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May 20, 2011
My class with Sabina
I was really looking forward to my class with Sabina, her class was held in this glassblowing studio, so I was able to watch the glassblowing as wll.
Well Sabina arrived and we went into the store-room to gather the colours of borosilicate glass. I wanted a pink and blue, and also a few other mix of colours.
The main glass was clear - the rod being 15mm thick. That rod has to be melted at the tip to make a maria which is like a pancake. I dotted my colours and then they had to be manoeuvred with the heat and then covered with the clear. I know it sounds simple but it takes time, the glass rod has to be held in different positions in the heat. I made three different colours.
I had two days with Sabina wish I could have had more. She had to move on to other duties.
I had two more days in Seattle where I wandered around to different interesting spots.
I then flew down to North Carolina to Raleigh. My town was called Fuquay Varina one of those Southern towns that had quite a history, but it had faded with time.
My hostess had a studio in her home, so I was right on the spot. I spent four days with her.
I had a chance to meet her in-laws who were Mexican - a delightful family who were
celebrating a birthday.
Eventually it was time for me to fly to my next stop which was San Antonio.
Posted by ingrid at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2011
Next Step on my study programme
When I got to Seattle after flying via Amsterdam/Rekjavik/Seattle - I got myself settled in the hotel and contacted my hostess. She that is Corina eventually came to pick me up as I was going to stay ith her while I had my tuition. She is a vibrant busy lady who loves her dogs, she has this little chiwaha, who runs the house. There ae two other dogs, her favourite Scooter who is pictured in her book "Passing th Flame" and her house mate Sherri who has a big boxer dog.
So now you know the set-up where I was having my class. Corina is very detailed and one has to keep up with her as she is a good teacher. We did our practices daily and I went through all the different types of techniques I was keen on. Her frogs, here under-water scenes, using the murrini which I also learnt and a few other techniques. We had full days at the torch,but not all was hard labour!
She introduced me to this Japanese lunch place where myriads of dishes were laid out and one just helped oneself - sushi, salads, fried prawns you name it there it was. The place was always busy.
I then went back to Seattle downtown (Corina lived outside Seattle) where I spent time at the Pike Place market, a fabulous array of fruit, vegetables and fish. The lobsters were enormous, and the tuna !!!
Thee were also craft vendors which I thoroughly enjoyed, and of course I had a fabulous meal sitting upstairs overlooking the bay. I had two days wandering around there, and trying another restaurant, watching the short order cooks get their plates together in a short time, they rally worked fast!
My other class was with Sabina Boehm where I was introduced to her style of pendants. I will show them later.
Posted by ingrid at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)