Opalina-Palooza!

Coffee in the New York skyline mug, "Never Gonna Change" by Drive-By Truckers (really loud) for music. It's Monday and the studio is officially closed today, but I have my last in a series of private lessons today so I'll be there. Noah has been having a great time in his lessons and I gave him a choice of what he'd like to do for his last day. he picked vitrigraph so I had him load a pot with scrap last week before he left and I'll put it in this morning so it'll be ready when he gets here. Lee has also promised him a little hands-on time in the hotshop--maybe even using some of his fresh vitrigraph pieces. I also have a couple of kiln loads for orders to do so it will be a full day.

This past Saturday was the first day of Opaline-Palooza and it went great. Pics are of the first set of opal glasses before and after firing. Four people have signed up for all four sessions, but schedules being what they are, almost all of them have one or more days they can't come to the workshop. No worries though as they were so into it on the first day that three of them went ahead and cut the pieces for one of the Saturdays they'll miss. Since everyone committed to all four sets of colors (104 in all) I have decided to throw in all the tints for no additional charge (about 24 more colors) so everyone will end up with a set of 130 sample tiles. Next up on Sample Saturdays--Strikers in sheet and frit. I also have a set and there is an extra set too as it was easier to divide up the glass that way.

Other big changes on the horizon. This past year--especially the part in 2010--has shown me that it's just too difficult to effectively manage three different web presences--not to mention confusing for the intended audience. I have been struggling internally with the best way to handle it and I think going to one website for both the resource center and the studio with the blog as the anchor on the front page is the way to go. by putting the blog in I know I'll get updated content almost every day--with the latest photos--(and I won't feel guilty about posting instead of doing other computer work).

Computer work lately included getting a business listing on our Google search page.--though it still isn't coming up close to the top (or at all) if you just search for Siyeh Glass. You have to search for Siyeh Glass Atlanta--and that's annoying! However when you do get there you get a map, hours and directions, a photo of the front of the building--even a link to the date night video at the beginning of this post! How cool is that? There is also a place for reviews so any kind-hearted folk out there who have a little time to write are encouraged to post a review.

And speaking of new photos I finally have a great picture of Judy the Studio Assistant for the webpage. It's good to be able to put a face to a voice and she answers the phone most of them time... I also need a new pic of Lee and one of Shy Todd. Did get a new one of the front of the studio to help people identify it.

Now off to polish some items off the to-do list before heading to the studio.