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It was my photo club meeting night again. We saw pics of a guy’s trip to Alaska. He shot about 5,000 pictures in two weeks, which some people gasped at, but which sounded right on target to me. When you go somewhere new you’re going to see a lot of new things to shoot. Good thing we don’t have to buy film these days. Wonder what processing and printing would be on 5,000 photos?
As I was leaving the hall I decided to double back toward some of the work studios and see if anyone was doing some welding I could watch. Never made it there. On the way I passed the glass blowing room, and they were at work. A friend of mine just happens to do this stuff, and I ran into him by chance a few weeks ago there. Saw him again and stopped to say hello. I ended up hanging out there for another 90 minutes taking pictures and watching people. Man, I’m telling you, I totally want to do some of this! It looks like so much fun! That and welding. I’d love to take a welding class. I want to BUILD STUFF I tell you!!!! BUILD! MAKE! CREATE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Man. Yeah. Whew! Building things, making things…so cool.
Oh, right – anyway, I was watching them and feeling all cool that the instructor let me come in the room near the big, fiery, kill-you-instantly-they-are-so-hot oven/furnace things, and I’m shooting all this stuff and having a good time and thinking, “I am right where I want to be right now. I don’t want to be anywhere else. These people are making art, and I want sit here and watch them and grab that thing there, and that other thing over there, and those gloves and that pair of tongs and get some of that glass and roll it in that stuff and…” Really, I was just kind of thrilled to be there. I totally forgot about everything else going on in my life.
The photo above is one of the students working on a little vase. She had tried a couple of different pieces that night and had goofed on a couple, but this one was looking good. Here she’s getting a little help shaping the opening just right. You can look at her and just tell that this glass-blowing stuff is not for people who aren’t prepared to put their patience to the test. It’s not easy, and you also have to move fast. It can get stuck lopsided if you don’t keep moving it, and then you pretty much have to start over, or you can put a bend or a pinch in the wrong place and then…you pretty much have to start over. Tough stuff, man, and she was getting the final touches on it here. This one worked out for her.
Finally I had to admit that it was getting near time for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin, and I got up and gathered up my things. “I gotta hit the road,” I told my friend, Eric. He says, “Hang on. I’ll make you a paperweight.”
What? You think I’m gonna leave after that? Next blog entry: paperweight. I promise. Lots of pictures.