I've got lot of heart

For the last month I have been working on these hearts. Pictured you see about 150 of the after cleaning. They are ready to be signed. This project was a commission by Bon Secours. They were great to deal with and the hearts will go to the donors and staff that will attend the opening of a new world class heart center here in the city of Richmond. The second picture is all of the finished pieces nestle in their packing foam awaiting delivery.

Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled art work.

Look for some new marbles in the near future. But first I plan to take a few days off and rest my wrists, and hands.

Brad

Greening the Studio

Often I worry about the environmental aspects of my artwork. Is what I make worth the impact of running a studio. I do try and keep everything to a minimum.

Here are a few of my efforts:

My studio is at home, no car rides or energy used to get to work. Services such as telephone and internet do double duty for home and office.

Order supplies in bulk. This keeps down energy and money used to ship supplies. It helps me and the environment.

I try to conserve materials and minimize waste.

I have been cutting back on traveling, trying to sell more work through the internet, and teach more local classes. I know that plane trips really hurt my yearly carbon footprint.

I do not air condition the studio.I just adjust working times in the summer to match the cooler parts of the day. A fan is my best friend in august.

My newest tinkering has come up with this solar air heater. It pulls warm air from the studio and uses the sun to heat it up about fifteen degrees and returns it to the studio. It is still a work in progress, and I hope to add a solar powered fan to move air through the system. Right now the fan is on a timer that is set according to the sunny times of the day.

Whew!!! it is busy around here.

I am pleased to announce that the Visual Arts Center now has a full time lampwork area. I taught the first marble workshop in the new space last Saturday. As usual it was a great bunch of students, and the class went off with out a hitch. I must admit that I was a little nervous about teaching marbles to people who have never lit a torch before. They all did great and everybody got a couple of nice marbles to take home.

I am also in the middle of making 350 heart shaped pendants. A local hospital( Bon Secours) is opening a new heart care facility , and at the opening, the doctors and donors are all getting one of these hearts. This happens to be the same hospital that my mom went to when she had a heart attack, so I am of course glad to see that they are continuing the work that saved her life.

I am also pleased that Bon Secours is buying gifts from a local artist, and not some vase that any number event cordinators may get. Lets hear it for supporting the local art scene.

Some day soon I may get back to my own artwork, I have a bunch of marble designs floating around in my head.

All for now, Brad

Needless to say, I have not posted in a while. It is kind of slow at the studio right. I am firmly in the grip of the dreaded winter doldrums. I will be in the studio a lot over the next few weeks. Bon Secours Hospital just commissioned 350 pendants for a heart hospital grand opening. Nothing like a deadline to kick me in the pants.


Otherwise all is quiet. I am having trouble deciding where to go with my art work. So expect to see a lot of experiments on Ebay over the next few months.

All for now,

Brad