everyone but Dave who was still working at midnight. Ah well, we can't all be slackers.

In short, yesterday was a Day Off. Today it's back to glass. I talk to my editor tomorrow about interim deadlines for the book so I need to go over my outline and do some preliminary planning today. The Sleigh Ride is Saturday and I need to figure out a way to increase buzz and traffic for it. I think I might make posters and see if I can get other small local businesses (like Kavarna and My Coffee Shop) to put them up.

And speaking of the Sleigh Ride, I need to decide how much to give away. For the first time I am melding both halves of my business--sales of finished work (mine and others') with sales of materials, tools and supplies. I want to have people interested in buying both in, and I would like to have the much-earlier-promised 3rd birthday party specials running (beginner's kiln-forming outfit, glass specials, glass rod specials, etc.). Guess I should get going on all that and Stop Talking About It!

My Karma Can't Be This Bad

2011-11-19T17:09:00.001-05:00

The universe is testing my resolve, that's all I can figure. I should have karma points up the Wazoo right now.

Yesterday I rose (I was the phoenix). I worked like a dog till 11:30 last night and got up and tweaked the website some more this morning. Then I taught my first kiln-forming class of the day. At the beginning of it, one of the young girls in the class (two young girlfriends, one mother and her friend) asked if I had pets. I said yes, at the house, and didn't think anything more of it.

Midway through the class Brian came in and told me we were out of oxygen. He had two full bead-making classes scheduled. To get by, he took the oxygen tank from the hotshop leaving Domenick unable to firepolish any of the blown pieces from the rest of the day's dates and classes, but the bead-making classes could go on.

Not too much later, Domenick came in to tell me that the glass furnace was not holding temperature. I went out and futzed with it (a highly technical process that includes, of course, a reboot). And we all crossed our fingers.

I got through the rest of my class without incident, and then at the end of the class as Judy was walking around the table, she found a smushed pile of dog poo left by a friend's dog who was visiting the studio yesterday. Apparently the girl had stepped in it at the beginning of the class, asked about the pets, and then didn't say anything else. Judy, bless her heart, cleaned it up and sprayed Ozium, but the 45 minutes between classes were not enough to get the smell out of the air (the smell was actually much worse after cleaning--a combination of cleaner, ozium and poo). For the next class, guess who had that corner seat? The pregnant woman. I felt so bad for her and asked if she would like to change places with me, but she said she was fine. I would've hurled had I been in that corner and pregnant.

Halfway through that class--also halfway through Brian's second class--Brian came in to tell me we were out of oxygen. I comped everyone's class and told them they could sign up another day--they were all Living Social 2-for-1 whose coupons expire this week.

A little while later Domenick came in and said the glass in the furnace was so stiff for the end of his class that he thought he was going to pull the crucible out on the last gather. I went out and looked at the furnace, and to my untrained but jaundiced eye, it looked like three of the elements were either out or not getting juice for some other reason. I went back inside and had Judy call the other two dates for the day to reschedule. The second date had already been rescheduled once in August for the furnace being out. They were NOT happy, and I ended up refunding their date night and telling them to reschedule for whenever would be convenient for them and it was on me.

The work day is now over and I am home in the comfy chair with a glass of wine. I could be crushed right now. Arguably I *should* be crushed right now. But I'm in the comfy chair. My spouse is home from Austin. I have a glass of wine and my family around me (well, not Jessie--she's still at a friend's house and will be home soon--but my Mom and Dave). The frosting on my cake is the justifiably cliched "and I have my health". All of those things add up to I have to give "crushed" a pass. Maybe I'm a little squished, but not crushed. Tomorrow, after all, is another day (and the studio is closed!!).

Happy weekend.

Like the South and the Phoenix, I Rise Again

2011-11-18T20:19:00.001-05:00

The phoenix is Fully, Gloriously Feathered with no dust required (see yesterday's post for the reference). I spent today leaving yesterday--and the couple of crappy days that came before it-- behind.

In a whirlwind of activity I met with Lori and Judy and we discussed plans for the the Siyeh Glass Resource Center for 2012--highlight: we're opening back up on Sundays in January. I emailed back and forth with another fuser that I am considering hiring to teach classes starting in January and it looks like that will be a go. I spoke with Nancy G. at length about her fusing techniques that she has so graciously offered for inclusion in Le Book, and set-up preliminary deadlines with her. I redesigned our Intro To Kiln-Forming and Intro To Bead-Making classes, put up the schedule for first quarter 2012 classes, and rewrote the pages on the website to match.

Finally, I conferred with my fellow sleigh-riders and we decided to do a short, sweet, intense Siyeh Sleigh ride in conjunction with Small Business Saturday next Saturday, November 26. Got the web page up for that one too.

The highlight of the day was the meshing my realization that the way I have been teaching the Intro To Kiln-Forming class just doesn't work with Brian's description of how Intro To Bead-Making needs to be extended. I can't realistically get out--nor can the students take in--all the material necessary to prepare students to be on their own in open studio, and Brian has the same problem--compounded with a need for longer practicing times. As I put on the classes page:

"Over the past three years we have determined that trying to stuff all the things we think you need to learn in a two-hour Intro to Kiln-Forming or Intro To Bead-Making class doesn't work. We have to talk way too fast, and your brains get way too full--or you just need more time to practice the techniques as you learn them. On the other hand, many of you either can't--or don't know up front if you're ready to--make either the time or the financial commitment to come three weeks in a row to three separate sessions. The conundrum posed us by these issues was great and troublesome, but we think we have solved it (huzzah); Welcome to Intro 1 2 3!

We have redesigned our Intro To Kiln-Forming and Intro To Bead-Making classes and broken them up into three separate sessions. You can take one, two, or all three of them at your own pace, on your own schedule. And because you don't have to decide up front, you can try Intro 1, make a cool project, and if you like it and want to go on, Intros 2 and 3 will provide you with the skills and comfort level you need to progress to Open Studio (working on your own in the studio with your own glass)."

And here is the write-up on Intro To Kiln-Forming 1 2 3:

"Intro 1: In this two hour class you will be introduced to the basics of fusing and slumping—the foundation techniques of kiln-forming glass—and the various tools and equipment used in them. Learn what happens when glass is melted—how it flows, what happens to air trapped in it, how it combines with other glasses—and apply what you learn as you design and execute your own piece. We'll keep the science to a minimum (viscosity, thermal coefficient of expansion and surface tension can all wait); this first time it's all about compatibility and falling in love. Think of us as a matchmaker: Whether or not glass turns out to be your soulmate, you'll end the class with a gorgeous 8” square plate that you can proudly point to and say, "I made that myself".

Intro 2: You've had the first date, now it's time to start learning all about each other. We start with cutting glass, and move onto designing glass work for the kiln-forming. It's time to meet the parents—aka the kiln—and get to that science we skipped earlier as we find out why it turns out the way it does. But don't worry, you'll still be so warm and fuzzy from the flush of Intro 1 that finding out there will be bubbles in the glass (no matter what) won't daunt you.You'll make another 8” square plate, probably as a gift for a person you love (one cannot live by glass alone).

Intro 3: This session covers everything you'll need to know about being on your own with glass. You'll use advanced cutting tools that enable you to easily prepare your own circles and straight-edged pieces and cut big sheets down to size. We'll discuss the nature of relationships as we delve into the effects of opalescent and transparent glasses on depth perception and color. We'll explore what happens from chemical reactions between different glasses, and we'll see that sometimes the color you start with is not the color you end up with when you use striker glasses. We'll address safe-fusing practices from the design stage through firing. Finally, you'll learn how to prepare a kiln shelf, and load and program a kiln for firing.

Each session in the Intro series is a prerequisite for the next."

Tomorrow I teach two, full, Intro classes, and I absolutely, positively must get the newsletter done and out for the Sleigh Ride.

Nothing like rising with a vengeance.

The Phoenix

2011-11-17T22:36:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who wrote and called with support and encouragement for me today after my terrible week of dealing with the City of Atlanta. I appreciate you more than I can say. Tomorrow, like the phoenix, I will rise from the ashes, dust myself off, and Get Back To It! Tonight a hot shower, a warm bed and a cuddly spouse await... G'Night.

Whinging 2

2011-11-16T21:05:00.001-05:00

You whine, you moan, you play a little Diablo... and then you get on with your life--and it's quietly good. I had the Holiday Fair wrap-up meeting this morning. I turned in my expenses, my write-up, gave a report and made recommendations for next year, and I'm done--for the year and maybe for next year too. We'll see. Then I taught an Intro to Kiln-forming Glass II class. After that, off to the optometrist with J, followed by a visit to City Hall to pay for my business license--that whole experience left a very bad, corrupted taste in my mouth, at the end of which I just moved on. Whatever.

In all, the day was varied, full, and satisfying in a gentle, non-flashy way. I was approached about maybe helping make a project with the 8th grade students for the school auction in the spring, and I jumped on it (it sounds way cool). As a result, I had the personal and professional satisfaction of seeing the stunned gratitude on the teacher's face when I said sure I'd do it, and no, it wouldn't cost anything--I'd donate my time and the materials. She hugged me, and that made my day.

Has anything really changed since yesterday? No. Are there still parts of my business life I think I seriously need to overhaul? Absolutely. But I put together the schedule for the Intro to Beadmaking I, II and III classes through March today, and I'll do the same for the Intro to Kiln-forming classes tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll also write a newsletter. I'll start on a new website, and eventually I'll plan an artist open house in the spring (early summer--after the manuscript is due) and skip a holiday show that has to compete with everything else going on in the few, short weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Now I've had a lovely dinner with a good friend and her children (Dave is in Austin), and It's time to go to bed so I can be in court at 8:00 am tomorrow, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to deal with the farce that is the course of my Atlanta City business license process.

The Times They Need To Be A-Changing

2011-11-15T18:45:00.001-05:00

Today has been a very frustrating day. I have been pinged and dinged and beaten down since 8:30 this morning. It seems like everyone wants something, wants money, wants time, wants extensions, wants exceptions, wants special treatment from me, or can't pay me, or something else that leaves me feeling marginalized, undervalued, and under-appreciated. Back in March I wrote that we don't do what we do for the money, and I still believe that to be true. The following paragraph from that post hit me especially hard today:

When we start thinking about how much we're making for our work compared to how much we're working and we begin to feel resentful, it's not about the money--however much we might say it is--it's about the work. Something about the work is not or is no longer meeting our needs. The answer really isn't to ask for a raise. More money for the same work environment is a short term sop that initially makes us feel more self-worth but doesn't address the real problem. The real problem is either that the negative aspects of the job or the job environment outweigh the positives and leave us feeling down at the end of the day, or that we have intrinsic self-worth issues that keep us from being fulfilled and validated external to the job.

In my case, my self-esteem is just fine, but my job has evolved into management and ownership in the most non-creative of ways. When I get the opportunity to create, I throw myself completely into the experience--as in the Bullseye conference workshop on manual 3-D printing earlier this year, or the fall Advanced Beginning Weaving workshop I took in New Hampshire in October. I love those times and I am energized and excited again by what I Do--whether or not I make any money from it. Even the Waldorf Holiday Fair (though Dave will never believe it) was very satisfying for me in spite of the extreme hard work, high level of responsibility, and complete lack of remuneration.

Today's tasks--dealing with the City of Atlanta Department of Revenue (again) over my business license issue, managing orders which were/are delayed, calling customers about paying their invoices that have been past due for over 180 days, filling out and mailing payroll tax forms, and appealing a water bill that was four times higher than it should have/ever has been--were almost more than I could bear. But the real cherry on the top of the day was answering phone calls and emails from the never-ending stream of people who purchased our class deal through Living Social last November and waited until the last minute to try to schedule a class before the deal expires on November 24 ("Well it didn't say I couldn't wait till the last minute! How do I get a refund?"). I have quadrupled our class offerings to try to fit everyone in, and I extended the expiration to the end of January, and yet I *still* feel harangued and like they think I'm trying to cheat them. At one point I looked at my Mom with despair (sometimes you've just got to have your Mom around, and I'm very lucky that mine lives with us), and she sympathetically said to me, "Let's run away to Greece." I was sorely tempted.

So what to do? Well, my first step was to cancel this year's Siyeh Sleigh Ride. I have not been looking forward to it, I have been viewing it as an obligatory millstone around my neck--something I *should* do. I am also re-evaluating doing the Buyer's Market show in February--I have three days to cancel. Christine, the excellent former show director, is no longer with the Rosen Group, Wendy Rosen is absorbed by her bid for a Congressional seat, and her daughter Rebecca, who has taken over the show, is an unknown quantity to me. My one exposure to Rebecca was a few years ago when she tried to have a world handcrafts show run concurrently with the Buyer's Market of American Craft. This idea did not fill me with confidence that she understands what it means to be a North American artisan buying North-American-made materials, paying North American production costs, wages, insurance, mortgage/rent, cost of living, etc., and having to compete against third-world wages and cost of living. Yes, it might have been a great idea for boosting buyer attendance numbers--less costly goods are always good for buyers, but it didn't show her to be behind the idea of building up an awareness and appreciation for fine North American-made (and all that that label entails) craft. Would it have been good for their main supporters and the reason for the show--the American and Canadian artisans who have been exhibiting there for almost 30 years? No.

Canceling the sleigh ride and re-evaluating my one remaining wholesale show feel like the baby-steps to bigger changes. If I am not Doing It for the money--and we should all be clear by this point that I am not--then I need to be more true to doing the It that gives me joy, makes my heart sing, and doesn't make me feel a drudge. Guess it's time to shake things up a bit.

Whinging

2011-11-14T21:53:00.001-05:00

Not drinking anything, not listening to anything either... I'm clearly in a slump. No, I am slumping something in the kiln, but I am not, myself, in a slump. (Can you tell we have had my uncle the punster staying with us for the past several days?) I promised pictures of Ed's and Susan's first kiln-formed pieces today, but they will have to wait till tomorrow when they are finished slumping.

Today was another transitional day for me. Because it was Ed and Susan's last day, I took them to a late breakfast, then they helped me unload the minivan from the holiday fair, then we visited a little... and then it was time to go to the airport. When I got back I defied popular opinion on Facebook and played Diablo for awhile (I picked up a saved game from three years ago... I really don't get out much).

Now I post and stubbornly put off thinking about the Siyeh Studio website, the newsletter, my court date Thursday, kicking the book into gear, orders, shipping, bills, and Dave going to Austin for three days tomorrow--leaving me to the dreaded single-parenthood (and the Waldorf lantern walk). Really. I'm not thinking about them At All. I am aiming for limbo and the perfect float in time. My aim is terrible, and I dread the resurgence in importance of tasks that have been on the to-do list for weeks (months), but which were relegated to obscurity by the all-consuming holiday fair. Now I no longer have an excuse for avoiding them, and I really am not looking forward to the next few days.

Ah well, enough whinging. Off to bed and bright, shiny, early day tomorrow.

Endings

2011-11-13T21:10:00.001-05:00

The weekend comes to an end. The visit from my uncle and Susan comes to and end. The Holiday Fair and my Viking Tales have ended. It's time to transition into thinking about the holidays, and to focus back on glass and glass business. Tomorrow. It's time to do that tomorrow. For tonight I am thinking of nothing. I have no projects, no plans, no duties. I am trying very hard to just rest in the me and the moment. I am not entirely successful.

Like Ellen, I am having a hard time posting right now. Part of it is probably because there is not much of interest to anyone but me in the lint in my navel--which is about all I have resting in the me and the moment. Sadly the lack of projects, obligations and deadlines did not stop me from a wakeful semi-anxious hour in the middle of the night last night, and I can feel another one coming on tonight. I had the hardest time trying to convince my subconscious that there really wasn't anything triggering a dark anxiety attack, and I I am bummed that I feel it lurking again tonight.

I really am not very good with the transition between projects/balls-to-the-wall activity. When I am in the throes of a Big Project, I yearn for a time of rest and a cessation of activity with all my being. But when it comes, I twiddle my thumbs and think, "Now what?" The only good answer to that question is one of the chocolate chip cookies Dave and Jessie made today, but I think we took them all to Jessie's cello recital this afternoon. Darn, I could really use some anxiety-repelling chocolate about now.

Tomorrow, before and after pictures of the kiln-formed pieces Ed and Susan made in their lesson in the studio today.

A Day of Rest Cometh

2011-11-12T22:15:00.001-05:00

There would have been some wonderful red wine in a Riedel stemless glass introducing this post, but Dave took the last of it. My background music is the sound of family desultorily chatting after a big dinner and movie. The Waldorf Holiday Fair is over for another year, and 257 people came through the Viking Tales event earning an etched and fused glass rune stone (handmade by moi). My feet are up (my dogs are a' barking!) and I am even considering heading to bed. Heck, I'm over considering. I'm off. More tomorrow.

Oh Fudge...

2011-11-11T07:40:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post again last night! Between holiday fair prep, teaching at the studio, and company in from out of town (this week my uncle and his girlfriend) I completely forgot. I am not so good at NaBloPoMo. However I am *very* good at holiday fair prep! Tomorrow there will be pictures--maybe even a movie.

The activity begins with a journey through the time before time in viking mythology. Back when neither our world, nor the universe, nor the stars existed. There was only Nifflheim, the world of ice, Muspleheim, the world of fire, and the Ginnungagap, the great void between. You navigate the stalactites and fog in Nifflheim, the eerie black lighting of the Ginnungap, and the roaring flames of Muspleheim before arriving at the great giant Ymir from whose body came our world, Midgard, the universe and the stars in the heavens. After you pass under the legs of the great Ymir, the next part of your adventure begins.

In part two, you help Odin and Loki as they repay a debt. You gather gold from the dwarf's treasure at the base of the waterfall and you carry it around the corner to where you place it on an otter's pelt. Odin and Loki's task is to completely cover the otter's pelt. As a reward for your help, you receive a glass rune stone. You reach into a velvet bag and take a stone, and the guardian will tell you the meaning of your rune.

Okay, I am officially exhausted and heading off to rest up for a full day tomorrow....

On a Schedule

2011-11-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

My post is being timed tonight as there are only so many minutes left of battery-life in the laptop, and Dave is using the communal power cord right now. I take this as a challenge, and I am up to it. Unfortunately, nothing is likely to save me from a boring recital of a post. What can I say? One can't scintillate everyday.

It is a sad commentary on life when the most difficult part of the preparation for the Waldorf Holiday Fair is the making of the glass rune stones. The stencils were interminable to prepare--for Dee anyway; I was ensconced with hot chai and snoring dogs. Then today the etching was just as teeth-gnashing as the last person to use the sandblaster blew a hole in the hose, tried a quick duct-tape fix, and didn't bother to tell me about it. Then I used a bit of spray adhesive as an additional hold for the stencil, and the adhesive was almost impossible to blast off. Dee had been concerned about the age and stickiness of the stencils, but when I finally gave up on the spray in exasperation, the stencils adhered just fine to the glass without it. And the glass was a heck of a lot easier to clean up. Lesson learned.

Tomorrow and Friday I teach intro to kiln-forming classes (the piece at right is a student piece from one of last week's classes, pre-firing), and Friday is also the set-up for the Holiday Fair (I got a fog machine for Nifflheim today. Whoo hoo.) Tomorrow I also head back to Dee's so she can cut all the runes for me on her fancy schmancy tile saw with the super blade. Licha is coming down to the studio to do roll-ups in the morning--I hope Tadashi gets the slabs in tonight as I have been out of the loop on that one and I have not seen him yet.

Okay, time's up, brain's empty--off to bed.

Thankful For Friends

2011-11-08T15:30:00.001-05:00

A cup of Indian Spice Chai in a hand-made, blue-glazed pottery mug, and the sounds of dogs who are not mine snoring for my posting music. One of them (Chloe) snores *really* loudly. (How's that, Bill? Were ya missing the intro? :-)

Because I like having pictures in my post, I am putting up this one of the studio chicks and buns. Both bunnies and all the chickens except Sundust are in the picture, eating in harmony. We haven't had any eggs yet (from either chicks or buns), and Dave thinks maybe the bunnies are eating them. I don't think it works that way, but who knows? All I can say is those chickens better get pulling their weight and laying those eggs or Dave may start making stew.

Day 2 of my cold/flu/whatever, and day 8 of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month--not as much fun as National Chocolate Eater's Day, but we take what we can get). I am at Dee's cozied up in chair with my hot chai and a warm cinnamon roll while she makes the stencils for the runes for the Holiday Fair for me. Well, she will be making the stencils for me. Right now we are still debating final size and techniques needed to get there. I think it's time to give up on putting channels in them and making it so they can be either stones or pendants. These are going to be stones. Rune Stones.

There is not much going on in the glass studio this week. Orders continue to trickle in--mostly for Todd--and I am teaching both Thursday and Friday, but in general we are enjoying a slow season. Some might not enjoy a slow season. Some might lament the lack of pre-holiday season rush. Some are not me. I revel in my current lack of speed--and not just because I am sick. Maybe now I will finally get the Siyeh Studio website back up, and the newsletter out, and the planning started for the annual Siyeh Sleigh artist open house starting Dec 3.

Or maybe I'll just go back to napping.

Let Me Explain...

2011-11-07T19:49:00.001-05:00

I didn't post yesterday. It was the sixth day of NaBloPoMo, and I meant to post, I had things I wanted to write, my dog didn't eat my homework, but I got sick instead. Really.

Yesterday was my favorite day of the year--the day the clocks fall back and we get an extra hour to sleep in. Sadly for me, I started coming down with a cold the night before and had a very rough night trying to sleep and only partially succeeding at it. I dragged myself out of bed for the final time about 9:00 am to get ready to host the final parent workday before the Waldorf Holiday Fair. I felt so crappy and tired that I could barely focus on what needed to be done.

Turnout for the aforementioned workday was pretty much limited to the faithful friends, but we still managed to patch and paint the paper mache giant Ymir, weight and paint the paper mache stalagmites, dry and finish painting the gold, paint the treasure chest, hang and touch-up the stalactites, and drill and paint the Muspleheim floor. There is still a bit left for me to do this week, but in the interests of not stressing my spouse out any more than he already is about my level of effort in the holiday fair, I will keep that list to myself.

The evening started with a last dinner with our extended family--Dave's parents and his sister all visiting from the north, my Mom, Dave Jessie and me. Dave made his special cassoulet, and it was excellent. But by 8:00 I was so exhausted I wasn't even sure if I had a name--much less was able to remember it. So I went upstairs to rest and post--and promptly fell asleep, thus ending my posting aspirations.

Today was spent on this post (really) and napping (the pets napped too). You can clearly see that napping got the bigger piece of the time pie. For once I let my body shut down and drift without complaint. Yes, my Inbox is still full, and it will be full tomorrow. But for today, I rested. And It Was Good!

A Full Day

2011-11-05T22:27:00.002-04:00

Today was the busiest day the studio has ever seen--and Judy took the day off. Bad Judy! Actually, though we missed her, we did okay without her as there was no walk-in traffic and the phones were relatively quiet. It was still the busiest day, however, as I taught two full classes, Brian had two full bead-making classes, and Tadashi and Domenick had five glass blowing lessons/dates between them. That's all the people we can currently run through in a day. And they loved it, and many of them want to come back again and do more glass. And this is why I teach and have a teaching studio. I love the enthusiasm of the fresh beginner. I remember anew the fantastic feeling I got when I worked with glass for the first time and how I couldn't wait till I got to do it again.

It's kind of like falling in love. I remember when I met Dave and I was so in love with him, and I knew I'd marry him, and I was so extraordinarily happy but for one thing: I knew that as long as I loved him--and I couldn't (and still can't) imagine not loving him--I would never have that breathless feeling of falling in love again. I would never have the anxiety and the heights and the depths that come with new love. New love comes and consumes and terrifies and exhorts, and then it either skitters away, or calms down into something daily, deep and rich. Don't get me wrong. Daily, deep and rich are like swimming in dark chocolate--there is nothing better. But no matter how wonderful it is, you can't help but feel a twinge of longing for the knife-edged uncertainty and extreme sensation of New Love.

My relationship with glass is long and deep now. We are 24-year happily marrieds with all the complexity and comfort that that amount of time implies. I may temporarily lose myself in a new technique, or become entranced with a new color, but I know that I'll never again have the all-consuming obsession with glass that I did when I first met it.
And yet, when I teach a class, every now and then I see in someone else's face that fascination, that tactile lust for glass that I once felt, and I bask in the reflected glow of falling love all over again. Today was a day like that for me.

Now I curl up in bed next to my spouse. I feel the deep, warm comfort that comes from 16 wonderful years, and I know that somewhere else in Atlanta, someone is going to sleep alight with the fire of New Love. New love for glass, to which I provided the introduction. And I am happy.

Happy Birthday Jessie!

2011-11-04T23:41:00.001-04:00

Happy 10th Birthday Jessie Cordelia Kathleen Griffith! Yes, there was glass today, and there was glass business. But the biggest order of the day was the Sprout's birthday. All of her grandparents are here as is her aunt Jan. We had Nancy's thin crust pizza, champagne (J and the two friends she had over had eggnog), and old fashioned chocolate cake from Southern Sweets. The girls spent six hours making beaded platypi and duct tape and felt houses for them, and are now ensconced in front of a movie--making more platypi.

Besides the birthday preparations (and the ruana I managed to cut and sew from the wool fabric I wove in New Hampshire), I also picked up the 8-ft giant Ymir that I made with J's class on Wednesday. Here's a tip on paper mache: don't let the flour and water paste ferment before you use it. We had three gallons that wouldn't fit in the fridge and evidently there was a little feral yeast in the flour as the morning after we made it it was already bubbling up. I didn't think anything of it and used it with the kids. Their teacher was very glad that I got it out of the classroom today as it was beginning to smell like a brewery in there (and that's not as pleasant as you might think). My minivan might never be the same. Now Ymir rests in our garage till Sunday when we host another parent work day and I get some people to duct tape his joints up and to patch a few tears from moving him. Then we'll paint him white... or blue... or some other frost-giant-like color.

So was there glass done today? In a sense, yes. I started the day by appealing my $2,000 penalty for failure to file for a City of Atlanta business license. I used the grounds that the penalty is four times the tax and interest due which is inequitable, and that it would be a serious hardship from my small business to pay it and stay in business. My request was granted. Yea!!!

Judy prepared me for a big day in the studio tomorrow as she is taking the day off. Tomorrow I teach two full fusing classes, Brian teaches two full beadmaking classes, and we have five glass blowing dates/lessons scheduled too. Thank heaven my Mom is going to come in and help while Judy is gone. NO MORE SATURDAYS OFF FOR JUDY!

Now it is late and my spouse is snoring dulcetly next to me (really). Off to sleep and tomorrow, another day.

Night and Day

2011-11-03T23:39:00.002-04:00

It's another late night posting. Everyone else is off to bed, and I am left with the dogs and the cat, and not an opposable thumb between them. There is a different feel to posting at night; a more melancholy reflective mood--or maybe that's just my general humor of late. Fall is my favorite season of the year. It's also always my busiest, and the one in which I am most likely to overdo. Between the start of school--and all of the volunteering opportunities it brings, Jessie's birthday, the holidays, and all the projects it's now cool enough to do, I tend to get over-committed and over-stimulated really easily. This year--the year of the Great Slow Down--I have been trying to pace myself more reasonably. Unfortunately the feedback from my family is that I am not succeeding and I am just as psychotic as I have been in every other over-committed moment in my life. Not what was either aiming or hoping for this year.

Finished laying tile in Dee's kitchen this morning and shipped the big order I fired yesterday. Tomorrow is Jessie's birthday and I have the ruana I wove for her to finish (the weaving is done, now it's time to turn the fabric into a garment). I also need to pick up the 8-ft tall paper mache giant I made with J's class on Wednesday and run a few errands. Then maybe I'll have the time and the focus to make headway on the monstrous to-do list I have been creating over the past few days--creating without taking any time to complete (and happily check-off) items.

Can't keep the eyes open any longer. Off to snuggle a spouse, if he'll have me.

Time Marches On

2011-11-02T22:14:00.001-04:00

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo. At some point soon I will stop counting the days I post in my posts, but today is not that day. Today was a day for Holiday Fair meeting, giant Ymir wire armature creation, paper mache of said giant with the 4th grade (and didn't I send them all home covered in slightly-fermented flour, water, and salt paste), a kiln load for a big, urgent, glass order, and, finally, dinner and an evening with the newly-arrived in-laws.

Tomorrow it's back to Dee's to finish tiling, to the school to pick up the dry Ymir (they have no room in the classroom to keep an eight-foot tall giant for the next week and a half till the holiday fair), and back to the studio to ship the urgent glass order. Folded into that all will be the return of the book contract (yes, Bill, I have my big girl panties on and I'm done sniveling), a deposit, a couple of checks written (bills paid), and a drop-ship order submitted. If I were really optimistic I might add the start of a newsletter. I am not, however, so optimistic.

The in-laws are visiting. Fall is beautiful. I'll get to what I get to.

NaBloPoMo and Writing

2011-11-01T22:07:00.001-04:00

If I don't post now I might miss the first day of NaBloPoMo!

I can't remember right now what I did today--it was a blur. There were accounts receivable to reconcile (and calls to make, and emails to send). There were bills to pay, taxes to file, and checks to receive (yay!). It was altogether a non-auspicious start-day for NaBloPoMo.

One thing I didn't do today--in fact I mentally blocked on it--was to print out, sign and fax/mail my book contract in. I appear to be dragging my feet. Why? Well, it's a HUGE commitment and I am a bit afraid of the impact it will have on my life. Didn't I just vow (sometime in the past few months) to slow down? Writing a 240 page book with all high-level subject matter is NOT slowing down. It will consume my life, my time, my business. Dave says it will be fine. He is fully behind me. Has he forgotten what the last book (half this size) was like? Is this like the masculine version of childbirth for him? It must be, otherwise he'd never be willing to do it again (and no one would either write books or have children and our species would become illiterate and die out--take your pick as to which would come first).

I am terrified of the impact this oeuvre will have on my and my family's lives. Right now--to be honest--I am sorry I ever brought it up. But I did. I brought it up and more. And now I have a contract for it and I need to sign it, send it back, put on my big-girl panties and get writing.

Here's to fortitude... (And I thought I didn't have anything to say!).

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:06:00.003-04:00

Too exhausted to write much, but wanted to do a quick post on the day. Today saw me installing fused glass tile made by Dee in her kitchen. Due to a bit of a late start and very careful cutting and piecing around several electrical outlets we didn't get quite done and will need to finish tomorrow. Dan is also coming to the studio tomorrow to build another shelving unit from old Bullseye crates for the new 5 oz frit jars. Never a dull moment.

Tonight was Halloween and I handed out candy while finishing winding the warp for a birthday/Christmas gift of a chenille blanket. The person for whom I am making the blanket doesn't read this blog, but I'm not mentioning any names just to be safe.

Dave took J took a friend's neighborhood for trick-or-treating and she and her friends were all duct tape... somethings. I'm not sure what the intent was, but all three of them made their costumes by covering normal articles of clothing with duct tape. J also ratted her hair (first AND last time for that I'm betting as she was in tears by the time we were half way through brushing it out) and put dark blue (I didn't have black) eyeliner around one eye. Dave's comment was "My daughter evidently going trick-or-treating as "Grace Slick, 1979, face down in the gutter outside CBGBs".

Now it's time for bed. Tomorrow is the first day of NaBloPoMo and this year I'm going to do it!

Time Be Time

2011-10-28T10:10:00.001-04:00

In the shower this morning I had, well not exactly an epiphany but close. When I was Jessie's age, time was measured in minutes--minutes till recess, minutes till dinner, minutes in a cartoon. The minutes (about 15) it took to walk to school took FOREVER. By high school minutes had ceded place of prominence to hours--a class period, hours till the end of the school day, hours till a party or a date. Neither of these statements is to say that days and weeks didn't count. The big events--summer vacation, Christmas, my birthday--were still anticipated weeks and days in advance, but the dominant measurement of the passing of time was the hour.

Sometime in my 20's--probably commensurate with leaving school and entering the Working World (entering at least for awhile before fleeing back to school) the class hour gave way to the work day and days began to shape life events--TGIF, I hate Mondays, Wednesday is hump day. There was also a vague grouping into weeks and months (never years unless in the past), but it remained firmly vague.

Side note: I *love* writing. I hated it when I was forced to do it on some else's schedule for class assignments and to conform to someone else's rules (grammar--smack my knuckles with a ruler). Now, the juxtaposition of the words "firmly" and "vague" actually gives me a little burst of satisfied happiness at having found just the right phrase. But time passes as I digress so let's get back to the passage of time.

Now, as I wander the other side of the fifty-year mark, I could care less about hours anymore (an hour, isn't that about the time it takes to sneeze and find the tissues?), and days have begun to clump into a week-shaped blob. In fact days only get recognized when I find or lose them. For instance, last week in my weaving class, on Thursday night as I was planning my last project, I was sure I had two days left to complete it--that it was, in effect, Wednesday night. I was not so lucky (hence working till 1:00 am Saturday). Other weeks I will be stressing because I think it's Wednesday, and then I realize it's only Tuesday, and the relief that floods my system along with the realization is almost intoxicating. Weekends are no longer the days Saturday and Sunday, they are a differential break in the rhythm of Monday through Friday (or not, depending on the studio's work load). Compare it to finding or losing a dollar at age nine to finding or losing $20 now...

A lot of the contemplation (in the shower, as I cleaned the lint out of my navel) that resulted in the post above, was triggered by the realization that I am 50, and 50 seems like a reasonable half-way point in life. The time it took to get here seemed comfortably long. But as my perception of time compresses, are the next 50 years going to rush by? I don't want them to rush! I want more time! Maybe I'll need to live to 150. Time to start working on that goal.

Thursday and STILL Posting!

2011-10-27T11:18:00.002-04:00

It's almost a record for this year--four posts in a row! It is embarrassing how little I've posted, but with the new book a reality and no longer just a theory, writing has jumped to the top of my daily to-do's. Today will also see more activity in the studio--though I doubt if I will be firing anything of my own. Houston is coming today so we can experiment with Bullseye powders fired on copper, and Becky is scheduled to whip my books a little more into shape. Tadashi is in the hotshop, and Judy is running the desk/phones. Do they really need me? Well I suppose Houston does.

Right now I pore over my new book contract, comparing it to my last contract. Five years ago there was a section pertaining to "electronic rights" that mentioned "...photographic, video, audio, digital... for copying, recording, or transmission". Now that section has been replaced by a big, shiny, new section on "electronic editions" with a better royalty structure than previously. The royalty structure is also much better than for printed copies. Too bad I don't write fiction.

And that's enough writing to qualify for a post. Now off to so... something else.

The Weaving of Life and Work

2011-10-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

Some days are work days with a twist. This theme is really an extension of my writings earlier this week on what work Is and how you Do it. Today I was in the studio for half an hour, and prior to now I was on the computer for about another half an hour, and yet I worked. Though it will make my husband cringe to hear it, I spent the rest of the day today on the Waldorf Holiday Fair and Viking Tales. And it gave me GREAT joy. The morning began with some lively discourse over coffee in front of the grades building at school after I dropped Jessie off (they put out coffee and home-baked bread on Wednesday mornings for any parents who wish to drop by and mingle). She has to be there at 8:00 and I had a meeting there at 8:30 (for said Holiday Fair) so it was serendipitous to have them provide me with coffee (though I talked too much to get to the bread--surprise, surprise).

Then there was a meeting--meetings in my life now that I own my own business are very rare. I meet with the studio staff maybe once every two months so in a way it's kind of a nice socializing opportunity to have the Holiday Fair meetings (and there are only two more this year). When the meeting was over, one of the other parents--in charge of the candle-dipping activity--followed me back to the studio to collect some deadfall from the pecan tree from which to make the candle bases.

Then it was off to the dollar store for bowls and the Home Depot for chicken wire to prepare for my afternoon's activity--making paper mache stalactites and stalagmites with Jessie's class for Nifflheim in Viking Tales. Emded with a quick stop at the recycling center drop-off to scavenge (despite the prominent "No Scavenging" signs) a bunch of newspaper to use in the paper mache. At home I quick whipped up nine chicken wire armatures of the stalcs and stalgs while Mom whipped up five batches of paper mache paste and filled a gallon milk jug with them. That entire paragraph took an hour fifteen to complete (do, not write)--we were like marines on a beach, Mom and I.

By 1:30 I was back at the Waldorf School and sitting down with 26 fourth graders and their teachers to do paper mache. It was a blast!! I think they all turned out really well, and we will paint them at the Holiday Fair parent workday at our house this Sunday. Now it is time to confess that I have only done paper mache once in my life before, and that was 20 years ago. I have never made armatures before. In fact the word "armature" just entered my vocabulary in conjunction with the Holiday Fair event. My take-away from the experience? Just decide you can do it, go balls to the wall, and it will work out. After the week I have had so far, today was an overwhelming win.

But how does this whole post (and day's activities) relate to Glass Incarnate? Today was also the first day I have ever worked with chicken wire, and now I feel MUCH more sanguine about creating mold armatures--further evidence that every experience, every moment is intertwined with every other building and layering into A Life.

Thus ends my hump day this week. (And have you noticed that I have managed to post every day this week? woot woot.)

Work With a Vengeance

2011-10-25T09:10:00.004-04:00

The day started with Dave heading off to Austin for his regular three-day stint and me wrangling the Sprout off to school. When I got home from dropping her off, I realized I had microwaved yesterday's coffee, put it in a go-mug, taken it all the way to school and back without a sip, and now needed to put it back in a regular mug. All for microwaved coffee. Which I microwaved because I am trying to save money. Which I need to save because the City of Atlanta's pound of flesh yesterday was almost more pounds than I can manage. I hope it's not a harbinger of the day. (And can I just say "ewww"? I'm making a new pot and to hell with frugality.)

Yesterday at City Hall getting a City of Atlanta business license took all day, but it's done. I had to go through the Dept of Revenue, the Zoning Dept, the Planning Dept, the Dept of Revenue again, then finally the cashier. After several hours I had a few slips of paper and a Big Bill. Everybody wants their piece of the corpse, er, pie. There are days when I think (no, I absolutely *know*) that it would cost me and my family less if I didn't work. Heck, I have enough of a yarn and fabric stash that I could weave, knit sew, scrapbook (I still haven't done my wedding scrapbook--much less one for Jessie) and garden to my heart's content--probably without ever having to buy another thing.

But that's not What I Do. I run a glass studio and make objects of beauty to enrich people's lives and homes. I make my neighborhood a better place by the existence of my studio and the experiences it offers. I employ five people, adding to their ability to make a living. I give my daughter an example of hard work and perseverance for hard work and perseverance's sake as opposed to financial gain.

Do I sound bitter this morning? I feel a bit bitter. I feel (more than) a bit ripped off by a City Government that needs money and is looking anywhere they can for it--with a poor, but honest, small businesses making a good target for them. Proof of that statement? I have made so little revenue in the past four business tax years that I have had the studio open that my back taxes--even including interest--are almost nothing. However my penalty for not filing a return is $500 *a year*. Had I known I had to register and file not only with the State of Georgia, Dekalb County, and the federal government, but also with the City, I would have done it. I did not know until they told me... four tax years after I opened the business. But ignorance of the law does not mean you don't have to follow the law so I now owe $2,000 in penalties for not filing.

It used to be that the penalty for not filing was 10% of the tax due plus interest on the tax. For a business that makes a lot of money and doesn't cut the government in, 10% is a tidy sum. For a small business that scrabbles along just trying to make it (and which probably doesn't have an accounting and compliance department to make sure all the proper forms and registrations and taxes and fees and, and, and are filed on time) the amount due would be trivial. So who is the government going after by making the fee $500 a year? The big businesses that are depriving the government of a lot of money, or the small businesses who probably owe--at most--$125 in taxes for a year? Bingo.

I got very close to the point yesterday where I said no, I'll just close my studio and lay off all my people. I have had enough being nickle-and-dimed and ripped off by a bloated, greedy, inefficient local government. I will not have a business here. But I didn't. And this morning I reviewed an old post to help bring me back into balance. Yes, I got screwed yesterday, but it's only money. Time to move on (and make another pot of coffee).

Back to Work!

2011-10-24T10:18:00.000-04:00

The coffeemaker has been cleaned and filled, the pond is being filled, the chickens and bunnies have been fed, watered and nurtured, and it's time to get to work! While I was in New Hampshire the City of Atlanta, in their Infinite Wisdom, decided to have one of their people drop by my studio and issue a citation *to Judy* for operating a business without some damn registration form or another. Apparently they can cite anyone (and require them to go to court) if that person happens to be the only one present (a Person of Authority) in a business without the right piece of paper. She showed him my prominently displayed state registration certificate, and she showed him my prominently displayed employer registration forms for workman's comp and unemployment, but he wanted more. What, I do not know, but I shall find out today when I trek down to their offices to get the citation transferred to me.

My driver's license is still missing, and I left my GPS in my rental car in New Hampshire. The week *will* get better.

A Week At Warp Speed

2011-10-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

Warp speed indeed. I sit, attempting calm, at the gate in the Manchester NH airport after having discovered (at the TSA check-in) that I LOST MY DRIVER'S LICENSE (!!!) sometime during the week. Either that or I packed it. I could easily have packed it (or left it in the rental car) as I am in an exhausted (but happy) fog after a week of advanced weaving with Tom Jipson at Harrisville Designs. Before I write anything else, I have to say that if there is ANY way I can do this again next year, I will (as will most of my classmates--some of whom were repeaters this time).

Some might think that a week spent in a weaving class would be relaxing, calming and balancing--and for some I'm sure it was. But in my usual fashion I threw myself headlong into the class determined to wring every drop of experience from it that I could, and to push my projects to the limits. For example, for the first project we were asked to weave a color blanket to demonstrate perception of color based on the colors' value and proximity to each other. Harrisville has 64 colors of Shetland wool in production from white to black. The looms we worked on were 22" wide so we could, at most, weave 22 1"-wide samples in the warp and then use all 64 colors for the weft.

We could extend the project by doing it on a 36" wide loom (36 colors max), or we could extend it by weaving a black thread in between all the colors in the warp and in the weft. Guess who was the only one (out of the four advanced students) in the class who did either the 36" or the black boundary. And in the interest of full disclosure, I did both. I finished my color blanket the same day as two of the others did (the fourth advanced student was *really* fast), but where they finished by 4:00 pm on day 2, and only worked until 8:00 at the latest on day 1, I finished at 10:00 pm on day 2 after also working till 10:00 pm on day 1.

I had a guilt-free (no fall-out on others if I failed) opportunity to push everything to the maximum--and, as is so rarely the case, I actually finished every task in the time I allotted myself. Which is not to say I did not occasionally have help. Somehow, no matter where I go, I manage to accrue a village. On Thursday night at 11:00, when it was time to wind a humongous warp onto the loom, four of my fellow students stepped up and helped me get it done. I could not have managed without them that night. Left to my own devices (and tears--there would have been tears) it would have taken the entire next day to get the warp on--leaving me no time at all for weaving it as the class ended (for most) Friday at 4:00.

But enough on pushing limits. This time was good for me on so many levels. I had planned to have a single room as historically I have not shared a room well with others (Todd and Dee at the BMAC and ACRE being the exceptions). However I was so happy with my roommate Charlotte that when the opportunity arose two days into the class to move into a single room, I chose not to.

More than half of the class stayed in the old mill boarding house, me included. The boarding house is a large brick building with the town's one daycare on the first floor, artist studios on the second floor, and several bedrooms, two tiny bathrooms, an eating area and a living room for the students in the attic/third floor. None of the rooms has locks on the door--not even the bathrooms. They, at least, have hooks on the inside, but the bedroom doors don't even have those, and the front doors are never locked. The town is not on the way to anywhere, and the inhabitants' philosophy seems to be, if you locked your doors, how would anyone leave anything for you?

Other peculiarities of the town which greatly add to it's charm are the lack of modern businesses: There are no gas stations, no supermarkets, no fast food restaurants--in fact I'm not sure there are any restaurants. I certainly didn't go to one. There is a General Store/ Cafe that has an eclectic selection of everything including daily specials to take home and reheat for dinner. One day I had a pound of stuffed grape leaves for lunch and dinner (with some soup, bread and wine) and they were delicious. The coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and breakfasts were also wonderful. Even the local post office with it's quirky postmaster (the only person working the window) was an exquisite slice of life from another, slower, more community-focused time.

I could go on and on waxing rhapsodic about Harrisville Designs, the class, the town, the people (new Englanders in general), my classmates, the wool--in short EVERYTHING about the last week, but I am home now, and my family awaits. Today we are all pitching in to clean up the basement. When that's done I will be able to get to my loom again, and maybe I will be able to carve out some time to re-create my experience of wonder here at home. You can read more about Historic Harrisville, a truly innovative model of historic conservation, on their website. And of you ever get the chance to visit, don't hesitate.

The Day Flies Already

2011-10-14T10:14:00.001-04:00

In the spirit of Posting Every Day, I am dashing off a quick one before getting the kiln loads in. Yesterday really had its ups and downs. I am having great difficulty making any headway on the items on my To Do list. While this sounds like an inconsequential problem as problems go, it is causing me Great Anxiety. Enough anxiety that I was up and stressed at 5:30 am again this morning. Well, maybe "up" is a bit of a stretch. I did get up for a couple of minutes for nature, but I wasn't really "up". In fact I wasn't even totally awake; I was in more of a half state, plagued with horrible, anxious dreams and semi-lucid fears of deadlines looming. I am reminded of one of my favorite signature tags: "I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by." -- Douglas Adams. Only I am not so much loving them right now (where did I put the Tums?).

Let's move on to yesterday's highlights. The phone rang right after we opened and it was an enameling artist wanting to know about using Bullseye powders for copper enameling. After a few minutes of talking, he announced that he was really more of a visual person and could he come over and see what I was talking about. I said sure, and thus began a very enjoyable couple of hours picking the brain of another wholesale production glass artist/small business owner (jack-of-all-business). Houston Llewllyn has not been making a living at enameling copper art pieces for long, but he sure has built an incredible business. He is so organized I feel like a total slacker--and the quality of both the art and the manufacturing are amazing. He casually left one of his pieces for us as thanks for the time we gave him, and it now has pride of place on our mantle. He left with several bottles of Bullseye powders, and though I fear they are not going to work for him as well as true enamels do (color saturation issues), I really hope they work out and we see more of him. (And I want to pick his brain for the enameling section of the new book.)

But after Houston left, everything went to hell in a handbasket (I can't resist: "Houston, we have a problem"). I didn't have time to get my kiln loads in for the day, and, Primus, the first glass furnace and the one I put back into service after bring both of them back from Olympic Kilns on Tuesday, started acting up again. He errored out on Tuesday night so I had to cancel yesterday's lesson and started his warm-up all over again. He reached temp (2100 degrees F) between 5:00 and 6:00, and the temperature suddenly and inexplicably started dropping. Tadashi and I both tried everything we could think of to figure out what was wrong, but we failed.

Fortunately, Secondus, the second glass furnace (I just noticed that all the Olympic Kilns are male and the Denvers and the Skutt are female... wonder what that's all about) was ready to jump in and take over... but his cord wouldn't reach the outlet with Primus in the way. Sigh. After a run to Lowe's by Tadashi and some electrical-extension creation, we got Secondus loaded up and he seems to be chugging along fine this morning. Now I need to figure out when I can get Primus back to Olympic for some extended testing (I leave Sunday for a week-long weaving workshop at Harrisville Designs on Sunday).

But I must end on a happy note. Today is my 16th wedding anniversary and I couldn't be luckier or happier in my marriage. Thank you, Dave, for the best 16 years of my life. Now off to load those kilns!!!!

You Never Know Where You'll End Up On the Web...

2011-10-13T12:04:00.005-04:00

We all know the perils of sitting down in front of an open browser window and letting the winds of the Internet blow you whither they will. I'm sure there are people who fell into the Net years ago and someday they will wake, like Rip Van Winkle, to peer blearily around and find decades have passed since they sat down. I try to carefully manage my loose browsing time, but occasionally I'll just surf to see what's out there--usually to see if someone has put up anything new about Siyeh Studio, or to see how we rank in Google for different search queries. Yesterday I found out I am being seriously dinged for using the term "kiln-forming" instead of fusing and slumping on my website. I say dinged because it's the newbies I want to find me, and they most likely think of the technique as glass fusing or glass fusion. (Maybe I need a terminology page on the website and I can say "fusing" there a lot to boost my rank...).

But enough asides. Part of my search motivation yesterday came from a call I got out of the blue from Carolyn Edlund at the Artsy Shark. She wanted to know if I'd be willing to have her feature our Date Night in the Glass Studio in an article on her site. She was also planning to include the video of me speaking on Outside-The-Box-Thinking: Secrets of Retail Success at last winter's Buyer's Market of American Craft in Philadelphia. Video? I didn't know there was a video. I have mixed reactions to the existence of a video without my knowledge, but at least I was apparently having a Good Hair Day and I don't think I sounded too stupid. However it would have been nice to be asked if I minded being slapped up on YouTube. (I got permission from all of our date night attendees before I plastered them all over the Net!)

Last note of the day: It's a good thing I didn't let hubris get the best of me yesterday as I didn't even get through the three things I had on the list--the newsletter lies fallow, the glass order is not yet unloaded, the glass furnace is acting up again (Error-1 last night some time--I think it's balking at heating a solid 80 lb block of glass in a 50 lb crucible), and I didn't get my kiln loads in. Add to that that I ended yesterday's post with the thought that there was something I wanted to start with this morning and I can't remember what it is now (senior moment), and, well, no room for hubris here.

Finding the Saddle

2011-10-11T13:12:00.001-04:00

Vacation is wonderful. If it is good, it recharges your batteries, fills your brain with new ideas, and puts you back in balance. If you're lucky, you even get kissed by a sea lion. I just got back from a wonderful family vacation (and as shown by the photo, I even got a kiss from a sea lion--as did Jessie), and it's a good thing it was wonderful as I had to scramble right back into the saddle again. Of course I spent much of yesterday trying to find the saddle...

This morning I am working from Olympic Kilns while they service our two glass furnaces. I should have brought the back-up in for service a couple of months ago, but I was lazy and thus caught with my pants down when the main furnace went down right before I left for the aforementioned vacation. Now I pay the price as I had to schlep two heavy furnaces up here at the same time. When I get back to the studio this afternoon Dave will help me unload them, and then I'll have to charge and fire one up for the dates this weekend.

Also on tap for today is the unloading of the latest order from Bullseye--cullet, sheet, frit, stringer and rod--everything I need for a big fall sale. Dee is coming down to help me unload (hope it's stopped raining by the time we're ready to start). And speaking of sales; the infamous-not-yet-published fall newsletter will feature a great deal on a beginner's fusing and slumping kit which includes our favorite tools, kiln and a selection of glass. What could be better? (I know--actually getting the newsletter done!).

In the spirit of slowing down and being reasonable with the amount I plan for a day, I think I'll stop there. I was going to say I'll round the day off with updating the studio mailing list, redoing the front page on the website, and working on integrating my retail materials/tools/kiln inventory into my point of sale software--including incorporating the barcode system, but, come on, there are only so many hours left in the day!!

Hubris and Happy Birthday

2011-09-30T10:02:00.003-04:00

I post from Radial Cafe as I enjoy a birthday breakfast with my spouse (his birthday, not mine). He returned home late last night from his regular 3-day-long-every-3-week stint in Austin. I was (and still am to some extent) exhausted to the point where he expressed concern. I was at a loss to explain my unusual fatigue as I have been doing pretty much my normal amount of work all week (plan curtains and painting--for the house not the studio, make and ship orders, commission new storage for the studio, have it installed and fill it (or, rather, watch as Dee mostly fills it), do a complete materials inventory, show planning... you know, a little of everything). Then I had an epiphany! Judy is also on vacation this week so I have been doing her work as well as mine--scheduling and payment for date nights, lessons and classes, chatting with everyone coming in to pick up the work, and endless hours on the phone. It's no wonder I am exhausted--I have been doing the work of three!

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't realize how much they both do, I just lost track of the fact that, if they were gone, their work would still need to done and I would be the one doing it. Actually I roped Mom into doing it too--she made J's lunch and got her off to school Wednesday while I drove to Commerce to get work from Black Cat ArtWorks, and she also picked her up Wednesday afternoon while I worked at the studio. She also worked in the studio yesterday afternoon while I went to an appointment, she'll work there again this afternoon while I clean up the back yard for Dave's party tonight, and she made dinner and got J to bed last night while I put kiln-loads in. (I bet she's exhausted too!) Even with her help, however, I had a hard time staying on top of everything home and studio-related. I'm glad Dave's home and Judy will be home next week. I let hubris my nemesis get the best of me, and I am sorely chastened.

On a slightly happier note, Book Deux is official; yesterday the publisher approved the editor's proposal for a (gulp) 240 page softcover book to be published May of 2013--manuscript due May 1, 2012. Contract 9with advance!) is in the works. The song playing here at Radial is "I Still Believe" by The Call. It's a sign. Let the games begin...

Organization

2011-09-19T10:13:00.000-04:00

Dave is getting me coffee (a medium mocha) and a bagel, and I am jumping on the day/week. My schedule for the next couple of weeks is a nice blend of production work, planning (winter BMAC booth location and size), and development (website/newsletter--I can always hope!) with a dash of artist interaction as I spend a day with Dee in her studio playing studio elf for her. There are about 15 things on the to-do list that have been making me procrastinate, and I *will* knock them out this morning (focus, focus, focus). I also need to put some time into (drum roll, please) Book Two.

Book Two is in early stages; no green light (approval meeting at the publishers later this week), no contract yet (after publisher approval that takes another month), but there is a preliminary manuscript deadline (May 1), and a preliminary publication date (May 2013). I have a target length (200-240 pages), and a pretty complete outline. The content will include best studio practices, advanced techniques and projects, and it will finish with other artist collaboration (i.e., roll-ups). That, at least, is the first-pass plan. It will be interesting to look back at this post in seven months to compare reality with plan.

I am much more relaxed, much less naive, and much more organized about the initial processes of this book. This time around--especially given the serious size jump (128 pages to over 200) and the concomitant lack of increase in time to get it done (I either have the same amount or slightly less)--I am proactively, officially setting up an Open Project project plan with resources (contributors), tasks and a schedule (tote that barge, lift that bale!). I even have a trial run to learn Open Project--the Waldorf Holiday Fair 4th Grade activity, code name: Viking Tales. Last year I managed the mummies in an obstacle course through the excavation of a mummy's tomb complete with lots of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. This year I am calling on ALL of the other 4th grade parents to help conceptualize, construct, co-ordinate and staff this year's Viking adventure complete with Norse Runes.

But now it's time to get to that mountainous to-do list so I have time for another glass blowing lesson this week. Last week all I did was blow bubbles for two hours (an example shown at the beginning of this post) and IT WAS FANTASTIC. I really felt like I learned not only different techniques, but the rationale for them, historical/cultural context (Italian vs. Swedish vs. German techniques), and whole-body integration of them. I can't wait to learn more.

A Quickie!

2011-09-15T10:46:00.000-04:00

This post must perforce be quick as I have a glassblowing lesson at 11:00! Fall is here and I am rededicating myself to expanding my hot glass technical repertoire--and taking advantage of the fact that I have a master glassblower and a hotshop on-site. Though I doubt if I will ever produce professional work (i.e., worth displaying in a gallery), it gives me pleasure just to do it and learn something new. I am very fortunate to have Tadashi Torii working out of my studio right now, and I am going to make sure I don't let the opportunity to learn from him pass me by because I'm too busy. Pics tomorrow!

Crabby, Crabby, Crabby!

2011-09-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

Jessie feeding the little girls

Oh I am so crabby! I have been trying all day to slog through tasks and I am getting almost nowhere. Most of my woes are computer/software-related as today is a computer day for the glass studio. As my husband just pithily stated for himself "I am utterly uninterested in an OS upgrade at this time". Ditto.

Char and Jasmine--BFF

It's a good thing I have studio chickens and bunnies with whom to commune and who give me peace and joy. The chicken coop, bunny hutch and attached chicken/bunny run is in the back of the studio and J and I spend a lot of time there just hanging out. I never thought I'd find myself just standing in the run hanging with the chickens (really), but they are so soothing! No matter how bad the day might be, the chickens can always make it better. Some days I just don't want to leave the run. If I go missing Dave should check to see if I have put a cot in the coop... though that might be taking urban chicken keeping just a little bit far.

Jessie and Sadie (Half Moon?)

But I digressed long enough--back to software. I am looking at an expensive editing upgrade (it looks like it's finally time to pull the Adobe Creative Suite--i.e., Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., trigger), and I am going around and around today trying to figure out optimum configurations of software compatibility and money. ARGH!!! Welcome to the glass studio on Tuesday. Have I started my Niche piece? No. Have I finalized my booth size and location for the February BMAC? No. I flail. Oh yes, and I detox... again.

The new girls, Sadie and Half Moon

It's the end-of-summer detox through Kashi Yoga and I am so stressed and off-balance from the last six months that I decided to take a wee pause and immerse myself in the detox. Well I'm immersed alright. I'm caffeine-deprived, sugar-deprived, alcohol-deprived and seriously craving donuts!! This is the toughest detox I've done since the first one. (I'm sure Judy is going to hide under her bead after reading this post and not come in tomorrow.)

The Villager, Auburn

Speaking of tomorrow, Dee is coming down to help me put the final touches on the book outline which heads to the publisher for review and approval Thursday. I am *finally* moving ahead with this project after ten months of inactivity! Well, inactivity on it at least. And now that I think a bit more, I might be right to be scared right now as last year when I thought I'd finally have the margin to do the book, everything went to hell in a handbasket. I WILL slow down, I WILL slow down, I WILL slow down, I WILL slow down, (Brenda "the Train" Griffith).

The rolling of the Toomer Oaks

Last weekend Todd and I spent a couple of days at Ingrid Brown's The Villager gallery in Auburn, Alabama. It was an Auburn football weekend, and it is very difficult to convey to someone who has not lived through it exactly what that means. It means that over 87,000 people were in the stadium watching the game. Thousands of them (quite literally) came through the gallery while we were there. It had the same feel as the One of a Kind Show and Sale in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago with throngs of people packing the aisles all the times for two days--except during the game.

We had a lot of fun (and sold a lot of work) and are looking forward to going back next year. We were also fortunate enough to see the "rolling" of the live oaks kitty corner from Toomer's Drugstore when Auburn won. Those trees have a long history (with a recent sad entry), and it was interesting to see the sea of toilet paper covering them. The toilet paper (interesting note) is now hand cleaned off since the poisoning.

____________________

Now since it's really Wednesday and Dee has come and gone, I best get on to today's post!

Roll-Ups In the Fall

2011-09-07T19:52:00.000-04:00

Some may shout with glee when spring has sprung, but for me there is no greater joy to be found than that of the first cold day of impending fall. Today we (Tadashi, Amy Dee and I) did Pop Art roll-ups in the hotshop to send to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for the grand opening of their renovated flagship store in the contemporary wing. It was a *very* challenging day and I'm afraid Tadashi was tested almost to his limits.

Challenges (opportunities!) began with the very first piece when I overheated the collar and covered the hole on the blow pipe with glass. With roll-ups you do a lot of work before ever starting to blow the piece out so it was a long time later before we discovered the piece wouldn't expand properly. Others might have given up and chucked the piece--it was a practice slab after all--not predestined for a specific gallery. But Tadashi is a consummate professional. He puntied the piece up, made another collar on a new blow pipe, sealed it to the opening where the old blow pipe had been and continued to blow it out. However no sooner had we recovered from that disaster when, during a re-heat, I jumped the yolk off the rails in front of the glory hole and bumped the piece into the top of the glory hole doors (covering it with schmutz) while trying to get it out. Tadashi, calm and unflappable, used a Dremel with a diamond bit to clean the schmutz off, and we continued on again. It took an hour 45 to complete that one roll-up--and it was the practice piece for the order!

Amy and Dee showed up to help before the first piece was finished and marveled at the quality (and quantity) of the save. But even with their help and the cool weather, the rest of the pieces didn't flow as smoothly as they might have. I'm not going to actually write up the entire litany of our woes in this post, but just know that there was much woe, and Tadashi pulled out a perfect save on each and every piece. We finished another three roll-ups before 5:00, and we were pretty wiped. Amy brought over a Giordano's pizza (carried back frozen ready-to-bake from Chicago) and cooked it in our oven for lunch and it helped maintain our energy, but there is no doubt that a couple of months of no roll-ups took their toll on everyone.

After Amy and Dee left, I finished getting in my last kiln load of the day and Tadashi started on midnight blue and orange twist paperweights for me to take to Auburn tomorrow for the weekend in the gallery Todd and I are doing at The Villager. I am both looking forward to the trip and wishing I had another three days in the studio. The deadline for Niche Award submissions looms and I still have my piece to do (3-D dry screen printing in glass--oooooh!). I also have a conference with my editor at Lark on Monday about book deux, and she would like to see the outline in advance... Tomorrow is another week!

Oh Let's Blog!

2011-08-29T21:45:00.003-04:00

It's the end of the day on Monday--not my usual blogging time. The dinner has been had, the Sprout has been put to bed, and the Benedictine is being sipped. Sister Hazel sings that It's All For You leading into Marc Broussard telling me it's "Where You Are". It was a Monday almost OFF. Not quite all--I answered some email, did some planning, and made some calls--but I did keep it low key. Tomorrow Dave heads off to Austin again and I have three days of heads down work. First thing I need to do is update the answering machine with the new days and hours.

But today's post is not about tomorrow's minutiae. Today's post is about the chicks! And the buns! You've probably heard about chicks in the city. Well, I have chicks in the studio--chickens, that is. We have a small flock--seven hens: Willow, Creamy, Tuxedo, Cookies & Cream, Sundust, Nightshadow, and Pearl--and they now live in the back of the studio yard with Jessie's two bunnies. The bunnies are Jasmine and Char--1129 Charcoal Grey (she is a Bullseye bunny, after all). J wouldn't let me retroactively name Jasmine to 1429 Silver Grey--more's the pity. Dan, our wonderful carpenter built us a Bullseye play yard and coop (got to love all those empty glass crates) in the studio yard and now all we have to do is wait for the eggs... till December or so. They're young chicks. The rest of their pictures can be found on our Facebook page here.

So why did we get chickens for the studio? I'm not really sure, but it made sense at the time--and we like eggs. And our backyard was full. It's really all of a piece as Jessie runs over to the yard and lets them out of the coop every morning and feeds and waters them (she'll also be on egg collection when there are eggs to collect), and then puts them back in at night. The bunnies and chicks living together are purely the fault of the Hencam lady...

Late, Late, Late!

2011-08-25T10:20:00.002-04:00

It seems like just yesterday I wrote I'd be posting every day again... Life, it's what's happening! This morning I sit in Kavarna poised to move full-time into a new studio direction. How exactly I will implement this new vision is still being fleshed out. Certainly the cut-back in the open hours of the studio will be a part of it, but at the same time I am looking to increase the accessibility and value of the studio for our customers. Right now we are open a lot of days a week for walk-in traffic in a non-walk-in-friendly location and have a decent-ish web presence. I need to turn that around. Bullseye has begun two new programs for education and affiliation that look like a perfect match for where I would like to be--more virtual and virtually full-time without killing myself by trying to be *really* full-time. I have said for years that I need a couple of clones of myself. Well what better way to clone oneself than through the web?

Of course as soon as I come up with a plan, Loki (the trickster), tries to throw a monkey wrench in it. I taught yesterday and two of the students really loved kiln forming and want to take more classes. I, of course, said yes there are more classes they can take, and they can also come in for open studio... Then I remembered I am cutting back on teaching and open studio this fall and felt awkward. Today I have a family group of 7-10 people coming in to do a little glass blowing with Tadashi and a little kiln-forming with me and I am a bit grumpy because I don't have an uninterrupted day (again) to spend with my family. Balance. It's all about balance.

Now I need to get this post out, have breakfast, and get to the studio to finish preparing for the group. Tomorrow's post Studio Chicks and Buns!

Coming of Age

2011-08-19T09:00:00.003-04:00

They say (the ubiquitous "they", arbiters of life) not to make any major decisions for six months after the death of a loved one. We are now homing in on six months after my father's death, my mother moving in with us, and a major tilt of my world axis. Even before then, however, I was straining for a path, balance, satisfaction--searching for that 'click' that happens when you know you're where you're supposed to be and doing what you're meant to do. I've come close before, but the deep, resonating 'click' has eluded me. Now, after a decade of mostly reacting, jumping first and looking later, talking about building my business and slowing down with the same breath, I sit in a calm, centered place (sadly not Montana), and I see what I need to do. And I feel peace and the rumbling purr of a choice well-made and in the right direction. What can I say? I'm a late bloomer (or 50--it's the new 40!).

So here are the personal facts (note how all of them begin with "I"... get it? Personal?):

I like people in small doses.
I do not like the obligation of five or six days a week of retail, phones, lessons, date nights, classes, and people trampling around in my artistic space.
I really don't like being identified to said people as "our kiln-forming instructor" (talented or otherwise) instead of The Studio Owner, Empress Of All She Surveys (I only have my tongue a little in my cheek there--even Artist Extraordinaire, or Author of the best-selling (on Amazon anyway) "A Beginner's Guide to Kiln-Formed Glass" would be better than what I currently get.)
I like my production work and have not had any time or spare energy to develop more of it in the past two years.
I would like to grow in other artistic directions, e.g., the 3-D printing technique I learned from Steve Royston Brown prior to BECon this year, casting (introduced to me by Linda Ethier in a pre-BECon workshop *two years ago*), silkscreening glass on glass, pottery (glaze is glass, after all, and I am fascinated with integrating glass and clay), etc.
I need family time that happens naturally and doesn't feel stolen. If I have to wrench myself away and suffer great guilt when I stop working before 9:00 pm, I had damn well really be raking in the Big Bucks so that I have something to show for all my hard work in my old(er) age and wow is this one not happening!

Okay. Enough whinging about poor, pitiful me (I was going to say whining, but I really like the Aussie term). Now let's look at how I run the studio from the cold, analytical space of business and finance:

The most profitable activity in the studio is my production work.
Classes (as I have set them up) are profitable if there is only one person eating the tuition pie, i.e., if I want to do all the teaching (and if each class has at least four people in it). Otherwise classes require more time, effort, salary, and materials (money) than they bring in (a net loss). Classes that are profitable (i.e., cost more and last longer--check out the Bullseye Resource Center class lists) do not fill here. I don't know if they fill for Brad Walker, Judith Conway, Paul Tarlow, Kari Minnick, or any of the other studio owners whose businesses I admire, and who seem to be able to pull off all the marketing and community-building required for a good retail business.
Date Night is fun, a great concept, and a good way for someone working for me to make a living. It's another net loss for me as it is just not priced (or price-able) to share the income pie (especially when the personal cost of my space and peace enters into it).

Other factors in my decision-making process are the wishes and needs of the people who work for me. Not only do I no longer want to go full speed ahead, they do not want to either. One of them has also moved a significant distance from the studio so a daily commute for a couple of hours of work is out of the question--he needs scheduled, full days.

So it's time to give up on the Kevin Costner model of retail (if you build it, they will come), and move to something a little more 21st virtual century, and, dang it, something a little less at everyone else's whim and convenience (I'm whinging again, aren't I...). My proof on the evidence for the wisdom of the decision comes from last year's Date Night data. Last August was our busiest month ever (!), or so we thought.

However, last August we only offered 11 date slots a week. We were pretty much booked in advance all the time. I thought if we expanded our offering we would book the expansion too because we were booked so far out. Turns out that 14-18 hours a week is about the time Atlanta wants to spend on Date Night at the Glass Studio no matter how many times are available. The extra times just seem to make them feel more sanguine about getting in whenever they want so we get a lot more last-minute bookings than we used to--unsettling for the staff who don't know till the last minute if they will be working or not.

As far as the retail part goes, if I were in a shopping center or other retail area, I would feel much more obliged to be open at least five days a week. But I'm not: I'm in a 1920's Craftsman bungalow that was originally purchased to be my personal studio--not a retail/teaching space. I'm happy to run over to the studio anytime someone wants to buy something (it's not like it's a huge commute). I just don't feel the need to be responsible for being there working set hours each day (nor is it cost-effective to pay someone else to sit there twiddling her thumbs waiting for customers to show up all day every day). I am not--nor do I wish to be--the WalMart of glass open whenever οἱ πολλοί feel like shopping.

Finally, my extended time in Montana this summer shoved my face in the benefits of being able to focus on one thing at a time instead of running around flapping like a headless chicken. And I liked it. Now that I have finally come up for air for the first time since January, I am ready to winnow, to pare down, to divest, to find serenity, joy, calm and my groove again. And my decision 'clicks' down to my toes.

The result: I am changing the studio hours for fall to Thursday - Saturday, 10-5. I am offering regular beginning kiln-forming classes one weekday and one weekend day every three weeks. Glassblowing--both lessons and Date Nights--will be offered Thursday - Saturday (still tentative on those days, but it will be only three days) until the slots are regularly filled and then expansion will be done one day at a time, staff permitting. These changes take effect September 7. I feel better already.

Posting!

2011-08-18T11:04:00.003-04:00

I just finished a really long post about New Directions for the studio (doesn't it seem like there are always new directions for me and my studio?). But, before releasing it to the world at large, I need to go over it all with the staff. I am also working on a newsletter--the first since April, a fall class list, the outline for the new book, marketing materials for the production work, on-line processes for managing registration and payment for classes, materials, etc., and the Siyeh Studio (professional work) website.

After a year of no time or air to breathe, it feels good to blog again, and I plan to keep it up. Come back tomorrow! In the meantime, here's a shot on the way to Iceberg Lake this summer...

Let the Travel Begin!

2011-07-06T11:31:00.006-04:00

Getting ready to head out for Missoula in a few minutes to catch a plane to Atlanta this afternoon so I can pack for Baltimore tomorrow and drive up there Friday. Set-up for the summer Buyer's Market is Saturday--I have no idea how we're going to do the booth in an endcap, and the retail day is Sunday--first one ever and I also have no idea what I'm going to sell so no pricing done either. Wheeee!

Pictured at right is one of the new vases Tadashi designed as a Siyeh Studio production piece. Between these vases and the new roll-ups, we have quite a bit of new work for the show--sadly no kilnformed work by me. I have neither a new shape nor a new colorway. What can I say? It's been a busy spring/summer.

Okay, time to hug everyone good-bye, and wade through security. It'll be my first time with carry-on only in quite some time. Glad I remembered the quart ziploc bag...

Montana Has a Different Pace

2011-07-03T21:02:00.000-04:00

Sipping coffee, listening to Harry Belafonte, and posting while a cool breeze blows through the house. Obviously I'm in Montana as cool breezes are but a memory in Atlanta right now. But here in Polson, it's 11:00 am and only about 68 degrees out. It's already been a full morning. I harvested Mom's rhubarb for the first time this year, washed it, cut it up, bagged it in eight pie-sized portions (four cups each), and popped it all into the freezer.

I got a great recipe for limoncello from Cynthia's friend Jerry while in Portland, and the knowledge of it is causing me to ponder the possibility of rhubacello... Yep. Found a recipe (or at least a rhubarb liqueur recipe--I'll use Everclear 190 as the base--and one for quince (which I grow in my garden in Atlanta). Oooh, lilikoi (passionfruit) liqueur! I may have a new hobby... When in Montana, thoughts turn from glass. Time to get back to thoughts of glass as I have a new booth for the Buyer's Market show at the end of the week to design (as Todd keeps reminding me), and a complete website to design and implement. My Siyeh Studio site was hacked last year, I took it down, and I still haven't put it back up. Need to do that so my wholesale customers can find me. They aren't so interested in Date Night, doncha know.

While I have been in Montana, the studio has been running without me--including full kiln-loads everyday (Dave is my studio boy), and orders shipping (I just hope to get through the summer without breaking Judy, my studio elf). Today they unloaded and loaded Bettina and fired her up without even calling me for the final programming instructions!

_______________

The day is over. I trimmed the herbs back, pruned the front shrubs, looked up how to patch the holes in the shower surround, and bought lots and lots of Ziploc bags. Oh yes, and I ordered cookbooks. No web work was done, no booth layout. Tomorrow is another day...

Dear UPS Claims

2011-06-30T10:31:00.006-04:00

As I indicated in the message I left Monday, I am not at the studio number for the next week. I am in Montana and need to be called on my cell phone (XXX-XXX-XXXX) with any questions. You can also use the following land line number (XXX-XXX-XXXX). Alternatively, email (to the return address on this letter) also works for any questions you might have as to how it was packed (bubble wrap, 2" clearance on all sides, Styrofoam peanuts packed tight around all the bubble wrap--makes the amount of crushing even more impressive), or what the claim amount was (one piece--which was valued at $155--out of the box--which was valued at $940--out of the shipment--which was valued at $1,703).

I left two messages with your agent asking her to please call me to clear up conflicting voicemail, email, carrier, and postal mail communication I received about this claim. I never received a call back. I was told the claim had been denied (postal mail). I was told you needed more information (voicemail). My carrier tried twice (the first time I wasn't there) to pick up the package for inspection from me when I had clearly stated that it was (quite logically) at the receiver's. I was asked to send photos of the damage--supposedly after it was inspected--when I got the package back. This was all very confusing, and, quite honestly, I felt like you hoped I would just give up and go away if you made it confusing enough.

So let's cut to the chase:
I am a glass artist. My clients are galleries and stores across the country. I ship with UPS almost daily when I am in production (most of the year). My breakage rate is extremely low. I have watched a carrier drop one of my boxes from the top of his dolly to the ground when he was loading it onto the truck (all glass contents, nothing broken). I pack my work for rough handling.

And, yet, those times when I do have a claim, it is invariably, immediately denied and I have to go through a long song and dance (just like I'm doing now) to get it approved. I have shipped over $49,000 in work with UPS so far this year (since January 1). This is the only claim I have had in that time period. The claim is for $155 + shipping to replace the one piece broken in the shipment. It is not for the $960 listed on the claim status page on my UPS online. I would appreciate any further questions to me regarding this claim be directed to the contact points listed above, and, frankly, I would appreciate the claim being paid asap so I don't have to spend any more time (which is money) on it. Thank you.

Why I Like Production Work

2011-06-28T08:49:00.007-04:00

The past few days have been filled with firings of production work for orders and examples of production work for the upcoming Buyer's Market of American Craft show in Baltimore. As I sweltered in my 82 degree, humid studio Saturday afternoon and evening, I realized anew how much I like doing my current work. Yes, it is production work--which means that I might make anywhere from one to 40 of the same piece at the same time--but it is so much fun to make each and every one that I can't even think of it as making "the same thing" over and over. Color-blending frit rules. Then there is the beauty in the layout of the many as well as the beauty of the one. It's almost like quilting with glass.

When I crank the iPod up and rock out my 80's music, I like to focus on the larger patterns of the layout on my work table that will be lost as soon as the pieces are moved to the kiln. For example, the layouts shown are of 24 6" square plates in the "Fresh" colorway. I laid up 12 pieces at a time and got lost in the flow of the frit across piece boundaries. Notice the direction of the color in the squares in the first set above (photos taken after layers four and six) and the layout of the squares in the second set (also after layers four and six). I try to use the same pattern whenever I lay up a large number of square pieces, to minimize errors from exuberant but careless frit flinging, and in the second lay up I accidentally flipped one of the squares 180 degrees. The difference was obvious--and fascinated me--after the fourth layer, but it was much tougher to spot after the sixth.

Can you see how I would get lost in the patterns? Every piece is the same, and every piece is different. Each layer of frit and color brings a new pattern, a new watercolor painting for me to admire before I move each piece to the kiln for the glass to be transformed in texture, color, transparency by the heat. These 24 pieces are part of the current order from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I fused 78 pieces for them since I got back from Portland last Tuesday night.

Notice I said "fused". I am on my way to Montana today after only five days in the studio. I had over 160 pieces to make between my return from Portland and leaving for the BMAC next week and even firing full loads in every kiln every day, there was no way to get them all done. The only way to meet all the deadlines was to outsource some of the work. Clearly it wouldn't be efficient to both fuse and slump some pieces, but it worked out quite well for me to do all the fusing and then have someone step in to help with the slumping.

Lucky for me I have A Village--in this case, my long-suffering husband and Judy are stepping in to slump everything for me. It will take them five or six days to get it all done (and require meticulous instructions and firing schedules from me to make it work), but I have faith that they will rise to the occasion and I will come back from Montana next Wednesday to all orders shipped, and all my new work for the BMAC done and ready to load up Thursday (I leave for Baltimore Friday... WHEEEEE!!!!!) After 16 years, am I making a glass artist of my spouse, or does he just feel really, really sorry for how overwhelmed I am right now??

I took this final picture a couple of weeks ago when I had an order for four large award pieces and 58 earring trees in cobalt blue and lime green. I didn't have the cobalt/lime glass already made so I had to run up a few sheets to smash. The picture is of the four awards--16" X 24" each--and the six 4" X 20" strips of cobalt and blue. Bertha was full, full, full that day!

Life Changes

2011-06-24T11:10:00.004-04:00

Today we got our first twinge of empty nest/how-fast-she's-growing-up syndrome as we packed Mom, Jessie, Baxter, Jig (the dogs) and Bailey (Mom's bird) into the car and sent them off to Montana. Even though I am flying out on Monday to meet them in Missoula and do the final driving lap with them, it was still an emotional parting. I think one thing that made it so big was I decided at 8:45 last night to see if I could activate J's iPhone and turn it from an iPod to a real phone. We weren't going to let her have a phone until she was 20--or at least 12--because we didn't see the need. But my Mom is trying hard to be the last person left on the planet without a cell phone and we really didn't want them driving 2200 miles without one. How life has changed in the past 20 years. I (as did everyone else) thought nothing of heading across country on my own in a less-than-reliable car with not even a phone card--much less a cell phone.

So now J has a phone, and it's as much so she can call us whenever she wants to as it is for safety. Maybe more. We just had our first chat (she called from Nashville) and I miss her so!!! The saga of the phone was quite funny. Turns out once a SIM card in a phone has been used it can never be provisioned again. As J has a used iPhone the card was no longer viable. No problem, you can buy a SIM card at CVS or WalMart. So while I am setting everything up with AT&T on the phone, Dave heads to WalMart (and we pause the Princess Bride--we had all been watching it for the 9000th time). Unfortunately when he gets back he tells me that they didn't have any SIM cards so he had to buy a disposable phone instead. But we live in the days of Miracles and Wonder, and the AT&T rep walks me through taking the SIM card from the disposable and putting it into J's iPhone. Voila--a new phone for $9.99 and no contract added to our family plan! It was pretty smooth and amazing.

We finished the Princess Bride (all but Mom who had given up and gone to bed in the middle of the tech storm) and fell into bed for a short five hours sleep before getting up to have a last family breakfast and send the travelers off. The last photos of the evening are of Dave and the J in their new BECon wear (J had to stand on the coffee table so I could get them both in the pic with my iPhone).

Home

2011-06-22T06:13:00.003-04:00

Just set the time zone on the laptop from Pacific back to Eastern. It's no longer 3:13 am, it's 6:13 am... Really? Is that how it works? Apparently will ye, nill ye (or willy-nilly, if you prefer), crossing the country does require a reset of one's internal clock. I'm blathering. No time to blather. Order organization and processing up the wazoo today--not to mention a dentist appointment and all the usual first-day-back stuff to wade through.

The posts over the past three days have been more eloquent than usual--a direct influence of being away from home, on the west coast, and staying with Morganica (the most eloquent individual I know). Now I'm home and pragmatism rules again. For the past 12 days I wore nice clothes, make-up and jewelry every day. I thought differently, moved differently, and wrote differently. Today it's back to grungy stained t-shirts, no make-up, and a harried demeanor. Is that fair, I ask you? I want to stay the casual, well-dressed if not well-pressed artist/studio owner/writer I was in Portland. Ah well. Guess I'll go clean the cat box instead.

Good-bye Portland

2011-06-21T13:33:00.005-04:00

I sit in Rogue Ales Public House in the Portland airport waiting for my flight. I have a big glass of Rogue Irish lager to my right (for which I am getting surreptitious scandalized glances from a woman at the next table... or is it envy as she sips her diet Coke?) and a cup of Harry's beer cheese soup to my left. Yes, it's only 10:30 am here, but it's 1:30 pm in Atlanta and I am preparing. Bullseye Breakfast of Artisans!

I have loved my time here. In part it was due to the innate beauty and grace of Portland herself and the Oregonians (both native and adopted) who inhabit her, in part it was because of the reason for my visit--Steve Brown's workshop and BECon, but the main reason I had *such* a lovely time was getting to stay with Cynthia Morgan. I swear we are twins separated at birth! Now I need to figure out a way to get her out to Atlanta to play around in my studio.

In a few minutes I will get on the plane with my little canvas bag chock full of Made In Oregon souvenirs (and two jars of homemade pickled beets from the farmer's market tucked into my suitcase) and head back to the heat and the bustle that is Siyeh Studio. I will miss the peace, quiet and reflective time I have had here. And I'll really miss my twin.

Art For Me!

2011-06-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

Marietta Old Vine Red Lot Number 54 and Van Morrison's "Wild Night" on the radio playing through the restaurant--the restaurant being Tomaselli's Pastry Mill and Cafe in Elkton, OR across the street from the Elkton Cash Market and kitty-corner from the Brandborg Winery. My pizza has a chipotle-peanut butter BBQ sauced chicken, red and green peppers, and jalapenos on it... Can you say SPICY? It also has an amazing crust.

I promised a post on my upcoming artistic endeavors, and it's time to deliver. The summer looms (I whine my perennial "where did the spring go" lament) and I am staring down the barrel of orders, the BMAC, shuttling back and forth to Montana to help my Mom prepare her house for sale, and, oh yes, adding new work to my studio practice (yep, I've whole-spleenedly embraced that phrase)...

I have been trying to set-up regular casting in the studio since I got back from the last BECon and Linda Ethier's wonderful casting workshop. I have not succeeded. I have passionately talked a good game and enthusiastically encouraged other artists to provide me with their work (or rather, wax models of their work as they normally carve stone or sculpt clay to cast in pewter or bronze) which I would then render in glass. But who has had time? Not me. I am hoping that my upcoming visit to Hugh McKay's Cast Glass Forms foundry with Cynthia with rekindle the zest and sharpen my laser focus on casting.

Even more compelling to me right now than casting, however, is to continue my explorations of creating 3-D glass forms from glass powder cradled in clay powder and laid down on the kiln shelf through a series of screens--the lo-tech 3-D printing I learned in Steve Brown's workshop. Think of it as dry silkscreen printing over and over in the same spot until it's really, really thick. This is work I could easily do with a bag of clay powder, a kiln shelf, some mullite dams, a bunch of glass powders and a kiln. Oh yes and some screens (which I have from my class) sieves, sifters and brushes. It seems like a lot, but unlike lost wax casting, it's a very clean process with none of the messy boiling, spitting water from a wallpaper steamer melting out wax from a mold. A table, a box of dust masks, a little hand broom and dustpan and I'm good to go!

So how am I going to accomplish new work this post-BECon when I failed so ignominiously before? Heh. I am going to run away. I mentioned previously that I am going to Montana a bit this summer. The truth is that I am spending the bulk of the summer there, and there isn't a glass studio. Yet. I am looking forward to beginning one this year. For the present I am not going to try to do my current production work. Instead, I want to set up a medium-sized kiln and work in casting with traditional plaster silica molds and the lo-tech 3-D printing described above. I am leaving Judy in charge of the studio in Atlanta, and Lori, Tadashi, Lee, Domenick, Amy, and Brian will keep the studio running smoothly without me. No equipment will break, nothing outside of the usual course of business will happen, there won't be any art emergencies where a client needs some thing RIGHT NOW... Well, I can dream, can't I?

I promised Dave that when I turned 50 I would SLOW DOWN. It's time to make good on that promise, and stepping away from the Atlanta studio a bit (and setting up a Montana studio) is a good start. Really. Did I mention I am completely obsessed with this screen/powder technique?

BECon and Artists

2011-06-19T14:35:00.005-04:00

Champagne in a lovely highball glass (for breakfast! with toast!), French press coffee with lots of cream in a mug next to it, and the rising and falling conversation of Tadashi and Morganica (Cynthia Morgan) for my music. BECon 2011 is over. My batteries are refilled to the bursting--as is my spleen... (appendix? Liver? Heart? What organ is the creative seat of the body?) I don't know from where the creative juices flow, but they have welled and filled every nook and cranny in my body and I need to get home and let them out. Thank you Steve Royston Brown.

The workshop I took from Brown was incredible. Even though my second and third pieces did not turn out (incorrect firing schedules--not enough heat so the middles of each piece [made of glass powder] stayed powder and crumbled to dust when I de-molded them) I am completely inspired to continue this body of work when I return to my own studio practice (more on studio practice in a minute) next week.

Who am I kidding?!? When I get back to the studio I am going to dive head-first into orders, work for both the wholesale and retail portions of the BMAC show in Baltimore, running a teaching studio, selling glass and tools, managing a hotshop, setting up a second hotshop/casting studio, having glass date nights, scheduling torchwork beadmaking classes, and managing employees... Making art. *snort* Like I have time for *that*! (But I will, and I'll tell you how tomorrow. Promise. I'm going to take a page from Cynthia's book and write tomorrow's post now--as soon as I finish this one--and schedule it to run tomorrow. Heh. Now more about, well, being an artist.)

I have retreated to Morganica's red leather couch with the heather purple knitted throw her mother made over my legs. It's time to really post. The problem with not posting for a month... er, two months(!) is that if I don't post, it means a LOT is happening that is worth posting about, and the task of getting it all documented may be critically important (at least to me), but it is also physically impossible. Life doesn't stand still just so I can catch up. But I am in charge. I am the adult (snicker). I'm going to jump around a bit and not worry about chronology. Linear order be damned--it may be how things happen, but it doesn't have to be how we think about them, remember them, or chronicle them.

Though I just wrote that life doesn't stand still, today, for me, I am making it do just that. I am ruthlessly avoiding any external stimuli. I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't want to meet anyone. I don't want to see anyone else's work or studio or learn about their technique. Today is a day to process everything I took in over the last week and figure out a way to ease it into my own studio practice. See? I now have a studio practice. All the presenters at BECon talked about their practices. For a couple of moments I thought I was at a medical convention, but then I, too, became taken by the imagery of an artistic practice. Hopefully less than doctors (really, hopefully) we actually are all practicing all the time.

I am also not an artist, I'm a "maker" (the other term used by all the presenters)--which is great because I can't quite get my skin around being an "artist"--even after an hour lounging on Morganica's entryway floor last night floor passionately debating what is art and do I do it with her and Tadashi. I woke up this morning with the strong, clear thought that I am an artist. Then I got over it. I don't create just to convey a message or make a statement, and I have a problem with complete lack of utility. Sure, some of my makings are entirely decorative and not at all utilitarian, and I look forward to creating new work that is just as useless but edgy rather than decorative. But whatever I make needs to engage more than the brain through the eyes. I need it to have a touch--a coolness, a softly catching slipperiness, a weight. I need it to change in different lights and contexts.

Like an artist, I want my work to provoke a response upon first sight and to continually engage the viewer/toucher. But unlike many artists I have met, I am thrilled with the the response being a completely unintellectual reaction of "how beautiful!". Someone wanting to hold and touch my work and to pass it through different lights is the reaction I am usually working to provoke. I don't often want my work to be just a touchstone to provoke an emotional response from the viewer based on his/her philosophical/religious/cultural response. I am not looking to change the world with every (heck, maybe not any) piece I create. It is more important to me to comfort and nurture than it is to shock. Don't get me wrong--I might do work to provoke and shock too, but, if that's all I did, it would simultaneously exhaust me and bore me to tears.

There were many artists presenting at and attending BECon. They came from a variety of backgrounds, though painting was a common thread. They had art degrees--many of the presenters had multiple art degrees and academic credentials. (So many, in fact, that I wondered aloud last night if I should pursue an art degree in order to claim a respectable place in the community. Cynthia and Tadashi vetoed the idea.) The artists were as passionate and high-strung as thoroughbred racehorses and I marveled that the worth-of-work issues (reference "art degrees" above) I have (usually after being around artists) in my self-identified place on the craft side of the art-craft chasm are apparently vastly smaller than those of the artists on the other side.

The people who identify themselves as artists still seem to have as much or more difficulty with their work being accepted by artists in the traditional fine arts media as I do having my work accepted by glass artists. Fortunately for me, it doesn't seem to bother me as much. I was reminded a bit of my time in academia where faculty members used to squabble over the the size of their offices, the number of chairs and windows in said offices, and how they all related to the faculty member's importance in the department. All that said, I am glad to have the title of "maker" to adopt.

Posting?

2011-06-11T11:54:00.003-04:00

I have meant to post for the past couple of days, but chatting with Morganica has been all-consuming. My mind is awhirl with ideas, designs and techniques. And now I head off to to Bullseye for my workshop. Later. I'll post later (BE doesn't have open wi-fi in the Resource Center). Later!

Oh Yeah, It's Time To Post!

2011-05-17T11:50:00.006-04:00

After maybe the most challenging two weeks in the studio EVER, I am finally back to post. (INSERT NOTE: It is now five days since I started this post so make it the most challenging THREE weeks in the studio ever!) Why has it been challenging? Well for one thing, expansion construction continues apace with the extension on the coldworking room almost finished, the new hotshop done but for electric--and a new in-ground trampoline, raised vegetable garden, cinderblock bog pond and 16'X12' 2'-3' deep pond being added to our backyard next to the studio. The design and construction alone were enough to keep me busy full-time, but I didn't HAVE full-time for them. Nope.

The Chihuly exhibit at the MFAB continues to be very, very good to me. The museum did a normal order for their stores at the BMAC in February requesting 64 pieces for a 4/1 ship. The exhibit opened on 4/7, and they put in a rush order for another 116 pieces for a 4/15 ship. Now one frazzled month later they are up to 665 pieces to be shipped between 4/1 and 5/31--and the exhibit goes through August 7! I begin to be concerned for my summer travel plans to Montana (and the weaving class I was going to take in New Hampshire in June is now right out...).

I already over 100 pieces to ship the first of May from the Buyer's Market (BMAC) show in February--many of them very large. Bertha, Bettina (the big-girl kilns) and I have become very good friends these past few weeks as I have spent every night from 7 pm to 11 or 12 pm with them. I was not alone. My Mom came over every night after dinner for the past week or so and unloaded Bertha and washed and ground the edges (as necessary) on all the newly fused pieces from her so they could g into Bettina for a slump. Dave kept me company and occasionally unloaded Bettina if I hadn't gotten around to it. Jessie swept the studio floors and watered the flowers in the front bed. Judy kept the frit filled and Amy made the morceaux.

Roll-ups have also kept us quite busy at the studio, and it's coming up time to review our paperweight line and plan the colors and designs for the upcoming BMAC. Speaking of the BMAC, the calendar looms: the BMAC is hot on the heels of BECon, which begins (for me) the day after my birthday which is just over two weeks away--right after I get back from Phoenix (where I am now with Mom and J visiting Mom's brother, my uncle Ed--shown here with J). Before the BMAC I need to get two more big orders out, figure out what work I'm going to show and make it, have the roll-ups and paperweights photographed, have postcards made... oh yes, and make a new website for Siyeh Studio (as opposed to Siyeh Glass) for my production work.

I begin to think my 50th year may be my busiest yet!

Has It Really Been Two Weeks?

2011-05-02T08:53:00.007-04:00

I need to post quickly before something else explodes or takes a radical detour sideways (too late--everything happened and now it's after 11:00 pm and I'm finally posting!)... It's been a challenging couple of weeks since I last posted. I believe at the time I mentioned a really full life. Hah. I hadn't even begun to see a really full life two weeks ago. NOW I know what a really full life is, and I gotta say, it's not for me. Here are some pics of everything that has physically happened at or around the studio in the past two weeks:

The hotshop before any new construction:

Then after the first few days:

Then when finished (notice the nice deck for datenighters):

Then there's the new coldworking room expansion which was started and mostly finished in one day:

And with the new siding, walls and floor up (but with the old interior wall--need to cut that one out still):

Finally, The inside of the new kiln-forming classroom:

Now I'm tired and need to go to sleep. Another post tomorrow morning I hope).

We Now Pause For Station Identifiction

2011-04-18T09:11:00.005-04:00

I love Mondays anymore. I used to be like any other commuter and hate both the thought and the acts of getting in the car, driving to work. and starting another week. Now Monday is still a work day, and I still have a commute (across the backyards though it may be), but the studio is CLOSED. No one is scheduled to work but me. Can you say "regroup"?

I have had the fervid intention to post every day since the year began. Last week, not so successful. Was I slacking? Heck no! I taught three classes--two of them with no preparation as they were not on the calendar and when the participants arrived for their classes I was hip-deep in other projects. But they all three went well. I also finalized the schedule and processed the paperwork for the four (four!) new (new!) studio employees, and Judy left Friday on vacation for two weeks... That Judy keeps the entire studio running has never been more apparent than in the past few days. To add another ring to our circus, Dan our wondermous carpenter came and put the sliding glass doors in between the kiln room and the kiln-forming classroom, and today he was scheduled to begin the coldworking room and hotshop expansions and build the ventilation system for the beadmaking classroom. (I say scheduled as he had car trouble and we had to postpone till tomorrow--Whew!)

But the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the triple-scoop sundae that was my full week last week came when the buyer from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston called Thursday afternoon in a panic. I shipped them 66 (66!) pieces on 4/1 which were destined to be split between three of their gift store locations. They had another 50 on order to be shipped today as they currently have a self-curated Chihuly exhibit (Chihuly being the self--not the exhibit) in the Art of the Americas Wing and they thought they might sell some glass art in conjunction with it. Yeah. Uhuh. They put out my work on Tuesday to fill in some empty spots in a location they hadn't planned on putting it, and people grabbed it up like it was on sale in Filene's Basement. My buyer upped her order to *116* pieces on Friday and we pushed back the ship date a day (maybe two). That's why I have been in the studio till midnight every night.

So the Pause For Station Identification... There are so many directions I am going in right now that I am not sure who I am. Am I still a production glass artist? Not really--production time is relegated to the evenings after my "real job". And isn't that a kicker as it's the production work that's bringing in the money to fund everything else right now! Usually it's the day job that pays for the evening's "art". No more. In just over a month I'll be 50 and I STILL don't know who I'll be when I grow up. Nevermind who I want to be--who stands still long enough to think about wanting something? Do or Do Not--there is no Want.

On the plus side, if I died tomorrow no one could say I hadn't lived a really full life!

Adversity, Your Name Is Hotshop

2011-04-14T06:56:00.002-04:00

"The mark of your true nature is in the grace with which you face adversity." Thank you Alicia Lomne for the wonderful quote on Facebook this morning.

Yesterday was packed AND challenging for me, as were the two preceding days and as will be today. Yesterday's biggest challenge came in the staff cost of running the hotshop last week with the thermocouple not functioning. When you run a business--no matter how well you run it--there will be weeks you only make a little to bank for the next rainy day, and there will be weeks when you just break even and you're glad to be alive to fight another week. Last week we hemorrhaged money babysitting the thermocouple--It would have cost far less to have just shut the hotshop down rather than to keep it operating sub-optimally.

I keep trying to tell myself that it was a one-off week, hindsight is 20-20, etc., but the reality is that last week hit really hard and we can't have another like it. Period. Not a good day to have to go through when planning a hotshop expansion.

Almost Caught Up!

2011-04-13T09:54:00.004-04:00

After two days of post-vacation stress, I am hair-on-fire, full speed ahead. I think I am wearing the very nice people at Olympic Kilns out with me requests for modifications and tweaks to their kilns. I dropped the furnace off yesterday morning to get the thermocouple fixed/replaced and picked up the new bead annealer. Tomorrow I'll take the bead annealer back up to get the doors cut down a little and pick up the furnace. I wish they weren't 40+ miles away, but at least I have the option of going in person and not shipping.

Today is payday in the studio--the first payday with all the new staff. On April 1 we had to switch to a formal bi-weekly pay schedule from having one person bi-weekly and two others whenever-there-was-a-sufficient-amount-due as I have hired *four* more people in the past three weeks! Wheeee! We (the current staff) are excited to be joined by Domenick Peronti, production glassblower and teacher; Amy DeBaets, hotshop assistant (extraordinaire); Lori Schinelli, retail glass manager and kiln-forming instructor; and Tadashi Torii, hotshop manager and lead production artist (for roll-up work we finally get to formally add to our studio offerings). Lee will be the lead teacher in the new expanded space. Brian is still a little lonely up in the beadroom all by himself, but Lee is VERY relieved to be cutting back a bit and giving his knees (and fiery hair) a respite from the 50-60 hour weeks in the hotshop. More info on these wonderful new Siyeh staff Coming Soon to the website (and the newsletter--which is not late unless I call it a quarterly newsletter :-).

In typical how-much-more-can-I-chew fashion, Dan will be in to start the hotshop expansion (a second hotshop off of the first one about half the size of the original) next week, and I'm also going to ask him to expand the coldworking room at the same time. No time like the present! I just hope the payments for the orders I've shipped so far this year start coming in or things could get ugly. Yes, I could have waited to have the money in hand before scheduling the work, but the stars have aligned for getting the new hotshop done NOW and who am I to argue with the stars? Now that I have three glassblowers chomping at the Date Night/lessons/production bit, I need to have a workspace (and work) for them all. Part of the work will be a renewal of roll-up work in the studio. With only one glassblower, we could barely keep up with Date Nights--much less lessons and, far down the line, new production work. But with Domenick and Tadashi--who worked with Johnathan Schmuck doing roll-ups a few years ago and who has produced them for local artists in his own studio since--we are ready to have an entirely new line of work for this summer's BMAC!

Okay, people and projects waiting in the studio, more tomorrow!

Coincidence or Unattributed Inspiration?

2011-04-08T14:46:00.006-04:00

I probably wouldn't have even posted today had Bill not sent me this picture from the current Artful Home catalog asking if it reminded me of anything. While no one could ever say it is a copied design, the similarities are striking enough to me that I thought I'd put the work out there for comment. What do you think? Did someone see our Balance piece and say, "Hey, I like that shape! I want to do something like that and call it mine!"?

Today is the ante penultimate day at the beach. Spring break is almost over and we will have to return home to our lives. I have used the time here very productively... to sleep. Yep, I've managed at least 11 hours a day of sleep since we got here last Sunday. I've done a bit of planning and web design work, caught up on date night photo issues and started preparing the next newsletter (already a week late), but mostly I've slept. And as I've slept, I've dreamed. In my dreams I have felt the stirrings of ideas for new designs and a build-up of the energy necessary to realize them. The goal when I get back to the real world (also known as the studio) is to hoard this energy and use it slowly and wisely--no more 17-hour studio days.

Of course, I look at my list of the projects I have awaiting me there and it's depressingly long and diverse--nothing sucks up energy more than a bunch of little to medium projects all requiring development of new skills or reawakening of rusty ones. Give me one or two big projects any day. I have to learn to say "No" to little repairs--especially stained glass ones. I don't even work in stained glass anymore and I am way out of practice.

But worrying about the little things is for after the ultimate (in the sense of last) day at the beach. I'll grumble more next week.

Postscript:

I went a little ways further through the Artful Home catalog and found the work below (the pieces at right are mine). Even more depressing is that this is someone I mentored at the BMAC a few years ago and encourage every time I see him. There were many times he could have said, "Gee, I really like your Pop Art series, I think I'll do something like it!". Am I wrong or petty for thinking he should have?

Over the Hump!

2011-03-30T23:49:00.004-04:00

Allow me to explain about the glass studio business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. So what do we do? Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well. How? I don't know. It's a mystery.

I finished in the studio at 11:30 tonight and celebrate with another glass of sauvignon blanc which will undoubtedly be finished before I head up to the shower so I'll have to get another one with which to share the shower steam. It was definitely a two-glass-of-wine day.

Becky the bookkeeper finished up my 2010 books in her Quickbooks 2011 for Windows last evening just in time for my meeting with my accountant this morning. She sent them to me about 9:30 am so I could import them back into my Quickbooks 2009 for Mac (from whence they originated). Already you know this isn't going to end well...

Though I could go on for several scathing paragraphs filled with blistering invective about the absolute ethical impoverishment of the Quickbooks products and Intuit's customer service, it's already all been said (ad nauseum) elsewhere on the web. If they didn't hold all our data hostage, we would have risen up and skinned and eaten every last Intuit employee long ago. Bottom line for me is that after spending *eight hours* trying to get to my own business data (does everyone remember that it is theoretically tax season?), I am still unable to even find out how much I made/lost last year.

Those eight hours were filled with entertaining anecdotes including the story of how I had to upgrade my Mac's OS from Leopard to Snow Leopard (the LAST thing you ever want to hear when you are having an application problem is that you'll need to upgrade your computer's operating system in order to run the version of the application that will fix your problem--especially when it doesn't). They were enlivened by having to spend $174 for a new version of QB for Mac (2011). But the REAL frosting on the experience was Becky being told by pro tech support at Intuit (she PAYS them in order to receive service as an accounting professional--she's not just some schmo [like me] calling in) that we would have to pay $750 for them to expedite them fixing my file which is broken due to a bug in the software. Laugh? Cry? You tell me. Pay $750? I think not.

Now, as I finish my first glass of wine, I am undaunted, of good cheer and stout heart, and slightly more mellow than I was earlier today. I taught a class tonight, unloaded yesterday's monster kilns loads, loaded all four kilns with new fuse loads, and am home in the same day I left the house. It's a Good Thing. Helen, my accountant is meeting me for breakfast Saturday morning at 9:00 to take my finished books and turn them into a business tax return. Becky is lending me her Windows laptop from tomorrow morning through Saturday morning so I can enter my last 2010 data (mileage, expenses paid from personal accounts, etc.) into Quickbooks for Windows prior to dumping the whole mess in Helen's lap.

I should get my glass order in to Bullseye now, but that's going to have to wait till first thing tomorrow. I'm too tigh-tigh. Night all!

Tuesday Was Too Long

2011-03-30T00:42:00.003-04:00

It is the cusp of the day. I just got home from getting the last kiln loads in--37 pieces fused today. I shudder to think what time Bertha and Bettina (the big kilns) will be cool enough to unload tomorrow. It'll probably be another late night just because of the timing of the unload. Tomorrow, one last big fuse and the slump loads begin. Thursday is all slump all the time, and Friday we ship.

When all is said and done, I like when Dave is in Austin for these big production pushes. He worries when I start work at 8:30 am and end at 12:30 am with just a couple of hours off in the evening for family time (not that he won't worry now from reading this post). Of course I couldn't do it without my mother here to get the J showered and into bed while I head back to the studio.

So why am I still up when I have to get up at 7:00 to get the J up, pack her lunch, fix her breakfast, and take her to school? I have to transition. I am sipping a glass of sauvignon blanc, and in another line or two I'll carry it upstairs where it and I will share a hot shower. By the end of the shower, it will be gone, and I will be totally relaxed and ready to crash for six short hours. Tomorrow we crest the hump and start the slide to the bottom of the week. Hope I can follow McMurtry's advice in "Ruby and Carlos" and stay off that slippery slope. Night all.

The F-Word

2011-03-24T09:29:00.004-04:00

In the old posting style: Coffee in a 1930's diner-style white ceramic mug, a lot of people laughing and talking over "It's All I Can Do" by the Cars in the background. Wow. Is the universe talking to me through music again? Is it telling me (as my mother hinted this morning) that I am already pretty (over)extended and taking on yet another project at this time might not be in my (or my business' or my family's) best interest? But then Annie Lenox comes on singing that "sweet dreams are made of these and who am I to disagree?" and so I must post on about my New Direction. I think it's finally time to bring the F-Word into my business model.

At first (as I wrote before), I didn't think I had anything to offer that would make someone want to F=word with me. So I decided to just write up a little e-how-to instead. But Dave remarked again last night how his boss--a very business-savvy man--thought I just should do the F-word, and for whatever reason, this time the idea really resonated with me. Dave also pointed out that you don't make any money writing about something (unless you're Deepak Chopra). Do or Do Not, but don't waste your time writing about for $10 a copy.

I even have the perfect candidate in mind for my first partner. She talked to me for well over an hour at the BMAC show in February about how to start. Then she called last week to see where I was on the e-how-to as she had been hoping to get it in time for her first anniversary next week. This morning I am going to call and offer her a different sort of deal.

So why has Franchising (Date Night in the Glass Studio) suddenly become so enticing to me? Two reasons: 1) I have finally begun to believe in the uniqueness and value of the business process I have created and the uses of marketing technology that I bring to the table (what's easy and obvious to me ISN'T necessarily to everyone else), and 2) I would happily pay someone else to give me this level of assistance, skill, experience and physical support to get up and running quickly, so it must be worth it.

Now I need to put it all together. What services will we offer? How much will we charge for them, and will it be a flat annual fee or a percentage of bookings? We will need to have a buy-in fee for training and initial materials, but there are advantages and disadvantages to flat fee vs. percentage ongoing. What about equipment? Marketing? Managing the calendar and sign-up? The picture upload system?

__________________________________

Even after over two hours on the phone with my proposed partner I still have more questions than answers. I also have a domain: glassdatenight.com. Now I need a nap.

Doing It For the Money

2011-03-16T09:25:00.002-04:00

As I anticipate the great 50 year marker at which I will arrive in a couple of months, I spend increasingly more time introspecting. This morning's epiphany was about Doing It. Why do we Do It, what do we want/need/get out of Doing It, (and I'm sure you're wondering, what IS It)? Most of us know as we're growing up that we're going to have to Do It. We dream about It, we think about what It will be for us and where we want to Do It, and when we picture ourselves Doing It, it's always the most fun and exciting, novel and unique aspects of It that we see--we certainly never see ourselves being bored Doing It (though we often will be).

Our parents encourage us to choose It based on how much we will make Doing It, how much security there is, how much demand for It. They want It to be able to provide for us and our families financially--and, don't get me wrong, financial stability IS important. But when push comes to shove, as it always does, how many of us can really Do It just--or even primarily--for the money? I can't. My spouse can't. Maybe my father did, and he was often miserable--though that brings up another point to address below.

My epiphany was brought on this morning when I ran into a parent from Jessie's school here at Kavarna who works at the school in a parental representative position. She (as always) was full of energy and enthusiasm, zest and focus for her job and the rest of her life. I looked at her as an employer (more on that below) and thought how lucky I would be if I could hire her for the studio. She's educated, articulate, enthusiastic, energetic--and not at all focused on The Money. She couldn't be. Though I don't know how much she makes for the school, I know that if she thought about how many hours she works and how much she makes she would realize that she could Do It at the Publix deli counter and make more money and have more free time for her family than she does now. She doesn't work at the Publix deli counter.

Doing It, aka Working, cannot be about the money you garner from the work. If it were, you would inevitably become dissatisfied and think you are worth more than you are making--the expression of which would undoubtedly make your employer think you were worth less. As I looked at this woman this morning I realized that we do not work because we have to for money, we work because we have to to live. Work enables us to feel worth, participate in a community, exercise our brains, be anchored, have a purpose--in other words, to live.

When we start thinking about how much we're making for our work compared to how much we're working and we begin to feel resentful, it's not about the money--however much we might say it is--it's about the work. Something about the work is not or is no longer meeting our needs. The answer really isn't to ask for a raise. More money for the same work environment is a short term sop that initially makes us feel more self-worth but doesn't address the real problem. The real problem is either that the negative aspects of the job or the job environment outweigh the positives and leave us feeling down at the end of the day, or that we have intrinsic self-worth issues that keep us from being fulfilled and validated external to the job. In the former case a reworking of the job or it's environmental factors (co-workers) might fix the problem, in the latter, a good therapist would be a good start. In both cases, I really don't believe money is the issue.

A physical need for an increase in money may dictate a request for a raise or a job change, but it won't decrease our satisfaction level with our job. Instead we're more likely to regret the change that's being forced upon us by financial responsibility--and we hope we'll be lucky enough to be happy in the next job we have to take based on the remuneration for it.

So why am I thinking as an employer right now? Because we are expanding the studio again and I have been putting together salary and benefit packages for potential employees. I have to balance being fair with how much the studio can afford--and it's made me really think about how much (or in this case little) I make and what that means to me. At the end of the day, it doesn't mean a thing. Dave has always said that he'd code even if no one paid him. If he ever works for a company that goes public or is bought by Google or Amazon resulting in millions of dollars for him, nothing about his relationship with his laptop will change--he'll still be plugged in all day every day writing code. He has to code. It gives him joy that cannot matched by anything else long-term. He would wither and die if he couldn't code anymore.

I own/run a business and am not burdened with paying the mortgage, the property taxes or our household bills--Dave's salary covers those things. So because I don't HAVE to work for a salary does that mean I work less or take it less seriously? It is to laugh (as Mike would say). I work as I work because of who I am, not what I make, and I work damn hard. I am very fortunate that I lucked into Judy, my studio elf, because she is just the same. She attacks every task with zest and verve and joy. I was very, very lucky to have found her (thank you Lori), and I hope I am as lucky in my upcoming hires. If you have an employee whose first question is always "What's in it for me/what's it going to cost me?", no one is going to be happy.

Back to my father for a second. He was not happy to actively miserable in his job for much of his 30 years of service (same job, same office, US Forest Service). He was also not happy in his personal life. Was he unhappy in his job because of the job and therefore unhappy in his personal life because of his job, or was he unhappy because that's the way he was? If it had been the job, I would have expected him to be happier in the 20+ years after he retired, but that wasn't the case. There was always something that made him mad, unhappy or just discontented--illegal immigrants were stealing American jobs, there was favoritism in the ski school (he was also a ski instructor), the environment was being wrecked, Someone Somewhere getting Something they shouldn't have and didn't Deserve... (I feel a rant coming on about being so obsessed with what's fair and right that we miss enjoying what is. No time for that today. Need to stay on topic.) My conclusion is that Dad was who he was and all of his experiences were colored by his own inner unhappiness. His unhappiness did not have external causes--it was internally driven. He could be happy for short bursts by achieving some goal, but every success was doomed to be followed by a failure because of how he felt about himself.

Now back to the upcoming hires and managing the expectations/happiness of current staff. It's Not About the Money! I cannot let myself be convinced that it is. The idea of a level of experience and education being worth a certain amount of money and having that as a driving concern for a prospective employee is going to be an immediate strong negative flag for me. I need to trust that I have been fair because that's who I am. I have to trust that I do the right thing because that's who I am. I have to Trust and stick to my vision because I can't Do It for the money, and I really don't want anyone around me who thinks they need to.

Now, anyone know anyone in the Atlanta area who might be interested in teaching glassblowing, working as a hotshop assistant, or teaching kilnforming/cutting and stocking glass?

It's a Square World

2011-03-15T09:36:00.003-04:00

Good morning wet world! It is truly spring in Atlanta. All the cherries, plums, bradford pears, forsythia, and early deciduous magnolias burst into glorious bloom a couple of weeks ago, and now the redbuds are starting to open... and it's raining. I don't mind the rain though, today is a day for getting to studio projects that have languished for too long--repairs, screen-print fuses, and the first round of orders from the BMAC. I'll probably even finish up the bills and supply orders I need to get paid and in (in that order).

A hot topic lately in the small artist world is credit card processing with a Square or similar device. Dave, my uber-geeky-technological-and financial-industry-cred-out-the-wazoo spouse got me one (and even set up the account for me--not that I plan to use it) and got himself one too, who knows why! I don't plant to use it as my card processing needs are more geared to card-not-present scenarios (over the phone, over the web sales), and I also have a high enough credit card sales volume that a real business account with lower rates makes more sense to me.

However I have been following with interest one of the recent debates as to the safety of the square that has been politely raging on Wendy Rosen's Facebook page for the past couple of days. I know (and highly respect) Cynthia personally, and Guy at TeaMac has been my credit card processor for many years. It's worth a look. (And for the record, I, too, would like more hard reputable test data provided and less the-sky-is-falling hyperbole.)

Happy Tuesday!

Hello!

2011-03-10T09:00:00.003-05:00

It's been so long since I last posted I have almost forgotten how... I promised a post on the BMAC, but, sadly, I've already forgotten what I was going to say. (There's a lot of forgetfulness going on here.)

The past couple of weeks have been filled with studio and life activity. The new kilnroom is finished, furnished, and I have already taught three days in it. I don't say three classes as the second day was an all-day studio experience for 18 homeschoolers aged 10-15. They divided into groups of six and each group spent two hours with me, Brian and Lee/Becky H. In the Lee/Becky group, they did glassblowing with Lee and read about the history of glassmaking with Becky. It was a wonderful, exhausting day. Last night I had a group of travel planners in town for a workshop who came in and learned some kilnforming, ate pizza, drank wine and made plates. They didn't finish till 10:30 and I am wiped today!

Wiped or no, it's time to get last year's accounting finished so I can get everything to my accountant for taxes (late). It's also time to get the newsletter out with next quarter's class schedule and glass specials. Bullseye is tempting me with a special dealers-only curious sale and it could be a lot of fun to have it to offer it this spring with all the new open studio kilnformers.

Okay, though blogging is fun, it's time to work on the website!

Let 2011 Begin

2011-02-23T10:12:00.004-05:00

It's February 23 and the year has finally settled in for me. Hawaii at the end of last year was wonderful, but I came back all discombobulated. Then there was the Week of Weather in Atlanta. Then my father's death. Then rushing to get ready for the BMAC. Now I am back from the show and FINALLY feeling grounded in the new year! It doesn't hurt that the star magnolias and the camellias in our front yard are blooming now and I had my Best Show Ever at the BMAC last week. Really. And it was the best on so many levels--fastest set-up since going to the big booth, made Great New Friends, sang karaoke for the first time ("Call Me" by Blondie--a particularly amusing choice to Todd as he knows how much I dislike talking on the phone), and both my best personal AND best studio sales. I also was tapped by Wendy Rosen to participate in a panel discussion on great outside-the-box ideas for studios and retailers (I presented Date Night). That presentation is now spinning off into an e-document for setting up your own date night--available soon for, oh, probably about $10.

Today I spent some time looking at the little 2/2 house next door to our home (which also backs up to the studio property) which has gone on the market for $62,500. It is a pestilent little pit of a place in which the rats and squirrels have reigned unchecked for several years, and the local thieves have stripped all the wire (for copper) and plumbing (also for copper). It needs complete electrical, plumbing, a new roof, new flooring, new kitchen, and structural support in the living room (the owner at some point took out a support column in the middle of the room and put in 2- 2 X 10 beams to support the entire roof system). The windows are in decent shape, the walls are nice (plaster) and the general bone structure is good, but, $62,500... Really?

As the day has gone so late (it's almost 5:00) and I still haven't done much of anything, I'll post more tomorrow including an analysis of show sales, a review of set-up and breakdown, and some amusing highlights.

Set-Up at the BMAC--Day 2

2011-02-17T23:54:00.003-05:00

While there are still a few minutes left in this glorious day, I am going to post. We did, indeed, pretty much finish setting up yesterday. We went back in this morning about 10:00 and puttered and futzed with Todd's work, the wall pieces, the tabletop display in the center of the booth, vacuuming, adjusting the lights--in short, everything we could think of until 2:00 when we finally packed it in and headed out. I have to admit, it felt really good to walk down the aisles towards the doors between the booths packed with harried, scurrying exhibitors who were trying to get set-up.

So this afternoon I worked a bit on my website. I got my on-line payment system set-up and configured for the new class payment processing. I napped. Yes, I napped. And now, with one minute remaining before a new day, I finish my glass of pinot noir and head off to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another glorious day--beginning with breakfast across the street at Lil Pete's Diner.

Things Come in Threes

2011-02-16T08:44:00.003-05:00

Good Morning Campers! I apologize for the long absence from posting, it's been a hard few weeks. Thank you to everyone who has sent me private condolences on the death of my father. I will be writing to you all individually, I have just been too overwhelmed up to now. This post is for Dee (even though she already knows the contents as she is right here--we're sharing a room in Philadelphia).

It's that time of year again and we're gearing up for this weekend's Buyer's Market of American Craft 2001 part 1 (part 2 is in Baltimore in July). The past 28 hours have already been an exciting rollercoaster ride--Here's to the hope that the rest of the show isn't "Interesting Times" too. The title of today's post about things coming in threes refers to studio disasters coming in threes, as so far this morning I have had to fix three doozies.

Disaster #1: Right before I left for Philly yesterday, the studio phone rang and it was a woman who wanted more information about the DealSwarm offer. Umm, the offer wasn't supposed to go live yesterday, it was supposed to go live today. Today when the studio is open so we can answer the phone calls from people with questions about the deal (we were closed yesterday as we were open Monday for Valentine's Day). Today when I have an article about our website clarifying the deal details. Today when we are ready. NOT Yesterday! the article is up, Judy is in and answering the phone, we'll see what we can do.

Disaster #2: I noticed this morning that my bank reversed a $3,000 check I deposited in my account on Monday. The check was from one of my business accounts to another so I know it was good. When I called to ask what had happened (I have checks to my vendors and service providers out against that money), I was told that there was "an erasure" on the check so the ATM rejected it. I miswrote the first letter on the payee line, crossed it out, initialed it, and wrote the rest of the check out fine. The ATM took it, credited me, and then a day later (apparently without a real person seeing the check) spit it back out. When I called to find out how they were going to fix the error, I was told I would have to wait for the check to arrive in the mail and then I could redeposit it. I very reasonably and extremely forcefully explained that I am in Philadelphia, it was their error, I do NOT want checks bouncing from Atlanta to Athens, and they needed to fix it. With Capital One or Wachovia/Wells Fargo I would now be in a serious frustrated huff and planning to move all my accounts to another bank. But the thing I love best about Chase is their customer service. They have given me a provisional credit for the check and when I get back to Atlanta and the check arrives in the mail, I can take it to the bank for re-depositing. Business will go on as usual.

Disaster #3: The question fields on the Date Night Reservation form on the web all got overwritten with a customer's data. So instead of seeing "Date Requested" you would see a date. Instead of being asked for your name, you would be told someone else's name. And worst of all, instead of having to read and acknowledge our cancellation, clothing and other policies, you would just see the word "yes". It took some time, but I got that straightened out too.

Now it's time to have some food, get to the show, and start setting up. Can we finish today? I sure hope so...

Alright Already, I'll Post!

2011-01-26T10:26:00.003-05:00

It's been a week since my last (admittedly lame) post, and after being NAGGED TO DEATH, I thought I'd better post again. Just a hint, if you don't hear from me it's because we're HOPPING! Since I last really posted we got the new crucible glass melting kiln from Olympic Kilns and are up and running with date nights in the hotshop again. I also taught two FULL kilnforming classes on Saturday, finished and shipped the large cast awards commission (and cracked my Dyson shelf in half in the process), put together a proposal for a local homeschooling group for a day in the glass studio, received a HUGE glass delivery from Bullseye, and we began construction on the new kiln room! The old kiln room will be the new kiln-forming classroom and kiln-forming open studio space, leaving the front room as a 100% torchwork classroom and open studio space. Now if I could just get the online class sign-up and payment processing finished, I'd be ready for the hordes of eager glass artists.

I expect the new kiln room to be finished in a week or so, right before I head of to the winter Buyer's Market show in Philadelphia and just in time for the opening of a new wi-fi enabled coffee, pastry and sandwich shop in the little commercial shopping center next door to the studio. I am looking forward to working with its owner for our classes, dates and workshops. She is interested in providing fresh hot coffee and pastries for our events, and I am interested in: a) not making coffee myself, and b) supporting another little local small business. And speaking of other local small business, I hope to meet with a woman who is the choclatier and owner of a new business in Decatur this week. She called me in December and proposed being our new chocolate provider for Date Night. With the Valentine's Day weekend coming up and us being booked solid except for one slot, we need to get moving on this one.

Speaking of the Buyer's Market, I have been asked to participate in a panel discussion on "Outside the Box Thinking: Great Promotions" there on Saturday morning. I'm going to talk about our Date Night program and its impact on the studio. Got to get the slides into the Rosen Group today. If you're doing the show, please come to the panel discussion.

One last item to bring up; we're planning an expansion of the hotshop this spring too. I would like to add another smaller studio space onto the existing hotshop so we can run simultaneous date nights while still providing a quality, private experience for all the participants. It'll not only mean another space but also another annealing kiln, another glory hole and another glass melting kiln. We love Olympic Kilns!

Okay, I'm late, the studio is open, and I have the Date Night book at home leaving Judy powerless. I also have the power cord for her laptop (which has no battery) leaving her even MORE powerless. Got to get a new one of those today.

Posting

2011-01-19T22:30:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday night. I haven't posted since last Friday. Should I post now? Naw, I'm too pooped. News tomorrow--hopefully after we pick up the new furnace!

Snow Day FOUR

2011-01-13T09:21:00.005-05:00

I sit sipping hot water, having already had my 6 teaspoons of melted clarified butter and meditated this morning. The steel cut oats with craisins just finished cooking in the rice cooker, and I will have them for breakfast in the next hour or so. The rice cooker will keep them warm for me till I'm ready, and I won't eat till I'm hungry--which will be awhile even though I haven't had anything to eat other than the butter this morning (and I drank that) since noon yesterday. Ah I love detox days. I have lost 11.0 lbs this year (since returning from Hawaii), and I am only on day six of the detox! I know the numbers on the scale are illusory, but they put a bounce in my bungee nonetheless.

Today, the fourth snow day in Atlanta, starts off with 20 degree temps, icy roads where not dry, and food at the grocery store again! When Dave went last night there were no fresh fruits or vegetables, no milk, bread, or meat other than pork jowls (shudder). The bakery was bare, and the deli had no rotisserie chicken or other hot tasty goodies. Truly apocalyptic. Today, looks like we're back to normal--I might even get my glass delivery today.

In the meantime I have plenty of Quickbooks data to enter from last year (my annual sales tax report is due next week and I don't yet know what my base sales from last year were... Ooops). Welcome to another fun January.

Just got off the phone with Roadway and the Atlanta terminal has a skeleton crew on today so my glass won't be delivered today. They HOPE to get it out tomorrow! Me too. In the meantime my website and plenty of paperwork await!

Snow Day Three!

2011-01-12T08:49:00.002-05:00

I initially had great hope and optimism that today's would be the final snow day this week. But it's only supposed to get up to 30 degrees (it's 21 now) and then plummet into the teens again tonight so I doubt much snow/slush/ice will melt. But what am I saying? Why would I wish snow days to end? EVERYTHING in Atlanta is closed. We haven't had mail, the MARTA buses aren't running, and I'm pretty sure garbage isn't going to be picked up today. Our big grocery store (Publix) was closed Monday and open yesterday only till 4:00. Today they're open now and don't know how early they'll close. J had a playdate and sleepover at a friend's house yesterday (yes, I got out and drove--and I'm glad most of the Atlantans stayed in) and these past few days truly have been like a vacation for us.

A snow almost-week is the ultimate vacation at home! For me it's impossible under normal circumstances to take a vacation at home. Think about it--when you go away on vacation, you insert yourself into a new place and the only constant in your daily life and routine is you. When you try to take time off--time out of mind--at home, you still have friends, mail, all the daily routines of life except your job. How are you supposed to break your physical and mental habits and patterns so you can relax? But on a snow day or days, all routines are broken--whether you want them to be or not. And for me, the best part is that I still get to work--I just get to work without all the interruptions, stresses, and crises of my normal "job". What a great, creative week I'm having!

Of course my last glass order from Bullseye still hasn't been delivered--the freight terminal for Roadway is also closed for the third straight day so they haven't been able to get it out to me. But there was nothing I needed really urgently (I would have liked the opaline frit, but I can wait).

Today I'll work on the website for awhile this morning, then head over to the studio about noon to fire a few pieces, and I'll finish back on the website. Ah, bliss!

Another Snow Day

2011-01-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

I love two snow days in a row in the middle of a detox! Dave never left the house yesterday. Jessie only went as far as the yard to play in the snow. I went to the studio and worked a bit in the total solitude and quiet. Today will follow much the same pattern. I already meditated, did my breath work, and drank 6 t. of clarified butter (it was only supposed to be 4... oops). When I finish posting I'll answer an incredible backlog of emails that I haven't managed to purge since before Hawaii and put together my piece list for the BMAC--I think I'll call Todd too--it's been awhile since I harassed him. Then a midmorning breakfast of steelcut oats and dried berries cooked in the rice cooker, and off to the studio to begin experimenting with the new work for the BMAC! I don't know if Roadway will be delivering my glass today or not--I'm betting not--but I'll be there anyway. I wish I had remembered to ask Lee to move the barrels of cullet from right by the back door as that is the staging area I need to the cases of glass. Ah well, they aren't moving in the snow and ice!

Haven't heard back from Bob at Olympic Kilns yet about the new furnace--I'm sure they were closed yesterday too (and probably today). It is very weird when the whole world shuts down and hunkers in bunkers around you. I can't remember any times in Montana or Chicago where we were holed up for snow for more than a day.

The last time in memory of an event that had this effect on me was when Mount St. Helen's went off in 1980. We were told to remain in our dorm rooms, all classes on the University of Montana campus were canceled, non-essential businesses were shut down, and people were told to avoid going outside if at all possible. My not-so-perfect memory says the ash fall (Missoula is about 400 miles east of Mount St Helens) kept us indoors and out of class for a few days. Too bad that was back in the non-digital days and my pictures are all hardcopy or I'd post one here. Of course the Mass Mind (aka Google) supplied me with a retrospective from the Missoulian--my favorite quote from which is:

"By Monday, nearly everything in town was closed, including the bars.

"We certainly had a lot of responsibilities making sure places were closed down, particularly with the bars," said Missoula County Sheriff's Capt. Greg Hintz, who was working night shift in May of 1980. "Beyond that, police work was pretty easy. The streets were just vacant." "

(Some might question the Business nature of this post, but heck, I say a natural disaster (aka "snow" in the south) counts!) Now I've dawdled enough. Someone just called and registered for a beadmaking class for this Sunday--a sure sign that I need to get the on-line registration thing working. Hmmm. Maybe I should readjust my plans for the day and work on it instead of firing--especially since I don't think I'm going to have glass delivered today!

Snow Day

2011-01-10T09:42:00.003-05:00

It's a Snow Day in Atlanta. Schools are closed, my car repair shop has the owner in answering the phone and that's it. The Atlanta Roadway freight terminal is closed today due to snow so my glass won't be delivered till tomorrow (as a result, the piece from my new series that I need to make and photograph for my Buyer's Guide ad--due Wednesday--won't get done today). I am continually amazed how 3" of snow can completely shut down a city this size. I am betting that the businesses that are open today are running with seriously diminished staffing. Might be fun to go to Publix just to see.

Ah well, enough chatter. It may be a snow day, but I still have work to do; kilns to fire, emails to send, serfs to whip (just kidding--Judy's off today).

Simple Saturday

2011-01-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

I missed posting yesterday due to a full day. If Ernie has his way, I'll miss posting right now too--he is either oblivious to the physical realities imposed by his mass (e.g., it is not possible to fit both him AND the laptop in my lap simultaneously) or he flat out doesn't care about the laptop. I'm betting on the latter. However physically improbable his presence in my lap might be, his warm, contentedly rumbling catness is comforting. A little comfort goes a long way right now. Last night when I unloaded the four 1" thick cast award slabs, I discovered that my firing had cracked my lovely Dyson shelf in half. :-0 I should have considered the ramifications of putting 2" X 2" vermiculite dams around all of the glass and the effect they would have on the heating and cooling of the shelf. Ah well, live and learn (and pay).

______________________________

After writing that small bit I fell asleep to the cat and got up in time to teach a beginning Kiln-forming class--taking in the first of the LivingSocial vouchers in the process. One down, 143 to go! Now I am going to rest and detox the rest of the day. Tomorrow I might do a fuse load, or I might take the day for website dev--or even do something family and non-studio oriented!

Settling Back Into the Groove After Vacation/Holidays

2011-01-06T08:57:00.004-05:00

It lacks three minutes of 9:00 am. Not actually enough time to post and start the real day's work at 9:00, but I'll pretend. Heck, what good is it to be the boss if you can't set the work hours? So far today I got the J up (the most difficult task), made her lunch and breakfast and delivered her to school, and prepped for the cleaning people (you know--the cleaning you have to do BEFORE the cleaning). Then filled the car with gas and did the paper goods grocery shopping ('tis the season of Kleenex, doncha know). Now I have just under an hour before my first appointment to work on facilities scheduling.

I realized last night as I was working through the snarl of upcoming glass date requests that with our current loosey goosey system there is a very real chance of scheduling a bead date/class at the same time as a kiln date/class. Since right now they share a classroom and each fill it when used, that would be Very Bad. Yesterday when I talked with Lee about the upcoming expansion plans I put the new kilnforming classroom/open studio room on a back burner and prioritized the hotshop. But the reminder of the LivingSocial deal (and another upcoming marketing push for kilnforming) is making me rethink that schedule. Poor Lee-everyday, when he comes in, he has no idea whether his hair will be on fire or not.

Okay, off to schedule and plan. Oh, hey, and thanks Cynthia for the casting tips! I would like to talk to you off-line about the studio casting plans and BECon!

And the Process (Implementation) Goes On

2011-01-05T09:27:00.010-05:00

Coffee in the Chicago skyline mug, "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny and Cher on iTunes in honor of the morning's theme. (Just a side note--wow they were young then!). Yesterday Lee and I spent a very informative and profitable morning with Bob Hogan at Olympic Kilns up in Flowery Branch and the upshot is that they are going to build our new melt furnace for us with a minimum of muss, fuss, cost, and time. Whew! One big problem down. While we were there I also talked to him about doing a small casting kiln for me--18" X 18" with side and bottom elements (maybe top too--any casters out there have opinions on that one?) and three zone (four if top elements too) temperature control. The cost is amazingly reasonable, and I have always loved the solid durability and reliability of my current little Olympic kiln.

Also spent last night installing, configuring and testing an on-line class registration system in Joomla. I purchased DT Register back in June and was a bit disappointed by the limitations placed on it by the integration with JEvents at that time so I didn't rush to install it when our new site went live. Last night when I tried again I was VERY impressed with the improvements to their current release (2.7.1). It looks like I might even be able to move the date night registration over to it and obviate any duplicate requests by having it manage the maximum number of participants who can register. It also sends out customized confirmation letters--with attachments (liability and photo release)--upon submission and allows for integration with a variety of on-line payment systems from authorize.net to google checkout to paypal. Definitely worth pursuing.

This morning I wrote and posted a quick article on the website about our furnace issues--that's what having a content-management-based website is all about--and now I go back to slab casting for the awards project and to plan the piece list for the BMAC. That's enough, I think. (Thanks, Dee, for the suggestions on how to juggle multiple crucial projects in the same day and get to all of them). I know I'll be back messing around with DT Register tonight. Judy is also back to work today for the first open day since Christmas Eve. I hope it's easier for her today than it was for me yesterday!

It's Just Before Dawn and It's Not the Darkest

2011-01-04T06:38:00.005-05:00

A "Zack" (Kavarna Dancing Goats coffee with a shot of espresso) in my lovely new Starbucks Hawaiian bone china mug with the colorful hibiscus on the outside, the gently curving rim and the soft butter-yellow inside. "Moondance" by Van Morrison for the morning music. Dropped Dave at the train station--he's off to Austin--and now I have 20 minutes to collect myself before I need to get the Sprout up and off to school. In the hopes of feeling better at the end of today than I did yesterday, I am taking this time to plan out the day, i.e., blog (and maybe organize my Things).

The big items on today's list are heading up to Olympic Kilns to talk to them about building the shell of a glass furnace to our specs and building the rest of the vermiculite frames I am using to cast the slab award project. If I am really good I'll even get he casting load in. Judy's big to-do item is going to be to call everyone who has a date night scheduled between now and next Sunday to cancel. Then I'll need to refund all the deposits. *sigh*.

A couple of orders came in over the break so I'll get a start on them. I'd like to start working on the Buyer's Market work (making the list of what I would like to show would be a good start) but I have a feeling that what I already have on my plate and being a single parent are going to fill the day. I would really like to have a new colorway for this show--haven't done anything new since "Peacock" last February--but I may have to settle for debuting a new piece--the 20" deep bowl.

Okay, off to create and send out the Brownie snack list to the other parents in J's Girl Scout Troop and get the small child up and moving. She's still on Hawaii time so good luck to me with that!

Tuesday Has GOT To Be Better

2011-01-03T21:02:00.004-05:00

I am afraid, no, make that terrified. My last post was Saturday, and since then my anxiety level has only risen. Usually anxiety can be managed by judicious applications of control and Prozac, but this time I am just not keeping up. I haven't had the time or luxury to make lists and plans or do any of the other geeky little tasks that calm me and give me an illusion of control over my life, my business, my fate. James McMurtry's lovely rendition of "Ruby and Carlos" provides a background to my fear:

Ruby said "You're gettin' us in a world of hurt.
Down below the Mason-Dumbass line the food gets worse.
I can't go back to Tennessee
that NASCAR country's not for me.
Go on, if you think you must."

Carlos packed his drums up in the dark of night
Ruby's standing just outside the front porch light
chain-smoking Camel straights
the sky off to the east got gray
And he rolled off in a cloud of dust.

And the gray colt nickered at the gate
She said "You're right its getting late.
You and me got work to do
we can't be burning daylight too."
She took down the long lead rope
and stayed off that slippery slope

The aspen trees were turning gold up top
The talk was buzzin' 'round the beauty shop
"Wasn't he barely half her age.
Well that's just how they do now days.
We should all had been so lucky."

By spring she'd had the run of the free born men
Ruby turned 50 in a sheep camp tent
her body still could rock all night
but her heart was closed and locked up tight

Potato fields all muddy and brown
the gossip long since quieted down

And after one more Coggins test
Pouring coffee for the county vet
Pictures on the ice box door
of Carlos in the first Gulf War
Black-eyed brown and youthful face
smiling back from a Saudi base

And then Carlos on the big bay mare
Heavier now and longer hair
Looking past the saddle shed
From way on back inside his head

And the old vet said, "One day, Rube,
that colt will break an egg in you.
Now and then one comes along
you just can't ride." And he went on home.

And the storm door didn't catch
It blew back hard as she struck a match
But she cupped it just in time
And she sent that ash tray flyin'

And holding back the flood
Just don't do no good
You can't unclench your teeth
To howl the way you should
So you curl your lips around
The taste, the tears, and the hollow sound
That no one owns but you
No one owns but you.

Carlos took the road gig and he saw it through
He rode the tour bus while the singer flew
Managed out of music row
Carlos never saw the studio
Session guys had that all sewn up.

He looks out the window and it starts to sleet
Laying on a friend's couch on Nevada Street
Lately he's been staying high
Sick all winter and they don't know why
They don't know why or they just won't say
They don't talk much down at the V.A.

And Ruby's in his thoughts sometimes
What thoughts can get out past the wine
He feels her fingers on his brow
And right then he misses how
She looked in that gray morning light
She never shaved like they all do now
He sees it all behind his eyes
and his hands go searching but they come up dry

And half way in that wakin' dream
Carlos lets the land line ring
He never guessed it was Ruby calling
The pin in her hip from the gray colt falling
Figure eight in a lazy lope
Stumbled on that slippery slope

And holding back the flood
Just don't do no good
You can't unclench your teeth
To howl the way you should
So you curl your lips around
The taste, the tears, and the hollow sound
That no one owns but you
No one owns but you.

I try to stay off the slippery slope. I'm turning 50 this year, and the introspection and life-weighing have begun already. Man, my teeth are clenched so tight, and I want to howl...

I wrote up my plan for the year on Saturday hoping that putting it down, putting boundaries and borders on it and evaluating it would make me easier in my heart. But it hasn't. Sunday was supposed to be a last family vacation day with no thoughts of work, but of course it didn't work out that way (just like the last day in Hawaii was consumed with issues of the ESPN filming and long LONG distance phone calls). Then today began as all workdays do with a deluge of phone calls, technical issues, clamors for attention and time, work left undone from days/weeks/months past... and I'm behind again/already. Right now all I want to do is flee back to Hawaii, or to Montana, or just to the couch with a box of bon-bons and a good book.

The hotshop is in complete flux with the furnace issues--new/rebuild/what kind/how much/when/who/how to finance it--and I just haven't been able to hand it all to Lee and say "This one is yours." Why? Because this one ISN'T his--it's mine. It's my studio, my growth/expansion plan, my responsibility, my liability, and my investment. As much as he would like to step in and step up, when push comes to shove I can't abrogate any of the above. Decisions made now will have a direct and consequential impact on everything I do going forward. Had I not just spent upwards of $900 on new elements, a new controller and a new thermocouple, I would feel less tight on the whole control thing for the new system, but I just can't get there.

I sit, almost in the pit of despair, and "Get Lucky" by Mark Knopfler comes on:

I'm better with my muscles
Than I am with my mouth
I worked the fairgrounds in the summer
And go pick fruit down south

And when I'm feel them chilly winds
Where the weather goes I follow
Pack up my traveling things go with the swallows

And I might get lucky now and then
You win some, you might get lucky now and then
You win some

I wake up every morning
Keep on eye on what I spent
Gotta think about eating
Gotta think about paying the rent

I always think it's funny
It gets me everytime
I wonder about the happiness and money
Tell it to the breadline

But you might get lucky now and then
You win some, you might get lucky now and then
You win some

Now I'm rambling through this meadow happy as a man can be
Think I just lay me down under this old tree
On and on we go through this old world of shuffling
If you got a truffle dog, you can go truffling

But you might get lucky now and then
You win some, you might get lucky now and then
You win some

Why this song comforts me, I don't know. Maybe it's because I can't help but feel that if I just keep pushing, I'll get lucky. I'll win some. Heck, right now I'd settle for I'll get caught up.

Is it okay to write all this here for anyone to read--to show such doubt and weakness? Heck yeah. This is what it IS to be a small business owner struggling with bills and employees and vendors and customers and expansion and websites and life in this very fast millennium. This is what it is to be The Owner. Yes, I understand now exactly what it means to say "The buck stops here". I always thought it was about the money, but it's so much more.