One Month and Counting

No coffee yet, but it is brewing. No music and nothing written yesterday at all--not even meta-writing. At right and below left, the best piece I have ever made. It is called the Coptic Blue Eye Box. It is 5" X 4.5" X 3" and the glass is about 3/8" thick. This piece is special because, like the Carnivale box, it is a "from the ashes" piece. Someday I will have a show of pieces that were all made from the failures of other pieces--from the ashes. The glass in this box was the original pass at the raked wall sconce project for the book. But the glass was too opaque--it is French Vanilla and Egyptian Blue opal--and it had two air bubbles from the rake firing. One of the bubbles burst and left a hole, the other made the "eye" formation shown on the lid of the box. After I achieved success with the box firing schedule, I decided to use this piece of raked glass for another box for D for his birthday.

What you cannot get from the photos is just how silky smooth the glass is. I polished it on the lap grinder to a fine matte finish. And though it looks like the sides are separate pieces of glass, they aren't anymore. When I fused the box, I took it to 1500 degrees for a long soak and now the entire box (except for the lid) is one smooth, seamless piece of glass. Can you tell how infatuated I am with this piece? I could stroke and pet it all day. Of course it is no longer mine and I don't have all day to moon over a box, but if it were and if I did... As it is I am just going to have to make time to make more boxes. Maybe in time for the Taylor Kinzel glass show in November but maybe not until the One of a Kind Show in Chicago. My friend Andrea who is a torchglass artist is going to collaborate with me on handles for the boxes. More on that project as it progresses!

Yesterday morning I put together my entry for the Corning Museum of Glass's New Glass Review and got it to the post office to be postmarked by 10/1 (what sense does it make to have "postmarked by 10/1" on the entry requirements when the post office is closed on 10/1 so you can't get anything postmarked that day?). The rest of the day was (almost) all birthday all the time (chronicled in Stranded in the South). I did go from cooking potatoes to cooking glass when I put 15 ocean platters for the Art Institute in the kiln to fuse.

Now for today. Back to earth with a thump. There is exactly one month till the manuscript for the book is due. I am halfway through. I am freaked out. The first half of the book took a month and a half to write and my firing schedule was not as intense. Ah well, all I can do is STOP DITZING AROUND ON BLOGGER AND GET TO IT! Five projects the "decks" for all the projects written so far to write today, and the complete shot and illo list to finish. Also must fire another fuse load for the Art Institute.

It's been a slice. Off to work.