Portland Glass

roots

I ran into an old friend this weekend at a crafters show (she's a beader) at the convention center. I came away from the show with a few different veins of thought - one of them being gratitude toward a few creative folks who encouraged me to pursue glasswork. Three of them come to mind:

my dad, who suggested I try glass working - he had taken a class in stained glass, and didn't really feel it was his gig - so he showed me what he'd learned, handed me the tools, and off I went. Loved it. It made sense to me.

Cheryl Cook - at the time, she was a therapist in a mental health clubhouse, I was a volunteer for Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC). She saw me stressing out, and kept encouraging me to dig into my creative side - I hadn't done any glasswork for a year or two. Eventually, I finished my year with JVC, and moved into a house where I could lay claim to a shed for doing some stained glass. Now Cheryl is beading, and selling her necklaces and earrings in a handful of shops Portland, Eugene and Astoria. http://www.cherylcookjewelrydesign.com/about_me

David Schlicker - Shortly after I got my shed, my brother-in-law suggested I talk with David Schlicker about the possibility of apprenticing with him. He agreed and took me on. Taught me some crucial (and basic) skills - notably, how to repair stained glass. I appreciated his generosity. http://www.davidschlicker.com/

 

 

Highland Cattle

Yesterday, I was able to enjoy the hospitality of Ford Farms on Sauvie Island, owned by a friend of a friend. Ford farms keeps a herd of Highland Cattle - very sweet, curious and docile animals. Here's a few photos of the beasts. The reason for the visit is to gather images to develop a few windows for a scottish fellow building a yurt out in Pacific City.

Media Drink

Here's a link to an exciting design agency / ad business (Media Drink) - and the fun thing is they're sporting a new window which I built. Pretty cool!

 

Getting back in

Finally, I'm able to breathe again. I've just dispatched my last bit of repair work and am now focusing on a handful of new pieces. The first is for a chiropractic office. The glass is cut and ready to lead. I've included a photo of the work in progress in my NEW WORKS folder. Also, I've gotten a few moments to peruse the news. Here's a few articles that picqued my interest.

The first two are about using art for physical healing (especially notable: concerning brain injuries).

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=121172

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-art20mar20,0,604786.story?coll=la-home-health

And then, it looks like the Arts and Healing Network (www.artheals.org) is getting a little press. Here's an article in the Contra Costa times. It's not the New Yorker, and it's strictly informative, but good press is good press.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/14111946.htm

I hope the tax season is treating you well.

-Tom

Healing with Art

Here's my second ever blog. How exciting. To see my first ever, follow this link: http://pdxglass.blogspot.com/

I live in Portland, OR with my fam. I work a stained glass studio out of my basement, though I have dreams for an official separate studio someday, with sunlight streaming in. My day job is a medical biller for Eastbank Chiropractic (Abe Cohen, who is a terrific chiropractor - 503-288-5257, 823 NE Broadway, PDX and Holly Zapf, an excellent Naturopath - 503-460-0630).

I got my starts in glass from my dad, and then later from David Schlicker, the best glass artist in Portland, possibly in the Northwest. His website: www.davidshlicker.com

I've been working the media for about 15 years. My most recent work has been around engraving. I especially like working with flash glass

Flash \Flash\, v. t.
3. (Glass Making) To cover with a thin layer, as objects of
      glass with glass of a different color. See Flashing, n.,
      3
      (b) .

A very nice thing about Flash glass is when you engrave or sandblast it, you create some excellent contrast in the middle of the piece of glass.

For the last 10 years, I've been terribly interested in healing. So I've studied (on my own) a number of ways we heal - medical models, alternative models, psychology, medicine, herbology, homeopathy, body work, vitamins, drugs and aesthetics. If I had a dream it would be to be able to use stained glass for healing purposes, and be able to make a living off it.

The following will be my online journal of the process of making this happen.

On that note, take a look at this website. www.soultempleproductions.com

Viola St. Pierre is doing in San Diego what I would love to do in Portland,OR. Here's an interesting article about her: http://www.signonsandiego.com/more/madeinsandiego/?cslink=cs_generic_5_0

And here's a fair article on the subject of healing with art: http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/05/snstory.pl?-sec-Lifestyle+1k589g0+fn-workart.0228-20060228- though it's only about the workplace, it's certainly in the direction I'd love to go.

Well, enough for now. Talk at you later.

-Tom