Blogs about pictures from Pew Pew Laser Blog

Glass Pumpkin 2009 #3.

This is another blown glass pumpkin from last fall. I made this at Art By Fire in Issaquah. Art By Fire does a clear stem rather than a colored stem, which is a bit of a shame since colored stems look so nice. They also use the mold with the wider ridges, which results a much more pumpkiny-shaped pumpkin.

The monthly Blow Your Own events were much more convenient when Art By Fire was in Ballard. We could take a leisurely walk down to the glass shop and then grab dinner at La Carta De Oxaca or La Isla. Now we've got to dash out of work, and slog through freeway and bridge traffic get to the Issaquah location. There is a bright side though - we can get dinner at the Issaquah Brewhouse. In fact, that's the husband's payoff for coming out to Issaquah with me - Rogue beer.

Thanks to the husband for the photography.

Glass Bud Vase.

This small vase is another piece from my Beginner's II class at Seattle Glassblowing Studio last November.

Six months after my first glassblowing class, I took a second one. This was the first piece I made in that class. It was supposed to be a simple straight cylinder, but I had quite a lot of trouble with it. I was imagining something much larger, and after spending a really long time on it, I just ended up with this little thing. I was disappointed at first, but now I can appreciate that this piece makes a cute little bud vase.

Thanks to the husband for the photography.

Fluted Bowl with a Two Color Optic Twist.

I made this a fluted bowl (with a two-color optic twist) in my Beginner's II class at Seattle Glassblowing Studio last November.

The optic twist technique is pretty interesting. I mixed the blue and yellow frit together and picked it up on a single gather without a starter bubble. (The bubble would get all messed up during the color application.) I then heated the glass and shaped it for the optic mold. I dropped the glass into the mold, which cuts the outer layer of color into stripes. I heated the color again, and turned the pipe while dragging the color stripes along the marver, adding the twist. To finish the color twist, I used the diamond shears to grab a nubbin of glass on the bottom of the piece and rolled the pipe down the bench rails while holding the nubbin with the shears.

I then shaped and blew the bowl form out, and heated the rim to give it the ruffled shape.

As always, thanks to the husband for the photography.

Glass Pumpkin 2009 #2.

Here is another of my attempts at a glass pumpkin. I did this one during a "blow your own" session at Blowing Sands, a little glassblowing studio quite close to home. This pumpkin is less than perfect because I asked to do more in way of heating and shaping the piece than with previous pieces. But I still think it's quite cute!

After shaping the pumpkin body, you still need to do a stem, which I find quite intimidating. You have to gather a bit, pick up the color, and dunk it in the mold. Then you attach it to the pumpkin, twist the bitrod, and swirl it around some kind of tube. Lastly, cut the stem off the pipe and torch the end to smooth it. And you have to do all of this quickly, before the pumpkin body shatters! Lon Clark, the professional glassblower who runs the BYO events at Blowing Sands, did this stem.

As always, thanks to the husband for the photography.

Las Vegas.

The husband helped out at the company booth at this year's NAB in Las Vegas. I flew down for the last 2 days to join in the fun. I had the world's best banana split, and the husband (after much disappointment) found the good beer in Vegas.

We also took in a show; something that I've secretly wanted to see for 15 years - Blue Man Group. When they first broke out in the mid-nineties, Blue Man Group was completely new, interesting, and fascinating. I've always been interested in percussion (I played drums in middle school band) and Blue Man Group appealed to me greatly on that level. The show did not disappoint; it was unique, mind-blowing, and the closest thing to a rave I'll ever see. It was well worth it.