The new year will bring several changes to the studio.  We will be expanding the Aspen Light Glass Studio line with possibly new beach/ocean themes, prairie scenes (yes sunflowers), desert Southwest landscapes and Texas Hill Country memories of home to name a few.  

We will also be adding a new line to the Earthfire Arts Glass that will introduce reverse image palette knife glass with frit work.  I have done several of these a commission pieces in the past and now will be making several as a permanent line to dimensional glass.

Look for more information in mid-February on our line expansions.

We will be doing southeast and west coast summer shows this year in San Francisco and Orlando.  At the ACC San Francisco show, we will be selling both retail and wholesale lines so if you have wanted to buy directly, this will be an opportunity to at the show.  Orlando will be the new wholesale show--American Handcrafted--which is the rebranding of the ACRE shows by Emerald.

Finally, we will be posting the 2018 class schedule in late January.  We are planning on 3 or 4 classes this year, including basic fusing and slumping, creating glass night lights, the glass ornament class and working in mosaics and fusing together.  Class size is limited so don't wait if you are wanting to attend a class.  Registration links will be posted on the class page.

​2018--bring it on!

[This is a rewrite on previous blog post...]

Recent events have raised a concern regarding intellectual and creative property rights. My previous post felt heavy-handed so I am rewriting it in a straightforward manner so that readers and followers understand my position.  Most importantly, I do not want to offend my followers and know that I greatly appreciate and support all who keep up with my work.  That is why I blog in the first place--to share ideas and create a dialogue.

The internet has opened up huge opportunities to share and market artists' work.  With that comes the challenges of how to protect an artist's work from duplication without the their consent. I post my work using the many tools available including my website and social media and through years of hard work and persistence, it has made a difference.  I also blog on some of my methods to share the path of experimentation with others so we can learn together.

I do not allow direct copy or reinterpretation of my artwork without my consent.  This is especially true if an artist is widely marketing the work on the internet or selling the art work.  If you are in doubt, contact me.  

If you have taken a class from me, then I take the position that I am relinquishing certain rights regarding my methods and that you will use that knowledge to create and develop your own style in your artistic pursuits.  It does not extend a right to directly duplicate my work, but does allow a student to use the tools acquired in class to explore and develop their own artwork. If a student wishes to sell work made in workshops or classes, that is also reasonable as long as it is properly cited and referenced as to its origins. I do not think it is fair to teach a student how to paint with glass while telling them they cannot use it to market and sell their own work.  It is realistic though to expect a student to use those tools to develop their own unique style in the future.  That is the whole point of teaching and taking classes in the first place.  In the converse, if there is a method or style that I wish to protect as my own, I simply won't teach it.
 
I hope this post is clearer and more appropriately states my position.  Consider this a segue to a larger dialogue on creative property rights--it is a very difficult and elusive subject for many artists and if we start opening up the conversation about it, maybe we can all come to a better understanding on what it is and how it pertains to our own creative businesses.

​We shouldn't have to always be looking over our shoulders worrying about whether or not a piece may be judged as too similar to someone else's, but we should consciously make the effort not to copy someone's work.

What a fun Saturday afternoon with 6 wonderful ladies :)  The students made 2 to 3 ornaments each using various shapes and themes using pre-cuts, frit, powders, stringers, noodles and dicro glass (top image pre-fire and post-fire below).  Now to get them drilled, delivered and hung on that special holiday tree.

Next class is planned for the spring (probably late March) where we will create fused glass night lights!  Check the class schedule on this website in January for more information on upcoming classes for 2018.

The Hawaiian market has been good both in terms of artistic challenge and sales. These are headed to Kela’s Glass Gallery in Kapaa on the island of Kauai.

Like these I will be developing and unveiling an expansion to my current line that will include a variety of landscapes—beach, farmlands and vineyards, lake sunsets, etc... I will post the news lines sometime in January.

This has been a really strange day.  The news today, of course, is enough to keep anyone from getting out of bed but I got myself up and got in a full day at the studio.  When I got home, this, to my complete and utter surprise, was in the mail.  Apparently, I was both a finalist and a winner in the 2017 North American Niche Awards that I had applied to over a year ago.  The announcements were apparently made in early Spring, but I am just now finding out via the award and a congrats letter.

I am excited to be a winner but totally baffled as to why I am just now finding out.  Oh well, not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and will say thank you Wendy Rosen for the honor!  Great news on a not so good day.

We are working with Weehawken Creative Arts to set up 2 classes this fall at the studio.  They will be in mid-October and November.  Please visit the Class Schedule page for information about each class, registration and other details.  We should have the registration page up by next week.  Class size is limited so don't wait too long if you are interested.  If you are from out of town and need special lodging arrangements, contact me and I can work with you to make sure your stay is reasonably affordable.

Hop you can join us this fall!  The live links to register for each class are up as of 9/5/2017.

Last year I apologized for not having my annual ornaments available for purchase and promised I would make them for the 2017 holiday season.  I am managing to keep my promise despite the pending move and have begun making the prototypes.  I will have 8 styles this year--4 rounds and 4 rectangulars all as frit paintings.  

I have not yet decided if I will retail them myself online and at the new studio or if I will try and wholesale them through many of my clients.  I do know that they will be limited editions as in years previous and I will only produce 10 of each for a total of 80 2017 ornaments.  If any of my readers have an opinion on how I should market and sell them, please comment so I can get a sense of which way to go this year.

This July 21st, Aspen Light Glass Studio will be moving from Ridgway to downtown Montrose Colorado (30 minute drive).  It will be hard to leave Ridgway after nearly 5 years, but the move is good for me and especially good for the business.  Truth be told, my studio was just not large enough anymore as my business continues to expand.

I will have much more space to work and will have a large open area that we will use as a classroom for teaching glass classes.  A number of followers over the years have expressed interest is classes, but I just did not have the space to accommodate classes in Ridgway.

We are planning on working cooperatively with Weehawken Creative Arts to arrange and schedule classes hopefully beginning in late August.  Classes will be anywhere from a day to 4 day workshops and there are several hotels within walking distance for overnight students as well the Montrose Regional Airport that offers flight to and from many major cities (it serves the Telluride tourism industry).  I will also keep a class roster on this website with links to registration information.  I plan to teach a broad range of classes anywhere from intro to fusing to the basics of frit and powdered glass painting.

If you are interested in a specific class, use the contact form on this site to share your interest and what type of class you are looking for.  I will keep a contact list to inform you of upcoming opportunities in studying kiln-form glass at the new Aspen Light Glass Studio.