-

-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, October 13, 2017

The Glass Eye Studio Sidewalk Sale Fall 2017

Glass is an interesting substance.  Neither a liquid or a solid, it's actually an amorphous solid which is somewhere between those two states.  Mix some sand, a little soda, and a bit of calcium carbonate, add heat and voila - the shimmering material whose shine has captivated people for centuries.  (Those more philosophical than I might make some sort of connection between objects of great beauty being wrought from something common as sand under difficult circumstances.  Oh wait, they already do that with coal under great pressure making diamonds.  Never mind. Who wants to be sparkly anyway? Excuse the digression.)  We're lucky to live in a region  where glass making and working of all kinds have experienced a renaissance in the last 50 years or so.  While handmade glass is labor intensive and therefore expensive, there are a some relatively inexpensive ways to obtain beautiful pieces.  One of the most popular of these is the Glass Eye Studio semi-annual sidewalk sale.  The autumn edition took place last weekend.  I don't need another glass object but it's always fun to see what folks are making so off we went.


One of these joined my glass pumpkin collection. 

And one of these as well.  There were also a couple of five dollar, made in China pumpkins that tagged along. I'm branching out from the traditional orange.

Purty!


Who doesn't need a cyclops glass, breast bottle, or octopus?  

Fun floats! 

You never know who might be glass gazing!  You may recognize the dynamic, tireless, and talented  Tom and Linda from Linda's blog Linda Letters.  It's always a pleasure to see them!

Saturn!  The glass eye makes paperweights of all of the planets in our solar system. 

Starfish with dichroic frit.  Fun.

Island Art Glass was among the affiliated vendors that brought glass to sell at deeply-discounted prices. You may recognize their work from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Sorticulture, or a number of other venues. 




One of the many independent glass artists who set up shop on the street approaching the Glass Eye sale.

Cleverly, the line to check out winds through a variety of vendors who were happy to share interesting information.   This dry-looking iridized finish was created using glass with high silver content and working the outside with a reducing flame.  The effect is similar to the raku technique where a reduction chamber is used to achieve somewhat similar results. 


Hope your weekend is free from great pressure, heat, and stress but is beautiful nonetheless!

9 comments:

  1. Particularly like that "raku" vase because it is beautiful without adding flowers. My kind of vase.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your last line has left me smiling, and that's a good thing, as I'm actually reading your post in the MORNING, after listening to the latest news from our destroyer-in-chief. I'll work on letting that go.
    It was fun to see you at the glass sale. Next year we'll come prepared to wait in line as we shop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like you had fun! I plan to have a great weekend, the weather people are saying it will be our last sunny weekend for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "I don't need another glass object..." followed quickly by "One of these joined my glass pumpkin collection..." then "And one of these as well..."

    Glad you had a good time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The iridized glass vase is gorgeous. It seems that, in addition to being a mecca for plants, the PNW also has a lock on glass production. I featured a local exhibit in my post today - there was pretty stuff but you'd have to sell an organ to afford it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. One can never go to these sales and come home empty-handed! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amazing glasswork! I've recently added some glass items to the garden and I love the way they look. My only concern is a rogue windstorm blowing debris down to shatter them. I'll probably take them down for the winter, but they're so beautiful. Glasswork in the house is awesome, too. One of my bucket list destinations is Venice--partially to see the amazing artisan glass creations. Love the pumpkins, the vases, and the floats you photographed!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want one each of the blue articles I saw in your pictures. I am going through my blue phase ya know. Seeing all this I no longer wonder where you get all your glass items that are in your garden. That vase with the silver is fantastic. What an unusual idea to make all the planets in glass. I love glass objects but I am death on glass.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.