Behold! a Blog!!

It was lovely to find that love note from me, wasn’t it?!

First, careers I should have chosen that would have been easier than this!! (Yikes!):

• ·         Fine jeweler
• ·         Trapeze artist
• ·         Gold Digger (giggle!) maybe rock hound!

At the end of 2011 my father incorporated with me and we purchased a facility!  Wait let me say that again, we finally found a freaking building!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My sudden urge to write, I am sure, stems from my AvoiDance and terror that sets it at this point!  EVERYONE wants to know when I will be operational/have glasswork available.  I have a projection, but haven’t a clue really.

Still a long list of things to be in the hot shop alone, including, but not limited to:

• ·         Repair crack in pot furnace, The Princess Kate!
• ·         Finish painting the other half of walls & ceiling
• ·         Mount combustion system to reheat furnace, Her Holy Hottness!!
• ·         Finish bench repairs & reassemble
• ·         Get all the other ovens & such lined out & set up
• ·         Hang stickers on the stripper pole!

Then there is organizing the office side of it, bookkeeping, customer lists, feeding the artiste, etc.  Sheezz, the list goes on and on, can be overwhelming, and then I remember, time is on my side and everything is going to be ok!  Nobody ever dies of not buying art glass—BUT THEY SHOULD!! LOL, no not Really!!

I just love to learn things the hardest way; it insures that I will always remember the lesson. 

Even when I was breaking my heart over not doing glass and forcing things that could not yet happen, I knew it could only happen at the right time and it was going to take longer than I could bear to think!  Now it has been 3 long, and somewhat brutal, years that seem to have flown by!  My mind works on this Business all the time.  It is my primary focus and my best possible future.  Three years is a great amount of time to study art, marketing, regional consumers, national consumers, galleries, museums, welding & metal work, find funding, glass art, everything in between; and not do glass.

At times my only salvation consisted of three parts; An important person taught me we never forget, all we know no matter how we try it is all still in our mind.  To accept that any knowledge I need or want is still readily available soothes the screaming hissy creature who knows glass requires constant attention for growth & precision.  And it makes me feel like I have a Super Power!

Secondly, that short moment the glass was hot at the previous facility (which was never fully operational, just decided we will call that the Death Star from now on!) I had the chance to be alone and set up my way and see how I performed alone.  Turns out, I am a glass worker!! Woot! Woot! Like I didn’t know, but the pain of separation can be dramatic.

The Third powerful motivator in my path to patience has been my great mentor, Ron Hinkle.  He certainly had more challenges than I did and he persevered!  He reminds me that sometimes the business grows easily and then it starts to lose momentum, or you get a bit burned out & it slows way down or even stops, for as much as a few months. 

Time is irrelevant, I spent all that time worried and frenzied, and the building only got itself ready when it did.  It was not in my price range even though it has been for sale the whole time.  But things change, and I was the first person to see it once the price reduction happened.  Additionally, the gas pressure required to operate the glass equipment is not readily available in most areas.  It is particularly hard to find in these remote mountain communities.  This past summer the local gas utility company installed a new medium pressure line all the way from Elkins the 18 miles up the valley to the state prison.  That line is just across the street from this building!  I am still sure there is not another facility in all of Randolph County that meets the minimum criteria.  The Amber’s Glass facility has a two bay garage for the hot shop, and a (bonus!) Retail space that is huge!  Not to mention the location and tourism traffic.

So I keep my cool.  If I don’t keep my cool all that happens is my blood pressure goes up.  It does Not make the gas line install faster or the new medium pressure utility line happen any faster.  Now the gas line is finally complete and just yesterday the meter was installed!!  It is really real! The line tested to the equipment and I got to get my ass in gear!

It is only the end of April and I have been saying I will be operational this Spring, so I am still on track!  Maybe June, because I still have soooo many things to ready, and I want everything done right and set up properly from the onset.  It was about the Business Plan—now it is about the Business License!  Once the ball starts rolling downhill so much happens so quickly!!  When I am in front of the fire I want my only focus to be regaining my skills and creating all these wonderful ideas I have!!  My new sense of security catches me off guard daily, I can predict the future and it is as glowing bright as the glass fire goddess!  I also have genuinely impressed myself so many times lately, it borders on serious bragging!!

Thank you for staying tuned! Much love and gratitude! <3

-Miss Amber

Love Notes

Have you ever gotten a note from a loved one? Stuck somewhere they know you will find it, and you do at just the right moment.  It says exactly the right emotion to make you remember why life is worth the hardness.  Have you ever found a note like that from yourself?  How hard is it to love ourselves?  How many other people will resent us for it? Can we love ourselves when others misunderstand?

So here is the challenge.  Do you have love in your heart for someone you see every day?  Or talk to regularly? Could you have that same kind of love for yourself?  Can you take care of yourself as well as you care for your loved ones?  Can you take care of yourself as you expect those you love to care for themselves so they will be healthy and available for you?  Can you care for yourself on your behalf?

Can you do both—love them as you have and incorporate loving and caring for yourself equally as well?  If so, what would happen?  Would you notice?  Would they?  What would change?  How would that be?

A good place to start may be to write that sweet note, in your best “I love You the most” handwriting and stick where you will find it, and at just the right moment get a true sense of unconditional love from your nearest admirer—YOU!

Kansas City Bound!

The bus to Kansas City leaves this Sunday evening and I am so excited! My mother is meeting me there and we are spending the week together watching competitions, shopping and enjoying the conference & city.  Then I get to go home and visit my family in Arkansas!

The Spinning SnowMill is a success!  Sadly, welding class is over, but I am a certified welder!  I have to admit, I am very proud of myself, graduating a welding course is not something I thought I would do in this lifetime!  And I got certified and completed two sculptures with time to spare!  Not to mention all the stuff  built for the glass studio towards the beginning of the course.

The initial concept for the Spinning SnowMill started with my state welding art sculpture, which is also a snowflake.  That project started with my idea to make the tips of the snowflake, or icicles with stainless steel ball bearings around a brass casing on a brass plate.  A fellow welding student suggested I make it spin.  While I appreciated the grandeur of the idea, as a person who had just been introduced to metalwork, I felt I was already under enough pressure to learn how to braze the casing to the ¾” thick brass plate as well as learning how to create a metal sculpture for the first time.  It turned out beautiful! And it would be

neat if it could spin!

The windmills in my home state of West Virginia are another part of my inspiration .  We have a line of them all the way across the horizon! They are now part of my view on my commute to welding class; it has been fascinating watching them be built!

Another inspiration was Spirograph, the children’s game/toy.  When the patterns overlap, they create a new pattern.  I had a purpose to install 3 layers of dendrites to create a more elaborate impression once spinning. Clearly in my mind I could see two sets spinning while the third stands still creating different effect.  I also hope the movement will remind the viewer of snowfall.

I set out to learn how to make a metal snowflake that spins!  In addition to my vocational instructors, I am blessed to have many resources available to instruct metal work.  After inquiring more about the process & materials, the plan changed to use only steel.  Eliminating brass from the second project also eliminated the possibly that the entire project would fail when I attempted brazing the casing to the steel base.  It also made it much easier to find tubing sizes that fit together closely, as the brass piece I was able to find was a bit odd & small. 

I love love love the plasma cutter!  After studying photos of actual snowflakes, I had two possibilities intended for this project: much lacy & intricate detail on the icicles & each one to be hand cut, polished & unique.  As I noticed on the magnified photos of actual snowflakes, they are everyone unique & so is each of the six icicles, or dendrites.  So I cut the 18 dendrites individually, by hand, and intentionally created some differences. Then I ground off the slag, & improved cuts & holes with pneumatic tools, before adding facets & details with the intention of individuality.  The finished project has symmetry, just as a natural snowflake, and has a distinctive handmade feel as I’d hoped it would.

The best match of tubing sizes was still off approximately 1/16" which would essentially flop rather than spin. Immediately upon arriving to welding class that day I started asking how to resolve that. The best solution was to cut open the rings with a grinder & once we closed them around base tubing I welded them shut. I am very pleased with this because they welded shut beautifully on outside & the inside of the ring retained a smooth surface for spinning.

I also used the plasma cutter to create a bevel on top of foundation to balance base tubing.  Much grinding & polishing ensued at & outside of welding class.

Once the dendrites were cleaned up enough, I welded them onto rings using the Gas Metal Arc Welder.  At this point I'm saving the detail work for after the heat of welding. A temporary assembly looks like it will come together as planned!

I used the Shielded Metal Arc Welder to weld together foundation & base parts. Everything fit together, but it still was not permanently assembled, it must be one piece when complete.

Details details details X 6. And much polishing.  Overall it took much more time to make the dendrites than anything else, the assembly hardly took any time.

It is my very last welding class...every piece is clean polished detailed & loved. Now is the moment for the final assembly. I added another GMAW weld underneath the base tubing to push the back ring forward a tad. Then I added 3 somewhat symmetrical button welds around base tube to make sure it stays straight. Next the rings were added, in the correct order & fronts forward. The grand finale--four buttons welded around front edge of base tubing in the small space available without welding the ring to the tube!

At first it was bit disappointing. The back ring would hang on the new weld underneath & seize up, sometimes locking up all three rings. Upon closer examination I saw that two of the front buttons were oddly shaped & rubbing against front ring. It proved to be quite easy to grind them down & free up the entire set.

!!! Hooray !!! A Spinning SnowMill!